So behind, playing catch-up

I can't believe it's been OVER a month since I've posted anything on here.

Well, yes I can, actually.

It's been a busy month. Lots of visitors and activities.
Lots of LIVING, not much blogging, I guess.
But isn't that the way it's supposed to work?
Whatever.

Here is a photo recap of the last month of our lives...


Aunt Neva (Bill's sister) came out to visit one of her friends, and we spent a wonderful afternoon with her in Downtown LA. Highlight of the trip had to have been Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.




Next up, Bill's parents came out from TX to spend 10 days with us. We started off the visit with Sunday Brunch at The Castaway, which, on top of being YUMMY, was also a nice trip down memory lane since that is where we held our Rehearsal Dinner the night before our wedding.


Then, we immediately put Dick and Nancy to work in the fields, making them earn their keep. :)
We headed to our favorite So Cal location, Underwood Family Farms, and made use of the extra pairs of hands in picking blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and a few raspberries (it was too early in the season for them).

For Dick's benefit, I would like to point out (because he did MULTIPLE times) that he only picked BLUE blueberries, as evidenced above, whereas the rest of us had a hard time picking the ripe ones and ended up with buckets of various shades of reddish purple, and the occasional green ones thrown in in Lexy's bucket. (You can pay me later, Dick.) :)


This just in!
We interrupt this vacation recap to bring you breaking news:



WE HAVE CUTE KIDS. :)

We now return to your regularly scheduled vacation recap.

Next stop, the annual trip to heaven on earth, otherwise know as Yosemite.








And more on Yosemite in my next post because this one has been in the drafts folder for over a month, and I need to move on. :)

Spring! Glorious Spring!

It's that wonderful time of year again. Birds are chirping, bees are buzzing, and.... Strawberries are ready to be picked at Underwood Family Farms!

We celebrated the first day of Bill's Spring Break today by heading to one of our favorite family activities, and it did not disappoint!






Believe it or not, that is more than 6 pounds of strawberries. And we'll enjoy every last one. :)

D-land times TWO

My mom has long had the dream of going to Disneyland for the day, and then spending the night in a local hotel so that she can go AGAIN the next morning.

So, we did. (We're a regular make-a-wish foundation around here)

Grandma, the girls and I all headed down to the Happiest Place On Earth last week and spent the afternoon, evening and night at Disneyland. We had a great time, and it was so fun to see Tori actually "getting it" now. She was down-right CACKLING on the teacups. So cute. (I forgot to bring my camera in the first night, so you'll just have to take my word for it.)

The girls were troopers and stayed awake until 10:30pm as we checked into our hotel. Poor Tori conked out about then, and I swear... this has never happened ever before, but she actually SLEPT THROUGH me changing her diaper and putting on her pajamas. I was astounded.

I should mention-- the girls BOTH had ear infections. Tori was diagnosed the previous day with DOUBLE ear infections and Lexy was given the all clear. However, Lexy spent the better part of that night in my lap crying that her ear hurt, so we headed to Urgent Care on Tuesday morning immediately before going down to Disneyland. (Because we like to pack it all in like that.) And surprise! surprise!, she had an ear infection as well.

Despite their ear ailments, they were in great spirits and seemed to really enjoy the afternoon.

We all had a great nights sleep and were up with the sun to head back to Disneyland for round 2.

Since this was a special Disneyland trip-- the fulfillment of Grandma's dream-- we decided to throw caution to the wind and allow Lexy to get her face painted in the Princess Beauty Parlor. It only cost about half our mortgage, but WELL worth it. :)





We also spent more time than we had previously in California Adventure, and the girls really enjoyed the Bug's Land area. Who knew there were so many kid-friendly rides in there?

Tori and I waited patiently while Lexy and Grandma rode the bumper... bugs?

A big hit of the afternoon was playground area in California Adventure. Again, a new experience for us. Both girls went down the slides, oh, like... 700 times? Grandma and I were thrilled for the chance to sit down and rest a bit. :)



We all had a great time and came home thoroughly exhausted. And we felt so good about our part in making all of Grandma's dreams come true. :)

Winter Fun

As I alluded to in my previous post, we spent time up in the mountains playing in the snow! We had the pleasure of spending an extended weekend with WONDERFUL friends up at my dad's cabin, which he graciously allowed us to take over.

