IA visit: The Flinn Family

with two year olds, this is as good as it gets... :)

We got to spend one (too brief) evening with the Flinn family.

Let me tell you, Miles is the cutest ever....and I love spending time with Tommy and Amber!

I am always so encouraged by them and they are just so easy going :)

Addy and I did get to see Miles and Amber at the park too, but I failed in the picture department there.

We had fun with you guys, and we miss you!

somebody is going to be an amazing big brother someday :)

he loved giving Mason kisses. Too cute.

funniest face ever

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IA visit: Grandpa Bob and Gram

We got to see my dad and stepmom while we were back. We always have fun over there :)

By the time we left, Addy had started call my dad "Bob" haha....

Also, she got to have her first sleep over with them! She did amazing (I knew she would) and they had alot of fun.

My brother, Jake, came over too....these pictures crack me up:

Mason and Grandpa

One more of Dad and Pam with the kids :)

We miss you!!

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IA visit: Grandma, Papa and family :)

Mom and Rob with the kiddos

I'm not going to lie. Seeing all these pictures definitely makes me home sick...

We drove down to IA about a week after we got to MN. Nick was there with us for a week and then he came back to CA while the kids and I stuck around for another week and a half.

We stayed at my mom and stepdad's while we were there (thank you!) and were able to spend some good time with my dad and stepmom as well as a few wonderful friends. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see everyone we would have liked....

Anyway, my nephew's mom, Yvonne, is getting married the first weekend in September to an amazing guy (yay!). Truthfully, she is more like a sister to me, and I am so excited for them! He has a 3 year old boy, Oman, and let me tell you...they are going to have their hands FULL with those two :)

Adelyn adores Noah, and she followed him everywhere and wanted to do whatever he was doing. Which, of course, annoyed the crap out of him! :) He is 6 years old...Adelyn is still a baby according to him :) He was a good sport about it, though :)

Here are some pictures of us getting to just hang out one night before the kids and I headed back CA.

Noah and Mason. Mason getting to jump on the pillow pile. Addy romping around with the boys.

These pictures are hazy because the humidity was so bad outside, my lens kept fogging up!

Noah and Oman goofing around...Adelyn joined for a bit :)

Uncle Caleb rocks :)

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my cousin's wedding and on the road to iowa

Our first weekend back in MN, we went to my cousin's wedding. His wife, Heidi, is from the area, so that worked out well for us! :)

It was SO fun to see family and the wedding was beautiful. Reed looked handsome in his tux and Heidi looked amazing.

 They moved to TN for Reed's job and are now down there for a bit.

Congratulations you two!

Mom and I. You can sorta see where my shingles was...boo...thank the Lord my dress covered most of it!

A rare picture of Nick and I sans kids :)

Aunt Judy and cousin Steven

hanging out waiting for the wedding party :)

{from left: Uncle Barry (mom's brother) and Aunt Lucy, Allan (Gma's hubby), Grandma holding little Jensen, and my cousin Jill}

The lovely couple

Now we are on our way to Iowa :) Nick's dad let us borrow his car for the week that Nick was with us (thank you, Ray!). What a blessing that was! The backseat was smaller, so Addy and Mason could see each other pretty well. They frequently broke out into loud laughing sessions and conversations. I tried numerous times to get a good video of it, but everytime the camera came out, they stopped. Boo.
Here's the best of what I could get :)

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treadmill slide, Mason hopping and chillin' with Sis

So I have 3 videos from our time in MN....we used Nana's treadmill in the basement as a slide :) that was a big hit....Mason was starting to hop/scoot around by the time we flew out there, I wanted to catch it on video before he figured out how to crawl because it cracked me up. A little over a week after I took this, he mastered crawling....way to go! The 3rd video is just Adelyn and Mason doing their thing :)
Enjoy :)

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MN visit: we miss you!

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We had so much fun in Minnesota with Nick's family and time flew by way too fast!

It was fun to watch Ella and Adelyn play.

Ella finally warmed up to Nick the night before we left...he fed her a cookie :)

It was so good to be back. Christmas can't get here soon enough :)

We miss you guys all so much.

We love you!

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MN visit: at the park with Ella

In Minnesota, we spent alot of time with Kyle, Sara and Ella (thank you, for making time for us!).

We had alot of fun with them and Ella is just the sweetest little thing. :)

We  spent alot of time at Ardyce's or their house, but we did get to the park one afternoon with the girls.

They played on the playset and swings, then we busted out some fun bubbles that Auntie Steph gave them (thank you, Steph!)

It makes me sad that we don't live closer to them, but what time we do get to spend with them is always the best :)

We love and miss you guys so much!

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MN visit: the zoo

We went to the zoo one afternoon with Nana and Uncle Kyle, Aunt Sara and cousin Ella.

The girls had fun seeing the animals and walking around.

The zoo was nice because it wasn't huge and just had "the basics". Lions, tiger,s giraffes...that's all you need when there are toddlers involved :)

We watched some show with a seal.  Adelyn loved it for the most part and was clapping along with the music.

Ella enjoyed it too, but I think she was more interested in all the people :) she was too cute, let me tell you.

Oh yes, Mason was there. He was in the carseat in the stroller most of the time, but Nick let him out during the seal show

No, I didn't take any pictures of animals....the fun for me, is watching the kids look at the animals :)

I wanted to get one of all of us in front of the zoo, but it was getting hot, toddler and infant were getting tired....what can ya do? :)

We had fun and the company, of course, was the best part of it :)

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MN visit: Grandpa Ray and Ellen

Among the many fun activities in MN was spending time with Grandpa Ray and Ellen.

Adelyn always has a blast with their Tonka truck and tools that they keep stashed in the sunroom. She knows right where to find it :) She was also just plain all over the place....go figure...

Mason got ample time with Grandpa and Ella was just as sweet as ever ;)

I had my first taste of rum punch....um, can you say yum?! Why have I never had this experience before. It was so good!

We had a blast sitting out on the deck (this was pre-ridiculous humidity and heat) sipping yummy drinks, chatting and watching kiddos.

Ah, those summer days :)

Thank you, Ray and Ellen, for your hospitality and letting our crazy toddler take over the sun room ;)

As with everyone else, there wasn't enough time and we had to leave too soon!

I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked...but when there are kids involved, it's way too easy just to leave the camera in the bag and not deal with it :)

But here's one more for the road:

:)

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