Summer Kick-Off

We have a lot of fun things planned this summer, it all started with our staying down at Carlsbad beach for four days this past week. My mom had some time off for summer and it was her idea to get family together for a vacation. We always stay at the Carlsbad Inn, we crammed quite a few people into a one bedroom condo, but it worked out pretty well. On one of the more crowded nights, we had two rooms. The first night was kinda a train wreck, with the two kids sleeping in one room. My poor mom was in the room with me, because Jordan was working that night. We got NO sleep, between the two of them waking each other up it was just one big mess! The next night was much better, Jordan was there, and they were used to the new sleeping arrangements by then, thankfully! We spent a lot of time at the beach, and just hung around the premises. They have beautiful lounge areas, a pool, jacuzzi, and an activity center where we checked out bikes one morning. On the last day we went back to the San Diego County Fair, since Jordan didn't get to go the first time. It was a lot more crowded this day than before, but it was still lots of fun. Jordan got to see Clara ride the rides, she rode less this time so no throwing up! It was such a fun and relaxing mini vacation, a great time spent with family after Jordan's crazy busy last week. It was also wonderful to get out of the house for a while, let's just say that I feel like I'm cooped up here a lot sometimes. I am getting braver about going places, but it can be few and far between.
Another nice thing about hanging out with family, is lots of baby sitters! It was so relaxing because Jordan and I got to get out one night for coffee and dessert after the kids went to bed, we got to relax in the jacuzzi and on the beach while grandparents and uncles entertained the kids, it was lovely!

The Fair!

I went to the San Diego County Fair yesterday with some family. Jordan was supposed to come as well, but he picked up an extra shift, so it ended up being a girl's day! I went with my mom, mother-in-law, sister, and grandma. It was a lot of fun, and really nice to get out because that extra shift Jordan worked put him up to 128 hours worked this week, geesh! We did a lot in the five hours we were there, looked at the animals, watched the pig races, looked at the plant exhibits, the shops, and rode some rides. Everything went really well, until the combination of fair food and rides took a turn for the worse with Clara. As soon as we got back to the car, and put her in her car seat, she threw up! Poor girl, she had so much fun riding the rides, but I think it was too much for her little tummy.
When we left we registered for the $2 return tickets, who knows, we may just hit it up again before it's gone!

One last hoorah...

Our Disneyland passes are about to expire...sniff. We took one last trip up there last Thursday and Friday to live it up one last time. We went with our friends Matt & Jeannine and even stayed over night at the Grand California Hotel, thanks to a deal with hotels.com. It was sooo much fun and of course magical! We rode some rides, Clara's favorites were the Jungle Cruise and the Carousel. We watched their new parade which had all the classic Disney songs and characters with beautiful floats. I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time, I just loved it, we had to hold Clara back she wanted to join in on the fun. We also watched the fireworks, which are incredible. Can you tell that I LOVE Disneyland? I am a bit sad that our year of Disney is over, I will miss it incredibly. But we have decided that we probably shouldn't go back for a couple more years. To wait until the kids are better ages. The next day we hung out at the hotel, I have always wanted to stay at the California hotel, and it did not disappoint. It was very luxurious, with great service, and we even got upgraded to a room with a view (which was double in price from what we paid). They have 3 pools and 2 water slides and really nice lounge furniture. I could get used to that! We packed up and headed out around noon because we were planning on visiting Jordan's grandparents on the way home. They live in Orange and had never met Coleton, so it was nice to see them and they enjoyed seeing their great-grandchildren.

It was a wonderful trip, we even had 2 perfect little angels for the drive up and back. Clara has been better and better every time we go, she behaved really well and met lots of friends up there. She has never met a stranger and is super friendly to everyone, it can be pretty funny. Good times, good times! Farewell Disneyland, you will be missed!!!

Memorial Day

Great people, good food, fun times...

I hope you all had a fun memorial day. Mine was perfect, except that Jordan had to work. We missed him! Thank you to all our service men and women, we have friends and family that have served our country and we are deeply indebted to them. Especially to those who have given their lives, our thoughts and prayers are with their families...love you Tiffany and Chloe!!

One Month

The little man is one month old today! He is growing like a weed, and is getting more alert everyday. Things are still going smoothly, I am loving having two kids. Sometimes I feel like I have grown extra appendages though. I am pretty much always carrying one of them, it feels like they have grown onto me! I don't seem to get much done around the house, but honestly I didn't before either, so at least now I have an excuse ;) He is still a mellow and happy baby, he doesn't cry much at all, and likes to sleep a lot. He definitely likes to eat though, he doesn't go much longer than 3 hours without eating, even at night. So...today marks a month of sleep deprivation as well. I haven't gotten more than 3 hours of sleep at a time for about 30 days and I am definitely feeling it. Some days are better than others, and I always try to squeeze a nap in, but it just isn't the same. I will sleep again one day though! We absolutely love our little man so much and feel so immensely blessed every single day to have two amazing children!
By the way...we call him little man, because he looks like a little old man. He has a receding hair line and makes lots of funny faces and grunts a lot. Reminds us of an old man, a really cute old man ;)

Backyard Barbecue

Jordan can never sit still. He always has one project or another that he's working on around the house. Sometimes it drives me crazy, a lot of women probably have the opposite complaint, so I guess I should be thankful. His latest projects have included a built in barbecue and a red wood picnic table. He started with the barbecue, we bought a normal barbecue and then he made it look built in with blocks that match our landscaping, it looks great and it was cheap. Then I wanted new patio furniture to go with the new barbecue so we can have lots of outdoor dinning this summer. However, looking around, it is expensive! So Jordan says, how about I build something? At first I said, no way, you do not have the time! But he won me over when I couldn't find anything I like for under $1000. So, he found plans online and built a table with benches, for around $450 similar to what you can buy online for over $2000! It turned out great, but I am glad he is done, because it was very time consuming. We kicked off the spring/summer with our first barbecue and had friends over last night. It was a lot of fun, and we are going to love spending lots of time in our backyard this year.
We had delicious surf n' turf and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Little Lauren got to show off her walking skills, and her and Clara got to play together. It was a fun beginning to barbecue season and we plan on having many of them this year. Now I just need to find some outdoor play toys for the kids and the backyard will be complete!