Day 3

Dear Bubbas,
Day three at the beach was super fun. We did the normal, got up went to the beach, had some breakfast, and then we headed to Seaside. We knew that it was going to rain a lot so we decided to have lunch at Seaside. We stopped at a little beach on the way. It was only about a 45 minute drive and since the scenery was so pretty, it really felt like a five minute drive!
When we got to Seaside we went out to lunch and then walked over to the Saltwater Taffy Store. We should've stayed far away from that store, but your Mommy has a weakness for just such taffy. I gave Connor and Hunter a bag and told them to go nuts. I was going to give Kaylee a bag, but she picked three pieces and was perfectly content. Connor and Hunter practically filled their bags! Mommy and Daddy didn't think it through very well, because we filled up our own bags too! We ended up spending $50 on saltwater taffy! Papa Jerry laughed at us over that one.
Then we went to the aquarium. Personally, I've been to much better but Connor and Hunter loved it. Kaylee was getting fussy so she went on a stroller ride with Grandma Karen. Connor and Hunter got to feed the seals and they thought that was fantastic. They also loved the octopus.
After the aquarium we headed back to the beach house. We got cleaned up and then went down to the beach. I spent some time playing with the sand toys with the three of you. We made all sorts of shapes and tried to make a castle. While we were doing that Daddy was working on getting a fire started. That didn't go as well as planned. I'll just give you a few details: wet driftwood, lighter fluid!
The smore's were yummy, but you guys were getting exhausted by the time Daddy got the fire going so we didn't stay long at the fire.
When we got back to the beach house, I insisted that you have a quick shower. This was going to be your second shower for the day and nobody was thrilled about it. You were all yelling and saying that you wanted a bath, but I didn't want to drag out the bedtime process, so I told you no. As I leaned over to get the shampoo to wash Connor's hair, he burst into tears. When I asked him what was wrong he responded, "YOU STINK!" Fantastic, I stunk so bad I brought him to tears! Daddy was outside of the bathroom by the door and I heard him just burst into laughter only adding to the humiliation. It was pretty funny though.
Overall, it was  good last day at the beach. The next morning, we just packed up and headed home. It was raining again so we didn't go down to the beach because we wouldn't have time to clean everyone up before we were suppose to leave.  We stopped at the gift store on the way out of town. Connor and Hunter picked toy dragons, that had absolutely nothing to do with the ocean. Kaylee picked a glowing ball and a bag of rocks. At least the rocks had a little to do with the beach. You loved your picks though, so it didn't matter.
I can't wait to take you back next year. It was the best time we've had in a long time. I love you guys so much! Thanks for being so good on our vacation. I really am blessed with great kids!
Mommy

Day two at the beach

Dear Bubbas,
Day two at the beach was fantastic! We started the day by going straight to the beach. It was very fun! You three were so excited! It wasn't nearly as windy so we were able to stay down there a little bit longer because you didn't get cold as fast.
Then we went back to the beach house, showered, dressed, ate, and headed to Tillamook. We went to the Cheese Factory first. As we were walking into the building we saw a sign on the door that said it was National Cow Appreciation Day and in celebration of that they were giving away Plush baby cows to the first 500 guests. It was after eleven, so I just assumed we missed out. However, as we walked in all three of you got handed a little stuffed cow! You were thrilled! You played with those cows all weekend long. The boys are really into pretend playing right now so they were even making their cows talk. The cows went everywhere with us for the rest of the trip!
You were impressed with the cheese factory tour for all of five minutes. You were good sports though. You were thrilled with the samples of cheese. At the end of the sampling line they had all the products available to buy and Kaylee went straight to a bag of cheese curds. They stank so bad, but all three of you loved those cheese curds! We bought several things of cheese, some fudge for Grammy Darrlyn, and all of you got a giant sucker.
Hunter's sucker was a big, round, swirly sucker. He was banging it all over everything, and I didn't know this. When we were sitting at the tables eating he asked if I would open his sucker. Not knowing it was going to be broken into a million pieces I open it up and it literally shatters to from top to bottom in slow motion. Hunter melted from his chair to the ground in big alligator tears. Probably the most disappointing moment in his life to date! So I quickly shoved five dollars in his hand and told him to go with Grandma Karen to get another one. That seemed to subdue the crying until he had sucker number two in his hands. Kaylee was having the time of her life. She was trying everyone's ice cream. She had it from head to toe! Grandma Karen took Kaylee for a stroller ride through the gift shop. She was still covered in ice cream and she was working on her sucker. When Grandma came out of the gift shop she was giggling so hard as she told me that people were literally swerving out of her way to avoid getting touched by the sticking mess coming through. It made me laugh just hearing about it!
We went to Fred Meyers after that to get supplies for dinner, a movie, and toys. Connor and Hunter each picked a sword! Kaylee got a Fisher Price piggy bank that counts fake coins. We got the movie the Curious George. Those toys and the movie sure made the time at the beach house enjoyable. You three were so cute playing!
By the time we got back to the beach house we needed to give you three a nap. When we woke up, it was raining. We went back to the beach for a little bit, but it got cold quickly so it was a short trip. In hindsight, had we known it was going to rain so much we should have spent more time at the beach during the morning, and done Tillamook after naps. Live and Learn. It was still a great day!
I love you guys!
Mommy

