Family Vacation 2011

So 3 months after the fact, I'm finally FINALLY I'm posting about our trip to Las Vegas/California!

We had a wonderful time of course and got some much-needed family togetherness that we miss out on in our day-to-day lives.  Here are a few of the highlights:

The flights!

The kids did AMAZING on the flights.  We decided to bring their car seats so it would be familiar and they would be clued in on the fact that they couldn't get up and wander around.  It worked wonderfully.  And we devised a little stroller attachment so Jon and I could easily wheel them around in their carseats while at the airport.  All we did was wrap their car seat straps around our rolling suitcases, and hook them all together with a steel ring.  And best of all we weren't weighed down with a million things to juggle. 



Mimi & Poppy's house!

The kids loved being at Mimi and Poppy's house.  Mimi had her huge toy bin to play with and the kid-sized table and chairs.  It was so great having Poppy around the whole time and we really loved just hanging out.  We went to the park, the breakfast buffet and the Red Rock, the indoor play area and a walk around their block where we got caught in the rain.  Harper finally got to watch Despicable Me with Poppy - something they have both been looking so forward to.  So much fun and memories made.  

Cousins!!!

Jasper got to meet his cousins for the first time and Harper was soooo excited to see them again.  The boys were so sweet and it was great to get this pic of all of them together!



Auntie Wendy, Uncle Chris and Auntie Ashley!

Again, Jasper got to meet them for the first time and Harper got to see them again.  It was so cute to see Chris with Jasper, being the goofy Uncle.  And Harper kept talking about Auntie Ashley before our trip, she loved hanging out with her.  Auntie Wendy hosted a get together at her house so we could spend lots of time just hanging out.  It was wonderful!! 

Honorable Mentions:

Auntie Amy and Uncle Ryan's house with their kids.  Amy and I have been friends for 16 years and she has  3 kids ages 4-9.  It was so great seeing all the kids play together and amazing to look back on where time has brought us. 

Christin, Robert, Brandee and the boys.  

Our first hotel stay with the kids and their first time sleeping in the same room. It went way better than we thought it would.

  Trina, Daichi and Dylan.  I've been friends with Trina since 1st grade and our boys are only 5 weeks apart!  We went to the little OC zoo with them.

Heather, Barry and Teri.  We haven't seen Barry & Teri since before we were married: about 6 years.  With Heather's help, we surprised them at church in the morning.  Their reactions were priceless!  They took us to a wonderful lunch and we really loved the time spent with them.

Vicki and Cole.  Another long time friend of mine.  Vicki and I have been friends since 6th grade and we loved getting to meet her younger son.  We hope next time we can meet older brother Chase!

Hanz and the rest of the Harvest family.  We love stopping here every time we are in town to see everyone and catch up with the Ives and friends.  Such sweet time!

We can't wait until we go back.

Grapefest

The city of Grapevine as an annual festival every year called Grapefest.  I've never been before and it's been years since Jon has been.  The weather had been great so we went to church on Saturday night so we could have all morning on Sunday to enjoy.  Well, the weather ended up being much more warm than we had anticipated so we were all a bit miserable!  It was also incredibly expensive to ride rides and eat all the food, so we were a little frustrated.  And we were almost going to leave until we walked a little further and found the huge kids area with petting zoo and play zone.  I was so glad it was there otherwise we would've been pretty disappointed.  We were glad to have gone, but I'm not sure we will jump at going again anytime soon. 

Harper and I both wore braids for the day.   

This was by far the scariest thing we have ever let her do.  It's bad enough it was a carnival ride, but the thing didn't even have a strap to put around her waist.  We didn't have many tickets left, so one of us didn't ride with her (yes, if a parent rode, you had to pay as well).  That thing took off so fast, and every time she went around, she waved.  We just kept saying "Hold on! Don't let go!"  whew!

Riding in a cute little pink car.

Hugging the lego puppy.

Making friends at the petting zoo.

She picked up a chicken!  I couldn't believe it!  I was so oddly proud of her.

