A day at the (San Diego) beach

We wanted to take a trip to finish up the summer.  Of course, we always want the beach.  So we looked into Santa Barbara, San Jose, San Diego and even Honolulu.  The rental car was $30 more for the day in Hawaii (not to mention 10+ extra hours of travel, so we opted for California and missed our warm Hawaiian water and clear weather.  

The first stop in San Diego is always Konos on Mission beach.  The line was LONG (45 mins) but I took the kids to the ocean and we enjoyed exploring around.  

Dave loves this place from his college days and trips with his brothers.  We wish we could go with them sometime 

We drove around near the coast and stopped to feed Mariah (despite the lack of photos, she was in fact with us and was a great traveler!)

We spent the afternoon on La Jolla cove (along with millions of other people, seals and seagulls.)  Dave and I both snorkeled (hypervenilated) in the frigid waters seeing a few brightly colored fish.  Hallie loved the water despite the temperature.  She was so different from the last time we were at the ocean. We enjoyed sand digging and swimming. 
We were late for the early flight we were hoping to take, so we went to the temple and old Town San Diego. 

We left by 7 pm.  I love that we get to take little adventures if only for a day.  Dave is great to take both kids on the flights since we usually get split up.  He knows just how to please them. 

Mariah's Movin'

Mariah just 'passed' her 4 month check up with flying colors.  She is so healthy and strong and growing happier by the day.   She is 16lb 6 ounces (85%) and 26 1/2 in. in length (95%).  She is rolling both directions and even scoots a little (without knowing what she is doing).

After 4 shots (two in each leg) today, she was crying and I picked her up, two sobs later, she stopped crying and then smiled at the nurse.  Seriously, this girl is amazing.  I'm not sure if it is because she is use to pain inflicted by people she loves (brother and sister), but she is really resilient.  

I do NOT write this to make anyone feel bad about their own baby (I've had 'difficult' ones too!) but I do want to remember how awesome Mariah is as a baby.   She is so happy and will smile for anyone and everyone.  She travels easily.  She falls asleep on her own in the crib (but it helps if we put the pacifier in a few times).  She falls asleep when we are out and about without any trouble.  On the way to and from St. George we didn't hear a peep from her.  She is quiet and calm.  Of course, she gets hungry, but meet her need and she is happy as a clam. 

I laid her with her head on the pillow body down the blanket, next thing I know she is grabbing toys out off the shelf.  She may look big enough to do this, but I was impressed.  The other day during my shower she got under my bed and was hitting her head on the frame.  Thank goodness for Jackson being able to pull her out. 

She is getting to be a bad night sleeper (up every couple of hours), but I let her cry the other night and it only took 10 mins to put herself back to sleep.   I'm hoping since she is able to get herself to sleep for naps and night, she will learn quickly to put herself to sleep at night.  I am more tired now than I was at the newborn phase, but don't feel as entitled to a nap, so I am just plugging through it.  I should at least go to bed early, but there is so much to get done when all the kids are in bed!

St. George . . . Jessica's Wedding

I flew to Utah on Thursday night.  I was worried about a morning getting 2 kids ready to go before work for Dave, but he managed just fine. I stayed at my parents and got to play racquetball with them for a little while.  I went to Tara's baby shower and chatted with my family . . . and then we ALL proceeded to drive to St. George for more family time and a wedding.  Shane and Kim's car broke down on the way and we had to leave it.  The condo we stayed in was awesome (Thanks, David and Vickie!)
Friday night we had a fun BBQ and waterslide event.  Saturday was the sealing in the temple.

 

We call this group the "fab five" all 5 cousins born within 9 months of each other.  We group up together and have taken some fun trips together.  I love that our family is close. 

I got to play with my cousins for the whole afternoon (dragging Mariah along with me).  We ate lunch with the family, shopped, and saw a funny movie.    Here is 8 people in a 5 passenger car.  Good thing St. George is small!

The reception was so beautiful.  I loved the Italian soda idea. 
This is a 'naked' cake (with no frosting on the outside)

 It was good to spend time with my parents and Shane and Kim before their new adventure in the Redlands. 
I realized that even the best laid plans that don't include stand-by can go arwy. I planned to DRIVE home from the wedding with my cousin.  Her AC went out and it was August driving from St. George to AZ.  I didn't think my baby would make it (lets be honest, I probably couldn't make it) so I scrambled to make new plans.  I drove back to Provo with my aunt and uncle (Mariah slept the whole way).  Then I went to church with my grandma.  Dave came and picked us up and we spent the afternoon with his parents.  We all caught a flight home from there.  Even cars aren't necessarily reliable.  Travel is just never known I guess.

I'm so happy for Jess and Josh and loved celebrating with them!

