preschool (!!)

 My baby went to her first day of preschool yesterday...

I am so proud of her!

She had a blast and is ready to go back on Wednesday. :)

really, Mom? enough with the pictures.

Walking in, she was beyond excited....she kept tripping over her feet because it was like they wouldn't move fast enough ;)

at this point, she was ready to go play...I was definitely on her nerves :)

Nick took Mason with him to the field to ride in some tractors :), so I had the morning to myself. I got all of my cleaning and some laundry done. Go me :)

I was sick to my stomach thinking about my baby girl being in school. Where did the last 3 1/2 years go?!

I know Mason and I are going to have some great one on one time MWF form 8ish to 3ish (thankfully, she doesn't have to be there right at 8am and I can pick her up sooner if I need!) when she is at school...but she has been my constant companion for the last 3+ years! It's so wierd when she is gone for the day...

We are so proud of you, baby girl! We love you so much! :)

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midwest trip::krispy kreme and playtime

Tuesday morning, we met Ardyce and Uncle Terry and Aunt Kathy at Krispy Kreme.

So yummy.

It was super hot and ridiculously humid while we were back, but we managed to spend quite a bit of time outside :)

My brother, Jake, was awesome with playing with the kids :)

When Noah came over, he and Adelyn  built a fort

Nick is a rockstar at Barbie play ;)

 my mom and stepdad's neighborhood is full of young families with little kids...specifically girls.

Adelyn was in heaven...

Adelyn ADORES her big cousin, Noah.

He was pretty patient with her ;)

She followed him everywhere.

 swimming with dad is fun too :)

Mason loved diving down this slide at the park

 love my mom

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midwest trip::Papa Bob, friends, and GG Jane

The kids and I spend Sunday with my dad and 2 of my brothers...

Adelyn got some grilling lessons from Papa Bob :)

That evening, my dad and Pam watched the kids so I could go meet up with some old friends/co-workers for dinner....it was SO great to see them! I LOVED working with these ladies and miss them alot!

The next day, we met up with Nick and Ardyce in Boone the kids could see Great Grandma Jane...

Adelyn was chewing gum and making faces at some kid to the side...

*sigh*

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midwest trip::the lake

Nick had to do some travelling to South Dakota for work while were were in the MW. So we met my mom at her and my stepdad's lakehouse in southern Minnesota while he headed out that way.

We spent a few days there before driving down to Des Moines.

I didn't get pictures of the house or the lake, so I borrowed these next 2 from my stepdad's sister.

The house is actually on a hill across the street from the lake....which I liked because then I didn't have to worry about my kids taking off for the water everytime we were outside ;)

It was so serene and quiet...I loved it ;)

 my stepdad fishing :)

 we took the kids to a kiddi pool one evening and then went to the outlet mall another afternoon...Adelyn flirted with the mini donut kid :)

Adelyn LOVED riding the dirt bike...you could hear her hollering "woohoo! faster!" and she didn't want to get off :)

 Nick even got to take her for a ride...which she loved :)

(video to come)

Mason does NOT like loud noises....so he did NOT like the dirt bikes :)

You'll see his reaction to my asking him if he wants a ride in one of the videos I will post later :)



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midwest trip::anatomy of a picture with Nana

I really dropped the bomb of getting pictures of the kids with all their grandparents. I did remember with Ardyce, though...

we moved the couch so it would get more natural light...draped a blanket for better background...

it was kind of a flop.

The middle picture is the best of the 3...

the sun was in Luke's eyes, Ella was like "what the...", and Mason wanted nothing to do with it and crawled to the other side of the couch and started bouncing up and down shouting "jump! jump!"

*sigh*

we tried...

cheers...

one more attempt....Mason just doesn't want anything to do with it ;)

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midwest trip::more minnesota fun

dress up at Nanas::

Ardyce pulled out some of her old college and high school clothes for Adelyn. Can you guess which dress was her favorite? ;)

She loved it.

 donuts at the Roberts's::

(and a picture of Mason's crazy post-nap hair)

 hanging out at Papa and Ellens::

and a cute random picture of Lukester

 Ben and Jerry's and a walk along Lake Minnetonka with Papa the day before we left.

