The Happiest Place on Earth

Our trip to California wouldn't have been complete without a visit to Disneyland! This was Todd's first visit and Lucy is at an age where she's finally understanding more and what Disneyland is all about. She asks to go back almost every day! 

(I wish Lucy, believe me... I wish).

The first picture of the day... she is such a nut!

Lucy was in heaven meeting some of the princesses!

The first thing she mentioned to Snow White was that it's her birthday and that she got a bike for her birthday...oh, that girl.

Lucy loves Sleeping Beauty! She refers to her own hair as "Sleeping Beauty hair" because it's long and blonde just like hers. 

Of course she had to show off her hair to Sleeping Beauty :)

 Thank you Mom for a wonderful trip!! It was such a magical and memorable day!

Lately...

Lately, I just haven't felt like blogging, or doing anything for that matter. I've gotten in the same old rut, doing the same old things. I don't feel very inspired lately, nor do I feel like really taking any pictures. And it doesn't help that it's so dang hot here in AZ that all I'm left to do with my kids is stay inside the house, or hang out at the mall. (We're going a little crazy!)

In and amongst the demands of motherhood, I've lost a sense of who I am... an identity crisis, if you will. Something I've been struggling with for a little while now. I can hardly do something that I want to do without little hands grabbing away, or a child laying across my lap, or demanding for my attention. The motivation to do fun and spontaneous things has flown out the window.

I'm wanting to break out of this currently dull way of life, but am struggling to find a way how. In an effort to mix things up a bit, I packed up the kids and we took off to California last week for a few days. Alex was able to get a lot of good studying in for his test with no loud/crying distractions. Normally, the drive is only about 6 hours... but driving (a little slower) by myself, while trying to take care of kids, and stopping frequently for bathroom breaks and food, it took me about 8 hours to get there. Toooo long and exhausting by myself... I'm thinking that I won't be doing that very often.

We had a wonderful, relaxing time visiting mine and Alex's parents. My mom took me and the kids to Disneyland (more to come on that!), went shopping, and just enjoyed being together.
The kids and I went to my mother-in-law's classroom at her school, and enjoyed some ice cream afterwards.
And our trip wouldn't have been complete without a little swimming as well. :)

But we were anxious to get back home and see Alex again. We missed him terribly.

Now that we're home again, it's back to the same old routine. If I could write a big giant post-it note to myself, I'd hang it over my fireplace and it would say "Do something worth while today. Find the energy, find the motivation, and make it happen".

...easier said than done! But here's to trying!

White Coat Ceremony

Last weekend, Alex had his White Coat Ceremony. The ceremony is a ritual among schools that mark the transition into the medical profession and clinical setting. Many of the student's family and friends come, but it was just me and the kids cheering on our favorite guy!

I strategically sat in the back corner with the kids, brought tons of snacks, toys, and even the iPad to keep them occupied so I could enjoy the ceremony the best I could.
But I guess this goes without saying... I was wrestling alligators the whole time.

We had to wait a little bit until it was time for Alex to go up and receive his coat.
But it was finally his turn!!

That white coat suits him well, no?

I'm so proud of him for working so hard to get to this point! The road only gets longer and harder from  here, but I couldn't be more excited for him and in his pursuit of his dream!

Lucy is Three!!

While we were camping, we celebrated Lucy's 3rd birthday (Aug 4th). I can't believe my little girl is already three!! I can't even begin to express the amount of joy she has brought to our family in these three short years. She's pretty much the sweetest, most huggable, kissable, squishable little girl!

We brought her to the back of the car to reveal to her the big birthday surprise...

She couldn't believe what she found!!

A new bike!!! Basket, bell, and all!!

 She was pretty thrilled!

We improvised a birthday cake with a chocolate breakfast muffin. 

I'm sure she wished for a life time of Dora, riding her bike, and chocolate milk. 

Oh, the life of a three year old.

For the rest of our camping trip, she was non stop talking about her birthday and her new bike. She would see a stranger, yell for their attention, and when she got it she'd say something along the lines of "It's my birthday! I got my birthday bike!"
To this day, she still mentions her birthday to anyone she talks to. When they ask her how old she is, she goes into a long monologue of how she is three and that she got a bike for her birthday, went camping, something about the beach, ect. Her prayers even consist of being thankful for cousins, camping at the beach, cousins again, and of course her bike.

Happy Birthday Gooseberry!! We love you!

Family Reunion

We packed up our camping gear and headed to beautiful California this last weekend! Every year, the Westbrook side of Alex's family gets together for a huge family reunion. I think there were 175 people there this year! Usually, the reunions happen in Arizona, but this year everyone came and camped near the beach. We spent a majority of the time soaking in some rays and listening to the soothing sounds of waves crashing. 

And you know your daughter loves chocolate milk when she sees the water washing up on shore and exclaims, "Look, Mom! Chocolate milk!!"