Legoland and Palm Springs!

We decided that we would do a quick family trip before the busyness of the move kicked in.  So off we set for California.  We drove to LA and stayed at an Embassy Suites quick for a place to sleep before heading to Legoland in the morning!  

We surprised the kids and checked into the Legoland hotel which Trevor is obsessed with after seeing it on Evantube on Youtube!

 We decided to upgrade to a suite so that the kids could have their own room with bunk beds and surprise it was actually ready for an early check in!  What a cool hotel and room!  Came with 'free' fun for the kids too!  We may never leave!

Even the elevator is its own party!

But after checking some stuff out we made our way to the park!

Luckily the princess woke up when we went back to the hotel.  They have this amazing Lego play area for the kids to play and for the adults to have a drink!  

 Our hotel package came with dinner in the restaurant and a dance party!  Love the Legoland hotel!!! Will definitely be back!

 The next day we returned to the park for more fun after we did a little swimming (no pictures taken surprisingly enough but we will always remember the big floating bricks they had to build even in the pool)!

After a day of fun we headed to a restaurant on the beach in Oceanside and caught the sunset.  Mama just thought it was cold :)

 We are still waiting to see a green flash ;)

 We spent the night in Oceanside before spending 3 days/2 nights in Palm Springs.  We stayed at a very kid-friendly resort that had a sandy area, beach entry pool and lots of slides and a lazy river.  

And of course, dipping' dots!

 We went to an awesome BBQ place for dinner and the next morning we did a little shopping at the outlets.  Ashley found a Tory Burch purse she wanted :)

Trevor liked looking at the mountains outside of any store, except the Disney store of course!

After that it was back to the pool!  This time we tried the big pool where Daddy could throw the kids in the air!

Ashley practiced her floating!

 And had more dipping dots :)

That night the kids wanted room service so room service it was!

 And an early lights out for the boys!!

We had wonderful family time on this trip.  Just what we needed before Daddy leaves in a little over a week to Arkansas and Mama is on her own with the kids for 2 months.  The plan is we will join him in Arkansas July 1.  Let's all pray we find a house by then and that ours sells quick!!

Surprise #2

So we have a surprise that has been in the works for a bit but because we have friends that work at Petsmart we had to keep it super hush, hush until it was time to tell his work!  First though we took the kids to dinner at one of our favorite kid friendly places - O.H.S.O and asked what they thought about us moving...to Arkansas!  Trevor had a few questions more about logistics and if it snowed in Arkansas and if he would be able to come back to AZ to see his friends.  

Ashley followed Trevor's lead and as a family we decided that yes this would be a great opportunity for Brian's career and get him back on the product development side that he loves.  He is going to be the Sr. Director of Private Brands for Sam's Club in Bentonville, Arkansas home of Walmart.  Currently he is the Sr. Director of Services, Grand Openings, Competitive Marketing and Event Marketing at Petsmart.  He just got Sr. Director at Petsmart so we are so so proud of him!!

You are looking at future Arkansas peeps!

Truth be told the reason Sara's parents were watching the kids a few weeks ago before Spring break is because Sara and Brian were on a secret mission to Bentonville to see if it would be a good fit.  Sara loved it.  It's 9 hour drive to her parents, it looks like MN but the weather is a good mix between AZ and MN!  We narrowed down the communities we would want to live in and overall could see us being there for a very long time.  Y'all we are going to be Southerners!!!

So that night after O.H.S.O she went and told her friend Katie.  Many tears were shed but she of course understood.  Sara wanted to go to a few friends houses after that to share the news too but she was mentally exhausted so the next night we had a wine night planned at Katie's with Lisa, Becky and Angie so Sara sprung the news there.  There was shock and tears and questions but we've got a great support system that will love us whether we are next door or across the US.  We are blessed.  And ready for this adventure!!!  (This is also why Sara's surprise party meant so much to her.  Her friends didn't know it but having the memory of everyone together one last time was just what she needed.  This surprise is also the reason that Brian could pull off a surprise...Sara was way too busy with move details to even think of anything other than a quick dinner with friends happening!!!)

Ashley's Mother's Day Tea

La Casa had their annual Mother's Day tea and Ashley was ready to sing all the songs she had been practicing!!

So cute!

Of course these 3 knew all the actions to 'Oh a Mother's work is never ever done' :)

After the photo slide show where tissues are a necessity we headed to the courtyard for pics!

 XOXO

 They have an art walk.  Ashley found hers right away!!

 And before we headed out she enjoyed a cookie or two :) 

Love the traditions at La Casa.  They take such good care of our kiddos and put on such fun events for us to see what they have been up to!

Surprise!

Brian pulled off the surprises of all surprises!!!  Sara still can't believe it!  How did he do it?!?!  As far as Sara knew she was going out to dinner with Katie and Lisa for a quick dinner.  We talked about inviting more people but in the end others were busy which was okay because we call it special time when there are just a few of us!  On the way to Modern Margarita Sara mentioned to Lisa and Katie that there was a great band playing at the country bar down the street but she looked and tickets were sold out.  Well Lisa said 'surprise!  I got tickets for us!'  Of course she did, that girl has more hook-ups than anyone else we know!!  We had a fun dinner and then we headed to the bar.  When we checked in they said we had VIP tickets and wanted the birthday girl to wear a glow necklace.  Sara didn't think anything of it because again, of course Lisa had VIP tickets and it was her birthday so why not have a special necklace!  Well we were walking to our table and Sara was chatting with the waitress about her birthday when she hears a huge roar of 'SURPRISE' - it kinda scared Sara to be honest so she stopped and looked over and saw all of her friends in one place.  You go through so many emotions like wait, is this for me?  Shock!  How did I get surprised?? Oh no!  Brian is at home working on house projects!  

But then she saw him and she couldn't believe what he had arranged!!  

 Best husband ever!!!!  And Lisa and Katie, sneaky, sneaky!!!!!!!  

 Seriously there is no way to describe what a special feeling it is when you get surprised like that.  Watch the video on Facebook!  Sara is laughing and tearing up all in the same second!!  After that we had such a fun night!  Brian arranged tickets for everyone and a special area of the bar with bottle service so we had no worries except to have fun which we did!!

 We even got to meet Brothers Osborne!!  Don't know any of their songs but Sara is a country fan so she is happy!

 Sara is mingling with friends when she looks over and realizes Brian is on the mechanical bull!

 Pretty soon we all take a chance on it!!

 Co-conspirator Julie!!!  Good work team!

Words can not begin to describe how special this night was to Sara.  She will never forget it for as long as she lives.  Brian on the other hand may not remember the festivities.  LOL!!!!