California Favorites

I asked the girls what their favorite part of vacation was.  The beach wins out every time.  I really thought Disney Land would be a huge hit, but the beach was #1, Dancing at the wedding was #2 and then Disney.  We could have saved our $$ it sounds like:)

Heading Home

Goodbye Beach

I wouldn't normally do a heading home post, but it was such a fiasco I feel like I should record it so we won't forget the details, although I don't think we will.  After a fun week in California it was time to say goodbye to the beach and family and head home.  All was well until we got above Denver to find another rain storm, and then were diverted to Colorado Springs.  (Our flight out encountered storms as well, and a very late arrival into Santa Barbara at 2am their time).  Once we landed we were allowed to get off the plane until they decided when we would be able to get into Denver once the weather cleared.  In the meantime we thought we'd grab some dinner and wait it out.  A bus arrived for those who wanted to take it to Denver, and we ended up on it.  An hour and half later we arrived, and of course we missed our connecting flight.  In the midst of trying to figure out what to do, and what our options were the girls were busy being carted around in a wheel chair by a very nice Frontier lady.  In the end it was determined that no hotel rooms existed for the night, and not a rental car in sight to drive home...we were stuck.  We all had our first overnight in an airport, and it wasn't fun.  I don't think I've ever stayed up all night like that before..the next day was a long one and we finally made it home.  Of course there is more to the story, but that's the jist of it.  After arriving home we tried to take naps..Chris and I successful, the girls running around the house on their own.  I finally woke up, fed them dinner and put them to bed at 6:15 that night...When I finally made it to bed at around 8 Brecken woke up and said "good morning, the sun's shinning"!  I told her it hadn't set yet, and to go back to bed!  We're still working on getting caught up on our sleep, but the trip was well worth it.

The girls asleep...at least they got some rest!

Brecken made a new friend, Sophie..She hates dogs, so this is a miracle!

Disney Land

After all the festivities we headed out to Disney Land! Cousin Karen joined us on our adventure and all in all we had a great time. It was a lot of walking and waiting, but that's what Disney is all about. We had breakfast with Minnie and her friends on Monday morning, and it was a fun treat to have everyone stop by the table while eating and get pictures taken. Parker was thrilled to be tall enough to ride Space Mountain with daddy, and while Brecken was disappointed she wasn't, she still had a great time with mommy and Karen.

Brecken's favorite ride was "It's a Small World"

Parker showing us she's tall enough for Space Mountain.  She loved it!

The Wedding

The whole reason for our family vacation centered around the wedding of Chris' 2nd cousin Jamie and Shane.  We decided to make a week long trip out of going to California and include some fun things for the girls while we were out there. The wedding was a highlight for my girls though.  They LOVED dancing with the bride Jamie and just thought the whole night was great!

The wedding was beautiful.  The views were stunning and the entire evening was perfect!  Congrats Jamie and Shane!

Amazing view of the ocean from the mountains!

The bride Jamie with her dad Curt.

Parker with Johnathan daddy

The groom, Shane, Johnathan, Chris, Uncle Don, Curt and Brian..I think Parker sneaked in!

Parker with Mary and their sunglasses!

Sunset Cruise

On Thursday night we all headed out to dinner and then enjoyed a sunset cruise along the shore of Santa Barbara.  It was a fun way to see the coast and do something totally different.  The weather was cool, which was a nice break from the 100+ temperatures that we've grown accustomed to in Kansas. 

Parker and Little Jenna.  Parker adored her and had such a good time with her!

Jenna, Brecken and Parker playing on the net of the boat

The Sea Lions were very noisy and everywhere.  So fun to see!

The Beach

My girls LOVE LOVE LOVE the beach, what can I say!  We went several times while on vacation and it was definitly a highlight. We all had a fun surprise when cousins Lydia & Hannah were able to fly out for a few days and join us on the beach. 

Here's a fun video of our time on the beach!

Vacation 2011

In the airport waiting for their first flight.

We've been gone for a week on vacation to Santa Barbara California.  We got back earlier this week, and it's taken a while to get back into the swing of things for all of us.  We had an amazing time with fabulous weather, company and memories.  We were able to spend lots of time with Chris' cousin Curt, Mary, Aunt Patty, Uncle Don, Cousin Karen, Little Jena and the rest of the fam as well.  We attended a bridal shower, had breakfast on the beach, shopped, ate, walked on the beach, took a sunset cruise, enjoyed more time on the beach with cousins, attended a wedding in the mountains overlooking the ocean, went to Disney Land and then crashed!  The girls had their first flight on an airplane, their first and hopefully last overnight in an airport and all in all, it was a successful vacation!  Coming back to the Kansas heat was hard to do, but it always feels good to be back in your own home in your own bed. 

The first airplane ride!  They did great and LOVED it!

Babies

We had family in town for the weekend, and we got to spend time with the newest little one...In fact, she's only two weeks old!  Rebekah Lauren was the guest today, as we hosted a gathering for friends and family to meet her!  Can't wait for her to get a little bigger and watch all 5 cousins run around and play! 

Parker was excited to hold her!  Brecken never did...she was too busy playing!

Happy

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE zinnias.  They are my absolute favorite flower.  I would take a vase of these over roses any day!  So excited to see them growing.

Since we moved into our house over three years ago, one thing has been missing....a garden.  I finally talked Chris into putting one in this spring.  Now every time I look outside my kitchen window, I have a view of the flowers blooming, tomatoes growing & herbs in the flower pots too! 

It just makes me happy!

Life is Good

We're not doing much of anything these days.  Just hanging out!  We're getting ready for a big weekend though, and a family vacation, so the next few days will be busy, but we're ready!

This was the girls on the 4th of July~  As you can see, we spend a lot of time at the pool!

~side note, as you'll see I have both girls in life jackets so that I didn't have to be in the pool with them..I'm paying for it in swimming lessons this week.  The life jackets have to go, cause Brecken backtracked just a bit...Thankfully her teacher is being patient!  Whoops!