California-cation

Just in case you were wondering, YES, Stella is enjoying herself thoroughly on our family vacation.

Mother's Week

A few weeks ago our dear family friend Jen was visiting from the beautiful Newport, CA and offered us to stay in her beautiful Newport, CA condo the week after mother's day while she was out of town.
Let me tell you how long it took us to think about that one...
-2 seconds.

So here I am blogging to you from said beautiful Newport condo with my two sleeping babies in the other room and that darling Mr. M by my side. (he's actually out making me a sprite and lime right now in the kitchen - love him!)
Oh, and did I mention Itty?  She's here too. 

Here she is not interrupting my reading in the slightest while she uses my book for a pillow as she's fast asleep.

 So let me tell you how fun Stella is to drive with in the car... about -2%.  The child cannot hang in a car for more than 5 minutes.  We came fully equipped with all the snacks and electronic devices her little heart could desire, but did that keep her content for more than 23 seconds at a time?  NO.
Oddly enough, we stopped to stretch our legs (and pick me up a coffee, pleeeeease!) and she was happy as a clam as soon as her seat was unbuckled... weird how that happens! (I must admit that she's made a slight improvement from last year's shinanigans, though)

What she lacks in patience, she makes up for in cute-ness.

Harlo on the other hand is a very happy traveler.  My born jet-setter!  I'm not joking you when I tell you this girl is an ocean-addict!
She was so excited this morning as we were finishing up packing our bags (last minute? no...) she could not keep from hugging me ever few minutes and saying "I'M SO EXCITED!" She was in her car seat (and buckled) about 30 minutes before anyone else was getting in the car.  By the time we pulled into town she was nearly bursting with anticipation.  This was her as we were headed to walk up the pier (before even stopping by the condo because we really couldn't even wait another minute!)

The lovely sunset made the hours of Stella's demands quite worth it!

We watched a lovely sunset and headed back to our place which is fabulous!  Harlo walked into the building and said "wow, this is a nice place." and when we walked into Jen's condo she looked around and said "this is amazing!" although she's confused because on every other vacation we've been on we've been staying with friends or family and now we're here alone she keeps asking me if we live here.  Haha, unfortunately, no....

Tomorrow we get to see our beloved Auntie and Willow!

Labor Day Weekend :: Pioche

Every labor day when I was a kid we would go to Pioche, NV. I have no idea how we got started, but we have had close family friends there for as long as I can remember and it was always the highlight of our year. Since Brady and I have been together, we've had his family reunion on labor day and since Pioche is a farther drive and we've always had small babies, we've never made it out together. This year we decided we had to do both. Family reunion AND Pioche. What a blast!
We started off on the right foot, because as soon as we told Harlo we were going to "Pioche" (pronounced pee-O-ch) she immediately made the connection that "Pioche" kinda sounds like "peach Ogurt" which is her favorite thing in the world, so right away she was excited.
As soon as we pulled to town we went to the two stores Pioche has, Tillies and the Ragdoll. Harlo took a liking to Tillies. She kept asking to go back there all day. (on a potty note.. she had NO accidents the whole day, even on the ride there and back. YAY)
Once we were at the park, we just took in all the goodness Pioche had to offer. It was so fun sharing my favorite childhood memory with my own little family.

Brakken drove down with my dad and first thing had to come over and smooch on my girls. He's the best!

Go Harlo!

Stelly liked Pioche, too.. but especially liked her Pops on this day.

gotta love the Aunties :)

Maizee was already in Pioche with my mom so we met up with her too :)

Stella chased her 'boo' all day long

Then brought it to Papa for some good lovins :)

our little crew

love these pictures of my girls.. so classic:

We even got some great, live entertainment! Harlo was so stoked about Ninadavo playing. :)

The girls just danced their little hearts out.

The ride home was it's own fun little adventure. I always love the drive to/from Pioche. You drive through all these quaint little towns and it's all so serene. Maizee and Harlo sang songs keeping us entertained and we even stopped for a little potty break and took in the sunset. It was definitely a successful trip, and one that I look forward to making year after year.