We survived...

Another family road trip. Only this time the drive was a little shorter and we drove straight without stopping. We drove up to Fresno to spend the weekend with our great friends Franklin and Lisa. Since Will isn’t able to take too much time off work and we don’t get to see our friends as much as we would like, so we decided to drive up and spend a night in Fresno then two nights in Moro Bay. We got into Fresno at midnight on Thursday. It was hot and Caylin and Anika thought it was pretty exciting to be up so late. They were so excited that they didn’t end up falling asleep until 2am! After a 5 hour drive that was painful! I sat in the backyard trying to get Anika to sleep while Caylin played around with her buddy Gavin’s bike. It was a rough night. Amazingly enough we all felt pretty good the next morning considering the kind of night we had. We spent the day out on the lake boating, swimming, tubing, and wakeboarding. Caylin loved swimming in the wide open lake, she and Aiana were so excited to try tubing too. After our day on the lake we drove to Moro Bay to spend a couple nights at Franklin’s family’s beach house. We survived the 2 hour drive talking the whole time about cows and cows pooping! I just don’t know what it is about 3 yr olds and poop…anyway…
Saturday was an awesome day. The adults got to go on a wine tasting tour and enjoyed 8 hours kid free!!!! We visited 4 different wineries; however, we were pretty much “done” with wine tasting after the 3rd winery. Lisa and I both brought our cameras and had a blast taking photos of, well, everything. I haven’t laughed so hard in a LONG time! That wine tasting trip alone was worth a 6 hour drive.
It was good to get back to the kids. They did great with the babysitters; however, later that day Caylin threw up all over Will. That was the beginning of what I guess was a little flu bug? I was worried because we were driving home the next day. She seemed to be ok by the morning, so we continued with our plans to drive home. We drove for about an hour and stopped when Caylin began to complain about her tummy. We pulled over to play at the park for a while. There was a little lake at the park with geese and ducks. I enjoyed watching the girls feed the birds and run from the aggressive geese. After this we managed to drive a few more hours to Santa Barbra before Caylin began to complain again. This was a great stop. Santa Barbra is beautiful. We had a picnic on the beach and enjoyed a live concert given by the local homeless band. They lip sank to 50’s music and played on a keyboard made out of cardboard, microphone that was a lantern, and a guitar made from material with pink feathers all over it. The rest of the drive home was, well, it had it’s moments but we didn’t have to stop anymore. We were happy to get home, but we were exhausted. Anika came down with a cold and we’ve spent the rest of the week trying to get through that. It was all worth it though, we had a great time!

Concert in the park

Some of our friends have been going to concerts in the park and last night we finally made it to one. Caylin had a blast with her friend Sarah, while Aiana wasn’t too happy about being there. I’m sure she would have been happier if she had a friend with her. Anika kicked back and enjoyed the music.

Birthdays galore

The past two months have been full of birthday parties! Caylin now hears the words “birthday party” and immediately says “and we’re gonna have cake and the candy”! This past weekend we celebrated with our 3 friends Maya, Mya, and Luke. It was a busy weekend full of yummy treats.

Little climber

I came into Anika’s room for her morning feeding the other day and found her standing in her crib! The little stinker was all smiles! The problem is…she doesn’t know how to get down. So today I heard her screaming in her crib and found her hanging on to her mobile for dear life! My job continues to get even more exciting!

Anika is 8 months old!

What’s new with the 8 month old? Well, Anika is pretty much sitting up and crawling now. Not so much on her hands and knees but she pulls herself around on her forearms and scoots forward then hops up on her hands and knees. She also has 2 teeth now and is getting better about eating food. She at least will let me put food in her mouth without making a sour face. Yesterday she did eat a whole tablespoon! When she’s crying and I come near her she makes a “maaamaaa” sound…I’d say she is saying mama! She still has such a sweet demeanor about her, but she can scream when she needs some attention or help when big sis Caylin is getting too rough. She does have a horrible case of eczema and we have a hard time keeping her from scratching. It’s tough to see all her little red spots all over, I just wish I could take it all away and make it better for her! All in all she is a sweetie pie and a happy girl!

Anika showing off her 2 teeth

Standing up with sister

Sitting so big!

Caylin's 1st "shiner"

We went to our friend’s birthday party over the weekend and while jumping in the trampoline Caylin got elbowed in the eye which resulted in her first “shiner”…ouch!!!

This black eye matched perfect on Sunday when we showed up at church and realized that Caylin hadn’t put her shoes on when she was asked too. Lovely!!! Will was randomly approached by a lady who felt the need to tell him that she was a foster care parent for 19 years. Hmmm, was it because she saw him carrying a little girl with a black eye, barefoot, and matted hair??

Time to catch up!

Well, the girls and I made it through a week without daddy. Will spent the week as a camp counselor at a camp for children who are in special situations. I was so proud that he wanted to serve in this way that I figured I’d take on a week alone with the girls. We actually had a great time, we just pretended we were on vacation, which is pretty easy to in San Diego!














Monday we went to Sea World with some friends. I enjoyed having Aiana along with us and so did Caylin. She enjoyed going on rides with her big sis.
















Tuesday we BBQ’d at grandpa’s with uncle Dustin and his family. The girls always have fun with their grandpa. I love that my dad can be so childlike.






Wednesday my mom and I took all the girls including 2 of Aiana’s friends to the San Diego Fair. Aiana and her friends pretty much spend the whole time on the rides while my mom and I enjoyed walking around with the little girls. We ate goodies as we strolled along. We took Caylin over to the kiddie area and bought her tickets to go on some rides. Since daddy wasn’t with us, I had no other choice but to go on some of the rides with Caylin. I get queasy very easily, but I made it through! And glad I did, I loved watching Caylin’s little face light up with excitement. I was amazed at how confident and brave she was when she went on the mini ferris wheel all by herself! Aiana and her friends met back up with us after dark. I was so worried one of the girls would come back sick…as I always got sick on fair rides. But they were good and excited to tell us all about the crazy rides they went on.






















Thursday my mom watched the girls and I was able to enjoy dinner with my girlfriend, Linda. We went up to the high school summer camp that her husband was teaching at. We got there right at worship time which was so inspiring. The music was awesome and the energy in the room was so uplifting. It was a great time to refresh my mind and time to reflect on God’s goodness and how His grace had gotten me through the long week.
Friday, for the 4th, we hung out and swam at uncle Dustin’s while we waited for Will to get home at 3pm. Everyone was VERY happy to see daddy. Will was pooped after a long physically and emotionally exhausting week, but still had it in him to play with the kids. So we continued to celebrate the 4th by going over to our friends, George and Monique’s. We swam some more and enjoyed the good company for a couple hours before going to the welcome home dinner at the church. The welcome home dinner was to honor all of the staff and counselor’s who spent the week at camp. When we arrived at the church I was approached by SO many people telling me how awesome Will was with the kids at camp and that I would be so proud of him! This camp was so clearly God’s calling for Will. So many people affirmed Will’s ability to connect with the kids. I love seeing God at work!! We’re all glad that dad is home, and so happy we made it through the week!