Wednesday, June 20, 2012

San Diego Vacation!

Once again it has been far too long since I've had the chance to blog. We've been very, very busy in the past few weeks, but we've been having a lot of fun too.

2 weeks ago, my focus was completely on making cupcakes for my cousin's fiance's shower and cleaning and packing for our big vacation. My sister Courtney did a great job blogging about that big/ fun bridal shower. The shower was a blast, and I so enjoyed making these cupcakes that I'm considering making a career out of baking down the road...


Anyway, back to the vacation. My wonderful and incredibly generous in-laws gift the family (Caleb, his brothers and their families) with a vacation every 3-5 years. Our last vacation was in HAWAII in June of 2008 when I was pregnant with Elliana.


Over the past 4 years the family has grown from 1 granddaughter (and 1 on the way) to FIVE grandkids.

Since there are 5 kids all ages 5 and under, we all agreed that this vacation would have to be one that both adults and young kids could enjoy. So when Caleb's parents (lovingly named Lito and Lita by the kids) suggested we go to San Diego for this year's vacation, we all thought it was a perfect location!


Here are my wonderful in-laws. The kids adore them, and so do we. :)


We had SUCH a great time in San Diego! We were there from June 9th-June 16th. I simply couldn't fit everything we did in one blog post, so I thought I would try to highlight some of our best experiences and pictures.

The first few days, we enjoyed getting to explore our vacation home for the week. It was so beautiful and was right on the beach.


And, of course we spent some time on the beach. I love these pictures of Ellie and Ethan.



Of course, we couldn't go to San Diego and miss out on Seaworld. Seaworld might have been one of my favorite days. We watched the Shamu show, saw dolphins, penguins, sealions...
... and we played, rode on a few rides with the kids, and Ellie even splashed around a bit in the fountains.


See the picture of Ellie and Ethan stuffing their faces with cotton candy? That's one of my new favorites. Ha ha. ;)

We went to Balboa Park and LOVED it! We had so much fun looking at the fountains and old unique buildings,


and playing with the kids at the park. We captured some of their best smiles there.


After the park, Ellie and Ethan enjoyed a ride on the carousel.


We went to Legoland and had a BLAST!


 I had no idea what to expect of Legoland. It's basically like a mini Disneyland with a Legos theme and it's especially geared toward younger kids (ages 2-12). It was PERFECT for our group. The kids rode many rides and had so much fun!


One night the adults got away for a dinner cruise. This was SO much fun. The dinner was so delicious, and after dinner we listened to music and danced.



Most of all, we enjoyed spending time with family. This is Nate, Caleb's younger brother and his wife Amanda. They are starting up their own photography business and they spent most of the week taking zillions of pictures on their new camera. I can't wait to see and share some of the photos they took.



A few other highlights for me that I sadly don't have any pictures of was walking and biking on the boardwalk next to the beach, splashing in the waves, watching the kids make sand castles, trying a SUP (Stand Up Board) for the first time, kayaking on the bay with the kids, spending an afternoon in Old Town, and taking professional family photos at Balboa Park (can't wait to see how those turned out). If you ask Ellie, the highlight of the vacation was having our own hot tub that she spent lots and lots (and lots and lots) of time in. She absolutely loves "swimming"- just like I did as a child.

When it was over, I was so sad to head home. We had been talking about and planning this vacation for a few years. It was fun to see Elliana and her cousin Abby sit together on the plane though.


Thank you Mom and Dad H for giving us such a wonderful vacation. I know we all had a great time and will be talking about it for years.





About Me

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I am a daughter of the King. Saved by grace. Follower of Christ. I love my God and I believe that he is faithful and true to his word! I'm still figuring out and trying to follow his plan for my life. I am a wife to my best friend Caleb, a mother to my miracle babies (they are my greatest joy and challenge), a sister and best friend to 3 passionate women, and a daughter to 2 amazing parents that continue to teach me what it is to be real and faithful to God and his word. I am lucky to get to be a stay at home Mom (thanks to God's provision). I love music, singing, coffee, cooking, baking, traveling, our beautiful state of Colorado, and mostly being with the family and friends that I love!

Husband, Caleb

Husband, Caleb
Caleb is an amazing husband and father. He is always so good to me. He is my best friend. He is the romantic one. We love to laugh and spend time together. We've been married for 7 years and I just love that I get to spend the rest of my life with him.

Our 1st Miracle

Our 1st Miracle
Elliana Faith... God blessed us with our first miracle little girl in December 2008. She is sweet, smart, spunky, funny, strong willed, precocious, extremely outgoing, vocal and so full of life! She brings us so much joy.

Our 2nd Miracle

Our 2nd Miracle
Ethan James,.. God blessed us with our little boy in March 2011. Ethan was a bit of a surprise and an even bigger miraclle. Ethan is ALL BOY! He is very active, into sports and running around. He is also sweet, introverted, affectionate, and laid back. These days he often has us laughing, he's starting to show a little bit of "clown" in him. He makes our hearts happy too. :)

Our 3rd Miracle

Our 3rd Miracle
Emsley Jeannette... Our surprise baby girl was born on June 11th, 2013 and came into the world 4 weeks early. Her first 2 weeks of life were spent in the NICU, but due to God's hands and the prayers of many people, she grew quickly and came home to join our family! She is an easy, sweet baby and we are enjoying getting to know her personality.

Sisters

Sisters
We fight one day and then the next day we're fine. We're always loud and crazy when we get together. We're very passionate. We've been through it all together, lots of ups and downs. We're eachother's biggest supporters.

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