Manicure treat & Katsuya

Rochelle treated us girls to manicures this afternoon. It was such a special treat for all of us to relax, be pampered and enjoy each other's company for a few hours. The boys had baby Elphie for the afternoon. We kept joking about how they were "3 men and a baby". :)

Then we all headed over to the house Chelle's parents rented for the week to have dinner. 3 men and a baby arrived about a half hour after we did.

Rochelle's dad cooked up a Cambodian feast and everything was so delicious. We all downloaded Chelle & Greg's Wedding App (everyone except me and TJ who are not part of the iphone universe yet.) Luckily, our spouses got the app, so we were set to join in on the party.

There's an app for that!

After the party, we decided to try an LA hotspot for a late sushi snack and some fun drinks. Kel's sister Lizzie suggested Katsuya and so we drove into the city to check it out. We immediately felt a little out of place - apparently toting a baby carrier isn't so chic in LA. (I had neglected to tell Liz we were traveling with a 3-mo old. Elphie was such a good baby that sometimes, like when she slept through a meal out, it felt like she wasn't even there!) But Amy put her foot down saying that we needed to go - it had been about a 20-min drive out there and it was getting late. So we swallowed our pride and got our table. 

It ended up being a really great experience! The sushi was AMAZING - best we've ever had. And the atmosphere - filled with the white noise of semi-loud music and lots of conversations around us - kept baby Elphie asleep the entire time in her carrier. We even saw a paparazzi guy sitting with his huge camera right outside the restaurant when we left. (I wanted to get a picture with him, but everyone made fun of me, so I didn't. But I did take a picture of him from afar although you can't really make him out since the photo is blurry.) We didn't see any celebs inside, but maybe he was there to snap some photos of celebs out for a late dinner?

On another note, it's my Dad's Birthday today!!! Happy Birthday from Cali Dad!!! Love you! xoxo

Our week in Hilton Head

We had so much fun on vacation this week in Hilton Head, SC. Mornings were spent on the beach, wading in the tide pools with the kids and swimming in the calm warm water. Afternoons consisted of feeding the kids lunch and putting them down for naps, then taking turns relaxing on the beach while the kids snoozed. We usually took a dip in the pool in the late afternoon and took turns cooking various yummy dishes for dinner. One night we went out to dinner while the grandparents watched the babies.

Owen was sick the second night and Vivian caught it a few days later, but it was nothing more than a 24-hr virus and they both rebounded really well. They did much better than expected on the drive down and the drive home, despite a few moments of screaming over whose turn it was with the ipad, and Ben was a trooper to drive the entire way both times.

Us cousins spent two nights (after putting all the babies down for the night) playing Cranium until we were doubled over laughing. 

Even though we saw more palmetto bugs than I'd like to remember, it was an incredible family reunion vacation week and we were so thankful to have spent the time with our family at the beach this summer. We look forward to the next one!!

Evie & David's Wedding

Such a gorgeous day for a wedding!!! Sunny and warm, we relaxed all day with a nice family breakfast with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Hillary across the street, followed by some swimming at the hotel pool. The kids took excellent naps, and we had some Panera for lunch before getting ready for the wedding.

Owen had fun launching himself into Daddy's arms:

It was hot during the ceremony, but they kept it short and sweet and it was lovely and so romantic. Evie's Aunt Susan celebrated the marriage, and David {along with his brother} sang a special song  to his new bride at the conclusion. Evie was a stunning bride in her white gown and flowers in her hair, with the lake in the background: everything was just perfect.

After the ceremony, we took some family photos, and then hung out at the playground and fountain for a little before walking across the street to the reception restaurant.

The food was amazing {Vivian ate like a champ ~ hello, 18-mo growth spurt!!}, the speeches were tear-jerking, the conversation flowed, and we all had so much fun. We were able to stay for one dance, but unfortunately, Owen and Vivian began dancing together {bottom left corner of the last collage}, and with one quick spin around, Owen let go of his sister's hands and she took a tumble on the dance floor. That was our cue to say goodnight. 

Congratulations to the beautiful bride and her handsome groom! We had a blast celebrating with you!!

Driving the tractors!

This morning we got up and had breakfast and before we knew it, it was time to go out to see Uncle Doug on the farm so that he could take Owen on a much-anticipated tractor ride.

Uncle Doug took Owen on not one, but TWO different tractors and the smile on Owen's face couldn't be any bigger. He had so much fun and felt like a real farmer. He even got to gather up the fresh eggs from the chicken coop! Uncle Doug showed us the cutest two baby kittens too.

Then it was off to pick up Great Grandma Marshall for a lunch date. It was a busy day, but we weren't done yet!

That evening, Ben's cousins Sarah and Emily and their husbands and kids came over for dinner. All the second cousins had a ball chasing each other around, climbing on their dads, and taking pictures with Great Grandma. During the whole time, there was a raging thunderstorm going on outside, with a hurricane warning no less! But the storm passed fairly quickly and we were all safe and sound.

Such a fun day with family!

Off to the mid-west!

