March 3rd-16th

March 3rd- She wanted her ponies to go outside and make snow tracks. So much cold weather this winter!

March 4th- At the farmer's market in Monterey

March 5th- Jelly fish at the aquarium in Monterey and the boys in their matching pjs.

March 6th- Hiking at Point Lobos

 All from March 7th- I need to narrow down a favorite.  The lone cypress, fisherman's wharf, sunset at the beach by Em's house.

March 8th- Breakfast at Katy's place in Carmel

March 9th- We saw two hot air balloons driving out to our friend's house.

 March 10th- Benjamin sleeping at night

March 11th- Evening park time alone with Isabella.

March 12th- Evening walk just Benjamin and me

March 13-Afternoon tea party

March 14th-We had a really fun date night! We went to eat in the plaza district not knowing it was Live on the Plaza. There were bagpipe performers in the street and several other musicians. We ate at The Mule, had pie from pie junkie to celebrate national pie day, and salted caramel ice cream from Roxy's. So good!! Many thanks to Nana and Cappy our babysitters for the night!

March 15th- Peeking through the door to this scene. Her covered in bubbles and him laughing and laughing with her. So sweet.

March 16th- Benjamin looking so big in his little bible class seat.

California, pt 2

 Friday morning we took some family pictures for each other. Being the ones taking the pictures, we don't have many with us in them. So I was happy to get a few!

Then we headed out on 17 mile drive. There were several places to park and get out. I got out at some by myself and took some pictures and then we all got out at some places and let the kids run around.

The views were incredible! The colors of the water, the wild life, the weather! I could have stayed all day!

Seal rock- covered in hundreds of seals!

Can you spot the seal?

 There were these pesky squirrels at one stop that had been fed too many times by people so they were fearless in coming up to you to see if you had food. Eeeks!

The lone cypress at Pebble Beach

After the drive we headed to fisherman's wharf. We walked around the wharf and let the kids pick out a treat from one of the candy shops.

Then that evening we raced to the beach by their house to make it for the end of the golden hour. I love the ocean. I could just stay and stay watching.

Isabella was too busy climbing all over the sand dunes that she didn't want to stop to be in a picture. When I got her ready for her bath that night an enormous amount of sand came out of her pants and shoes! :)

 It was really such a great day!

Saturday morning Tim kept all 5 of kids alone so we could go to breakfast alone!! What a treat! :) We went to Carmel for breakfast, I'd love to spend a few days visiting there! 

Then we loaded up and headed to the airport. Our travel day home was several hours longer than our trip there. 

The kids were troopers! Isabella crashed as we were landing into to LA. We didn't get off there we just had a stop for other people to get on. She stayed asleep through our descent and take off there and part of the was to Phoenix. She had a lot of fun having friends to play with every day!

 Playing ponies in the airport and looking a little travel weary.

The last leg was a little rough for Benjamin, he was so tired but wouldn't fall asleep. 

We made it home around 9:45. Isabella went running to Michael in the airport she was really happy to see him. It was so sweet. It was good to all be in our own beds that night. I was so happy we were able to make the trip, and so sad it was over!

California, part one

The kids and I went to California last week to see one of my best friends from graduate school. Michael had a trip and a busy work week so it was a good time for us to be gone.

We had to leave our house at 5AM! It was an early morning after a night of being woken up every 30 minutes with Isabella crying. The only thing she ever said was that her legs were hurting. Growing pains? I don't know, it was terrible. Anyway, the kids were amazing travelers which I was so thankful for and proud of them! I was able to take my car seat on all the flights which helped a lot as Benjamin was able to go right to sleep in his seat.  We had really nice people sitting by us, one lady played my little ponies with Isabella for a while, and another mom talked to us for a long time and shared bubbles with us. It was so nice to have friendly, engaging people to sit by! Our flight in to California got canceled, but it turned out to be a good thing as we got changed to an airport that was a shorter flight and an hour closer to Emily's house!!

First stop: In and Out for lunch.  I was standing on snow and ice in the parking lot when we left OKC, and the weather in CA was nice enough for us to eat outside. That was perfect so the kids could eat and then run off some energy.

After getting settled and naps for the kids we went to a farmer's market in downtown Monterey for some fresh produce and dinner. There were all kinds of food trucks and stalls with great food. It was a really great market!

Loved seeing our girls become friends again quickly after being a few months since seeing each other!

Wednesday we headed to an aquarium right on the ocean in Monterey. The walk there was really pretty and Isabella had a lot of fun there. There was an outside part of the aquarium that you could walk along to look at wildlife in the ocean. There was a sign with all the sightings for that day. It was really neat!

That night the kids made their own pizzas, and Emily made a delicious gourmet pizza for the grown ups.

Thursday morning we headed out to Point Lobos to go hiking. It was sunny and clear on the drive out there but as we were getting out of the car a fog rolled in. So it was hard to see in some places. But we still saw an otter swimming, some seals, and several different birds. The mountains, rocks, and huge waves were incredible!

Isabella searched for animals with her binoculars.

 Benjamin went to sleep...

It was a fun morning! We went home for lunch and I got really sick with a stomach bug. Terrible to be sick while on a trip. :( But Emily took care of all of the kids alone so I could just sleep and rest. I finally started feeling better late in the evening. I was back to normal the next day, thankfully! And it was my favorite day of the trip! More to come later!

February 21th-March 2nd

 February 21st- Headed off to the Father/Daughter date night at church. When given many options of dinner choices, she chose Braums. Which wasn't one of the choices given...it was just what she wanted. At least she's a cheap date I guess?! :)

 February 22nd: He wraps his fingers through the holes in his blanket when he's going to sleep. So sweet.

February 23rd: Farm eggs my friend brought me.

February 24th: Books on my nightstand to read. (AKA I forgot to take a picture earlier in the day...still a detail of our life, right?)

 February 25th: Some of the kids books. (FORGOT AGAIN!!! :( )

 

February 26th: Pictures from Benjamin's 10 month photo session. 

 February 27th: We went to dinner at Yamatos for our niece's 13th birthday. I thought Isabella would really enjoy watching the food being cooked at our table and the tricks they do...turns out she was terrified by the fire. 

 February 28th: On the move.

 March 1st: I've been wanting to try Evoke coffee for a long time. I went by there with Benjamin this Saturday while Michael and Iz were out of town. Their caramel latte was excellent!

March 2nd: His and Her suitcases. Isabella joined Michael on a weekend work trip to San Antonio.