Catching Up

Lately I feel like I just can't seem to get things together. I don't know what it is. I've been getting decent sleep, I haven't been sick in awhile, and there isn't anything much more stressful than usual. But I feel like I am always a few steps behind in everything lately. I seriously need to take a few days and just get organized. Anyway, I realized that I hadn't posted about our trip from last month up to my parents' cabin. They invited us to go up there with them, and I was a little reluctant. Traveling with the kids is not exactly a relaxing vacation, but Dave really wanted to squeeze the cabin trip in (since apparently San Diego 2 weeks before and Utah a few weeks after wasn't enough travel for him). I am so glad we went! The weather was perfect, the kids loved finally being able to be outdoors, and we always have fun with my parents.

It started out with a nice drive up there. The kids did amazingly well, and either slept or entertained themselves most of the time. (That always starts a vacation off on the right foot!) Brynn even stayed dry the whole drive up there (yay!!). She continued to do so well with the potty training into the next day, that we decided a girls' morning out was in order. Brynn, my mom, and I went to get pedicures/manicures. Brynn was excited that she was a "big girl" now and could get a professional manicure too. She chose cute red polish and had tiny white flowers painted on each nail. She ended up picking off all the polish within 24 hours, but at least she got the "its fun to be a big girl" (and big girls go potty in the toilet) thing. Here she is trying to hold super still on my mom's lap...
We also went to the "Family Fun Center" while we were up there (are you noticing the frequency we've been going to those kinds of places? Dave's been enjoying his excuse to act like a kid--you know, its important for our family to have bonding time and our kids to have all kinds of experiences.) We played all kinds of games, and the kids won enough tickets for some fun prizes that all broke within 10 minutes. They were so proud of themselves that they didn't care. My dad, Dave and Brynn also rode the go-carts, and Collin was on the sidelines to cheer them on.
The kids also enjoyed getting a little spoiled by my parents. They were on a constant sugar high. Here they are enjoying some treats...


And here is the main distributor of the candy...He did try to balance out the sugar highs he gave the kids with some quiet down time in the hammock. They LOVE relaxing in the hammock with their grandpa. I don't think he had more than a minute or two in the hammock by himself, because the kids would spot him out there, and beg to swing with him. I don't think he minded sharing too much.

Our last full day there, we went to the annual fall festival. We didn't buy much, other than the wooden giraffe and alligator toys that Brynn lovingly named GiraffeyLou and FuzzGel. We all just enjoyed being outdoors. The kids seriously loved the extra freedom. We had some lunch at the festival and then the kids played at the park there. Think she was having fun?!

Shortly after, it started to rain. We all ran back over to the covered picnic tables. A few minutes later, we glanced over at the kids, and they were out from under the covered ramada area and dancing and playing in the rain. Gotta love the way kids can really savor the little things of life.
The next day, we had to head back home. It was a good ending to a wonderful weekend. Brynn and Collin did so well on the long drive. Brynn spent an hour coloring (I don't think I've seen her spend an hour at a time doing ANYTHING!), and Collin was happy too. I guess maybe I don't mind traveling so much.