Right after Elsie turned 1, we had another brief visit by my parents followed by getting back into the groove of weekly date nights. We kicked it off by deciding to go to the Third Day concert just a few days before. We had a great time and we were glad we're in Salt Lake so we could buy our tickets the day before for super cheap, park for free and practically have a personal concert because the venue was so small. :)
We spent the month of May finishing up Addy's school stuff (actually, I'm still trying to finish it up with her. . . we've really slowed down!) and doing lots of fun outdoor outings. We visited the local farm where we were able to see a lot of baby animals like pigs and goats, we've done 2 5K fundraisers (walking!!) to raise money for March of Dimes for premies and for the Adoption Exchange that places foster kids in forever families. We finished up the MOPS year and I hosted a yard sale fundraiser to help cover costs for our group next year. You'll see pictures of our garage FULL of stuff and then what was left when we finished. We raised $1300!!! I couldn't believe it!
Jenny came to visit for a week in the middle of May (and she helped with the yard sale!) and she helped us plant our ghetto garden. We finally got it in by about 11pm on Mother's day. Man it's hard to get anything done with Littles around!
We also got to attend our annual neighborhood carnival (another bonus of living in Salt Lake City). There were games, treats and a BBQ dinner all hosted by one of our neighborhood wards. We love hanging out with our neighbors. We also visited This Is The Place Heritage Park to see the baby animal petting zoo. Ok, gross, but really cute. (Let's just say Elsie likes to chew on shoes and where there are baby animals, there is a lot of poop!!!)
Then the real fun began. . . I headed to Denver for a long weekend BY MYSELF!!! Brad took some time off to watch the girls while I went to Denver to attend the graduation of my favorite group of 7th graders. Yes, teachers have favorites. And this group was amazing. I got to see a lot of the teachers I used to teach with as well as a lot of my students. Most of them still had the same sweet faces but much bigger bodies. :) It was so encouraging to hear so many of their plans to go to college. . . that is a big deal for those kids. They beat the odds just by graduating high school. Many of them have scholarships to all sorts of colleges. (and many to study engineering and education :) What a blessing.
I also had fun that weekend seeing old friends and neighbors. What a whirlwind trip. I was pretty energized to come back and be a better mom and wife after some time away. And, after I got home, Brad was pretty energized to make sure I get more time away! :) He did a great job with the girls but it gave him a clearer picture of what it's like to be a stay at home mom. :)
When I got back to Salt Lake we had about a week before our family vacation to San Diego. We did celebrate Brad's birthday before we left although he said all he wanted for his birthday was fish tacos at Alfonso's in La Jolla. We didn't disappoint. BUT, you'll see in the video his favorite birthday present. Not much changes between infancy and 42. . . the bubble wrap from Lynn's gift was a major hit. :)
San Diego. . . ahh! We spent a week on the beach, at the zoo, at Sea World and just playing with my parents. Grandparent heaven apparently. ;) Actually, I was surprised at how much fun we had. I figured it wouldn't really be fun considering we'd be traveling with a 2 1/2 year old and a 1 year old. But it really was fun. We were busy, stayed out late and had lots of adventures.
Some of those included: eating sand (I won't name names. . . Mae Mae), petting dolphins at Sea World, surfing, skateboarding, boogie boarding, watching almost all of Sea World's shows (Addy did NOT like the people in costumes with face paint and Elsie did NOT like being close to the big whales), eating dinner with Shamu (Elsie didn't eat, she cried), reading, going for walks on the beach, seeing all sorts of crazy animals at the San Diego Zoo, seeing a Navy Seals training exercise at night at Hotel Del Coronado, and on and on. You get the idea. It was a LOT of fun. And did I mention that we got to have a really great dinner out (just the two of us!) where we got to eat fancy food?! I have a picture of the food on our date but not us. :) That figures.
So now we're home. Whew! We'll see what adventures come our way next. Happy Summer!
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