We spent our days out in the snow. Most of the kids loved it...
Tori was a little unsure about this whole "snow" thing.... She definitely didn't like the cold. Either that, or she didn't like the coat we insisted she wear when she was outside. She also seemed a little uncertain of her footing on the ice and pretty much stood TOTALLY STILL whenever we put her down. Our usually smiley, happy girl was definitely out of her element.

happily walking on solid, non-icy ground
She refused to wear her gloves, so she just kept her hands tucked up inside the sleeves.

eating snow!

Bill and the other guys built little fortified bunkers to have a snowball fight. (My hands were too full holding Tori to get many pictures of their creation!)


And then they built their own personal toboggan run, complete with a HUGE snow pile at the end to ensure a safe stop. The kids LOVED it. And a couple of the adults did, too. :)



And what trip to the snow would be complete without a snowman!

A Little snowman. The snow was so powdery, we had a hard time getting it to stick together!

Beautiful Sunset from the cabin balcony.

I love Christmas Vacation

The scene:
Home, the first 5 minutes of his "Winter Break."
Both girls so excited to have Daddy home.
Celebrating the quiet moments.

Wishing you all many quiet moments this Holiday season....

Kern County Fair and Rodeo

We made our annual trip to the Rodeo this past weekend and had a blast.
We told Lexy on Tuesday that we were going to the Rodeo on Friday by using her own words of description from last year (when she was 2)-- "Horseys running around, and Cows running around, and Cowboys hats are falling down". SHE REMEMBERED IT and went on to describe in her now 3-yr-old vocabulary how they try to catch the cows with the ropes, but the cows run away. And how the cowboys want to ride the horses, but the horses say "Get Off of my back!" It's really crazy to think that she is now at the point where she will remember things about life FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE. SCARY THOUGHT.

We made a sweet trip to Dewar's Ice Cream shop, as well. A favorite of just about everyone in the family, for sure.

Thank you Gigi for letting us stay at your house and coming with us to the fair!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation, part 5: The final installment

We've been home from the never-ending vacation for 4 days now, and my motivation to tell you every detail is waning. Be grateful.

Instead, here are slide shows that capture the gist of it.

After Oregon, we spent a week in Kirkwood (right next to Lake Tahoe, CA) with my dad.
A busy and fun filled week. Lots of hiking, swimming, and taking in the beauty of God's creation. Too many pictures for just ONE slide show....

Hiking in Kirkwood...

Carson City, NV/ Hike to waterfalls/ Silver Lake...

At Lake Tahoe...

How I Spent My Summer Vacation, part 4

Here goes with the rest of our Oregon adventures (because God bless you if you're still reading this vacation recap-- you might as well have taken the trip yourself in the amount of time it's taken to read about it. Admittedly, this version has a lot less screaming children as background noise, but hey, who's counting?).

So, we were "winging it" down the Oregon coast and based on the recommendation of the Raneys, we stopped in Pacific City, Oregon for the night. Cute little town. Great little beach.

Fast forward a few hundred miles, and we arrived at Crater Lake National Park. As I've said before, we love National Parks, and Bill specifically requested that Crater Lake be a stop on our summertime peregrination. It was breathtakingly beautiful. We enjoyed taking in the perfectly-blue lake and ended our visit with a peaceful hike through a meadow filled with wildflowers and babbling brooks. Picturesque.

After our fun-filled day at Crater Lake, we headed to Klamath Falls, OR, for the night. At the suggestion of our hotel personnel, we had the most delicious dinner at Red's Backwoods BBQ. Bill said they had the best BBQ sauce he'd ever tasted-- this from a Texan who knows his BBQ. So good, in fact, that we will be re-routing all future road-trips through Klamath Falls, no matter how out of the way it may be.

And one last cute one of the girls getting ready for the pool... They found a little nook in our hotel room just their size....

On to Lake Tahoe we go.....