Daddy and Harper rode down the biiiiig slide together. 

Harper's New Game

One of the activities Harper invented last month when couped up inside due to the heat is this:

Ketchup

Waaaaayyyy long overdue for a post. What can I say, summer has sapped up all my energy and free time for many reasons.

This has been a record-breaking summer in Texas. I just heard on the news this morning that it is actually the hottest summer on record in the US... EVER! Our average lowest temperature was 86 degrees and we had the most 100+ degree days. All I can say is UGH. I've always said the heat has never really bothered me because I just go from my car to the house, work, store, etc... all of which have air conditioning. But now that I have kids who like to do things outside, I feel much differently. We had to get creative when and how we did things. We didn't even go to the pool very much because it was simply too hot to be outside at all. Totally miserable.

Jon has had some really random hours due to meetings, conferences and overtime on top of the overnight shift he already works. He has also started attending a mid-week morning men's Bible Study regularly again and attends a ministry opportunity once or twice a month. All of this is great, but it has required us to be extra thankful of the time we do get to spend together. We've been using an online calendar so we can keep up with his schedule and make sure we know who's taking the kids, when who will be gone, etc.... It's been hectic!!

I've also been very grateful to have gotten a promotion at work and am still transitioning from my old position to my new one. It's been extremely hectic at work in the process and I've also been required to have a longer commute temporarily while I train and get used to my new position. I'm very excited about the opportunity but there is definitely a learning process just as there is with anything new. All this to say -- I'm exhausted!!!!

And now to the kids. Harper is 3 1/2 and amazes us each day with her ever-expanding vocabulary and the silly things she comes up with. She has always been a great observer of things. Some of her favorites are pointing out certain cars and saying "Mommy! That's like YOUR car!" even when we it's super far away. She always notices when someone is wearing something "new" (meaning she's never seen it before) or when something is different about a person, no matter how minor it may seem. She also observes people's behaviors in a big way and loves to play pretend teacher. It's usually very cute, but sometimes she can get too bossy so we have to bring her back to reality. She is extremely helpful of Jasper and is usually very happy to assist with him when we ask her to. For instance the other day we were in the front working on the yard and Jasper was exploring the garage when he got himself trapped on the step. He didn't want to take the step down, so I asked her to help him and she made it her mission to take his hand and guide him down, lovingly saying "C'mon Buddy, I'll help you! C'mon Jasper, it's okay, take a step". She is heavily influenced by friends at school, which is sometimes good but sometimes bad. We work really hard to keep her grounded at home with remembering respect and obeying. She really strives to do good and wants to be such a pleaser. She's very sensitive but also quick to laugh and forgive as well. She is so loving and just plain awesome.

Jasper is 18 months old today! He is really a funny little guy but very different than Harper. It's so interesting to see the differences between them. He is quite independent when it comes to playing and his teachers agree -- he is quite happy to explore things on his own but plays really well with friends as well. He is quite stubborn when he chooses to be and has a very quick temper which sometimes shows itself in anger, but most times in tears. He can be quickly consoled when picked up and hugged, but would much prefer just to get his way. On the flip side, he is hysterically funny and really thrives on being silly and making someone else laugh. He has the absolutely biggest smile and mouth I've ever seen on a child - it cracks me up! He finally took his first steps on August 1st at 1 week shy of 17 months! That's the stubborn side I spoke of earlier. He definitely has me wrapped around his finger, but I've been working hard not to cater to his every whim and be more stern with him. He is extremely loving and gives great hugs and kisses whenever you ask. He also willingly goes to anyone who asks and always has a smile for strangers who talk to him. Like Harper he is very observant and is obsessed with dogs -- he notices them everywhere! His voice goes up an octive or two as he shouts "doggy!" and gets quite excited when he sees them. He is very attached to his blanket which isn't a problem-- yet. Thankfully we have a couple spares for when they need to be washed. He is a fantastic sleeper and loves to take naps, even at school, which is such a relief. His vocab is expanding, but most of the words still sound the same. He still refuses to say "Mommy" (there's that stubborn side again!) and instead calls me, Jon and Harper "Dahyee". We've gotten him to say "Harper" several times, but it's not his go-to name for her.

