Time at the Beach

Is there anything better than our yearly week long vacation to Santa Cruz?

All 3 of us are beach people, there really is nothing like spending a week in the sand.

Mikenna picked out a ton of beach toys and we spent most of the week playing in the sand and the water.

On Thursday and Friday we woke up, waited for the fog to clear, and headed to the beach to spend the rest of the day (well, until Mikenna couldn't keep her eyes open, then we headed back for a nap.)

The house we stayed in is right across from the beach and the boardwalk, it's so nice being able to walk everywhere!

We built about 100 sand castles (and by we, I mean Ryan and me... Mikenna just liked knocking them down)

I think I enjoy this vacation so much because we get to spend so much distraction free time together. 

Just us and the ocean...

...and about a billion beach toys.

I have not been feeling so hot, (hellooooo first trimester!) so I was so, SO thankful for Ryan taking Mikenna to play in the water and letting me lay on the beach and attempt to forget my nausea.

And I did a lot of that.

Mikenna ran, and ran, and ran.

Have I mentioned how much this kid runs? Seriously... track star in the making. 

(With an occasional pause for a model pose.)

She also chased every seagull she could find (more running.)

And I spent time just watching and photographing her. 

Perfect days.

I swear we did other things besides lay on the beach...

We went to see the sea lions a few times (my favorite)

And we took Kenna to the Boardwalk to ride the rides and play games on Saturday when everything opened.

She loved the rides this year and rode every single one she was able to.

I think we rode the carousel about 10 times. 

And Ryan had fun in the arcade teaching her all about video games...

Pete and repeat.

Heather, Randy and the boys came up on Saturday morning and spent some time with us on the Boardwalk.

On Sunday (Mother's Day) we all got some yummy burgers and headed to a more private beach to lay in the sand.

Heather and I have decided this will be our Mother's Day tradition....

Nothing in the world I would rather do than lay on the beach!

 Even better, the kids completely entertained themselves.

Jackson dug Mikenna a hole to sit in and she spent about an hour in there with her toys.

Jackson made himself a beach chair out of sand...

...and Domi and Mikenna dug some more holes.

Yes please.

Grammy and Aitachi met us back at the house that afternoon and we put Mikenna in her "big sister" shirt and waited for them to notice.

It took Grammy a minute to figure it out but once she caught on she started crying, we are all so excited!

We celebrated with a yummy dinner on the water with all of us watching the sunset, a great way to end the day!

The next day we headed back to the beach one last time to play.

We didn't last long with an exhausted 2 year old, but after a long nap we dragged Grammy and Aitachi back with us for a walk on the beach before dinner.

 There's those holes again.

Kenna LOVES her Grammy and Aitachi and it's nice to get some time with them each year when we're here.

I even convinced Grammy to take a few family pictures of us before we headed to dinner that evening.

I'm trying to get a few more pictures of us as a family of 3 before our newest addition arrives.

(It's harder than you think... I'm always behind the camera!)

Goodbye my favorite beach, until next year!

Exciting Things...

We found out some exciting news this week...

News that explains while I've been feeling so sick lately...

Miss Mikenna is going to be a BIG sister!

Baby #2 is officially coming sometime in January 2013.

We haven't really been "trying," but we knew we were ready whenever it was meant to happen.

I can't wait to see this little punkin with a sibling. 

She can't wait to take care of the baby in Mommy's tummy.

I'm not quite sure she understands all that entails, but we've got 8 months to try our best to prepare her.

She will be an amazing big sister. 

She already loves her "baby brother sister" and kisses my tummy everyday.

We are getting excited to meet this little one already!

Funderland

Every once in a while we randomly decide to do something fun...

We woke up this morning and decided we would go somewhere...

We couldn't decide so we let Mikenna pick between the Sacramento Zoo, Fairytale Town, and Funderland.

She instantly made up her mind on riding the rides at Funderland. 

Funderland is like a little amusement park for toddlers and younger kids.

All the rides are smaller, kind of like the kiddy rides at a carnival.

We hadn't taken her there yet so I was so excited to see her ride all the rides!

 As soon as we walked in she wanted to ride the roller coaster. 

I was shocked!

She wanted to ride with Daddy so away they went.

She wasn't too sure about it... she didn't cry or get scared but she didn't love it either.