Here are the boys, making their new cows talk...

If you look close you can see the cows are watching and talking too!

Rockaway Day 1

Dear Bubbas,
We just had the best vacation ever! We went to Rockaway Beach in Oregon with Grandma Karen, Papa Jerry, and Aunt Chelsea as a celebration for Daddy's graduation. We had four of the best days that we've had in a long, long time. We started out early Thursday morning. Everyone was excited, you three especially. For the first ten minutes Kaylee just squealed this loud scream. It was almost a laugh, almost a scream. Obnoxious yet adorable all in one. We had to stop several times on the way up for bathroom breaks, but it wasn't too bad. Especially since it was a little over a 5 hour drive. You even slept for awhile on the way up!

When we got to Tillamook, which we found out later was only about 30 minutes away from the house, we stopped for lunch at Burger King. You all got excited about the Burger King hats and wore them during lunch. Hunter ate a ton of lunch, I was very surprised!

Tillamook smells like cow manure. When we were leaving the restaurant Papa Jerry and I noticed that Hunter had his hand over his nose while he was walking to the car. We both giggled about that. Then in the car Hunter said he was ready to go home because he was scared the waves would get him. I told him we were just about there and reassured him that the waves would not get him. Then about two minutes after walking into the house, Hunter started to throw up! Luckily, we got him to the sink first. Apparently, his excitement and nerves, his big lunch, the smell of cow manure, and the wavy roads to the house were too much for that little tummy.

When we got to Rockaway we went straight to the beach house that we rented. It was very cute. Connor and Hunter were the most excited about the bunk beds up stairs. Connor said he was going to sleep on top, and Hunter said he was going to sleep on the bottom. It made me a little sad that we didn't buy bunk beds for their birthday. Then Sunday rolled around and neither boy had slept on the top bunk, they just cuddled up together on the bottom, so I felt better. While we were unpacking the car Connor asked Aunt Chelsea and Papa Jerry, "Are you staying here too?" When they told him yes he yelled out," That is so AWESOME!"

When we told you it was time to go down to the beach Hunter started panicking. He thought the house was what he'd gotten so excited about over the last week and was perfectly happy. He even tried to convince us to stay at the house by saying that was the only thing that would keep him from throwing up again. Little did he know it would only get better!

When we got down to the beach Hunter just started running! He loved running on the wide opened beach. Nothing to stop him, the wind in his hair! Connor was enamored with the sand. He kept picking up handfuls of it and running his fingers through it. Kaylee wasn't sure what to think. Especially when we set her down on the sand for the first time. She started crying and saying "Ouch!" She wanted the sand off of her toes. She adjusted pretty quickly and then she realized that the beach was pretty fun!

