October Break

As much as I hate that my family does not live in the same state as me, it's great having wonderful places to visit. Emmet had a week off of school and we headed to sunny CA for a much needed break. Thanks to a thoughtful dad, we didn't have to drive, but flew into Burbank.

They are such easy travelers and they couldn't believe how short the flight was. They did freak out though when they saw that we had to exit the airplane by stairs. It was raining and they were both so concerned about being out in the rain next to the plane. Emmet especially is my little worry wart!!

Chris and Jenny live in Pasadena and they have such a cute apartment. We probably visited on the worst weekend possible for Chris. He was studying for his first midterms. So, Thursday we headed to Disneyland to keep the kids occupied! (They love Chris and wouldn't leave him alone to study.) Jenny and Chris have season passes. Chris studied most of the day, met up with us for a few hours and then headed back to studying. Jenny and I had a great time with the kids. We stayed ALL day!




They can't wait to go back. Emery absolutely loved every roller coaster and especially splash mountain. Emmet loved It's a Small World. I really can't believe how great they were. It was a fun, long day and they keep asking to go back.

Chance and Angela flew in Thursday night. We hadn't all hung out since May so it was so fun to see each other.

We played around some of the famous Hollywood sites Friday while Chris studied. We spent a little bit of time in the fashion district, but none of us felt like we were fashionable enough to shop there!

We headed to Huntington Beach Saturday and had another fun day. It was foggy most of the time, so you really couldn't see too far out into the ocean. Even thought it was the middle of October it didn't stop the kids from getting in. I couldn't believe how happy Emmet was at the beach this time. He just hung out digging the in the sand by himself most of the time. We were there for almost six hours and he didn't want to leave!! What a change from when he was little and hated the sand.



Most of the day the kids with the help of their aunts and uncles built a sand castle. The diet coke is in honor of grandma kathy!

I loved being with family and so did my kids. The vacation didn't last long enough. We ate two nights in a row at Yogurtland. Seriously, if you live anywhere near Pasadena you have got to go. It was so yummy build your own yogurt!
Despite me getting sick the last two days and not sure if I felt well enough to fly home we had a great time. I swear I get sick on every vacation because I finally relax.

Another Year Older

It is nice having both of my kids birthdays literally a month a part, but a little stressful as well. I don't know how moms do it who have kids birthdays in December. I guess you get everything done in one full swoop.

Here are a few highlights from Emmets 6th Birthday. Emmet's last night as a five year old ended in such an odd and curious way. He comes into my bedroom dressed in what he calls his "army gear"!

All I could do was laugh. He loved his little getup and was determined to sleep in it. What shocked me is he could fall asleep boots and all.


I did eventually take the boots and hat off.

On the morning of Emmet's birthday I am awakened by Emmet's whisperings in my ear, "Mom, mom it's my birthday where are my presents? Can I open them right now?" He is a very persuasive child and an hour later he was opening the three gifts Emery and I got him. He headed off to school and his teacher invited me to come spend the morning in the classroom with him. I was excited to go spend time with him and thankful my mom was in town to watch Emery.

Emmet came home to more surprises. Grandma Kathy and Emery had hidden a few more gifts around the house. Emmet loved "hunting" for his presents. He blew out his candles at Outback. It's his favorite restaurant because he loves the bread. When he was little I got him to try the bread because it was the "Wiggles" Restaurant and he still calls the bread Austrailan bread! We ate dinner with Nanny and Papa Hawkins. Emmet shares a birthday with Papa and it's fun to do something together on their birthdays.

Nanny and Papa gave Emmet a gigantic lego star wars cruiser. It had 1170 pieces. We laid out a white sheet on our family room floor and for the duration of conference I put together this fun lego. It took almost 6 hours. We did separate the pieces into piles by color and that really helped. I finished it Sunday morning.




The ship stayed in tack for almost an hour. As you know the kids want to play with the lego structure even though it falls apart and breaks quite easily. Well the bottom broke and I began fixing it and couldn't. I told Emmet okay I'm getting frustrated with this and then more broke. Well in what may be my proudest moment in mothering I broke the rest, picked up the pieces stuck them all in the box with instructions and stuck it in Emmet's room. He just stared at me. He didn't cry I think he was shocked. I told him when he was older, he could build it and that was that. He hasn't mentioned it since.

He had a great birthday. He's getting taller all the time. I fear he will be taller than before I know it.