Sunny San Diego

We had a great time in San Diego. Not only did we get to visit all the animals but we got to see lots of cousins too which was really icing on the cake!

Day 1 was Sea World. Yes although we spend many weekends in SA, the kids have never been to Sea World. So we were excited to take them. Even better, my cousin AJ came in from LA and my cousin Shelley and her daughter Abby from SD and Doug's cousin Ed who just finished law school in SD all came with us!!! Marlie was fascinated with Shamu and Matt rode a real roller coaster. I couldn't believe he did it. I chickened out myself!

I love this picture...it pretty much sums up the day for Marlie...she would not leave Ed alone and poor Ed carried her throughout all of Sea World!!

Here are the girls...Marlie and Abby...SO very cute!

And here's Shelley and I with the kids. Hey girl we did pretty good huh? They are adorable.

Here are the boys on the roller coaster. Apparently Matt loved the first drop, but after it went faster and dipped more he had completely buried his face in Ed's armpit! Here we are at the Sea Lion show. The spooky cooky castle!

Darn I wish you could see this picture better. Abby and Matt are making their scary faces!

Funny look who's riding with Marlie! Hilarious!

And we couldn't skip the tea cups!!!

And after a long day we had great Mexican food in Old Town.

Day 2 was relaxing. We got up leisurely and headed to Fletcher Cove. The kids played on the play ground and we sat and watched the waves. After a nice long nap we headed down to the Hotel Del Coronado to take some family pics. Those will be coming soon and I can't wait for you to see them. I got a sneak peek at a few of them and some are super cool. Afterwards we let the kids play in the sand and they had a blast!

Day 3 we went to the Wild Animal Park aka Madagascar to the kids (if you haven't seen that movie it's hilarious!). It was really awesome to see so many animals living in similar to habitats to where they live in Africa. We got to see them feed the cheetahs so the kids came away loving the cheetahs.

We ended the day with dinner at In-N-Out Burger and dessert at Cupcake Love where we shared 4 amazing cupcakes!!!

Day 4 was busy! We got to the zoo early and were lucky enough to see a zebra who was only 1! We also watched the gorillas for awhile. There was a baby and it was so cute to see her with her Mom. The baby gorilla was gazing at Marlie. Maybe she recognized she was little too. It's almost as if she wanted to play with her. It was so cute!

After the zoo we went back to the Hotel Del where we met cousin Rick and had a picnic on the beach!! Matt played football in the water with the boys and Marlie was happy as a lark sitting and playing in the sand. The seagulls ate most of our lunch but no one cared because it was so beautiful out there. Honestly we could have skipped the parks and just played on the beach every day and the kids would have loved it. We will do that for our next vacation for sure!!

That night we rushed home to get ready for the party! Ed tried to teach Doug how to surf and Doug said after only a few tries he was exhausted! Everyone came to our little condo (which turned out great), Doug grilled some steaks and we had a great time hanging out with everyone one last time. Shame on me for not taking pictures. We enjoyed one last sunset and promised to come back and do this all again! Thank you Ed, Shelley, AJ and Rick for spending time with our crazy family!! It wouldn't have been as fun without you!

Lots of Good News

Thank you God! Matt had his heart check-up on Friday and we got great news. His EKG looked good (well I couldn't tell squat, but that's what the doc said) and we don't have to go back for 3 years!! Doug and I were so nervous with Matt playing sports but she said he has no restrictions! This was a huge relief!!!! Thank you everyone for your prayers.

Another really cool thing happened on Saturday. Matt scored 5 goals at his soccer game!! I'm not kidding...the final score was 7-0 and Matt scored 5!!! This is his 3rd game and it's like it just clicked. He scored early on and after that just got the feel of it. It was AWESOME! And each time after he scored he ran to the sidelines to give me a high-five and I tried hard not to get emotional. He smiled like crazy all the way home and for the first time in years I think he skipped his nap because he was on such a high!!! The whole family had a blast!!

More Soccer and Sick Babies

I was up until 2am Thursday night with Matt because his ear hurt and after a few doses of medicine he finally fell asleep. Doc confirmed an ear infection and after a few rounds of antibiotics he was ready. He did not want to miss the soccer game.

Game was great. Nene, Grandpa and Uncle Jay came to cheer like crazy with me. Matt did great and his teammates did well too. They are getting the hang of it. Unfortunately we did not score but we'll try next time. Matt got so close to scoring and I was on the sidelines trying to kick it in for him but apparently that doesn't work! Here's Matt's #1 fan...And the rest of us tie for a close 2nd...

