Our Week in Review

Although the days are sometimes long, the weeks sure go by fast.  Which means the years will start to fly by.  So even though this blog may be time consuming when there are so many other things to do, it is very important to us to document our memories.

Like this.  Trevor throwing a beach ball up in the air...over and over...to his audience of Mommy and Ashley.  Ashley couldn't stop laughing.  She loves watching her big brother!

And this.  Trevor wanting to start each and every day giving a kiss to his little sister.  Hearts.are.melting!

And big girl wanting to feed herself!

And starting bites of cut up food instead of only purees.  Favorites are cut up pears, peaches and bananas so far.

And Trevor wanting a picture of him grabbing his sister's legs and pulling her back when she tries to army crawl away!

And the heat lowering just enough in Phoenix for Ashley to put on jean leggings for a morning.  And so she wouldn't crawl on her rug rash that she got the day prior from crawling around Pump It Up on a play date with Connor and Kennedy!

Oh and our own Spiderman.  He picks out the most atrocious looking new tennis shoes but he was right that they would give him super powers :)

Ashley enjoying her first music class at the MIM.  She loved it and put on quite a show for the other kids and parents!

This girl is not shy.  She wanted to be right where the action was!

And our little munchkins spying on Mommy when she ran downstairs for something quick!

And Trevor starting back up in swimming lessons at the clubhouse.  He couldn't wait to show Brea everything he had been practicing.  He did everything and was so so proud!  So was Brea!

Back to Pump It Up for another playdate with Connor, one of Trevor's BFFs from preschool (the one with the black hair Trevor always clarifies and Mommy says the one who didn't bring cupcakes for the birthday treat...thank goodness, what a mess!).  Trevor and Kennedy sure like to build things together:

A gets in on the fun too!  And this time smart Mommy brought her baby legs so that she could crawl freely without getting rug rash.

And Ashley once again attempting to eat all by herself.  This time it was homemade carrots and green bean purees.  Ashley seems to not like real green beans as much as the Gerber puree!

Trevor having more quiet time than naps on the week days.  On this particular day he played with his train set and made an elaborate track spanning all over the loft/toy area.  He was so proud!

Trevor insisting that he wasn't tired....yet he fell asleep at 4:30pm on Sara and Brian's bedroom floor while watching Fireman Sam when Mommy was getting ready for date night!  He got up at 5:40 just in time for the babysitter (Mrs. Webb his preschool teaching assistant) to get here!  No worries, he was still ready for bed at 8:30pm! 

And our most wonderful date night at Fleming's Steakhouse where we shared an amazing double bone-in ribeye carved tableside by the chef.  Then we went to Ocean Prime and enjoyed a cocktail and the most wonderful peanut butter/chocolate ganache dessert!

And Sara going over to Nicci's for a little girls night where we painted pots for Kendall's upcoming memorial.

Daddy having to work a lot lately due to employee mid-review time :(  but it didn't stop Trevor, Ashley and Mommy from having fun on Sunday!  Starting with donuts from Trevor's favorite place....LaMars!

And a trip to PetSmart to see the animals!  As our friend Julie said, 'why go to a zoo when you can go to PetSmart!'

Spiderman strikes again!

And this little girl who is bound and determined to make us put a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs too!

Life...it's going by too fast but we wouldn't change a thing.  Life is good!

Ashley's 10 Month Pics

Ashley is 10 months old.  How does that happen?  Seriously!!! 

She's a little peanut that eats...a lot!  Seriously, she downs food like it's her last meal for days.  She mainly eats rice cereal mixed with water along with purees but loves pieces of banana, pears and peaches.  She's so proud to eat like a big girl!

She smiles and laughs all day long.  She crinkles up her nose and squints her eyes...it's so cute.  Sometimes she even snorts while laughing like her Aunt Annie!

She's starting to pull herself up to standing but still prefers to be held or to army crawl all over the house.  She is great at spinning in circles on the tile and laughs and laughs while spinning.  When sitting the feet are always tapping!

She's so inquisitive.  Wants to know everything about everything.  And she is so smart.  When Mommy said we'll have to wash her hands she lifts up her hands with a look that says let's go!

