Summer BBQing

Todd's mom is in town so we decided to go to my parents house last night for a family BBQ. Their backyard is finally almost done and it's so beautiful! Having the pond behind their house makes you feel like you're really away from the city and the ducks are having a great time exploring my parents new backyard :-).

Little did my parents know their fountain is also a splashpad ;-)

Bodie had a little photo session w/ Uncle Nick

No cavity club

I seriously can't get over how fun the kids dentist experience is. Between costumes they build each time (cape, mask, ect), prizes for no cavities, movies, picking something fun (costume) for the hygenist to wear, new teeth goodies, balloons, stickers, ect. it makes me want to go there! I love that the kids love going there and I hope it continues to be that way :-).

Ice Cream on a Train

We promised the kids we would take them to ice cream after naps. After late naps they woke up at dinner time, BUT we promised ice cream. SO, they were happy to get ice cream before dinner (pretty sure this should be a regular thing they said). Love summer time!

Thoughts from a temporary stay-at-home mom

I'm SO glad I took the last two weeks off work and stayed home with the kids. A vacation would've been nice, but I'm actually super happy we only went out of town once (to the cabin) and stayed around home for the rest of the time. I'm used to working around a schedule all the time and it was SO nice to just do what we wanted when we wanted (there were a few planned things like soccer, swim...but not many). It really gave me a sense of what it would be like to stay home with the kids rather than working. I found myself less stressed b/c I wasn't worried about when the laundry would get done or the house cleaned since I had more time. I REALLY enjoyed my time home and will admit that it was very hard to come back to work. McKayla asked me a couple days before why I had to go back and if my boss said I really had to. Bodie told me the morning of that he didn't want me to leave and he just wanted to be with me. Both of these made it even harder and made me think about how I can really maximize my time with them when I am home. If they are ever reading this blog (I print it every month) then I want them to know that the past two weeks were some of the best I've ever had. I loved all the snuggles, kisses, play time, new adventures and just REALLY watching them play. I wasn't on my email/ multi-tasking, ect....I was just in the moment with them and there was no where else I would've rather been. I look forward to the time ahead and using this new perspective to stay in the moment with them and not worry as much about the other things/disconnet from work when home/ect. Other perks were seeing Todd more, going to the gym almost every day and more sleep (hello, naps....I love you).

Last week

Last week we just went where we wanted, when we wanted, ect. It was great not having an agenda and just being together. In addition to the soccer games & aquarium we went to a princess play in the park with my mom, cookie cutters for a quick trim, dinner @ my parents, the dino museum, swim and shopping at the outlets with Todd.

A Princess bun with sparkles...what more could a girl want

Picking out treats w/ GiGi after the princess play in the park

Haircut time

Hiked up Bell's Canyon

Video from McKayla's soccer game

Below are some videos from McKayla's game tonight (she's number 5). Oh, and sorry you have to hear my constant chearing ;-)

McKayla's last game of the season

McKayla had her last soccer game tonight and she made three more goals. The best part was that Todd was able to rush down from work and watch the game (I cannot even tell you the excitement on her face when she heard him call out "Go McKayla!"). We went out for frozen yogurt to celebrate after the game and couldn't have ended the season in a better way! This was a wonderful first experience with soccer and we are all looking forward to many more seasons/games to come.

Yep, I've learned to take his shirt off for any type of messy food ;-)

Yogurt shop buddies

Breaking through the banner the coaches wife made for the team