Grandpa’s 89th Birthday and Post-Christmas Fun

December 29, 2018 by

After Christmas, Auntie Lynn threw Great Grandpa a party to celebrate his 89th birthday (90th year!).  Mike and Ali came from Wyoming, Sarah and Mike from Portland, cousins from LA, and the rest of us local family and friends celebrated at Wood Ranch in the Irvine Spectrum for Great Grandpa’s big day.

Family photos by Aunt Sarah!

All the grandkids and great grand kids.

The girls were excited to have extra family around to carry them.

Uncle Mike and Meredith.

 

Cousin Ben thought carrying around Eleanor would be a good bicep workout. He was right.

Ali and the chunk-a-monk.

Eleanor was excited to sit with Grammy at dinner.

The kids table was a little crazy.

Cousins doing what cousins do.

 

Must…touch…sparklies.

Happy birthday, Great Grandpa!

While most of the grown-ups chatted at the restaurant after dinner, the rest of us high-tailed it out of there for a walk around the Spectrum before the kids trashed the place.

Good thing Ali, Mike, Sarah and Mike were there to help carrying screaming/tired girls!

Meredith and Hailey were so cute! Two-year-old Hailey borrowed 6-month-old Eleanor’s coat for the evening and it actually fit!

A trip to the Spectrum would not be complete without a ride on the ferris wheel.

Ferris wheel photos by Aunt Sarah. 

 

While we had aunts and uncles in town, the girls took them rock climbing at Sender City. This time, Meredith joined in for the first time and was pretty fearless.

 

 

We attempted lots of board games while we had family in town, even though they nearly always ended in tears. Samantha and Amelia are not the best gracious winners or losers, despite our best efforts.

Roasting s’mores with the fun aunts and uncles.

With all the extra hands, I got a lot of projects done while Grammy and Grandpa took on outings to the park.

Too much fun with their new chalk markers.

During the break, we also had a Secret Santa gift exchange with the Nguyens and the Erpeldings, which was supposed to be before Christmas, but we ended up having to reschedule. Since all the kids are in different schools, it’s been a long time since everyone has been able to play at the same time! Sheela had the kids draw names at the beginning of the month and wrote up cute letters for everyone, giving a few gift ideas for each kid received. The girls were so excited to see their friends open their gifts and announce that they were the Secret Santas. They also loved all the bonus gifts they got!

Practicing the art of balancing on the slack line with the neighborhood kids.

Practicing our tennis swings.

 

Amelia’s swing is getting pretty good!

Grammy watched Eleanor at home while I took the girls to the zoo. It felt like a lot less work just having three for a change.

We saw our friend, Brian, who works at the entrance!

All aboard the ferris wheel.

Jake and I celebrated our anniversary by staying at Pelican Hill Resort in Newport while Grammy and Grandpa watched the kids. Beautiful views and sunsets!

  

Lots of love,

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San Diego and Eleanor’s Entourage

August 22, 2018 by

Meredith planned the perfect time to break her knee and have a full length cast on because just a week later, Grammy, Grandpa and Aunt Sarah came to town! By then, the cast didn’t deter Meredith much, so we went about our normal activities. We had always wanted to try taking the train down to San Diego, and the girls finally got their chance with Grammy, Grandpa and Aunt Sarah as their volunteer tour operators.

Photo by Sarah:

A life goal fulfilled.

Ok, I’m over it.

There’s a local blog I follow which had a “practically free” day trip to San Diego itinerary. Kids were free on the train and most of the activities were free as well, although we’d definitely skip some of the activities and just do the children’s museum or Balboa Park next time.

They stopped at Old Town for some sightseeing around the shops and Mexican food for lunch. They also played at the park and then hopped on the train back home, totally exhausted from their journey. Photos by Sarah.

While our visitors were here, Jake, the girls, and everyone else took a walk on the San Clemente beach trail and stopped for breakfast and dessert.

Meredith was not going to let her cast hold her back from rock climbing.

Eleanor also welcomed visitors from afar coming to pay her tribute! Great Aunt Linda and Great Uncle David drove from Yucca and Annie and cousins Jack, Eleri, and Rhys came from Connecticut for the day, bearing gifts for everyone. Eleanor adored all the cuddles and attention. Meredith and the twins were so excited to play with their cousins and enjoyed a full day of swimming, playing and non-stop snacking.

