Escondido Summer Vacation

Thank you to Melissa and Steve for throwing a wonderful wedding celebration in San Marcos that gave us the motivation to take a family summer vacation. We got the rest, relaxation and fun that we needed. We stayed at the Lawrence Welk Resort in Escondido and it was perfect for the kids. Tons of pools, water features, a playground and even a golf course to run around at night. This is an awesome vacation resort for families and I can't wait to go back again. Here are some of my favorite pics from the trip.



We stopped at the Holiday Inn Express on the grapevine. You would have thought we were at the Plaza Hotel with how Roman reacted. He LOVED it and was so excited to be in a hotel room. Kids make me smile so much with their simple joys. Him and Paisley could have played with the phones in the room and jumped on the beds until midnight (OK they tried, but we got them to sleep by 11pm).



Her favorite activity.


Happy Girl. Did much better than our last roadtrip.


Coolest water features at our hotel
Happy boy to be swimming with Daddy


Snacks by the pool


Paisley swimming with her Grammy


The best way to handle 2 kids in the pool. Intertubes


We loved seeing Uncle Jim, Aunt Val and Melissa.


Our night away to celebrate Melissa and Steve.


Loved hanging with some of my favorite friends




Love her smile.


The wedding venue was paradise. The entire night was perfect and I couldn't have been happier than to be celebrating Melissa and Steve.


Beach day


The kids loved the ocean


Swings in the sand


Our favorite restaurant, Hacienda de Vega.


Cheers to some good margaritas.


Pretty cool view from dinner


My Girl


These 2 characters are really starting to entertain each other. I love seeing their interactions. Paisley wants to do everything (and I mean everything) her brother does.


We were going to head to Legoland, but a few people recommended we wait another year since our kids were still pretty young. So instead, we hit up the San Diego Zoo. It was gorgeous. This zoo is unlike any other. I was so impressed.


Roman and Paisley loved the monkeys, apes, gators, GiGi's and bears.


Ready to swim


She would have stayed here all day, but she would start turning purple.




It can be near impossible to get Roman out of the pool, so we all loved the water features since it gave us all a break from swimming.


Cool diner that we hit up before we left.

I realized coming home from this trip that everyone needs a summer vacation. Jason has been working so hard this past year and we really needed to get away for more than a long weekend. It was exactly what we needed with the perfect mix of relaxation and activity. Thank you Betty and Bob for coming along and helping us with the kids.

4th Of July

A very fun and festive 4th of July in the Woodlands with friends and family. Started out with a pre-parade party at our house followed by the neighborhood parade and then after party at Mark and Claudia's. Always fun to stay in our neighborhood and be with some of our favorite people.
Ready with their decorated vehicles Drake's 1st 4th Carson & Carson Wagon's Everywhere So proud of this boy! He just learned how to peddle 1 month ago and rode his bike the entire parade route. Ready to Go! Hunter and Roman having fun 4th Friends Forever We ended our night with fireworks. Roman and Paisley both loved them and were sad when they ended. We watched from our car at the Sunvalley Parking lot. So happy we got to witness them. Doesn't quite feel like the 4th without the fireworks. Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July!

Chris and Meredith Get Married

Jason and I headed to St. Louis last weekend for Chris and Meredith's wedding. We had a weekend filled with lots of festivities and enjoyed it all, especially being able to stay out late, sleep in, get room service and time to relax.

Thursday night we headed to dinner at Taste. It was fun and festive with flaming volcano drinks and punch bowls to share. Gone in about 20 seconds. We also celebrated Jeremy's birthday. Our hotel had a great rooftop bar, which was a great meeting place. Chris and Meredith hosted their rehearsal dinner at their house. I loved hanging out in their peaceful and beautiful backyard. So much love with these 2. The guys hanging on the porch Chris and Meredith got married at a beautiful historic venue filled with so much natural beauty. Meredith was the happiest bride I've ever seen. She radiated pure joy the whole day. The Bridal Party Bridesmaids and Groomsmen H and Jay Meredith's twin sisters. I loved them! Childhood Friends Our night ended with a crazy ride home in the land yacht. We couldn't leave St. Louis without visiting the Arch. It is actually pretty impressive up close. It is HUGE! I opted not to ride the elevator up the arch (basically my worst nightmare). Cheers to Chris and Meredith. We are so happy for the both of you. Thank you for sharing your special day with us and showing us a good time in your town. We love you!

Pigtails

We've Got Pigtails! So excited that Paisley's hair is growing. This girl just melts my heart. She is just the sweetest little thing I've ever met. We love you P!

Water Fun

We have been loving this warm summer weather that allows us to hang out in the backyard and play with water. Paisley loves her little lounge chair.

Our bathing beauty 

I have the same picture of Roman from 2 summers ago. My kids are happiest when in the water. 