The boys loved to run up to the water and then try to outrun the tide that was washing in slowly. They did that continuously, giggling the entire time. Kaylee liked to stand in the tide and watch it. She thought it felt cool when it reached her legs, but she would get dizzy watching it and then fall over into the water, so we had to hold her up the entire time! She was getting so cold that I made her come up out of the water. She got about halfway to papa and then broke free of my hand and started running back for the water. She didn't care how cold it was! I finally did get her up to Papa and he snuggled her in a beach towel on his lap. He looked like one happy Grandpa sitting on the beach, holding a grand baby!

The boys built a sandcastle with Daddy. That was pretty exciting because the tide kept getting closer and closer to the castle. It became apparent that you would have to build a moat! You had a great time doing that with Daddy.

We buried Connor in the sand and he loved it. We were all laughing and having a good time, and then Hunter ran off towards the water and we slowly dispersed. About two minutes later I said, "Where's Connor?" We all looked back and there he was still buried in the sand, still loving it. It was the funniest thing! We ran over and apologized for leaving him buried, but he didn't care an ounce!

It was cold the first day. The wind was pretty strong, so we only stayed until we noticed Kaylee's feet turning purple. They turn purple pretty frequently and easy so it wasn't a big deal, but we also knew that was our cue.

We went back to the beach house for dinner and all three kids were thrilled to play on the stairs, and dance in the kitchen.

Grandma Karen suggested that Daddy and I go down to the beach for a date night and she offered to put you three to bed. You were pretty thrilled to be staying up with Grandma. She was able to get you to all fall asleep but she said you all fought pretty hard, especially Hunter who was worried he would wake up and it would all have been a dream!

We slept hard that first night, even though I ended up on the bottom bunk because all three kids were snuggled in with Daddy on the Master bed.

We had such a great first day of vacation! Thanks for being such good travelers.
I love you!
Mommy

Loved those stairs!

We needed one more red chair!

Playing in the water...

Being forced to come out of the water....

Making a run for it...

Tick Tock

Dear Kaylee,
You have so much personality. I love every bit of it. Lately you've been really into dancing. You love to dance while I'm playing the Wii. Your favorite song is Tick Tock by Ke$ha. It's a song I would never let you listen to if some of the words weren't missing from the game and you weren't one, although since you are only one and you clearly just like the beat I let you. When you dance you barely move, but it is the cutest thing in the world!
You say things to us all the time. We pretty much always know what you're saying because your body language is really good. I think in the next month your vocabulary is going to take off because you're just jabber all day long!
The other night I painted your toes and fingers. You don't notice your fingers much, but you are very impressed with your toes. You keep showing everyone. You made sure that Daddy fussed over them to your satisfaction. Whenever I put an outfit on you I tell you how pretty it is. If I forget you go to your room and come out with a new outfit to put on. I then have to change your outfit and tell you how pretty it is. If for any reason I choose not to change your outfit, I hear about it until I eventually break and you get your way. You are very persistent.
Today we had Aunt Chelsea, Aunt Diane, and Cousin Josie over to play. It was way past your nap time. You were being very good, but when Aunt Diane and Josie started saying goodbye you practically chased them out of the house, and dragged me to the rocker. You were really wanting to go to sleep.
You mimic just about everything the boys do. You love them so much and you already look up to them. They blow on your tummy to make you laugh and you giggle so loud. You want to be big enough to sleep in Hunter's bed with him. Every night when we tell the boys to go get into bed you go with them, climb up on Hunters bed and get under the blankets. I always find you there, head on his pillow, with a huge smile on your face. You would fall out for sure as much as you roll around at night, so there's no way you'll get to sleep with your brothers anytime soon, but maybe one night I'll let you try a camp out in the living room with them. Maybe.
The looks you give speak volumes. I have to tell you all the time that squishy nose will not get you what you want. You are constantly squishing that nose up at me. You still stick that bottom lip out when you're sad and more frequently now when your feelings get hurt.
You stil love Barney. It's a bit of a stretch from Ke$ha, but you do love that purple dinosaur!
Sometimes when I'm rocking you, in an effort to stall you will give me about a million kisses. I secretly love it although I tell you repeatedly to close your eyes and go to sleep.
You run when you hear Daddy open the front door. You literally drop what you're doing and run to him, so sweet.
Of all the things you're doing right now, I love watching you toddle around the most. You walk with such purpose and confidence. I love watching you.
I can't believe you are 17 months old!! It goes so fast. I'm glad I got to stay home with you this year and watch you grow. I have loved every second of it. They're going to have to drag me kicking and screaming back to work when the day comes because you make my days so wonderful. I love you!
Mommy

Checking out her pretty toes!

