Visiting Papa Hawkes

For Memorial weekend we were able to head down south to see Papa Hawkes. It's been a while since we've been down to see him, so we were all excited to go. Ari really loves her Papa Hawkes.... and his beard.... and his pool. :) We had a nice weekend relaxing and swimming. We also took a quick trip to Vegas, mostly because Ryan and I wanted to go to the Hash House A Go Go for breakfast. We didn't get to do a whole lot because we got there so early, and left around 12:30 when Ari zonked out in the stroller. We did get to go through the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. The statues were "resting" so they didn't have that show going, but she loved the little aquarium. We were going to go on a gondola ride in the Canal Shops at the Venetian, until we saw that it was $20 bucks a person for a 10-15 minute ride- plus there was a huge line. So we had to settle for Ari getting her picture taken with statue man. :) We'll have to plan to stay overnight in Vegas some time so Ari can see the Mirage volcano and the pirate show at Treasure Island, along with the other attractions. It was a nice weekend, and we're always grateful that my dad lets us crash at his pad when we're there.  

Sorry the pics are all mixed up. I'm too lazy to redo them. 

 People in Vegas were so nice. We had multiple offers to take pictures of us. This is at Caesar's Palace.

 At the little aquarium.

 Fountain at the Palazo

 Ari thought this guy was awesome. I thought it would be creepy to just put her up there with him, so I went to hold her. 

 She was very excited to hold this guys' hand.

 After Ari put her dollar in the pile, the "statue" gestured for her to come back up, so she got her pic alone with him after all. All of the other people onlooking said, "Awww" when she was up there. Yep. My kid is cute. :)

 Ari immediately liked this big sting ray. She laid there yelling "HI!!" to it for about 5 minutes. 

 Close up of the pic from earlier. Thanks nice people that took our picture for us!

 

 There is a park just around the corner from dad's house, so we took Ryan's toy helicopter to fly there. Look at these two yahoos. I couldn't get them to look at the camera at the same time.

Looking at the helicopter. I'm such an awesome photographer that I had to get the actual helicopter in a different shot...

There it is!

 We also took Ari's bike down with us. Her sunglasses wouldn't stay on her nose. 

 Spinny thingy at the park.

 She loves to climb things. She doesn't love getting sand in her shoes, though. She either made me carry her around the park, or else she had to stop every few minutes to take off her shoes to brush the sand out.

One of the ten gazillion times we had to take off and clean sand out of shoes.

 Lizard! She was mad that they were too quick for her to catch. 

 Same bike, different day.

We had this pin thing growing up, and it's Ari's favorite thing to play with at Papa's. Can you see her face in it? Well, half of her face, at least. 

Ari also made a bunch of Germans from a tour bus laugh when she started galloping around the parking lot at a gas station on the way home. Silly girl. She really is so much fun. She's being a stinker at night right now. She wakes up and will come up with any excuse to get you in there. "I need to go potty! I hurt my toe! I am cold! I want milk and a vitamin! I want my mommy! I want to snuggle!" We're having a battle of wills right now with this girl. She is very head strong, which is frustrating sometimes, but it's a good quality to have in this frustrating world. Even when she does do things that are naughty, we couldn't love this girl more. 

Ridin' and Bowlin' and Pottin'

I never know how to start these things. I feel like I should have some dramatic opening statement, but I'm always too lazy to come up with something. Plus our life just isn't that dramatic- which I'm happy about. :)

Ari and I found a new park the other day. They had some different stuff to play on, which she was thrilled about.

 Of course her favorite thing was the one that made me work to keep her going, while making me nauseous at the same time. The older I get, the more spinning makes me want to lose my lunch. Anything to keep her smiling. :)

So this plane has been flying around (very low, but it doesn't look that way from this pic) all weekend long. We've learned that it's the Memphis Belle, an old bomber, but does anybody know why it's been flying up and down the valley all weekend? 

Ari is very excited about Ryan's motorcycle. We have taken her on a couple of rides around the block, but can't do more than that. She wanted to have her picture taken on the bike, and the bike HAD to be running, too. Silly girl. 

These next pictures aren't very good, because I had to take a picture of my video monitor with my cell phone. I just want you to take a moment to see what Ari is cuddling during her nap. Yep- that's a football. And it's a red one. She made Ryan buy it for her a couple of weeks ago. I love that she wanted a football, and that she loves it so much! We're doing good with our little Ute!

We were lucky enough to spend some time with Ryan's parents this weekend. Ari loves her grandma and grandpa McLelland SO much, and is always super excited to spend time with them. We went to dinner and bowling on Saturday night, and Ari even insisted that she ride with them on the way to the bowling alley. This was her first time bowling, and she liked it, except she thought it should be her turn more often than it was. 

 She was giving the CHEESIEST grins all night!

 They even had little bowling shoes for her! I was tempted to steal them....

 We only had a couple of minutes for our second game, so we all took turns bowling while holding Ari. We all sucked. :)

This is a crappy picture, but it's the only one of me, and I want documentation that I was there. 

We spend most of our Sunday's at Mark and Dawns, where there's always fun to be had. Today, cousin C decided that the dolly bed was just the right fit for her, and then she and Ari got to throw pots! I love that grandma and grandpa are always down to try whatever with the kids, even if it means making a mess. I think that's part of the reason Ari loves it there so much. 

 She even made us put the blanket on her. So cute. C came and gave me a hug as soon as she saw me today. Made me feel so good! Love this girl!

 Even Rose got in on the action. 

 I think it's so sweet that she's leaning her head right into grandpa's arm. 