Roman - The 2's

Roman just completed his 1st year at Walnut Avenue Preschool in the 2's Program. His teacher, Miss Helen, has been telling me for the last 2 months that he has made so much progress, which was so comforting to hear. She was excited to tell me that he is talking so much more and really interacting with all the kids. Nothing made me happier to hear that he is happy and feeling more comfortable. This program and school was perfect for Roman. It was just what he needed to help him become more social, follow some simple rules and get a little independence from me. We are so proud of you Roman! I am keeping him in school 2 days a week this summer since I thought he would be happy there.

His teacher, Miss Helen. The absolute perfect teacher for Roman. She was fun, silly, kind, caring and so loving to the kids. You realize it takes a very special soul to deal with a class full of 2 year olds. We will miss her so much next year.

Roman's Class 

(Christian, Amelia, Lexi, Matthew, Cole, Dylan, Dena, Roman and Parker)

Roman and his artwork. 

Thanks to lots of help from my Dad, we put together a board that is now in our front room to display all his art. He loved coming home and adding a new piece to it. 

Good-bye, Good-bye, to you and you and you
Good-Bye, Good-bye, may God bless you
(One of his favorite songs) 

Our Little Kermit

Roman just completed his 5 weeks of daily swim lessons at the Woodlands Kermit Program. He started off just dunking and is now kicking and doing a few strokes. I was amazed with how much progress he made and I think the key was going daily. He had so much fun and looked forward to this every afternoon. Every day he would say, "Who is going to be my teacher today?" We will miss it, but are going to start swim lessons in June. I'm excited for a warm summer with hanging out at the pool. On the last day of Kermits, each kid was announced on the speaker and then jumped into the pool and swam a lap. Roman swam with an instructor since he has a ways to go (another year or so) before swimming a lap. At the end, everyone cheered and he got a ribbon. I was so glad I had my sunglasses on since I started tearing up. I was just so proud of him and all the hard work and dedication he put into this. He always listened to his teachers and tried everything they asked of him. I'm so proud of him!

 

Mother's Day

There truly is no greater joy, blessing or gift than becoming a Mom. They truly are gifts from our Heavenly Father.

Our Mother's Day was simple and perfect. Started out with Church, followed by a quick visit to Nana and Pop's house to drop off some flowers. We then came home and I cooked a few things for dinner that night and then headed back to my parents for dinner with the whole fam. We had such a wonderful time relaxing, eating and just having fun. 

Visiting with Nana

Paisley just started saying, "Nana"

This boy has been giving his Mama a run for her money lately, but he gives me Oh so much love too.

My Girl! Such a sweetheart.

Betty is an absolute dream. Roman and Paisley adore her so much and I'm so blessed to have her in my life.

Roman made me a special gift at school for Mother's Day. He was so proud when I opened it.

This Mother's Day was a little surreal for me. It has been a tough past few months with my Mom going thru chemo and radiation. Her poor body has been put through such challenges this past year and we are all hoping and doing a lot of praying that this last treatment worked. To see someone you love in such pain is heartbreaking. I've been spending lots of time with her and the kids just hanging out. I'm truly blessed with a Mom that is also a friend to me. I always know that she is my biggest supporter, cheerleader and encourager. THANK YOU MOM for all that you do and all that you are. Happy Mother's Day!  

Cheers to all the Mom's we celebrated with. 

Busy Month

This past month has been insane with lots going on here. I've had to neglect blogging, so am hoping to be back soon. Here are a few of our happenings this last month:

Finished my class (PHEW!) It was WAY more work than I anticipated when I signed up. I am so relieved that it is over. Balancing the kids, my part-time job, the class and other obligations was just too much. I will find out in December if I passed, however I feel good about how I did on the 3 hour final and think my project went good too.

Got Roman potty trained and moved into a Big Boy bed in the last 2 months. Potty Training is a serious commitment, but I'm feeling like we are in a really good place right now. THANK YOU to everyone who told me to wait until Roman was 3 (best advice ever). He was mature enough to understand the concept and it made for a lot less frustration on both our parts. Roman also started the kermits swim program, which is 5 weeks of daily :25 minute swim lessons. It has been AWESOME for him. He is loving it and gets so excited every day. I wasn't sure about it when we signed up, but I'm so happy that he did it. He really looks forward to it.

Paisley is starting to talk more and more, which is great since she was a little delayed in talking. She also has developed a hilarious chuckle. She continues to be such a sweet girl, but is showing glimmers of drama. She likes to throw herself on the ground and pout when she gets mad. It actually makes me kind of laugh since it is such an act. AND she is getting hair. We are so excited that her hair is growing and can't wait to put it in some pigtails.

We are loving this warm weather! My kids couldn't be happier than to be running around the backyard with the hose on, their water table filled and lounging around in their swim suits. Oh....and I'm obsessed with summer rompers for Paisley. Can't get enough of them.

My Mom has completed her intense rounds of radiation and is now waiting a few weeks for her spinal fluid to be tested. It has been a rough road and her body has been put thru quite a journey, but we are all hopeful that this new treatment worked. She is currently in the hospital, but we are hoping she will be out tomorrow. Please keep her in your prayers these next few weeks as we wait for the next step.

Lastly...
Here are some of my recent favorite pics.