We had a blast! So after the game we thought it would be fun to grab a bite to eat and Matt requested pancakes. We headed to the nearby IHOP and all was going well until (luckily we were all done) Marlie gave it up ALL over! Poor thing...it just kept coming. At one point Matt yelled "ugh it really stinks" and I think I apologized to the waitress about 50 times because it was everywhere. I feel horrible for all the people squeezed in like sardines around us that had not yet eaten. What to do? The cutest thing is little Marlie stripped of all her clothes on the way home...kept saying "I sorry Momma". Bless her heart. She had a 104 fever when we got home so Doug and I both spent the night up with her every 3-4 hours giving her medicine. Although she must have felt horrible she was so sweet and funny the entire time. Luckily she woke up Sunday morning in good shape!

The sweetest thing was when we woke up from our naps on Sunday our friends Evan and Annie had made cards for Marlie and put them up on our front door. It was SOOOOO cute! Thank you Evan and Annie...that made Marlie feel much better!

Sat night Doug and I managed to sneak away when the kids were ready for bed and meet our friends John & Ellaine (also old neighbors, also coworkers) for dinner. It was really nice and we had so much fun. I'm sure we were the loudest in that little quaint restaurant because we laughed the entire time. What a nice break from some of the fun craziness of life with children. Thank you guys we have to do that again soon!

The Sharks

Matt had his first soccer game this weekend! The team named themselves the sharks...GO SHARKS! It was hilarious... as all 3-4 year old sports are. I'm pretty sure we scored more points on ourselves but we did score 2 goals and 1 was on a breakway and actually really good!

Our favorite coach...

And the crazy lady who screams at the top of her lungs at a 4 year old soccer game cheering for my team! She can't help herself.

Introducing...well part of the sharks...

Caden, Matt and Evan...I can't believe how still and focused they are in this picture. Too cute!

Matt got to play goalie in the 4th quarter but the ball never came to his side of the field! The other team had their starters out so we were actually able to keep the ball on the other side of the field! But he was ready....

So much fun! Thank you Dad for coaching and we're so excited all of our friends are playing too! More soccer pics to come!

Party On

Lots of birthday parties this weekend and the kids had a blast. We went to Gracie's party first. It was so much fun and the kids loved making their own stuffed animals. As you can see Matt plopped himself right down next to Miss Aseena. He loves Miss Aseena. She said he gave her 4 hugs within the 2 hours we were there. I can see why...she is super sweet! Here they are getting ready to start their animals!

Although Dad would have probably loved to stay home and watch football, Marlie was super excited he was helping her! And she's actually letting him help!!!

He taught her well....see she's doing it by herself too!

And when they were done they put a special star in their animal and had a special ceremony. Matt put himself right in the middle of Miss Carrie and her girls. That's Payton to his left and Gracie on his right. Before we went to the party I told Matt he could play with Payton and he said "I like Payton...wait I LOVE Payton!" And I think he likes Miss Carrie too. I'm sure when he's 15 and mad at Mom that he'll pack his bags and either head to Miss Aseena or Miss Carrie's house.

After our nap we went to Ryan's party. Matt really enjoys playing with Ryan and Marlie and his little sis Avery are best buds too. We also got to see Nate and Edi, Matt's old friends from Primrose. Here are some cute pics...

San Antonio is fun!

We took a quick trip to SA over the Labor Day holiday. We weren't there but a few hours when Matt looked at me with the biggest smile and said "San Antonio is fun"! He cried hysterically when we left.

We got to meet baby Livi Hatter. She's so tiny and sweet and just slept peacefully most of the time. She is too cute. But her big bro and sis are pretty cute too. Marlie had so much fun playing with them. I got some awesome pics of Marlie and Cale. Check out the string of photos below....

Are you putting your arm around me?

I guess he likes me...but where is his hand going now?


Um...Momma I think it's on my bum!

So then Marlie got brave and tried to kiss Cale. He wanted nothing to do with that! She told me "Momma he no want kiss".
So then she thought she was being too forward so closed her eyes and waited.....Cale still not interested at all! One day the tables will turn! I LOVE LOVE this picture.
The kids played on the slides and had a blast. Here's my best shot of trying to get 2 year olds to ride down the slide together!

Cale and Marlie were having a blast and Cale was much more excited about giving Marlie a high 5 than kissing!
The kids actually did really well playing soccer together too!
It was so fun! Yes Matt and Livi were there although not see above. Matt was grumpy and Livi sleepy!

Later that night we celebrated Matt's birthday with all of our cousins. Gram had everything Spidermaned out and Matt loved it! Thanks guys for making his day special! You all are awesome!
Here is Marlie trying to be scary....I think it worked! This picture makes me laugh out loud!
Back to Houston and back to reality. We had a great weekend!