Photos by Sarah:

Cuddles with Grandpa.

Chilling with Grammy.

Hugs from Great Aunt Linda.

Mesmerized by Great Uncle David’s beard.

Tea time with Great Aunt Annie.

The only person she would smile for was Great Grandpa!

So tired after a long day of visitors!

Rhys was especially so cute with Samantha and Amelia. It was a special treat to play with cousins all day!

All sugared up on strawberry shortcake.

Our pool was definitely at capacity!

Lots of love,

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Newborn Eleanor Week 2

July 1, 2018 by

Newborn Eleanor Week 2 was another very tiring blur of feed/pump/change diapers/wash bottles/feed everyone else/sleep/repeat. Eleanor was still sleeping most of the day and waking up frequently at night, so we were basically zombies just trying to survive. Luckily, Grammy was still there to help out and Grandpa also came to visit and meet the baby, along with out three other little “mommies” who couldn’t get enough of the baby. In Amelia’s words, “A REAL baby is SO much better than playing with our dollies!”

The girls did lots of swimming, park days and lounging around!

Nice to meet you, Grandpa!

No one, apparently, wanted to be in this picture.

The cousins came for a visit and went to the waterpark!

Dinner out in San Juan Capistrano– the kids were occupied by the trains passing by and all behaved really well!

Eleanor and I hung out at home while the cousins were out and about.

I want to go toooooo!

Queen Eleanor received many royal visitors every day. Pleasure to meet you, Phi and Sheela!

Maple is always the sweetest with Eleanor.

Meredith wanted to be a baby too.

All of the “babies” swaddled up!

Meredith had her own private beach morning with cousins Noah and Hailey while the twins were in preschool.

Magnatiles and trains are always a winner at our house.

Nice to meet you, Lily and Avery!

Walks around the neighborhood were the extend of Eleanor’s outings the first few weeks!

 

With school out, the twins were really excited to see some of our friends again, and Meredith had to learn to share with the crowd!

Lots of love,

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Easter 2018

April 1, 2018 by

Easter happened to fall during the twins’ Spring Break this year, so we took a road trip to Utah, leaving at 3 a.m. on Saturday and arriving a record 8.5 hours later. I was dreading the driving, especially being uncomfortably pregnant, but it was actually our best road trip ever! Meredith had intermittent bouts of screaming to get out of her car seat, as expected, but for the most part, the girls were great and we only stopped three times for gas and bathroom breaks, making the journey seem short from what we are used to. We may finally be turning a corner on road trips!

Easter was easy for me this year since my mom had bought everything for their baskets and Uncle Mike and Ali put them together for me. They also filled the eggs with candy, a few with dollars and hid them around the backyard. I did absolutely nothing but relax, so it felt like the Easter Bunny really did come this year!

Sunday morning the girls awoke to their Easter baskets and a giant Easter egg hunt in the backyard. Along with bubbles, stuffed animals and a few other crafts and toys, they loved the peanut butter caramel chocolate eggs inscribed with their names– thanks, Grammy! I didn’t have to put in any effort at all!

Meredith, what is this pout face about??!

Meredith wanted to enjoy her chocolate after finding each egg instead of waiting until the end.

Amelia was excited about actually having to hunt for eggs this year, since we have a much smaller backyard!

Samantha shows off her basket.

Ali helps out Meredith with retrieving an egg.

 

 

 

   

Distracted by the bunny.

    

Showing off their spoils.

Nom nom.

I brought some silly string and the girls had their first silly string fight in the backyard!

They mostly just stood straight across from each other and sprayed, instead of running around.

Meredith was not a fan of the silly string!

Help me, Uncle Mike!

Take cover!

It was a gorgeous spring day and the girls played outside after all the Easter morning excitement.

Story time.

Grandpa had made a delicious seder meal the night before and Sunday we all enjoyed Grammy’s Easter feast.

Devouring matzoh kugel and fruit kugel the night before Easter for Grandpa’s seder dinner:

Grammy’s yummy Easter dinner.

Yum!

We were so glad Uncle Mike and Ali came down from Wyoming to spend Easter and that we could make it to Utah this year! The girls had their best Easter ever!

Lots of love,

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