American Girl Doll Place

Anna has managed to get to the one in Chicago and LA, now she is gunning for the only remaining one in NY! We went as early birthday presents for the four girls last week when the Pati's were in town.


Leah, Anna, Elise and Emma

Growing Up

I was just looking at the kids and realizing how quickly they are changing from babies to toddlers to children on the verge of young men and women. Although I truly don't desire that they stay little forever, I am thankful for pictures like these that can remind me of their ages/stages and I'm sure will be fun to look back on in years to come. These are from the beach last week.


Luke

Jack

Anna

Leah

First Beach Day

This last week we had friends visit from Arizona and we had a great time visiting some places around town. On Tuesday we made it to the beach. It was a little chilly, but not too cold or cloudy. I even managed to sun burn the tops of my feet and the lower part of my legs... the places I forgot the sunscreen! This was our first trip this year and the kids are looking forward to going back again.

Luke's famous pose.

I don't remember what this structure was, but I do know it was meant to hold water.

Burying in the sand.

Come & Play

Derek worked long and hard and got this area all marked off, leveled, mulched and set up. The kids love it... come on over and play in our new playground!

Group Shots @ Dland

We purchased our annual passes for the day we picked the kids up from the Waymeyer's and spent a couple of days there with the kids. We wore ourselves out, but had a blast riding new things and old favorites that we haven't done in about 8 months. The weather was perfect, the crowds were fairly light and the company was unbeatable!


On the train with the entrance behind us.

The opposite view on the train, with Jack as photographer.

On the Jungle Cruise, start of Day 2.

The Mouse and the family.

10 Years

Our best attempt at a self portrait on the beach in Mission Bay.

The Waymeyer's took the kids so Derek and I could enjoy some time away celebrating our tenth anniversary. Things without the kids along were so relaxing and slow-- we could have been nowhere special and it still would have been nice! Thankfully we were in San Diego and enjoyed our time together.

This is a repost of what I put on Facebook before our anniversary and instead of thinking again of how to put it... "10 years have passed, but being busy moving into 5 different houses, having 5 pregnancies and 4 precious children and so many other events have made time fly by. On Tax Day (we had April 15 or April 1 to choose from, we went with taxes instead of fools), I married a wonderful man who has served me selflessly, dealt wit...h me graciously and cared for me lovingly and joyfully. Lord willing, it is just the beginning!"

Little By Little

We're slowly working on transforming the beast of a backyard that we inherited into something easy to maintain, fun for all of us, and more pleasing to the eyes.

Our next step definitely falls in the 'fun' category, except maybe for Derek. I don't remember how much playground mulch this is, but it was a measurement of cubic somethings... maybe yards? However much it is, Derek is bordering out part of the far back yard so there isn't dirt under the swingset and we can have a place to set up their new trampoline. I'm a little nervous about a trampoline. I envision many trips to the ER and visits from CPS, but I felt the same way about a pool and we absolutely loved it while we lived in Arizona.

In the next few days, we'll all help move this pile of mulch 20-40 feet south and we'll be all set for some high-flying fun!

For some reason the pile looks a lot smaller in this picture, but it is as tall as Leah!