Funny Photos

Tralee and I have been having some fun with Photo Booth lately. We both get the giggles doing this.

Then sometimes Tralee gets on Photo Both all on her own, and I get a kick going through the 100+ pictures she takes of herself during each shoot.

She sure loves Orange (a tiny stuffed animal cat) so he made it into some of her pics.

Sometimes I come in mid-photoshoot whether Tralee wants me to or not.

What am I looking at over there? I think I was trying to be model-y (in the picture below, not above). Don't think I'll make it into Glamour or Elle anytime soon. Especially since my go-to outfit is my favorite sweatpants and one of Jim's t-shrits, and I don't think my feet have sported any kind of heal since. . . I can't remember. C'est la vie.

Eh. . . I like Tralee and my photoshoots more than I like espadrilles anyways.

Big Juds

A while back I purchased some coupons on Groupon for a burger joint in town called Big Juds. We've never been there, but we saw an episode on Man v. Food where the host guy ate there. Here's a clip from that episode:

Last Saturday Jim, the kids, and I decided to use our coupons and see what all the fuss was about. When we got to Big Juds we decided that all four of us could split the "Man v. Food" burger. On it were two patties, bacon, mushrooms, blue cheese, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onions. I'm a sucker for anything with mushrooms, plus how often do you get to try something you see on the ol' telly? Well. . .this burger not only comes with a drink, but a HUGE basket of fries or tots (your choice). Our waitress told us there was NO WAY our family would even get close to finishing this meal. We weren't so sure, but when the burger, tots, and drink came to the table we realized she was right. The four of us didn't even make it through a quarter of the meal. AND. . . we were eating this massive burger for the next two days until we finally couldn't do it anymore and threw the last bit away.

I had been eating vegan-ish for about a week prior to this meatfest (just trying to get back on track from our Cali vaca). Just a week before this experience I was blending spinach smoothies made with almond milk and ample sprinklings of flax meal. Imagine that, and then cut to me chowing down on a bacon, mushroom, swiss, blue burger. Talk about two totally opposite ends of the spectrum. But oh the juicy goodness of our Big Juds experience was totally worth it. I later asked Jim, "If more coupons for Big Juds ever come up on Groupon, should I get them again?" I believe his answer was something to the effect of, "Heck yes you should!"

Hunteretta and Princess Valentine

Jim was so excited when he found out we were going to have a son. He imagined himself teaching Hunter how to do all the "manly" stuff he's so good at. Daydreams of camping trips, golf outings, cheering for Hunter as he dribbles a basketball down the court and makes a lay-up all played through Jim's head (I'm really just guessing here. I don't really know what goes on in that twisted mind of my hubby's). I DO know something that DIDN'T come up in Jim's daydreams was seeing his son wearing this:

Our boy likes to copy whatever his big sister does. That means more often than not, instead of rough-housing, Hunter plays dress-up with Tralee. We find him wearing necklaces, bracelets, slipping his legs through skirts and tutus, and carrying baby dolls around. In fact, the first thing Hunter said to me this morning was, "Where's my baby?" Once we found his favorite doll he carried it around, and even fed her from a pretend bottle. Later on I found him cuddling his baby in a basket of laundry I needed to take upstairs, and when I left to run some errands with Hunter he wanted to take his baby with.
Jim's not a fan of Hunter getting in touch with his feminine side, but I think it's adorable. Adorable as it is, Jim is always relieved when Hunter picks up a toy truck, starts cruising it around while a loud "Vroom! Vroom!" leaves Hunter's lips. Jim also exhales a sigh of relief when Hunter starts throwing a ball around, building with blocks, or roaring a toy dinosaur. It's just that with a big sister as your full-time play companion the girly stuff pretty much wins out most of the time. I informed Jim that he too had not only one, but two big sisters, so I'm pretty sure he played a "girly" game or two in his time. Actually. . . these pictures should pretty much prove to Jim that even if you act a little girly in your youth it doesn't mean you'll do so into adulthood:

I know the image quality isn't great in the above picture, but that cute little boy dressed like a little girl in the back. Yup, that's Jim.

In the picture below, Jim AND his brother John are both sporting girl costumes (Jim's in the yellow wig). Both of them turned out (relatively) normal. So, Hunter should be JUST fine.

