Mini Golf

We pass by a driving range everyday on the way to Grandma Lola's. For weeks, Emery was asking to go golfing. We finally took her a few weeks ago. We paid for Emery, Ivan and myself to golf. After the first hole, we learned that we were a little too optimistic and just one person other than Emery, at best, was going to golf.

At the first hole, Ivan attempted to teach Emery how to hold the golf club. She instantly put her hands up to stop him and said, "no, no, I do by myself". OK, then, we let her try without any help. That didn't last long. Finally, Emery gave in and let Ivan give her a little direction.

Then, once we were done at the first hole, she didn't understand that we were going to golf at multiple holes and got upset when we were leaving the first one. Luckily, she picked up on the fact that you get to play over and over again quickly. It ended up being a great family night out.

San Diego / Travels

After this post, I will finally be caught up with our trip to CA. What a relief! It's been hard keeping up with the blog with both girls, work and my attempt to get out of the house to enjoy the nice weather.

As usual, the pictures are in the reverse order, but since it is turning into the norm, we are all used to it right?

The drive home from CA was good, but a little tougher than the drive to CA. We left CA around 8a and didn't get home until close to 7p. Emery was tired and antsy, but finally, she took a good 3 hour nap. I'm not sure how we would have gotten her through the drive if it weren't for her nap. Paisley slept basically the whole drive home and along with that, came that she was up until 3a that night. A little rough considering I went to work the next morning.

At one of our stops along the way. Emery really wants to be able to sit in a seat without her car seat. Too bad for her, I'm all about using the 5 pt harness for as long as I can (probably until she's 5!).
Ivan loves the beach. He can't get enough of the beach. Me, not so much. I would rather be at a pool. There is just something about salt water and sand. Blah! Anyway, while we were in San Diego, we did finally head to the beach one day. We lasted maybe 2 hours. Luckily, the non-beach lovers survived and kept a smile on their face, and the beach lovers got enough of a fix in that 2 hour time period.

Emery loved playing in the sand ..

The only proof that I actually was there ..

Emery loved the water too .. except for when it got her face wet
Paisley was happy at the beach as well..
Later that evening, we went on a boat ride that our hotel offered. It was only a 1 hour boat ride but it was fun and we got a good view of San Diego.
Makayla has the same look on her face in most pictures .. maybe it is a pre-teen thing?
So, I have to admit that I don't wash my hair everyday. For one, it's just too much work and, it's not good for your hair. So, on non-wash days, I've been known to use a little baby powder in my roots to make it look more like a wash day. So, of course, now Emery is obsessed with baby powder. One day at the hotel, she got into the baby powder and went a little wild with it ..
There was a little amusement park in San Diego within walking distance of our hotel. We walked there and enjoyed a few hours of rides and treats ..
Ivan took Emery on the "Tilt o' Whirl". I remember going on this ride as a kid and being scared. As you can see by the pictures, Emery was scared too. She was tough and didn't cry though.
Then a nice boat ride .. a little more of Emery's style. Makayla did willingly get on the ride, however, you would never know it by these pictures
I LOVE churro's. I've always loved churro's. As soon as we got to the park, I got myself a $3.50 churro. Emery took one bite and it became HER churro. She refused to get out of the stroller to ride rides until the churro was gone. Looks like we will be fighting over the churros ..
The entrance of the amusement park
Just my 2 cute girls ..

San Diego / Sea World

After spending a few days in Anaheim, we drove down to San Diego for the week. The order of these pictures are a mess once again, but we will just deal with them ..

We spent some time at the pool ... Makayla even taught Emery how to swim ..

Ms Photogenic ..
Paisley's first time in the pool - she loved it!
These are the faces I get when I say "smile pretty" ..
Family picture at Sea World I hadn't been to Sea World in 15+ years. We went to most of the shows but by far, the best was the dog/cat show. I didn't get any pictures during the show, but it was so cute. The animals did a ton of tricks and we all enjoyed it.
The one and only picture that I took of an animal the entire day we were at Sea World
Poor Makayla had to share a bed with Emery the entire trip. I was surprised to see how crazy Emery is when she sleeps, but after seeing it, we may have to make different sleeping arrangements for poor Makayla for our next trip.
Views of San Diego
Back at Sea World. Emery loves to see characters and such - but from afar. Whenever she gets up close, she turns into a very shy girl again.

