San Diego Vacation

We spent a wonderful two days in San Diego. The kids were very excited to find bunk beds in the special "kid suite" that I booked for us!

After swimming at the hotel on Sunday we drove to Seaport Village. There was a man there with lots of parrots. He didn't ask the kids if they wanted to hold one...he just grabbed their arm and put the bird on it.

We had a lovely dinner right on the water.



Then we walked over to Ben & Jerry's for some ice cream cones.

Our last stop at Seaport Village was the carousel.

Monday we got up and went to Sea World. It was a perfect day! It never got over about 75 degrees, and it even rained on us for a few minutes.

Both kids enjoyed feeding stinky fish to the Sea Lions.

Yeah, my kids are a little CRAZY at times!

The kids were asleep as soon as Sean got onto the freeway. I guess that is what happens when you have not had a nap in two days!

Hey wait...he's driving!!!!

A Night Out!!

Sean and I had a date night on Friday. We drove into Hollywood to see his friend, Chuck Ragan, at the Knitting Factory. Unfortunately we had to deal with the blocked roads, traffic, and herds of people who wanted to see Michael Jackson's star on the Walk of Fame. There were news vans, flowers, balloons, and TONS of crying people! Crazy!!!

Hailey and Haiden got to go out with Grandma and Grandpa. They were very excited (all four of them). My brave parents took them to a store and then out to dinner. When we finally got to their house to pick the kids up this is what we found...

They are so precious when they are sleeping.

Thanks Mom and Dad! We needed a night out.

Crazy Kids

We went to Golden Spoon for some frozen yogurt yesterday. Apparently the sugar makes my kids a little crazy!

California Adventure

Hailey, Haiden, and I went to Disney's California Adventure today. We went on the new Toy Story ride and it was a blast. I am not usually a fan of waiting 45 minutes to go on a ride, but this was well worth it. It is fun, interactive, and 3-dimensional. This is definitely a ride I want to go on every time we are there! We also went to Turtle Talk, Playhouse Disney Live Show, and a few other rides. Thankfully, it was not very hot today. I really hope the rest of the summer is as nice as it has been so far!

Our Little Olympian

First of all...

HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY AUNTIE MEGAN!

Hailey had her Junior Olympics for gymnastics today. All the kids in her age group performed on the obstacle course, tumble track, mini tramp, and rope climb. Hailey came home with one blue ribbon, two red ribbons, and a yellow ribbon. The blue ribbon was for the obstacle course where she did an outstanding job with all of her skills. The yellow ribbon was for the rope climb where she gave her best effort. Hailey was also awarded a medal for participating and working so hard during her classes this year.

I am so glad her studio does not have the gymnastics classes participate in their big production. As a gymnastics mom I only have to pay a $10 entry fee, there is no costume, no extra rehearsals, no shirt, no program, no pictures, and no Saturday performance! We did it once when she was three and it cost me (and my parents) a fortune. I am extremely pleased that Hailey wants to do gymnastics instead of dance. However, I would not stop her from going back to dance if that is what she really wanted!

I really like that Sean and I stayed close to home when we got married. Not only is Hailey going to gymnastics at the same studio I grew up at, but she is there with the children of some of my childhood friends. We even had the chance to talk to Sean's high school football coach at the Olympics tonight.

Great job Hailey!!! We are all very proud of you.

Haircut and Draaaaaama!

Haiden got a haircut today. I wanted to grow out his hair, but I hit a breaking point this morning. His hair was at that in between stage where it would flip up around his ears and in the back. I figure that I will try again in the winter. For now, the shorter hair will probably feel good when our warm weather finally arrives! I think I took 15 pictures before I got a good one to post. He takes the "cheese" concept way too seriously. He also likes to see the picture and sometimes moves so he can view the camera before the picture has been taken.

Hailey came downstairs from her "banishment" complaining that her eye hurt. I am assuming that while crying and rubbing her eye she irritated it with an eyelash. The sympathy she got from me helped to overshadow the fact that she was totally busted. Haiden tried to make her feel better by "beeping" with her (translation: sleeping). I think he ended up hitting her and making her cry again, but at least he was nice long enough to capture his sweet side!

"HAPPYFAT HERS DAY!"

I think the image of the card Hailey made for Sean explains the title of the post.

Hailey made this card at Girl Scouts. She was busy talking with her friends and did not notice that she was running out of room until it was too late. She was copying "Happy Father's Day" but instead Sean got "HAPPYFAT HERS DAY." I thought it was a great message...a day for all women to be happy with their fat! This is definitely a card that will be saved forever.

Hailey and Haiden were able to spend Father's Day with Daddy, Grandpa Bob, and Great-Grandpa Norm.

"Why didn't you blog about our day?"

We went shopping with Grandma Cathie on Friday. She was very sad to see that the shoes she bought for Haiden did not make it onto my blog. Here they are. Haiden calls them "Fire Shoes." Grandma does not love them, but they are the shoes Haiden picked out and did not want to take off.


Hailey brought the snack to Girl Scouts on Friday (after shopping). She was very good at setting out the plates and napkins, handing out the snack and drink, and then cleaning up after her friends. Good job Daisy Girl Scout Hailey!

A Good Day!

We were able to visit with family that drove down from out of state today. We do not get to see them very often, so it was a very special treat. The kids had a great time swimming even though the pool was cold and there were clouds blocking out all the sun. After swimming and playing we went to NORTH WOODS INN to celebrate my grandpa’s 80th birthday. Today was a good day!!!

I love North Woods Inn! Sean and I normally go there for our anniversary, but we did not go last time. I figured out the recipe for the salad dressings and bought the cheese bread spread at the store. Since we had my version at Christmas, we really felt like something different for our anniversary (3 days later). We ended up at Morton’s instead, which was wonderful. They even made us our own personalized menu.

Let's Go To The Movies

We went to the movies today to see UP. I am proud to say that we made it through all previews and the entire movie without having to leave the theater. The last movie we saw in the theater was Kung Foo Panda. I did not see very much of the movie because I was trying to occupy Haiden. I decided to bring his car seat in today so he would not be tempted to get up and walk around. I am proud to say that my plan worked great. He climbed right into the seat when we got there and only asked to get out a couple of times. He just sat with his huge tray of popcorn and watched the whole movie! It was obvious that my kids don’t go to the movies often because they talked continuously. Sean later commented that they obviously inherited that trait from me. Apparently I am annoying to watch movies with because I talk about the movie during the movie…SORRY!!!! :(

Don't worry! The giant popcorn Hailey is holding was shared between 6 people.

I think we will wait until Haiden sits well before we go to the movies again. I did feel a little silly carting in a car seat.

Family Fun

We were able to get all the kids together at Grandma Lynne's house last night. Although the cousins range from 15 years old to 2 years old, they love to play together. Haiden had a great time traveling around the house in a toy shopping cart.