End of Summer

Despite having another 3 months of 100+ degree weather, summer break ends and School starts Aug. 7th.
We finished the summer with a few weeks of swim lessons for both kids.

A visit with friends to the science museum.

We went to a few summer movies and swimming a lot.

When Jackson was getting school supplies and a backpack and lunch box, he loved playing pretend school.  I was the teacher and both kids had their backpacks.  We did some pages from workbooks, wrote letter, read stories, had recess and lunch, etc.  Jackson is reading really well.  He pretty much skipped all the beginning readers and is reading on a 1st grade level!  I am so impressed and proud of him and his hard work.  He loves to read anything he sees.  Here we were working on words that change when the 'magic' E is added on the end.  He was SO good at it.  I think it would have been very hard to me to remember how the sounds change when the E is added, but it almost comes naturally to him.  I have no question that he will be amazing at school.  I also enjoyed seeing a tiny sliver of what homeschooling kids of different ages.  Wow!  I think it takes amazing people to be able to balance teaching different ages!  

Hallie worked on painting the magic lines to finish off shapes.  We talked about the names of all the shapes.

My neighborhood has a facebook group and whenever you want a girls night out, we just post when and where and we are bound to get a fun group of girls together.  This night we went to Yogurtland.  Some people came back to my house for more chatting and laughing. I love having support and friends all around me.  So lucky.

Jackson starts Kindergarten!

 On August 7th, Jackson started Kindergarten.  He has been excited for months.  He is totally prepared and ready to learn.  He is young for his age, so of course as his mom, I worry that he won't be developed or ready socially or emotionally, but I have no concerns about his ability to succeed and excel in school.  He is such a smartie!

He helped me pack his lunch.  He chose a PB& J sandwich with water.  I threw in some applesauce, blueberries, grape tomatoes, string cheese, mini-wheats and banana bread.  I hope he can handle the responsibility of getting a lunch to and from school.  We practiced and talked a lot about it.

Here is Arizona, there are many options available for school.  I did a lot of research and praying and tried to find the school that would work best for him and for our family.  I am still not sure I made the right choice (I am so bad at making decisions . . .I put them off forever and then question the outcome for weeks afterward), so dropping him off at school was so unnerving.  It is scary that my choices will affect his life so much.  I was scared of sending him out into the world and hoped that he makes good choices. I was sad to say goodbye to him.  The day feels long and a bit lonely (although I still have my hands full of my little girls).
Jackson came come from school excited (he rides the bus home and we are the first stop!).  He told me all about his day for about 45 minutes, answering millions of my questions.  Finally, he said, "Mom, This is getting a bit boring-ish".  I'm so proud of my little kid and excited for all he will learn this year.  

Cinder-Hallie and Prince Jackson

Watch the part where Jackson makes sure she is modest.  Love it.  They play this at least once daily.  And they also change roles so Jackson gets to be the princess too.

Brown Family Reunion and more

My family has a big reunion every July and we went together this year.

Here's 3 of the "fab 5" of my cousins.  It was nice to have some relaxing time to catch up with Chelsea.  Sally and I live close so I get to talk to her a lot!  I've enjoyed getting to know her the past couple of years in Arizona.  

  Jackson was in heaven at the homestead.  The first day of the trip was his actual birthday and I think it turned out to be a great day for him.  He and Grant ran off to their forts and had such a good time playing dodge ball, digging in the sand, etc.  He loved being independent.  I was pleasantly surprised at how far we've come since the reunion last year.  I've grown SO much as a parent and he has grown up so much too.  

Hallie stayed close to me, but still loved exploring and digging and playing with cousins.

All of my close cousins have a girl Hallie's age.  We tried to force them to be friends :)  Maybe when they get a bit older and understand how to play with others this will work. 

My parents are always such a big help with our kids.  They allow us to go play and hike and do fun things because we aren't always watching out kids!  Thank you mom and dad!

Our family rocked the race this year!  I got 1st in my age group (2nd in all women) Jackson got 2nd for under 6 year olds and Dave got 3rd in his age group.  (In his defense he was slowing down to wait for his post-partum wifey).  Hallie cried during the run and didn't finish.  Well, you can't win them all :)

Hallie enjoyed Mabels pink princess party a few days later.  I think Jackson enjoyed it just as much!  He loves princess and dress up and dancing.  So funny!

The kids are really enjoying Mariah interacting with them a bit more.  We cannot get them to stay in their seats during a meal if Mariah is around.  They just want to poke, giggle at and interact with her.  She is such a good, happy, easy baby.  I am remembering how much I love a 6-12 month old and love having "conversations" with Mariah.  She learned to spit, so she practices that quite a bit each day.