Fun Day

Last Thursday the kids and I headed to the zoo with our friends Emily and Victory.

We had a great time! I am so happy that we got a membership so we have a fun and free activity that we can go do whenever we want.

All 6 of the tigers were out and close to the fences so it was very exciting.  And in the aquarium Xander kept kissing the glass because he was kissing the fishies rhat swam up close to him.

The peacock that roams around came super close to us while we were eating our lunch we'd packed from home. Victory was talking to it and it got close enough to us that we could have pet it!!

We hit the playground area before we left. Gabriella slid down the slide and got her pants soaked. She laughed and said, "I just like being all wet!"

Day Trip to Brookings

On Saturday we decided to head out of town and have some relaxing family time. Xander had never been to the beach/ocean before so we checked the weather report and then headed to Brookings.

Xander loved being buried in the sand

Me and my love!

 Gabriella enjoyed getting Xander covered in sand

Such a happy girl

Time for a rest

Happy boy!

In the ocean for the first time

I love how well they play together!

Mid-ballerina spin

She thought this was great fun but didn't enjoy getting all the sand scrubbed out of her hair later

Xander vs the sand

Kids and I all covered together. 

We had such a wonderful day. The weather was perfect (77 degrees), not a cloud in the skin, real light breeze, no fog. I think it is the best weather I have ever seen in Brookings. We had a great family time, lots of laughs and made some memories enjoying God's beauty!

Airport and The Park

Yesterday we took Matt to the airport for his 6 days in Southern Cali for training for his promotion.

Gabriella snuck a little stuffed monkey in Matt's suitcase when she was "helping" him pack. 

Morning snuggles with daddy!

At the airport after getting checked in. 

We spent the afternoon at my parents house and then headed to the church picnic at Indian Mary Park. 

Ariella tried out the kiddie swings

Cutest little man ever!!

Gabriella actually went down the "crazy noodle slide" for the first time ever! I took a picture so we could show it to daddy because he wouldn't believe she did it without a picture. 

Ariella came home with us and spent the night. Gabriella had lots of fun crawling all over her while she was trying to snooze on the couch....

Xander finally fell asleep in his bed!

Munch got to sleep on my floor since Ariella was in her room. It was a fun sleepover night!

Stuck and the Park

Matt is going to be leaving on Sunday for 5 days of training in Lake Forest for his new IT job!! (no, we aren't ready to spill the beans on specific details yet!). I am SO proud of him and how hard he has worked the last three years; working full time in Medford, commuting, having two kids, owning our own home and getting his bachelor's degree online!! Just can't brag about him enough!!

Anyways, Gabriella has been begging for days to go visit daddy at work and since he is going to be gone all next week I decided to run over today and surprise him!

We picked him up at lunch time and headed to the park to play. We ate in the car on the way over (leftovers from last night in Mason jars) and then were ready to play!!

Just hanging out with Daddy!

Xander is SO strong! He will hang onto bars for as long as you leave him there. 

Swinging with Daddy. I just love this picture! I love how Xander is so cuddled up to Matt and holding onto him so tight!

My sweet princess!!

Okay, so I tried to crawl into the kiddie swing (I had talked Chloe into getting into it last year) and thought it would be funny. It is made of hard plastic, not rubber like they usually are. I seriously got stuck and couldn't get out! I called for Matt to come help me get out and he took my phone out of my pocket and took a picture before helping me out. My knee got hurt SO bad from it! Ugh! Oh well, we had a good laugh over it and I will probably get stuck in another one again eventually....

Adventurous little man. He LOVES being outside!!

On our way to take Matt back to work I wanted to get a picture of us. He wanted to be silly, so I had to settle for this one. 

The kids and I ran to Natural Grocers and Trader Joe's after dropping Matt off (we hit Target on the way over. Hey, I gotta get some couponing in if we are going to Medford, lol!). We picked out a treat at TJ's. 

Xander LOVED his!

(I did not love cleaning up the mess!)

Sweet girlie! She talked Daddy into letting her wear his hat home when we dropped off his cupcake for him. I love how much my kids love their daddy!

Vacation Day 6 ~ July 16, 2013

Tuesday morning we woke up early and said "good-bye" (boo!) to the Agnews and headed down the road. 

After what seemed like a million stops and meltdowns from Gabriella, we finally made it to the Enchanted Forest in Salem!

Matt and Xander going down the slide from the old woman who lived in a shoe's shoe!

Tee-pee fun!!

We found peep-holes in the cave walls

Xander loved "Chippy" and ran right up and gave him a huge hug and a million high-5s!

All of us with "Chippy" 

Me and Gabriella riding the kiddie train

Xander was enthralled by the light and water show 

Gabriella with a fairy

"It's a candy house!"

Xander didn't have to duck inside any of the tunnels. Fun for him, but hard for us to keep up with him!!

Matt trying to keep up with Xander

Xander picking the witch's nose!

Boys in the cave

Time to rehydrate 

The kids running through the crooked house!

Ready to hit the road

Xander loved the car he picked out with his money from Gramma

Gabriella got a mermaid with her money. 

We made it home! Woo hoo!! We had such a great vacation (best one ever as a married couple) and really felt blessed. God is so good to give us times of refreshing when we need them!!