 Check out those clay-coated arms! She started rubbing the clay all over her.

I am so grateful to have married into such a wonderful family, and that we have the opportunity to make memories together on a regular basis. 

I really wanted to write down some of the funny/cute things Ari has said/done lately, but I can't remember a lot of it. Here's what I do remember:

- On the way to drop her off at Mark and Dawns, she told me that she had farts in her bum. She also likes to fart on me, then inform me that she just farted on me. 

- She told me that she will listen to grandma, but not to me. 

- When you tell her that you are mad at her, or tell her to go to time out, she'll tell you that she's mad at YOU, and that YOU should go to time out. Luckily, this isn't a consistent thing.

- Every thing is "I'm just..." If she wanders off at the store... "I'm just walking around." If she is stomping on your guts on the bed, "I'm just standing on you." Today she wandered off at the park to see a dog (that she'd already said Hi to), and when I told her to come back, she said, "I'm just making sure the dog is okay." Ya..... sure you are. 

- When she sees that someone is sad in real life or in movies, she always says that they want/miss their mommy. 

-She now calls the gas station, "donut". My fault. :)

- We were at the park the other day, and she asked Ryan to kick her bum while he was pushing her in the swing. "Kick me in the bum!!" He was in front of her, and he'd barely get the swing with his foot after he pushed her back, and she was laughing hysterically. Weirdo kid!

There is more- she makes us laugh every day. I need to do better at writing down the funny things she does. We are so blessed to have such an amazing, fun, sweet girl. We love her more than anything!!

Hooray for Warm Weather!!

Words cannot say how happy we are to have warm weather- FINALLY!! It's allowing us to get out and do so much more. Yippee!! I am so much happier when the weather is good.

So, a couple of weeks ago we went to the zoo with Ryan's family (minus SOME people who were too busy vacationing in Disneyland... psh) and it was so much fun! I love that our kids are old enough to interact with each other and really be interested in what they're seeing.

 We met Ry's parents for breakfast beforehand and Ari wanted to drive their car. She ended up riding with them to the zoo, because grandma and grandpa are THE coolest.

 While the temps were warm, the breeze was NOT, so we were all pretty chilly. Some moms (finger pointing at me) weren't prepared with a jacket, which is why you see Ari sporting  her blanket in such a fashionable manner. 

 I love pics of her holding hands with people. She loves her Papa McLelland

 The crew.

 Ari loves this Elephant thing. We have to get pics of it every time. 

 This is her "I don't think so" look because other kids approached the elephant and wanted a turn. 

 Climbing through the log with cousin C.

 The polar bear was awesome this time! When we've gone in the past, he's just sleeping in the corner, and today he was flipping around and sliding up the glass. What a show off! The kids loved it.

 That's Ari, front and center. 

 Polar Bear!!

 Ryan making good use of an extra blanket of Ari's. 

 Love this pic!!

All 3 of the girls got to ride the carousel. 

We also got to see the bird show, but I didn't get any pictures of it. It was cool when the birds flew over our heads! The kids enjoyed it too. 

Another plus to the nice weather  is outdoor wedding receptions! We went to Cam and Gina's wedding (Cam works with Ryan, and is also the son of Gina, Ari's adopted grandma from the gym- yes there are two different Gina's.) I am so bummed that we didn't get pics of Ari with g-ma Gina. Ari was so excited to see her, and Gina was nice enough to carry her around for a while, even getting her a plate of  food while Ryan and I chatted with people. She was also nice enough to snap a great family pic of us!! We love you and your awesome family, Gina!! 

This girl just melts my heart. How did I get so lucky?!?

We've also been spending lots of time hanging out in grandma and grandpa's backyard on Sundays. My favorite part of Sunday is just chilling out there with everybody, chatting. It makes me relaxed just thinking about it. 

Loungin' in style. 

 Cousins, and buds!

Love these girls!!

Balls are friggin' awesome, guys!

This isn't the best shot, but I love Ari's pony tail.

Ari and I got to go see GG last week. We took in lunch and got to visit for a bit. We are so lucky to have such a fun, sweet, and amazing woman in our lives. We LOVE you, GG!!!

 Ari is almost as big as GG is!

Ari found GG's Mickey ears while we were there and knew just what to do with them. Right after I took this pic, she was running around in the front room, then tripped and ate it right on the edge of a chair. She got her lip pretty good, so we had to do a little first aid. Luckily GG had ice, which as Ari said, "made it feel all better." Sorry if she bled on your carpet/chair, GG!

Since the weather is warm, Ryan's shaved ice place is open, so tonight we got a Hawaiian Ice and took Ari to a different park. She is so much fun. Well, until you tell her it's time to leave and you have to drag her to the car kicking and screaming because she doesn't want to go. :) 

 Girl loves her motorcycles. She knows to "vroom" every time she gets on one!

Dinosaur! RAWR!

I don't have any pics of Mothers Day, but it was great. I got some olympic lifting shoes from Ryan, so I'm counting on those to correct every lifting deficiency I have...... that is realistic, right??? My mom painted me a huge ceramic bowl with Ari's handprints on it. (I know... my mom gave ME a gift for Mothers Day! I'm so lucky!) It is so cool, and something I will cherish always. We had a great dinner at Mark and Dawns, all prepared by the boys. And just like every year, I got in trouble for trying to help. :) 

I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life. 

I leave you with a pic of Abby sporting a bandana after her well check visit. She hates having her pic taken, so it isn't great, but we sure love our Abby dog. She is even snuggling with me as I type this.