I'm always proud when she is brave enough to try something new.

I always tell her "you may not like it and that's ok, but at least you tried!"

I never would have tried to convince her to ride a roller coaster but I'm glad she tried!

 Next she picked a ride that she knew was one of her favorites, the carousel.

We rode this one a few times actually!

Anytime we try something new she is very, very serious.

She has always been this way around new people and situations... she takes it all in. 

She is quickly becoming a 3 year old, she wants to do everything herself lately.

We let her hold her own tickets and hand them over when it was her turn... I think that was her favorite part.

We rode her favorite rides a few times...

She would have gladly gone on the log ride over and over all day... this girl loves water!

I love that she chose me or Ryan to go with her depending on the ride.

(Let's face it, mostly Ryan... she's such a Daddy's girl)

She even convinced me to ride the teacups. Barf.

 But, by the end of the day she was all smiles, and that's all that matters!

These days are my favorite... the random unplanned ones are the ones in the front of my mind when I think of happy times.

I love my sweet little family... wouldn't have it any other way!

Easter

We do Easter pretty big around here.

Mainly because it's always around a half birthday for Mikenna... and since she gets a load of presents once in the fall/winter, we do a present or two at Easter too :)

Kennas has been loving her legos, and as always anything princess-y (it's a word), so when we saw the big lego castle we knew that would be her Easter gift.

She loved it so much she didn't even care much about egg hunting!

After playing for awhile we put on our "fancy" clothes (aka a princess dress for Kenna) and headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for a big egg hunt.

(But not before a quick photo sess of course)

Isn't she the cutest? 

This chick was one of the other things the Easter Bunny brought for her, she never puts it down.

Love, love love.

(Total side note... my own opinion... even more amazing than your love for your child is seeing your husband's love for your child. Makes my heart melt.)

Anyway back to our day... we had fun hunting for eggs and playing a few games with cousins at Grandpa Dan's and then at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

I love that Mikenna has so many cousins around her age to grow up with. Watching them all play together is adorable! It's definitely my favorite part of the holidays.

 Before it got dark we wanted to get a picture of all the grandbabies with Grandma and Grandpa.

It only took a few shots to get a good one... pretty impressed we got all of these kiddos looking (and mostly smiling) all at once!

Love them all to pieces. 

Happy Easter everyone!

Going going, back back, to Chico

I took my little bug with me to Chico for a photoshoot with Kelly, one of our favorite people!

When she asked me if I would take some grad photos of her on the Chico State Campus, I was beyond excited.

I knew instantly I wanted to take Mikenna with me and show her around where Mommy and Daddy met. 

Chico holds such a special place in both of our hearts, it's the beginning of us.

Luckily Kelly is one of the coolest people we know and was happy to have Kenna with us!

I know she doesn't really understand yet, but it's all kind of warm fuzzy feelings showing her around anyway.

We drove by Ryan's old house where we had so many memories, and our first apartment together downtown.

We walked the whole campus and Kenna loved the water, bridges, and the squirrels.

While shooting in the middle of campus Mikenna was jumping up and down playing "hopscotch."

I happened to look down at her feet and she was jumping on the 2006 time capsule-the year Ryan and I met. 

Pretty darn cool if ya ask me!

I can't wait to hang one of these in our house.

Until next time Chico... we miss you!

It's Raining....

I cannot believe how dry it has been this year!

We spent every rainy day last year jumping in the puddles and couldn't wait to do the same this year.

But it seems like that's all we've done this year...

Wait, and wait, and wait.

Finally, in March... we've got rain!

I got woken up to a cute little voice this morning yelling, "Mommy... let's get our boots on! There's rain!"

She stayed out and jumped in the puddles until she was soaked from head to toe.

You only get to be a kid once, right?

I try to stop and enjoy the little things as much as possible... keep her little as long as I possibly can.

And the best part? 

Coming back inside after, getting dry clothes on, and snuggling with the candles lit. 

More rain please.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We did a mini photo sess for Valentine's Day...

(mainly because I hadn't yet tested out my new black drop)

The pictures turned out adorable so I ended up throwing a card together and sending them out.

She's a cute little punkin, right?

We spent our day making heart shaped pancakes, sandwiches, and Valentine's for Daddy... can't think of a better way to spend a day with my girl.

Happy LOVE day!