She and Trevor are inseparable!  Wherever he goes, she follows.  She really likes taking his toys and scooting away quickly.  He isn't such a fan of that :)

She smiles on command but is starting to get shy around strangers.  She is very attached to her lovey 'Pink Cow' and uses her nuk at nap and bedtimes.  She brings so much joy to our lives, we are blessed!

Worst Mommy Moment (yet anyway)

Just have to document this one for the books....Trevor has been doing quiet time instead of nap some days, well most weekdays and today was one of those days where he probably needed to nap even though he insisted his eyes weren't tired.  

He had his first soccer lesson at our clubhouse but unfortunately it was cancelled because recent rains made the field too wet.  So we stuck around and played on the playground for awhile.  A long while.  Nice Mommy even gave him extra time.  When it was time to go he was just fine.  Until we got to the car and he wanted to climb through the back way instead of go through his door.  Mommy said no because his feet were all dirty and boy did he have a little tiff.  So Mommy put the keys in her mouth and picked him up to put in his car seat.  Well he wasn't too happy about that so he swatted the keys out of Sara's mouth as she put him in his seat and the keys flew to the ground outside.  Which somehow shocked and a little hurt Sara's teeth (note to self don't put keys in mouth.  One it's dirty, two you never know when someone is going to hit them out!).  What was Sara's instant reaction?  

To throw his beloved Skip It out of the car too!

Trevor matter of fact yet kind of whining told Mommy to pick him up.  Mommy's response?  'Nope, I'm going to run him over.'

The look of sheer panic on Trevor's face was enough to make Sara wish she could take it back.  He then proceeded to cry hysterically (remember the drama that comes from no nap) and say 'I'm sorry Skip It, I'm sorry' (note not sorry to Mommy, sorry that Skip It is going to get run over).

Sara secretly picked Skip It up as she went around to the drivers side but Trevor didn't know that.  When she put the car in reverse poor Trevor's eyes got so big he didn't know what to do but scream 'Let me see him and say goodbye.  Roll down my window'  Well of course Sara already felt terrible for saying and doing this so she made sure he knew that she picked up Skip It.  He apologized for hitting and all was well in the world again.  Sara is still a little sad about her reaction when she thinks about that look of pure horror Trevor had on his face.  Not her proudest Mommy moment :(

Funniest part though was after all of that, Trevor says 'Now let's not tell Daddy about this.'  Ha!  Where does he get this stuff? 

San Diego with Grandma and Grandpa Hillins

We were lucky enough to be able to spend Papa John's 70th birthday with him in San Diego!  Well part of his actual birthday was spent in the car with some very good travelers and a car packed to the rim with everything under the sun.  Ashley slept most of the 6+ hour trip!

As did Trevor.  He watched some movies and when he got tired he handed Mommy the headphones and said he was ready for nap!

 Sara, kids and grandparents drove on Thursday and Brian flew out Friday afternoon.  Lucky guy got to skip the car ride both ways but that was okay.  He didn't have to use up much vacation that way and the rest of us got some quality bonding time in the car.  Ha!  Poor Papa was the driver and Pauline read her book the whole time and Sara cleaned out her emails!  Lots of silence :)

What did we do our week together?  You name it, we did it.  We truly are blessed to be able to spend these times together.  We all had a lot of fun....eating dinners out....

....watching the waves crash to shore from our rented condo (and forgetting about the horrific check-in with lockboxes not being labeled, keys not working, homeless guys fighting with crow bars just feet from the car. Yes you read that right.  Sara kept telling Papa John to get back in the car and lock the doors but luckily it was over before it got too bad).  Back to the beautiful waves we loved to watch and hear....

...eating lots and lots of Cheerios but putting them in a cup so that they lasted a bit longer because she liked pulling one out then putting it back in then pulling it out before eating it!

 .... eating new 'star puffs' that Grandma Pauline found at the grocery store!

...Brian catching some waves boogie boarding

...Trevor learning how to ride a boogie board after much hemming and hawing

...picnics on the beach.  Trevor just loves ham sandwiches!

...Trevor riding his bike on the boardwalk.  We weren't kidding that the car was packed with goodies!

....Daddy rollerblading behind our bike rider so that Trevor could go super fast!

...dinner at Fat Fish Cantina Grill again when Daddy was in town.  Dancing...or jumping...whatever you want to call Trevor's style!

