Wrapping up 2019 | SUMMER

California Vacation

 We flew to California this summer for a family vacation. It was AMAZING! We stayed with Tyler's Aunt and Uncle, and got to hang out with his cousins as well. We did all the things. The girls did great on the plane (for the most. They did as well as you can do when you're a toddler). ;)

One of our must-do items was In-n-Out Burger. I think Tyler loved sharing this experience with his girls the most. The Southern Californian in him was in heaven. 

We also, of course, hit up the beach! This was Laura's first time at the beach - and oh my gosh, she loved it. She and Annie weren't as into the water aspect, but they LOVED playing with the toys in the sand. And my momma-beach-lovin' heart was in heaven. 

SeaWorld

Disney! 

Tyler and I debated on whether or not it would be worth it to take the girls to DisneyLand, but we quickly decided early on that it was definitely worth it, even though they are little. Annie is old enough to know all the characters and to be deep in the magic of it all. Laura recognized a lot of the characters, and even still, they both had so much fun just being there, riding on the kiddy rides and taking in the magic of the day. It was a lot of fun for Tyler and I as parents to share that day with our happy kids. And, the day went amazingly smooth. The girls took naps in the stroller, we all felt flexible and go-with-the-flow. It was great.

"Mom!! The Princess Castle!!"

 Mickey Mouse Bignets! All things Mickey Mouse made their day!

 The girls loved the Mickey Mouse Painting show. All of the little shows and theaters were a big hit.

 Annie was in shock and wonder when we saw Belle. And Belle was SO good with her. She held her hand and they walked together for a little bit - and then of course it caught everyone's attention and a line started forming really fast. But Belle handled everything so smoothly and kept all attention on Annie while she was with her. I have never seen a happier - more star struck - little girl. It was so sweet.

Houston Vacation

Later in the summer we went to visit Grandma Susan in Texas. We had a lot of fun! We spent one day down at Galveston at the beach, and we even took Max. Who, I think was the happiest of our whole crew. He loved the beach, and he couldn't resist trying to save me and bring me back to shore whenever I swam out -sweet pup. 

 Tyler and I also got to spend an evening at the Temple together. Always a sweet date!

Happy Max just loved running up and down the shoreline and running to and from every member in our party.

Annie loved finding sea shells and playing in the sand. She was a little more nervous about waves. 

Happy Little Lulu <3

Our sand babies

Summer-time Pool-time

We found an AWESOME beach/lake locally. So, basically it's a lake that they created a beach area to. It's the second best option behind a beach. :) 

 Annie participated in the sand castle contest and won a popsicle - so of course she was thrilled.

Backyard Pool Time too :) 

Ice Cream Outings

Find someone who looks at you, the way that Annie looks at her ice cream. :)

Splash Pad Fun

Fourth of July

We started off the fourth with a party at my parents house. We had all the traditional things- hot dogs, hamburgers, Cole slaw, chips, etc. - but then my dad also made homemade doughnuts. He's the cutest.

Grill Master, Grandpa! 

After dinner, we went with family to the AMP (the local outdoor concert venue) for the orchestra - performing patriotic classics - as well as fireworks. It's been a fun tradition that we've had! 

#merica with my babies

Cousin Gorden giving Annie a ride to the car. 

Berry Picking

There's a cute local farm that we tried for the first time this year to go pick berries. It was fun! Laura was only interested in eating them, but Annie was on board to fill up the buckets. 

Laura just loved eating the berries...

S'mores in the Backyard

Tyler got me a fire pit for my birthday last year - so we finally got it going over the summer and showed the girls what S'mores are. Safe to say - Annie was a huge fan. Laura didn't care about the S'mores as much, she just wanted the marshmallows straight out of the bag. And Max was just happy to have us outside in his domain. 

Annie is always telling me we should do it again. :) 

New Baby Cousin - Holly

 My Brother and Sister in Law had their baby! We took the girls to go meet their new cousin, Holly. She's so sweet - we all were mesmerized. :)

While my brother and sister in law were with new baby, we took all the kids to the Amazeum

CNA/PCA School

Over the summer, Tyler and I decided I was going to sign up for a CNA/PCA course. I've been toying with the idea of going to nursing school or PA school, but I wanted to dip my toes in the water before going all in, so I signed up for a summer course to be a certified nurse assistant. It was a five hour class, 4 days a week. So Caeli (as pictured in my spring post) was our summertime nanny for 6 weeks. 

 First Day of school. 

CPR Certification

Aunt Sarah came to town and was excited for me - and of course digging my turtle scrubs :) 

Summer Fun

Fathers Day

Annie gave herself a little haircut over the summer... 

Here's her little summer dance camp routine.

Ironman training dates :) 

Texas Roadhouse - those rolls though! 

Our awesome neighbor was cleaning out her kid's toys and gifted this horse to us. My girls are OBSESSED! And, his name is Spirit - which was the obvious name choice from Annie. 

Snuggly babies

This was the night of a big tornado. The girls were just happy to be sleeping in mom and dad's bed, as you can see.. 

She feel asleep snuggling up next to me like this. My heart! 

Park Days!

Grandpa Gene and Mimsy came to visit. We had fun and they are always so nice about treating us to yummy meals and girls dates. 

Those snapchat filters though... 

This summer my mom was one of the camp cooks at girls camp and I was the camp photographer.

Learning new recipes in the kitchen