Gymnatics and Swimming

July 4th

We spent the weekend enjoying each others company.  On Saturday, we went swimming and then out to a nice dinner at this great Italian place called Pacino's.  And they literally have 200 pictures of Al Pacino on the walls! :)  On Sunday, we made the trip to Bakersfield for some pre-vacation shopping.  Monday was a pretty stress-free day.  We stayed in Tehachapi and went to their annual Hot Dog Festival.  The kiddos enjoyed some time in the bounce house and then their first experiences with sno-cones and funnel cake.  Maddox made a series of faces while I was taking some photos that are quite silly.  Such a ham!

Baseball Game

We ventured down to Lancaster, CA to take in a minor league baseball game this past weekend!  We had a good time, though everyone's allergies were bothering them.  I'm convinced I'll never get a normal photo out of Maddox again! :)

Some Silly Pictures!

We're in California!

After a long hiatus, I've decided to return to blogging here on Maddox and Marin's blog.

Luke and I made it to California on May 28, 2011, after 3 long days of driving with our 3 dogs. I really should have taken some photos of the Soph, Lo, and Dexi all passed out in the back b/c of the sedatives I had given them.

Maddox and Marin followed, with my mom and sister, on June 1. We picked them up at LAX where they caught their first glimpse of "Hollywood" out of the car window at midnight. Thank goodness my mom and Kellie were here to help unpack and get us settled. 2 adults, one with a tremendous addiction to jewelry supplies, 2 kiddos, and 3 dogs have a lot of sh**. I could have easily become overwhelmed.

So after getting stuff put away, we enjoyed the California sunshine with a few road trips. While Luke was at work last Thursday, my mom, Kellie and I decided to make the first Costco trip in our new home state. We also needed to make a stop at Target. Bakersfield and Lancaster are about equidistant from the small town we live in, so I chose Bakersfield with only my GPS to guide me. Interesting trip to say the least! Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the GPS lady? Suggesting U-turns at every opportunity? Being so specific about lanes sometimes, but then just completely ignoring the fact you have to be 3 lanes over when you're supposed to be merging in 350 feet?

Anyway, we also made a trip to a semi-local fruit farm. We got to pick all of our own fruit, including donut peaches, blackberries, apricots, and blueberries. We're still trying to get through all of the fresh fruit we brought home. I'm pretty sure Marin has eaten her weight in blueberries.

The next day it was time to return my mom and Kellie to the Burbank airport for their return flight to Indy. After a sad departure, Luke and I decided to take the kids down to Santa Monica, where we hadn't been since before we were married. We had lunch at Bubba Gump's and enjoyed the rest of the Santa Monica Pier, as it wasn't quite warm enough to fully experience the beach and Pacific Ocean. We rode the carousel and the famous Ferris Wheel, a good time was had by all.

Enjoy the photos of our rental house and our views and from our road trips...

It's About Time

I realized today that I haven't been updating the blog we have for the kiddos. I do a lot of posting on Facebook, but not everyone uses that. So here is a little of what we've been doing lately.

Maddox and Marin's Birthdays:

This year we had their party at BounceU in Fishers. I think everyone had a good time.

Kindergarten:

Maddox started going to all-day kindergarten a few weeks ago. His best friend, Nick, started to go all-day, so that really motivated him to want to go too. Everyday, he comes home and says school is great. His teacher is excellent! She challenges his little brain and appreciates all of the information he has to offer.

Marin:

Marin and I have been going through a little adjustment period since Maddox is gone for most of the day. She is getting used to playing by herself while I get work done. She is quite ornery though and sometimes does naughty things to get attention. For example, she dumps water all over the floor, throws my cell phone, colors on inappropriate objects, etc. This is new for me since Maddox has always been perfectly content to do his own thing. It is getting better with time.

Daddy Gone:

All of us have also been adjusting to Luke moving out of state. We Skype most nights. The kiddos don't really enjoy that much. They don't really get it.

Things have been going better than expected. We have a nice schedule now which helps. Although, when Luke does come home, the kids find it difficult becasue Daddy doesn't follow our schedule. We'll get it eventually. Practice, practice. Luke will be home again for several days at Thanksgiving, so not too much longer before another visit.

Our Latest Trip to the Children's Museum

We took the kiddos to the Museum on 1/23. Ever since, all Marin has talked about is "dinosaurs and Barbies". Every time we left the house, she would ask, "Dinosaurs and Barbies?". I would sadly say no, we actually had to go to Walmart or the like. So we finally took them back this past Sunday. It wasn't nearly as crowded as last time, so M&M got their time on the Barbie Runway, basking in the warm glow of the spotlights. Marin has on a lovely costume, but you have to look closely at Maddox to notice his sparkly belt, which "matched his outfit" he said.

Bob the Builder is back, after 3 years. We have a picture of Maddox with Bob when he was about 6 months younger than Marin is now. It is so amazing that he's grown up so fast!

We're currently working on where we're sending Maddox to kindergarten next year. We've seen several schools and are currently trying to decide between St. Michael's and Weston. It has been a very difficult task and I'm looking forward to getting it done!