Mid-day at Sea World, we went to an Elmo & Friends show that was inside a theater. It was Paisley's nap time and every time she would fall asleep during the show, we would get sprinkled with water and it would wake her up. She was not a happy camper. Emery didn't care for the show either because the water got her face wet. She is a little like me and doesn't like getting her face wet at all. Anyway, on the way out of the show, Ivan had Paisley on his shoulders. She must have been past the point of exhaustion because she fell asleep right there ..

Paisley @ 9 Months!

Paisley's 9 month appointment was great. She's right on track and as healthy as can be. She did drop in her percentiles in height and weight (she had always been 75th percentile in both). Dr. Ring said the weight drop was due to becoming mobile (and boy, she can crawl fast) and that she expects another height spurt soon. We have another x-ray in September to keep an eye on her Hip Dysplaysia, but all is well right now.

Weight - 19.4 lbs - 50th percentile

Height - 27 1/4 - 65th percentile

2 teeth (bottom)

speed crawling

babbling up a storm

laughs hysterically, but only at Emery

eating and sleeping great

still the happiest little baby ever

Here are the most recent professional pictures taken. As always, Mandi at loulouphotography.com outdid herself. Thanks Amanda!!

Nissan Armada Anyone?

Our second day at Disneyland was a long but fun day. We were there for about 8 hours and we all know, 8 hours anywhere but home with kids can make for a long day. Everyone was still in good spirits, but we were hungry and quickly getting tired. As we got off of the Disneyland Tram, we were juggling 3 kids, a double stroller, my purse, diaper bag, sweaters and a blanket. I said to Ivan, "do you have the keys?" A look of shock crosses over his face. It goes a little like this ..

Me - "you have the keys right?"

Ivan - "no, you have the keys" (his face was white like he had just seen a ghost)

Me - "no I don't, I haven't touched them in 3 days since we left UT"

Ivan - "I think I lost them on a ride"

Me - no comment ... just silence but probably a look that could kill

I immediately start calling information for the number to Disneyland to see if anyone has turned in the keys. I tell Ivan to start finding a nearby Nissan dealership to see what can be done. My mind is racing with what we are going to do. I figure we can catch a quick cab to the hotel, but then we would be stuck in the hotel since I won't go anywhere else without the girls in car seats.

I then say to Ivan, "I bet the keys are in the car. I don't remember hearing you lock the car when we left it". We both were sweating bullets but praying that my gut feeling was right. The walk seemed to last forever. Makayla and Emery just knew not to say anything. Ivan and I didn't say anything, we just walked. In complete silence.

Sure enough, we get the to the car, the doors were unlocked and the keys are sitting right IN the car! I had never been so happy in my life to leave my very expensive car unlocked, with the keys in it before. The morale of the story, everyone must be nice at Disneyland. They even left us our car when they could have very easily left with the expensive car and $500 worth of car seats.

Disneyland!!

We spent 2 days at Disneyland and had a great time. Emery's favorite rides were Snow Whites Scary Adventure and Finding Nemo Submarine Journey. Ivan and Makayla took her on the Matterhorn and we can just say, it was the least of her favorites. She didn't cry, but even now, a few days later, she talks about the ride with the hills and the scary abominable snowman.

These 2 girls have soo much fun together. Emery is attached to Makayla and I am already dreading the time we have to drop Makayla off and head home. Emery is going to struggle ..
Paisley and I hung out at the stroller while the rest of the group went on some rides. At one point, I put Paisley down so she could just sit outside of the stroller. She wasn't sure at all of where I left her and she kept lifting her legs. Eventually, she cried to have me pick her up
The 2 photogenic girls (not!)