Insta-Friday

I tried to do a better job this week of taking pictures of things other than my kids and food... 

but it didn't work. 

Oh well. 

I've decided that Tuesday mornings are me and Austin's "date mornings". We'll do something fun together. This week, we went shoe shopping (for him) and then spent some time at a coffee shop. 

Hat twins

Saturday I got out by myself for a few hours. It was glorious! I shopped a bit, went to Trader Joe's by myself, and spend some time reading at Starbucks. It was so relaxing. 

Sunday after church we went out to lunch as a family. It was so fun and the boys were great. As long as Owen had a dang quesadilla and Austin has some salsa, they were happy campers!

The boys' favorite book lately. I think I've read it approximately 44783787483729 times. And they still laugh like it's the first time. 

Owen's new kicks. He's a 12 now.  (A twelve!!)

Rough day at school, apparently. The next day I got another notice that there had been exposure to Hand, Foot and Mouth disease! I need to buckle up for all the potential sickness that comes with a kiddo in school.

On a hot afternoon, I made this recipe for peanut butter play doh. The boys loved it! I threw the leftover dough into a container in the fridge, I plan to pull it out again soon!

When I came across this recipe on Pinterest, my mouth began to water. I knew I needed to make this ASAP! I'm glad I did because it was SO good! And yay for home made dough!

This was the first time I had ever used the kneading blade thingy. I felt like such a grown up.

Yummy finished product.

Owen had his school pictures this week so I took him to get a haircut. He did awesome and we had time to spare before bedtime so we took a walk around the Dollar Tree nearby. Owen loved this place! I told him he could pick one thing. It was so cute and fun to follow him around while he tried to decide. The final purchase was a bag of ring pops. He has asked several times since then to go back!

TGIF!

Insta-Friday

Here's a few pictures from my phone documenting our week!

Owen hadn't been in school for 4 days when he got his first birthday invitation! A little girl in his class wanted him to be at her birthday party. He was the only one in his class invited - she said "Owen's my only friend at school". She's such a sweet little girl, and is really taken with Owen. At school she insists on holding his hand everywhere, a bit to Owen's chagrin. He had lots of fun at her birthday party Saturday.  

Owen and Micaela. 

Sunday morning - the boys found themselves in dual time out. I was trying not to laugh!

Audio/CD books have been a great way to keep them entertained in the afternoon without having to turn on the tv. Dr. Seuss is a favorite of ours. 

Monday after we dropped Owen off at school, I had some things to get at Target. I let Austin just walk around and look at all the toys. He pushed every button on every toy he could reach. It was really cute and pretty relaxing! Nowhere to be, a couple of hours to kill. 

Wednesday Austy and I had a Starbucks date. Time with just the two of us has been so good for us! I'm enjoying getting to know him more and getting more quality time with him. He's so fun and so sweet. 

Does it seem like I bond with my kids over food a lot? Haha! Sharing chocolate milk after a nap. 

Carlsbad 2012

Loaded up on Audio books for the drive. They really came in handy. 

A long, long drive. Check out the crazy looking clouds!

O & I at Seaport Village - a traditional stop on the way to Carlsbad. 

Climbing trees at Seaport Village

First full day of vacation. Breakfast at a delicious waffle sand before we head to the beach. 

First day at the beach! Owen = no fear. Austin hid behind me when he saw the ocean, haha! 

Austin preferred to stay around the adults and play in the sand and with buckets of sand crabs. 

Not a bad gig. 

On an off beach day, we went to the outlet mall. A highlight for me every year, that's for sure. We did the trains! $6 well spent. 

Favorite summer clothes. 

Our hotel had a great pool and fun splash pad area. One day we just stayed in and enjoyed it!

The boys looooooved the "hot pool". They spent quite a lot of time playing in it. 

Another beach day. Owen's showing me his shell collection. 

Cutie patootie

Family walk to get donuts

Bubbles on The Green

Boogie boarding - his own special way. Pretty much just running along the surf dragging the board behind him. 

Some night we would go out to dinner and some nights we cooked and ate on "the green". This night we grilled carne asada. 

Every night when it got dark we would gather around the fires and talk and laugh. The cousins would play and it was just so fun.

One night we made s'mores over the fire. So tasty. 

Worn out.

Last day in CA :*( Visiting with Papa & Nana before the long drive home. 

A few thoughts:

• This vacation was a lot easier than I anticipated it to be. Sure, there were moments, but overall, the boys were entertained by their cousins which left time for me and Ryan to relax and chat with the family. 
• One of the highlights of the trip was playing cards late at night with Doug, JoAnn, Chris and Tara while the kids curled up on the bed and watched movies. 
• The boys slept wonderfully almost every night of our 7 day vacation. I was very nervous about this. Last year Owen had night terrors during vacation and it was miserable for everybody. But not this time! Both boys slept in most mornings!
• I think this was the best year yet! Can't wait for next year!