Back to Normal

Jason started school this week and we went back to our normal routine. Back to waking up early but pretending every night that they might sleep in, so I can stay up late getting stuff done that I couldn't during the day (it's a vicious cycle). Back to spending my days making sure everyone is fed and sleeps when they need it (and suffering the consequences if one of those things gets overlooked). Back to dancing around the house with my two-year old to Bob Marley and Queen. Back to laughing so hard at the things she says and does but when I try and tell someone about it later it just seems silly. Back to seeing everyday (but only noticing once in a while) how smart these kids are and being amazed at how fast they learn and change and grow. Back to wishing we lived just a bit closer to family. Back to pretending that my house only gets this messy sometimes. Back to eating better and making meals that don't come out of a box (it's a goal at least). Back to pretending that I really am a social person and that it's worth the frustration of dealing with my defiant toddler in public to be able to have some adult conversation (even though my brain doesn't seem to always work on an adult level).

Why are things so different when Jason is home during the day? I'm not really sure, but I am grateful for the summer we've had and I'm really grateful to still have the student schedule with time off every now and then.

Life is just grand back in the norm, though. Andres had his 6 month appointment when we got back (he's now 7 months) and is doing great. He's sitting up on his own, rolling over (when he feels like it), and reaches for anything and everything within sight. He's sleeping great now, and is a big fan of food - he's liked everything he has tried except peaches, much to my delight! He's still a super cuddly guy and has become somewhat of a mama's boy. But when it comes to entertainment he has big smiles for both his dad and sister.

Addie is still the crazy fun girl that I love. She loves to play with her brother and loves being outside. She loves to play with her 'friends' (which is any kid she sees anywhere). Her vocabulary seems to grow daily and she's so stinkin' smart, that sometimes it's scary. She gives the best hugs and is very good at making her brother laugh. She loves to sing and is kind of obsessed with phones - she wants to pick up every one that she sees and say 'heyo?' and then informs us that nobody is there.

We still have no camera (sad) but here is one of my favorite pictures from this summer.

Yosemite!

There are a lot of pictures, but I thought they shared a pretty good story. I don't even know who was taking most of these pictures, but they sure captured some good moments. Here is our trip to Yosemite in pictures:
(Anything in parentheses is my interpretation of what the person in the picture is saying.)

(Really?! We drove that far with whinning, screaming children for this?!)

(Come along, Kimberly. We musn't be late.)

These faces say it all:

(What do you mean, dangerous, mom? This is FUN!)

She kept wanting to just dive right in and I had to stop her from injuring herself several times. This is why her clothes came off. This is also why I ended up in up to my waist. But it really was very refreshing. See the redness in her legs - that's all from the cold water.

(Ah pet da dog, mom. Ah pet da big dog, mom. PEESE!)

After another very long ride in the car we came home and tried to entertain Addie till bedtime. We were all exhausted but the slip n slide is good fun at anytime of day!

When the kids were in bed (finally) we all settled into a fun game of Scattergories. Good family fun.

See? We did have a good time. And the further it goes back into my memory, the better it gets.

Big Summer Adventure

We decided to try to see all the family that we could during Jason's time off of school this year. Why did we do this? Because we love them and we want to make them happy.

So we started off with the best of intentions and thought we had planned things really well. We were right for the most part. But with two small children it's kind of difficult to plan anything.
We started off flying to LAX with plans to see my sister and her boys and spend a fun, relaxing day at the beach. But we ended up getting into LA 2 hours later than we had planned due to a delay of our connecting flight. Not only did this make the flight harder because everyone was cranky, but after arriving they didn't send our luggage. (This is where I'm going to try to restrain myself from ranting about how we had to pay the stupid fees for these bags AND were delayed 2 hours and they still couldn't get our bags there on-time and what were we supposed to do now with no carseats? and Delta is stupid). Anyway, we didn't even get to the hotel until very late and no one had eaten (not good for any member of my family) and . . . and let's just say that next time we get these two families together we're going to do some better planning (like leaving the kids with Grandma). It was indeed lovely to see the Whitaker family (funny that the family with the white name live in Mexico and he speaks spanish . . .) and we got some really good pictures but we lost our camera later in the trip.

Next we drove up to Fresno, making a stop in Valencia to see some of Jason's cousins which was a much needed pit-stop and a good time with family we don't get to see often. Fresno was wonderful with the whole family there. Addie was in heaven with so many people to entertain her. She loves them all and still talks about how much fun Tim, Teba, and Deff are and how she loves Grandma and Papa.
We do have pictures of this part of the trip because they're not from our camera.

Andres giving Grandma love.

"Hello!" The tent that was very entertaining as long as someone was willing to lift Addie up and out! Thanks Uncle Kevin!

Grandpa reading to Addie. She loved the accents he would use. So fun.

Andres was the centerpiece for Sunday dinner.

Family Pictures. Always a good experience.

Addie loved the slip 'n' slide. Especially with her Aunt and Uncles.

Then we flew to Salt Lake and Uncle Allen met us to drive us up to Bear Lake where we visited with the rest of my siblings, my mom, Aunt Keena, Aunt Krystal, Great Grandma Dexter, and Great Grandma and Grandpa Frost. We had a great time during raspberry days; going to the beach, helping at the bookstore, having lots of shakes, eating good food, watching Addie dive off the front porch (cement) stairs, and just generally enjoying ourselves. We lost the camera at the beginning of the Bear Lake adventure, so even when we do find it, we don't have any pictures of our wonderful time there. Sad.

The flights home were much better than the first ones and now we are home and settling back into a routine and catching up on sleep. I find that life is not quite as fun without 5 other people around to entertain my two-year old. I guess I'm going to have to start being more fun.