Someone LOVED getting to try a little bit of everyone's ice cream ;)

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midwest trip::joy ride and a movie

 Adelyn is a thrill seeker and loves all things fast and furious.

oh dear...

anyway....Nick and Ray took her and Mason for a joy ride.

You could hear her yelling "WAHOO!!!" all down the road while they were driving away.

Mason liked it okay, I think....he wasn't as gung-ho about it as Adelyn was :)

check out their faces when Papa gunned it.

Ardyce, Sara, and I took Addy to see the new movie, Brave, while we were there....first we made a pit stop at Trader Joe's :)

 The movie itself was okay. A little "dark" for my liking, but cute...Adelyn had fun...

...she was conked out before we even got halfway home :)

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midwest trip::meeting baby Luke and beach play

little Lukester

xoxo

we met Sara and Ella one morning at the beach in Wayzata. It was hot....and humid...blagh....I do not miss that nastiness.

The kids had a ball and the water felt great :)

{please ignore the goose poo in every picture ;) }

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midwest 2012

Last week we got home from spending 16 days back in the great midwest with our families :)
We always have a blast and spend everyday with family and visiting friends.
What could be better?? :)
I have so many pictures, so I'll share them in mini installments ;)
SO, here is what we did while away::
Our flight out there was a bust :) due to maintenance delays, our whole flight set up was changed. We were delayed in Fresno for 2 hours, spent the night in PHX, then left for MN the next morning. Not a great way to start, but we were expecting the worst, so..... ;)
Spent the first week with Nick's family in MN. Saw Nana, and Papa Ray and Ellen. Saw Uncle Kyle, Aunt Sara, Ella and met baby Luke. Mason chased Auggie the doggie :) Walked to the lake for some Caribou (California is missing out on that awesomeness...). Took quite a few walks. Went to the park. Played in Nana's Playland (aka: the basement). Played. Did I mention we played?? ;) SO fun!
We met my mom at the lakehouse in Southern MN while Nick had to head to SD for work. The kids and I spent time with her there for a few days...we swam at the beach, visited a kiddie pool, rode dirt bikes (hands down Adelyn's FAVE. Mason would have it they weren't so loud :) ), played, visited the outlet mall ( I mean, how could we not?), and just hung out.
We headed down to Des Moines over that weekend and spent all day Sunday with my Dad and stepmom and 2 of my brothers (Josh is in VA for some training or class or something...but he is still stationed in Hawaii). That night, I met up with some former coworkers and friends ;) for dinner. I haven't seen them since we moved and I had a BLAST! Great ladies :) I miss them!
Monday, we met up with Nick and his mom in Boone, IA to see Great Grandma Jane. We had lunch there and headed back down to DSM with Dad in tow :) Tuesday morning we met up with Nana again with Great Uncle Terry and Aunt Kathy at Krispy Kreme. More awesomeness that CA is missing, but I'm not so bummed about that one ;)
We also got to see Zeb and Bekah, and their THREE girls :) Olivia Joy joined the world a little over a month ago now. SO cute :)
My Grandma came down for the day as well and it was so good to see her :) Big Cousin Noah spent time with us (Adelyn ADORES him). We spent some time at Valley Junction. The playplace at the mall, swimming, went to the park a few times, and just played outside in the yard. We had dinner with my dad and stepmom a few times too and Caleb graced us with his presence :) when he wasn't busy. Jake got a job at Wells Fargo, so he was putting his nose to the grindstone during the day. But we saw him afterwards :)
We didn't get to see everyone we wanted to, that is always a MAJOR bummer. There are so many people we love and miss!
Time always flies by and there never seems to be enough. We love and miss everyone! :)
xoxo

killing time at the airport...

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