Southern California

For our family vacation and to celebrate Joe's homecoming, we decided to go to Southern California. We experienced San Diego with Legoland, Sea World, the Wild Animal Park, and the beaches of Coronado Island. It has been 3 years since we have been to that area and we were excited to go back.

We arrived on Tuesday and met up with Carrie, Matt and kids. They were in San Diego for the week as well but were heading north the next day. We went to Old Towne for a yummy dinner at a Mexican restaurant, walked around a park, and then headed back to their hotel for swimming and s'mores at the fire pits on the roof. It was so fun to see them. We tried to convince them to stay and go to Legoland with us, but to no avail. Next time...

Eight is Enough! Stuart and Hansen Cousins

Katelyn and McKell

Carlee and Megan

What an angel! (sometimes)

Wednesday we went to Legoland. It was a great day--a little drizzly and overcast but nothing severe enough to make us go home or shut the park down. The kids had a blast and I still think the "Build and Test" is one of the favorites there. Unfortunately, Carlee was a little too small to go on a lot of the rides but the few that she could go on were done multiple times. Another favorite is the Volvo Driving School where the kids actually drive Lego cars around and follow traffic rules. There were a couple of new areas open this time--Land of Adventure and Pirate Lagoon. There were some fun rides there and we can't wait until those sections are completed. It just gives us an excuse to go back in a couple of years!

Thursday we went to Sea World. It had been years since Joe and I had visited this Sea World. We had gone as kids but didn't remember it very well. Let me just say that San Antonio Sea World is so much better. There are a lot more kiddie rides, 2 big roller coasters, and the Cirque du Soleil/Dolphin Show is really great. It's one of our favorites. The best thing about San Diego was the Journey to Atlantis ride. It is a lot better than San Antonio's. We still had a great time, however. Who doesn't like seeing Shamu do flips in the air and splash the crowd with his tail?

The dolphin show was pretty good in that they totally tricked the audience by having a trainer dressed casually and acting like they got pulled out of the audience. She was helping feed the dolphins with her "fake" daughter and husband and then fell into the water. The audience totally panicked. When she started treading water like a synchronized swimmer, we figured out that she was a pro but it was a pretty good trick.

Friday was the Wild Animal Park. It was a new place for us. We enjoyed it and loved hiking along the trails. It is a glorified zoo. It is huge. Some of the animals were hiding or sleeping so we didn't get to see the tigers, cheetahs, or some monkeys but it was a good day, nevertheless. The kids loved Dino Mountain--an area where there are automated dinosaurs that roar and move and stare at you while you are walking around. They even got special passports that they could stamp when they saw all the different dinosaur species. My favorite part was taking pics of the kids while they were playing on the playground and climbing tree trunks. I love taking pictures when they are willing to pose!

Saturday we headed to Coronado Island for a delicious breakfast and fun in the surf and sand. The kids enjoyed playing in the ocean, making sand castles, and searching for seashells and sand dollars. The water was too cold for me so I was happy being the photographer, as usual. We then cleaned off the best we could and headed home.

Look out! A new generation of Baywatch!

Check out this Baywatch babe! She's even got the run down!

My other Baywatch beauty answering a distress call...

The studliest life-saver on the beach

Carrie and Matt called us while on the road and we realized they were about 20 miles behind us so they spent the night at our place before continuing home the next day. The kids had a fun night-time swim and we enjoyed late-night pizza and talking until 2:00 in the morning. Thanks, cousins, for making our house an extended pit-stop! You're always welcome!

All in all, a great vacation with greater memories. Now back to reality...

Swimming Fun

It is so much fun having a pool! My sis took some cute photos of the kids swimming when Kate and I were in L.A. for our American Girl weekend. They were in the pool for about 3 hours so although they are a little wrinkly, they are extremely happy.

Look out below!

Swimming studs

Bathing beauties

The end of the preschool journey

To celebrate the end of Jacob's preschool year, his class went on a field trip to JR's Pony Farm. Carlee even got to go and Jake loved playing "big brother" and teaching her all about the farm. The kids had a great time petting, feeding the animals and learning all about them from the cowboys and cowgirls that worked there. They even had a pony ride and a snack. Jake's favorite part was throwing his unwanted leftovers in a bucket to feed to the pigs. What a great time!

Strutting his stuff for the females.

Jake and his best bud, Cole

Just being herself...

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Jacob also had a graduation. The children sang all the songs they had learned during the year, gave a speaking part about their preschool accomplishments, and received a diploma for graduating. Look out, Kindergarteners! Here comes Jake!

Singing "Jaws"

Receiving his diploma

Getting his last hugs from Miss Camille

Sleep-talking

You know your husband has been deployed too long when...

   -He doesn't recognize his own wife's voice

   -He thinks his own bed is a hole

   -He talks about "civilians"

Tonight Joe crashed into bed around 7:00 p.m. I put the kids to bed and went in our room to put some things away. When I opened our bedroom door, I startled him and he sat up immediately in the completely dark. This conversation was too funny so I just had to post it:

Joe: "I need to get out of here! What is going on? Where am I?"

Kristen: "You're in your bed. Where do you think you are?"

Joe: "This place is a hole. There's got to be a better place to sleep than in here!"

Kristen: "You're in your own bed. It's not that bad."

Joe: "Who are you?"

Kristen: "It's Kristen. Who do you think I am?"

Joe: "Well, I know you're a female by the sound of your voice but I don't know."

Kristen: "Honey, you're home and in your own bed."

Joe: "I've got to see if some civilian flights can get me out of here. This place is a hole!"

