Grandma-time

We got so lucky to have our grandmas come in back-to-back visits this spring.  We loved every minute of our grandma-time.  The kids adore their grandmas and they give them no rest while they are here.  Maybe that is why they only ever stay a week and have to take a few months off between visits.  But we love when they come!!!

I only got one picture of Grandma Checketts' visit this time, but rest assured, much fun was had by all.  The kids always beg grandma to make up stories and when she asks them what characters they want in their stories they always say Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.  Haha guess that's from all the NPR we listen to in the car.  Some pretty entertaining stories were told.

The kids especially love going out to eat with grandma.  Like this morning brunch at IHOP.  Happy, happy kids.

When Grandma Asay came, the kids and I fought over who got grandma time.  I won for a few hours when mom and I trimmed the trees in our backyard.  It was quite the project, but no one better than my hard-working, capable, beautiful mother to do it with me.  

Then the kids got grandma-time and made rope swings in the front yard with some of the branches from the trees we cut down! 

And we had so much fun at the beach.  I love my mother.

The older 2 with the Easter Bunny this year.  Ellie wanted nothing to do with him!

Amelia loves when one of the player's parents brings their dog to the baseball game!  She will only sit still for "Boloney baseball" (as she calls it) if she's got a dog on her lap.

I love watching these kids with their dad on the baseball field.  They love to hit in the nets with him, ride the tractor and give him hugs after a game.  They adore their dad.

And William is in heaven on the field with his dad.  He is old enough that he has been able to hang out with Andrew at the field a lot more lately.  He even went over one day before a game and was able to get in the line-up and take his turn hitting batting practice with the Gaucho players.  Then he took his turn shagging balls in the outfield (with his dad there to protect him!).  It is pretty much the cutest thing to see him out there hanging with the big boys.  I love my little boy and his awesome dad.

Good Times 2016

There have been so many good times in 2016 so far.  I love watching my kids grow up and I feel like there are so many flecks of gold within each and every day that I just try to soak up, commit to memory and enjoy in the moment.  Here are just a few.

William is such a good brother and Ellie adores him.  She copies everything he does and it is so cute. He has taught her to sword fight and she picks up any stick she finds lying around and will fight you with it.  From watching him, she has learned how to shoot fire and lightning out of the palms of her hands (sound effects included).  And the funniest and most inappropriate is that he taught her how to drag her thumb across her neck and make the "kkkkkk" noise as if she is slitting her own throat like a true pirate.  Haha I love these two together.

Andrew and I love to divide the kids up and get some one-on-one/two-on-one time with them.  When I get the two girls, we always make sure to play it up as "girl-time."  This was one evening of girl-time when we went to the Public Market downtown and got ice cream cones together.  Ellie loved this little ledge because it was the perfect height to sit on and kick her little legs back and forth.  I love these two beautiful girls.

I love how Ellie copies everything the older two do!  These were from a fun Valentine's day package from my mom.  Made for some cute photos.

Although it is not so great when she copies other things she sees people do!  Luckily I caught this situation quickly!  She's a smart little cookie.

This little girl now likes to walk ("gock") everywhere and I love watching her trot around the world.  I love this little smile.  When she walks it is as if she feels so free and brave.  I love it.


Also, I love this girl's hair!  The curls make some of the sweetest bed-head.

Ellie hadn't seen Grandma and Grandpa Checketts in a while, but she remembered immediately that they were people to love and snuggle!  I love this sweet girl.  And my kids have awesome grandparents.

Do you like watching Gaucho baseball with a sticky finger in your eye Grandma?

How about with a wiggly bottom on your lap?

These 2 started t-ball this year, and with the timing of their birthdays they are on the same team.  This is a great set-up because there is one practice and one game per week and two of my kids are taken care of!  I love watching them out there.  So cute.

I feel like we have been sick more than our fair share this year.  I'll admit, as long as I stay healthy, I actually kind of enjoy our sick days! When my kids have a low-grade fever they eat less, are more mellow and sleep a lot more!  Now if I could just solve the whining that comes with not feeling well...