Now in Tralee news, I made a little Valentines dress for Stinks. I threw it together in a day out of leftover fabric in my stash. I had no pattern and just came up with this. It looks really cute at first glance, but don't look too closely. There are about a million mistakes. That didn't stop me from putting her in it on Valentines day. And FYI: The green tights were totally HER idea, and she just wore them right after I finished the dress. When she wore it on V-day I made her wear white tights with light pink polka-dot hearts, and she was (luckily) happy with my choice. The green tights took a break for the day. Anywhoo. . . Tralee looks super cute, green tights and all!!

Also, Tralee wrote this the other day and gave it too me. She's getting really good at reading and writing. So proud!

That's all folks.

A Little Catch Up

Here are a few pics left over from Tralee's b-day. After all her b-day festivities we came home, and let her open the gifts from her grandparent's and us. Afterwards she painted, glued, stuck, colored, and made a HUGE mess with the art supplies we got for her.

She had a great birthday and we love our four-year-old so so so much!

Last Few Days of Sunshine

On Saturday the kids and I hung out, did a little laundry, visited some nearby stores, and waited for Jim to get off work. Not a super exciting day, but nice and low key.

Sunday we dropped Jim off at work, then the kids and I found our way to Natural Bridges Beach again. First we stopped at a cute French Bakery near the beach for some treats (Gasp! I know, it was on Sunday!). While waiting in line at the bakery Tralee picked out a pink heart cookie for her treat. When we got to the car we realized they gave us a red flower cookie instead. I tried to convince Tralee that the red flower was just as good as the pink heart, but the tears kept falling down her face as she looked up at me and said, "I just really really wanted the pink heart." In other circumstances I might have told her to deal with it (it's just a cookie after all, it'll end up in the same place whether it's a heart or flower), but the whole time we were waiting in line she kept jumping up and down telling me (and everyone around us) how excited she was to get the pink heart cookie. So, we made our way back into the bakery, I waited in line AGAIN, and I explained our little dilemma. I was ready to pay for another cookie, but they gave us the pink heart one for free. Tralee looked as though she could float out of the bakery in delight. She was all smiles and held that pink heart cookie as long as she could before the temptation was too great and she gobbled it down.

After the heart problem was solved, we walked down to the ocean, finished our treats, and played and played and played. I was a little worried about taking the kids to the beach all by myself, but it was actually kind of easy. Hunter is afraid of the water, and Tralee just wanted to build sand castles the whole time. All was good. After we built about a million sandcastles (by Tralee's definition a sand castle is just a giant mound of sand you push together) I put the kids in the stroller and went for a BEAUTIFUL walk along the ocean. There were cliffs everywhere, and all along the walk you could see the waves crashing into them. There were also some brave people sitting on the very edge of the cliffs. The kids and I also stopped and watched a surfer climb down an embankment, paddle out into the water, and surf on some pretty incredible waves.

After our walk, we packed up, grabbed a bite to eat in town, and then drove to pick up Jim from work. Sunday was our last night together before the kids and I had to fly home so we were pretty sad. I really didn't want to leave. I would have been perfectly happy to stay in California until Jim was done with work, but reality was waiting for us in Idaho.

I took the picture below because it was something Hunter drew in the sand with a stick. I have so many of Tralee's first pictures and sketches, and not a thing of Hunter's. I'm not sure why. Is this a normal second child thing? I feel kind of bad about it. So, in case Hunter ever asks me, "Where's all my artwork?" I'll have this to show him:

I really will try harder to save some of his artwork.

Monday morning I packed up, and then my amazing cousin Meagan picked us up, let us play at her house for a bit, and then took us to the airport. She has three little ones (one only being a few months old) so we really appreciated her taking time out of her busy schedule to help us out.

Overall our trip to California was glorious. We had so much fun playing together, going on adventures, and taking in all sights. We definitely feel grateful and blessed we have this amazing trip to remember for years to come. (I know that last line was super cheesy, but that's all I could come up with. Forgive me please.)

Stanford with Cousins

Jim had to go back to work on Friday, so that left the kids and me to fend for ourselves. Luckily, my cousin Meagan came up with a great plan to occupy us. She invited us to join her and her children at the Stanford Mall (super fancy) and then journey over to Stanford University and let the kids run around the beautiful grounds. Tralee was more than happy to hear she would be seeing her second cousins again (I think that's what they are). As soon as I said, "We're going to see Brooklyn today!" Tralee jumped out of bed, rushed to the drawer her clothes were in, and said, "I need my green tights on Mommy!"