Mommy's little Dancer

Dear Hunter,
You are such a physical kid. You are a snuggle bug at night. You need your hugs and kisses just as much as you need to tackle Connor to the ground and wrestle to the point I pull you apart for fear someone will get hurt. You love sports. All sports so far! Soccer practice was last night and you were so excited to go. You did great, but were very tired at the end. You love to dance. You dance all the time. The other day you were drinking a glass of juice in the dining room, listening to the radio, and your leg was just tapping and moving as fast as you could without spilling the juice. You randomly come up to me and say, "Mom, check out this move." Then you bust out a new dance move that you've developed. You love dancing with the Wii and I often have to move out of your way.
You love your sister but she can drive you so crazy! One minute you're playing with her and giving her kisses, the next minute I hear an exasperated, "KAYLEE!!!!"
You love it when I spray you with the hose. I love spraying you with the hose! You love baking. You love to help put the ingredients in and watching the goodies bake in the oven.
You are such a creature of habit. Every single morning the second your eyes open I hear you say, "Mommy, it's morning." Before I'm even out of the bed you're asking me for your juice, your bar, and a movie! I can hardly get everything out fast enough for you. The best days for you are the ones where when you wake up I'm already awake and I say, "Good Morning Hunter, your juice and bar are on the table, what movie do you want to watch?" That rarely happens since you get up so early!
You get very excited, very easily. Today Aunt Chelsea came over and when she knocked on the door you yelled at the top of your lungs, "AUNT CHELSEA'S HERE!!!"
I love the way you say "probably."
"probably tomorrow."
"probably you should come read to me."
Every day you amaze me. You are such a strong boy and on the inside you are such a teddy bear! I love that about you. I love everything about you!
Mommy

Showing Kaylee how to build with Legos.

You're not as thrilled to be sharing the chair as Kaylee is.

Like Daddy

Dear Connor,
The things you say lately make me laugh so much. Here are some of my favorites:

1. We were out to dinner and a very tall black man walked into the room and sat down at the table next to us. You stood up and as loudly as possible yelled, "OH! A BIG BLACK GUY!" He laughed and was a good sport about it, but I was slightly embarrassed!

2. Whenever you smell poop, you say," Mommy will you please change Kaylee. She pooped. It's DISGUSTING!" The way you say disgusting is so adorable. I'm going to try to get it on video.

3. "Even when you spank me, I always love you."

4. Whenever anyone pretends they are going to take Kaylee home with them because she's so cute you immediately fire back with,"NO! She's OUR baby! That's my sister!"

5. Last night was your first night at Soccer, and you were very nervous so you told me that your leg hurt to try to get out of it. You also tell me your legs hurt, or your arm hurts whenever it's time to clean the play room! 

6. After practice, you said, "That's a HARD game!"

You repeat things that Daddy says a lot and you want to be just like him. One night Daddy was getting ready to get into bed and he had a huge gash on his foot from work. He was replacing the band-aid on his foot and I told him to wear socks so he didn't ruin my new sheets. Daddy put on one sock! He's so silly. The next morning you kept asking why he only had one sock on and he would tell you why. Almost a week later you came out into the living room with one sock on. I asked you what you were doing and you said," My foot is bleeding. I need a sock." I asked you to show me where it was bleeding and you replied," Mom, I'm just pretending."
Just pretending to be like your Daddy, so sweet.
The other night Daddy told you not to interrupt. You continued to interrupt and had to do a time out. You started sobbing and ended up on Daddy's lap. Through tears and sobs you said, "Daddy, it's just so hard to wait." It was so darn adorable.
You just keep getting cuter and cuter. When you were a baby I was so afraid of you growing up, but it just keeps getting better!
I love you buddy.
Mommy