Then he fluffed his pillow, laid back down on his stomach and stopped talking. It was so funny and I was laughing my head off and trying to keep the conversation going but he zonked back out. Thank heavens my husband is home. I don't know how much more of Bagram he could take!

Reunited

Last night my husband made it home safely from his deployment to Afghanistan. It was a whirlwind last-minute adventure getting him home this weekend but he made it and words can not express how grateful and happy we are to be a complete family again.

I didn't tell the kids that he was coming home so it was such a fun surprise as I was giggling (and taking deep breaths to calm the butterflies in my stomach) on the whole drive there while they were guessing different places I would take them. As we were driving through the tunnel near the airport, Jake said, "Mom, this is the tunnel for the airport. Are we getting Dad?" I couldn't keep it in any longer and when I told them yes, they screamed and cheered.

We were running late due to traffic and normal kid situations and we pulled in to park with 15 minutes to go before his plane landed. There was no way we were going to make it to see him walk through the gate. When we went down to get our security passes, they told us the plane was delayed about 15 minutes so we would have to hurry but we should make it. I was sweating bullets and we were literally running through the airport to get there in time. Luckily there was no line at security but flip-flops were lost on the belt, children were tripping and falling on the floor, posters were tumbling to the ground, and ankles were twisted as we hurried through to get on the tram ride to the other terminal and, of course, walk to the last gate. We arrived just in time to see his plane pull up to the walkway. The kids had their posters ready and I had the camera ready.

People were filing out, smiling at my children and oohhing over their welcome posters. They commented on how cute they were and said "they must be the families of those 2 Air Force guys". The kids saw him first and hugged him tightly while I snapped pictures. I hugged him next and the tears started. The other passengers on the plane clapped and thanked Joe and Clarence Dunagan (Kelly, his wife, and their 18 month old and 6 week old baby were there to welcome him) for their service as they hugged their families. I was so happy to have him home. He looked fantastic, even with his short military haircut ;) We got his luggage; he changed his clothes and we were off to dinner. Clark had picked out Cheesecake Factory so we headed down to Caesar's Palace to eat. The kids were happy and hungry and we played games while waiting for our food. We were a family again and it was like our normal life.

We missed you and love you so much, Joe. Thank you for your willingness to serve and sacrifice for our freedom. Thank you also for jumping through many hoops to come home safely and reunite our sweet family again after five long months.

American Girls

Last weekend I had the opportunity to have a little getaway with Katelyn. We have been planning this since about December and were so excited to go. We went to Los Angeles to visit the American Girl Place with three of her best buds, and three of mine. It was so much fun. We took the girls out of school early and headed out Friday afternoon. We got caught in some traffic in both Vegas and L.A. but arrived just after 7:00 p.m. Jen and Aspen were already there to meet us and had made dinner reservations for 8:00. We quickly dropped off our suitcases at the hotel, Residence Inn Beverly Hills, and hopped back into the car for dinner at Maggiano's in The Grove shopping center. It was really tasty and the girls loved acting grown-up with their best manners.

After dinner, we walked around looking at all the shops there and took pictures in front of the fountains. (All of us took tons of pictures all weekend so Geneva dubbed us the "Mamarazzi") We then headed back to the hotel to relax and give our own "American Girl dolls" a little surprise. We put together some cute journals and hot pink take-out boxes with lip gloss, nail polish, treats, and friendship bracelets for each girl. Even their dolls got mini boxes with treats and friendship bracelets! So cute!

Most of us went to bed soon after but a couple of us (Jen and Geneva!) stayed up talking until 2:00 a.m. so breakfast came early at 8:30. It was a yummy continental breakfast and then we got ready for the day and headed back to The Grove for our highly anticipated adventure.

Taking a reading break

We shopped the entire store for about an hour checking and re-checking things. The girls made their little wish lists of purchases after lunch. Then we headed into The Cafe for lunch. It was so cute--everything in black, white, and hot pink. We were the only crazy "Mamarazzi" taking pictures of everything including the food and the table settings. It was so fun.

Writing the wish list

The "Mamarazzi"

Lunch consisted of warm mini cinnamon rolls, veggies, fruit kabobs, mini cheese potatoes, and french bread as the appetizer, pasta for the girls and chicken sandwiches for the moms, and chocolate mousse, a sugar cookie, and a heart-shaped piece of cake for dessert. Yum Yum! As we were talking over lunch about our blessings and what you receive when making right choices, we looked over at our four sweet little dolls and I couldn't help but get choked up. We discussed that moms are just big girls because we too like to play with our friends, go shopping, eat yummy food, have sleepovers and talk until the wee hours of the morning, and dress our own "dolls". It was the perfect weekend to help celebrate Mother's Day. Katelyn thought it was all for her but it was just as much for me, if not more. We got to spend lots of time together holding hands while shopping and talking. I am so grateful for my little doll and what she gives me.

After lunch, we made our purchases and headed out for some more window shopping. The girls had a blast being the store mannequins modeling items and clothes in Gap, Crate & Barrel, and Pottery Barn Kids. We just shopped and they made the customers smile with their poses and funny faces.

Cute Crate & Barrel mannequins

When we were shopped out, we piled into the car for the 4-hour drive home--I mean 7-hour drive home due to L.A. traffic. It was crazy! Luckily we had some great conversation to pass the time and the girls did really well with very little complaining. Writing songs in those notebooks and watching American Girl movies while eating snacks kept them very entertained. It was a wonderful weekend with some wonderful American Girls.