Side (long) note: I took Tralee to Target a few weeks ago to pick out some new tights. I told her she could pick out a pair all by herself. She usually is all about pink, so I figured she would pick a nice shade of pink. Not even close. Tralee picked out a bright turquoise pair of tights. A shade that matched absolutely nothing in her closet. I tried to persuade her into picking a few other tights, but to no avail. She loved the green ones and thought they were the bees knees. After this, whenever we went anywhere worth going she asked to wear her green tights. Unfortunately she fell while running around Stanford with her cousins and the green tights got a big hole in the knee. Oh well (secretly exhaling a big sigh of relief). Jump to a few days ago when we were at Target again picking out some new unmentionables for Tralee in the girls department. What did she see just a few feet away? Another pair of GREEN tights! She excitedly ran up to them, took them off the wrack, and asked if we could get them. How could I say no when they were marked down to .97 cents (gee, I wonder why)? So, Tralee is now the proud owner of another pair of bright green tights that match nothing she wears.

Now back to Friday: Meagan and I met up at the mall, did a little shopping, ate some lunch, bought some pastries at a french bakery (YUM), and then drove over to Stanford University to let the kidletts run around the grounds. It was a really fun day.

Here are some super cute pics of all the cousins running around:

Hunter and Emma taking each other in while their strollers were parked.

Tralee and Brooklyn reaching for the moola in the fountain.

Pretty architecture at Stanford

Cutie patooties

The big girls were running around this bench area, so of course Hunter and Emma thought they should run around too.

So, the next two photos are kinda funny. A group of Asian people walked out of a building and began taking pictures of Tralee. Tralee immediately dashed away and continued to run away every time a camera was pointed in her direction as if taking a picture of her would bring utter ruin and humiliation. Cut to Brooklyn. She sat, posed, smiled, and was the delight of all the Asian paparazzi. The picture below is me taking a picture of a guy taking a picture of Brooklyn while a lady is taking a picture of me taking a picture. Did you catch that? We were photo happy at Stanford.

Brooklyn posing nicely, Tralee nowhere to be seen. Meagan and I laughing behind our cameras.

Can you find the two cute little girls holding hands while running in the picture below?

More cute pictures of the little girls:

The one below is my favorite.

Meagan and I decided we better get a picture of ourselves to prove that we actually did see each other.

I thought it was funny to see this van full of babies. Tralee kept asking me, "Why does Brooklyn have two babies and we only have one baby?" Brooklyn has two younger siblings, and I guess Tralee thought she needed to be the same.

I snapped this picture of little Jake, cause he didn't get much camera action during the day, being an infant and all. Maybe on our next visit to California this cute little guy will be running around with the rest!

Even without Jim's company, we had a great time in sunny California, thanks to my cousin and her children.

Half Moon Bay Beach

On Thursday morning we went to Ikea. Can you believe I've never been to an Ikea? It was super fun (for me, not so much for Jim who was the designated kid-watcher). Jim wasn't impressed with the quality of the furniture (typical cabinet-maker) and said the price reflected the quality. I could have spent all day in Ikea getting ideas and picking out various items I wanted. Since Jim and the kids came along I tried to hurry, and I also had to fly home so I limited myself to just a few fun items: fabric, a duvet set for Hunty's room, and a few frames.

After Ikea we found our way to a beach by/near Half Moon Bay. We just entered "Half Moon Bay Beach" in our GPS and it took us to some suburb. Actually, it wanted us to go to the middle of the ocean by the looks of it, but the suburb cut us off. We found our way back to the main road and followed signs to the nearest beach which was called, "Venice Beach." We had to wade through an ankle deep stream to get to the beach, but once we were there it was SUPER nice. Actually, wading through the stream was kinda fun too.

Here are pictures:

Look at that big wave behind Hunter! The waves were really big this day.

Tralee was saying, "Nooooo!" in this picture because her sandcastle fell apart.

Hunty was crying because no one was holding him. He's scared of the ocean, and every time we went near the water while holding him he yelled, "No! No! No!" Then pointed his finger in the opposite direction.

Serious picture.

I like Hunty's face below. "Why the heck did they put me in this hole?"

A little cheesy a little cute.

I kinda love the picture below. Hunty was not in love with being this close to the water.

I really love the two silhouette-type pictures below. Tralee loved dipping her feet in the water with her daddy. Tralee's more like Jim (adventurous) and Hunter's more like me (scaredy-cat).

Chalk off another perfect day spent with my favorite peeps.