I've posted all the pictures from our trip here: http://ourwisconsinminnesotatrip.shutterfly.com - for the blog posts from the trip I'm just going to post a few pictures (since there were so many good ones, this makes it easier).

We got up bright and early this morning to catch our 8:10am flight to Minneapolis. The kids did well on the flight and we got to our mini-van by 10:30am. Ben installed a car seat for Vivian and we set out on the 4-hr drive to Hillsboro. We stopped on the way at a Chipotle for lunch and then were able to drive the rest of the way without stopping.

We arrived at Ben's Uncle Doug and Aunt Diana's house and the kids were drawn right away to the toy cows they had on the shelf in the family room. After catching up for a little, we went over to visit Ben's grandma at the assisted living home. She was so happy to see us and it was so nice to see her too! We all went out to dinner and then pretty much went straight to bed since we were all exhausted from the day of traveling. Owen had a big day ahead of him ~ he was going to drive Uncle Doug's tractors the next day!

Ocean City - day 2

Today was our second and last day in Ocean City. It was a quick trip, but definitely worth the drive. This morning we woke up and had coffee and breakfast out on the balcony overlooking the ocean. It was gorgeous! The sun was shining and there was a nice breeze. Hillary and I even spotted a pod of dolphins swimming along!



We got moving quickly and went straight out to the beach. It was really windy when we got out there, but that didn't bother us. Hillary and Grandma set out again to make a huge sandcastle for Owen - complete with a moat and bridge! When Grandma went to sit down in her beach chair and Owen noticed she wasn't there beside him he looked over at her and said, "Grandma, play! Grandma, play!" so she went back and played some more. Mommy mainly stayed wrapped up in her double beach towel and watched all the fun. It was so relaxing to sit and enjoy the sunshine, sand in my toes, and sounds of the waves crashing in front of us. Owen sported his new "Ocean City" baseball cap that Grandma bought him until it blew off his head into the water. It was rescued quickly by Aunt Hillary. He'll be wearing that cap the rest of this summer I'm sure.



After some quality beach time we again went up to the hotel pool to swim for a little and wash some sand off before heading back up to the room. We all got showers (Owen and I took a jacuzzi swim and he had so much fun saying the word jacuzzi the rest of the day which was funny), we got packed up, and waved goodbye for now to Ocean City. Owen and I had so much fun with Grandma and Aunt Hillary and thank them so much for inviting us to join them!

Hersheypark!

My cousin Faith received a Hersheypark ticket in her report card when school ended last week, and she was so sweet to give it to me so that I could take Owen to Hersheypark for the day. We met up with Aunt Liz, Faith, and Alex around 10:15am and headed over to the park.

Owen loved the tram ride from the parking lot to the main gate. We made our way inside and he was in awe of the people, the rides, and the sounds of the park. Alex and Faith wanted to ride some roller coasters, so we split up for an hour so that I could take Owen on some kiddie rides. He started on the dinosaurs, then did the space ship, and finally the fire engine. By the time he did the fire engine he was done. I was so nervous because he almost wiggled his way out of the seat belt. Thankfully he made it off the ride in one piece and we went over to do the carousel together.

We met back up with Aunt Liz and Faith and Alex and walked over towards the water park area. The girls rode another coaster while Owen and I took a break for lunch. We made plans to meet up with them later that afternoon since Alex had to go to her theater camp.

After having lunch (Subway for me, hotdog for Owen), we got a locker and changed into our swimsuits and jumped into the huge wave pool. Owen loved jumping when the waves crashed into him. But there was more to do so we went over to the kiddie area where we found a gigantic sand castle structure with sprayers and slides. Next to it was a kiddie wave pool and wide slide which Owen gravitated to. After going down the slide with him about 10 times, I decided I had had enough but he wasn't done yet. So I opted to let him go by himself and I stood at the bottom to catch him. He did so well! He even got some cheers from onlookers when he went down by himself, it was so cute.

We had so much fun at Hersheypark! I was just sad that Ben wasn't there to enjoy it with us, but I'm sure we'll make another visit sometime later this summer.

I was nervous about taking our DSLR camera to the park, but my parents let me borrow theirs to take a few snapshots of Owen. Wish I could have gotten the waterpark area, but maybe next time.

Our first "baby-free" vacation

Thanks to Grandma and Poppie, Ben and I were able to sneak away to Cancun for a much-needed early birthday gift to each other. Our wonderful travel agent Scott booked us an amazing room at Secrets Silversands and we had a great time.






It rained the day we arrived and the second part of day 2, but we did get some sun and enjoyed many tropical beverages and incredible food. Our favorite of the many restaurants the resort had was the Mexican restaurant. Fitting, I guess, since we were in Mexico. We ate there for dinner two of the four nights we were there. Another favorite was the ceviche ~ I had it for lunch four times! YUM!








I did yoga two of the mornings we were there. It was held poolside, with the sound and view of the ocean right in front of us. It was so relaxing.










We returned home well-rested and tan, and so happy to see our baby. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Grandma and Poppie!!!