....shots.  Yes, shots of tequila.  Luckily they were small shots but every 70 year old should do a shot for his birthday.  Especially when they are free :)

Ashley got in on the shot action too!  Why buy toys when used plastic shot cups suffice?

...eating 'pouches'  (usually the contents within the pouch but just holding one and chewing on the cap kept her busy for quite a while!)

...sleeping.  Mr. I'm Not Tired didn't fight nap too much on the trip.  Sun, walking, biking = all great things to wear out our three year old!

...Ashley even was a pretty good sleeper.  We brought our pack and play which she's familiar with and put her right next to the window so that the ocean sound would help her sleep.  And keep her cool.   We found out that the condo although advertised that it had air conditioning, really did not.  Lucky for us we were in San Diego in the midst of a heat wave so we did what we needed to do.  After the first two nights it really wasn't so bad!

...clapping.  Over and over because she got such a reaction from everyone.  She is one happy baby!

...spending time at the beach under our umbrella

...or flying a kite!

...meeting people like this guy who are infatuated with Ashley.  We put him to work taking some pictures of the family.  Too bad none of his really turned out!

...pictures with just Mommy

...and pictures of Daddy with his two kiddos

...showing a little butt crack while walking back to the condo.  Trevor was saying that his 'swim soup' as he calls it was falling down.  Lucky it was just his and not Dada's!

...building sandcastles with Daddy and Papa John

....showing off her 'so big' skills at dinner

...and again on the beach!

Seriously guys, check me out!  I'm so big!!

Speaking of so big...when did our little Trevor start looking like he's ready for kindergarten?  Time seriously must start slowing down!

...spending every night trying to capture the ever elusive green flash.

...Never did get to see it but Brian swears it exists!  We did get to see many beautiful sunsets though!

 

...a few trips to a custom ice cream cookie shop.  Trevor was in heaven and didn't share easily!  Luckily for Mommy they had a dairy free cookie choice.

....and luckily for Ashley they had ice cream cones!

She thought it was the best thing since sliced bread!

... getting eaten by a shark on our morning jaunt for breakfast sandwiches or burritos

...touring the U.S.S Midway (otherwise known as a super big boat that carries airplanes)

Not sure who liked it more....Trevor or Daddy!

We were there for over three hours and these two could have stayed hours more!

Silly boys!

Good thing Daddy didn't go into the Navy....he'd have a hard time fitting on the bed!

Bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do?  

What a fun time!  Enjoyed our lunch at the Seafood Market too.  We all might turn into Seafood after this trip.  Yum!

...Captured lots of family pics!

...and some of just the kiddos

Her legs!  They are always spread out! Eek!

The four of us at our favorite spot...the beach!

And Grandma and Papa Hillins with the grandkids.  Ashley says hello!

....Oysters at our favorite restaurant the 'Green Flash.' And no, if you eat there you are not guaranteed a green flash sunset.  But you are guaranteed the most amazing swordfish you've ever had.

...running in the grassy knoll by our condo.  Also not shown here but lots of hide and go seek with Papa and games of tag!

...Rollerblading - yes, we packed these in the car too and it's a good thing we did!  Three times during the kids naps we snuck off and rollerbladed down to the jetti and back.  So much fun!  And even though Sara was a bit rusty at first it wasn't her that fell :)

...love wearing pink hats and cute summer clothes that finally fit!

...blue hats work too!

...A ferry ride to Coronado Island for lunch and passing a yacht bigger than the Titanic.  Just kidding, but it was pretty big.  Trevor liked that it even had a helicopter on it.  He says when he is bigger he's going to have a boat like that!

...Touring Daddy's alma mater University of San Diego and being able to see your old babysitter who now goes to college there.  Trevor was so excited to see Bethany and give her some 'treat money.'

...and having lunch at a chart house on Coronado.  Where Trevor had his first restaurant time out.  That wasn't so fun but overall a good time was had by all this day and all days!

Happy 70th birthday Papa John! Thanks for sharing your special time with us and we look forward to continued celebrations as part of our gift to you.  You know because one week of celebrating just wasn't enough!  Sara celebrates her special day for a month, you can at least have 10 days! XOXO