Cole and Maliya just finished a session of Ninja Warrior classes. They had a blast and improved a ton in only a month. They are both strong and fearless!
Cow Appreciation Day!
We got dressed up, hung out at Firestone for an hour while our car was worked on (Cole was SO excited to be dressed like a cow at Firestone), and then ate and played at Chik-Fil-A. The place was packed and half of the people there were Mormon. I guess Mormon's like free food:) (And moms, if they're like me, LOVE getting out of cooking and cleaning!)
Side note: At Firestone we met a super nice man who has two daughters named Madison and Maliya. How random is that?
Cole was excited to have his face painted but then changed his mind when the paint made him itchy. Poor kid just about rubbed his face raw at Chik-Fil-A when he was trying to take the paint off with baby wipes.
Max didn't join in on the dressing up fun but he definitely joined in on the eating fun. He loves food!
Maliya accidentally dropped her cup and we all busted up laughing when we saw how it landed.
The day after Cow Appreciation Day was the start of a FANTASTIC vacation!!! We went to California for a week and had a wonderful time. First we drove to LA for Emily and Mark's wedding (Emily is Nick's cousin), then we drove up to Santa Maria for their reception, then we drove down to San Diego for 3.5 days of fun with Grandpa and Grandma G. We saw so many family members that we never get to see, we enjoyed wonderful weather, we got to play and relax a ton, and we relished being spoiled by our grandparents. Honestly it was just a great trip. Kim and Robert really did spoil us and it was extremely hard to leave!
This was at a family dinner after the wedding. It was at a cute little Italian restaurant. The service was SLOW but it gave these girls lots of time to cuddle and goof around with Grandma and Grandpa.
Cole was reunited with his favorite second cousin Garren! We last saw Garren's family about three years ago when they stayed with us for a night during a move across the country. Cole and Garren hit it off right away. They decided they were twins and spent the entire 24 hour visit glued to teach other's sides. At the wedding they didn't miss a beat. They were again instant buddies and had a great time together, though at one point Cole did somewhat sadly tell me that they weren't actually twins.
The wedding was on Friday. On Saturday on our way up to Santa Maria we stopped in Santa Barbara and hung out on a fun wharf/pier with Danny's family (Danny is Nick's uncle). When Nick and I were dating and first married their family lived really close to us in Utah and we hung out with them quite a bit. After a few years they moved to California and since then we hardly ever get to see them, so it was really fun spending time with them.
She asked me to take a picture of her looking at the water:)
The reception was Saturday night. On Sunday we got up and left first thing for San Diego to try and avoid traffic. Luckily - amazingly - we did! We hit very little traffic and made it to Nick's parent's house in about 6 hours. That evening we got to relax and hang out with his parents, Alex, Katy, and Michelle. The kids had been looking forward to Grandma's kid corner and the goodie bags she'd promised them and were entertained by those all night, which meant us adults got to chat and play games all night. It was fantastic.
On Monday Nick, Robert, and Alex took the kids to the beach while Kim and I bought groceries for the week. That afternoon we played at home and then that evening Kim put on a luau for us! The kids dressed up in cute costumes Kim had bought, Katy and Michelle came over again (Alex was on his flight home during the party, sad day), and we all chowed down on an authentic dinner (Kim makes a delicious Kalua pork!) and enjoyed beautiful weather on the patio. Then Madison and Maliya put entertained us with hula dancing (thanks to Michelle for teaching them) and guitar and ukulele playing (while singing ABC's and Hark the Herald). It was a really fun night.
On Tuesday Nick and I went on an all day date!! We went to a water park owned by Sea World and had a ball. It was a little chilly but I sucked it up and honestly we had a great time. The crowds were sparse in the before lunch and we were able to hit up almost every slide. After a quick lunch in the car (where it was WARM!) we did the slide's we missed and then repeated a few favorites. Then we left and visited the Peter Lik gallery (we discovered on our last visit to SD and loved it!) in search of a New Zealand and/or Venice picture. We didn't find one we loved but did enjoy being together and looking at gorgeous pictures. After that we went home and changed and then we all went out to dinner while the kids told us about their adventures. They'd been spoiled by Grandpa and Grandma ... picture booth, splash pad, lunch out, water games at home. They had a super fun day and were completely worn out by time we met them for dinner. We all had a busy day and slept very well that night.
This is one of the pictures we liked the best at the gallery. This photo doesn't do it justice at all. It's 500x better in person. Sadly it doesn't have a gondola in it. That was the deal breaker for Nick.
On Wednesday morning Nick, Kim, and I took the kids to the beach again, per their request. They'd had so much fun on Monday and just had to go back!
Max loves water so it was no surprise that he absolutely LOVED the beach! He crawled right through the small waves w/out any fear and had a great time crawling all over the beach.
Maliya was very proud of the octopus she and Nick built.
As soon as they were done I put Max on the ground (I'd been feeding him a bottle while they worked) and he sadly went straight for the Octopus. Baby Godzilla! Maliya didn't mind, though. She was more than happy to help Max destroy her masterpiece.
After the beach we went home for lunch and then played and relaxed at Kim and Robert's all afternoon. We had a delicious BBQ dinner and spent the evening getting packed up and then playing some more. The kids absolutely love the toy area at Kim and Robert's and had to get in as much playing as they could! (Cole also made sure to get in as much time on the Wii as he could since we don't let him play video games much at home.) The kids also spent more time in the jacuzzi in the backyard, another favorite spot. It was the perfect, relaxing end to a great vacation.
On Thursday we were gone by 4:45 in hopes of avoiding traffic and making it home at a decent hour. I was nervous to drive the entire way home in one day. The most driving we'd done in one day (on that trip) was about 6 hours and just that had pushed Max to his limit. 12+ hours seemed daunting! We survived though! Max took two long naps (tender mercy) and we made it in an hour less than the GPS predicted, making the drive way better than expected.
Now it's back to real life. School starts tomorrow (we got back 3 days before the start of school!) so reality is hitting hard!! We are so missing sunny, not too hot San Diego, and our Gramps and Grams. Thanks a zillion to Kim and Robert for giving us a wonderful end to our summer break!
PS - On the way to California we stopped at a Jack in the Box for lunch. After we got our food and sat down Madison turned sideways and said quite loudly 'Look, the white head is wearing funny glasses!' Nick and I looked to where she was looking and were mortified to see an elderly woman with gray hair sitting only a few feet away from Madison. We quietly but adamantly told her that that wasn't a nice thing to say and that she needed to turn around and eat her food. About 15 minutes later, after Madison was finished eating, she looked sideways again and said 'But it's just a picture'. We again looked at where she was looking. The lady was gone and we were now able to see what Madison had been looking at originally - a picture of the Jack in the Box head wearing dark sunglasses. The WHITE head wearing funny glasses. Oops!!
Later that day while in the car Madison got mad at Max because he kept sticking his fingers in her water bottle lid (because she gets in trouble for doing that). We told her that it was ok for him to do it because his fingers were little and wouldn't break the water bottle (plus we were ok with anything that would entertain him on the drive!) but that she couldn't because she doesn't have little fingers, she has big one. The she looked at us, pointed her right pinky finger at us, and shouted 'then what's THIS for??' We about died. Ok maybe I did. I busted up laughing. Nick held it together long enough to tell her that her little finger is for making pinky promises and then he busted up too. That girl is such a thinker and she cracks us up (without meaning to) every day!.