After that marathon wrap-up, here are tons of pics from recent weeks (months?) and a short description.

At the bouncy place where we spent a few afternoons during the heat letting the kids burn some energy.

Decorating brother with a water bottle label. He is so patient with her and was very willing to oblige.


Then herself.

Crashed out with Brobee and his blanket.

Thoroughly enjoying his dinner.

Looking at their (temporary) tattoos we got from a restaurant.

Sibling hugs in their play tent.

Sibling love as she tries to pack Jasper away in Daddy's suitcase.

Showing off that winning smile (and huge mouth!)

Posing for her first day of her new class.

She picked out her outfit herself, which she does every day now -

with some input from Mommy. :)

Swingin'

I loved this video from Six Flags, and it's short enough that Blogger would let me post it without giving me any trouble.

Fourth of July Weekend

We had a lot of fun on 4th of July weekend. We got out and about a little bit and tried to make the most of it. We still didn't do all we had planned/talked about, but we tried! Saturday morning I took the kids to the splash pad. Jon had worked overtime and needed a few hours to sleep in. The weather is HOT in Texas, so I had planned to get up and out of the house after breakfast and a few chores. Turns out we got there before the water was even turned on! We went to the playground for a bit and worked up a nice sweat before we walked back over to the splash pad where, thank goodness, it was up and running.

It was Jasper's first time there and I was a little concerned about his knees since he refuses to walk yet. Turns out I had nothing to fret about - he did just fine of course! It took him a little while to get used to being wet and getting sprinkled, but he became fascinated with the little fountains and mostly stayed with them, not minding the occasional squirt and spray from nearby. I had remembered to bring the kids buckets and toys and they were a hit!! They love filling them up with water and hitting the water with the shovels. A lot of the other kids kept borrowing our things, and since my kids didn't mind, I was fine with it. I was so glad I went back in the house for them. :)



Sunday we went to church and came home for lunch and a good nap -- all four of us slept 3 hours! 3 HOURS! I'm a notoriously bad sleeper and bad napper, so I was thrilled and amazed at a 3-hour nap for myself, let alone that everyone else took one too! It was AWESOME.

That night we took the kids to fireworks in the city where Jon works. Every year they have a big family event with bounce houses and a train with a live band and vendors, followed by a big fireworks show. I'll be honest- I'm not really a fireworks person at all. They just don't do anything for me. This is actually the first year that Jon and I have ever intentionally gone out to see fireworks on the 4th, and I can't remember the last time I did before that. It was HOT of course, but tolerable until the sun went completely down and the slight breeze became nonexistent. ugh. When the fireworks started, Harper immediately jumped into Jon's lap and was scared for a little while until she got used to the noise. She enjoyed seeing the beautiful lights, though she never did get out of Jon's lap. Jasper didn't care for the noise either and was very content to have his head on my shoulder the whole time, peeking up every once in a while to look. I think he was more tired than anything though. We were up LATE, especially for my kiddos who go to bed very early.

Monday the 4th we spent hanging around the house not doing much of anything. We had intended to go back to the splash pad or to the community pool, but we were all really tired from the night before and it was nice and cool in our air conditioned house. :) Eventually that afternoon we blew up the inflatable pool and let the kids have some fun. They loved it - I love that kids are so easily entertained by some water in a kiddie pool and some plain old cups.

It was a good weekend and really nice just to have family time. It seems like we don't get enough of it. I love 3 day weekends!!!!

Here is Haper's "I'm mad!" face that she demonstrated for me after I told her the back windows in Mommy's car don't roll down. We stopped for gas and Jon had rolled down our windows for some air while he pumped. She wanted hers rolled down too.

At the fireworks show.

Splashing in the backyard on the 4th.

Jasper Goes to the Store... Or Not