I loved the afternoon I got to take my kids to meet one of my favorite friends from college.  If only I could live next door to all of my favorite people from all stages of life.  It was so much fun to catch up with Brant and have him meet Andrew and the kids.  Can't we please be neighbors?

I could do better at organizing chore charts, etc. but I will say, these kids are great and cheerful cleaners and helpers and I love watching them learn and work.

I love when I get a picture of all 3 of these sweet kids together.  It is hugely hard to do, but I need to do more of it because I love these 3 siblings.


The many faces of Ellie in one 5 minute photo shoot!

Hiking

These two are turning into great hikers and it is so fun for our family.  We love being out in the beautiful world together and it is so fun that we are able to start having some of these adventures.

We recently discovered a fun hike at Elings Park overlooking the ocean.  Almost 5 years here and we are still discovering new sights that take our breath away.

Truth be told, most hikes usually end with some sort of child-carrying going on!

Our most frequent hike is to the caves above Gaviota.  We do it so often because the kids love it and it is one of the only ones we can suggest that they do not whine about doing!  I think they love that they know they can do it and that it leads to something interesting (because grand views of the ocean are not always interesting to them, but cool caves are).  William is at this phase where when you tell him to smile, he comes up with this forced smiley face.  I remember when I was about 8 years old, I went through a phases of smiling like that and I remember thinking I just couldn't get my face to do the right thing when someone said, "Smile!"  So maybe it's genetic and he'll grow out of it.  But for now, I am just going to enjoy his squishy faced smiles :)

Ellie is really proud of her belly and likes to show it off.  And like I said, every hike usually ends with kids being carried! This hike to the caves is consistently 5 minutes too long on both ends for William!

Such a beautiful hike

Scott and Trina Visit!

2015 came to an end with one of the best gifts ever when Scott, Trina and the kids came to visit.  I really feel that life was meant to be lived close to family.  Unfortunately we live far from all family members on both sides! But we cherish the times we have together and I am so grateful that Scott and his family came to visit us.  We loved every second of having them in our daily lives.

Life as it should be with cousins gathered close around.

I think these two cousins look so much alike.  And both so cute!

Andrew holding the babies.  Luke is 3 weeks older than Ellie, but looks much bigger!

The babies going on a jog with Trina

We went to the beach and could have stayed all day except it was so windy!  That didn't stop the kids from having fun splashing in the waves

And climbing on the rocks

And splashing in the waves again.

We went out to eat at Padaro Grill

And played in the sand

We hiked in the butterfly grove

And climbed in the trees along the bluff

Both babies were crying, so here we are trying to make each other's baby happy. It didn't work.  They both kept screaming.  

We went to the Natural History Museum and put on a dance show.

We made Christmas ornaments

And ate lots of meals together

All of this messy fun necessitated numerous crowded baths that left truly muddy water behind!

We went to see the new Star Wars movie at the drive-in theater and it was so fun.  Andrew was able to use some sort of magic (maybe the force?) to get Ellie to fell asleep in the stroller shortly after we arrived, so we were able to really enjoy our evening out!

Sometimes I think William needed a break from all the girls! 

The kids LOVED wrestling with Uncle Scott.  He is such a fun uncle and my kids adored him.

Like I was saying....what a fun uncle.

And an awesome brother too.  He helped me fix my dryer while he was here. Who knew a PhD in accounting made you smart enough to figure out how to fix dryers too!

Cousin duet :)

I loved nightly story time snuggling with all these sweeties.

William showing how we all felt about being together.  

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve we had a Jerusalem dinner of pita bread, hummus, tomatoes, zucchini and roasted chicken.  I don't know if that is even close to a true "Jerusalem dinner" but it was yummy and memorable!

The kids put on dress-up and did their own play of the Christmas story.

What a perfect and wonderful way to spend the holidays.  Please come back and visit soon!