Good Friends Great Times

Katie Kayser had her baby shower a few weeks ago and could have her little baby girl, Evelyn Claire, any day now. It was great to hang out with an old roommate and good friend.

Last night we had a get together BBQ with our group of friends and we all had way too much fun with Lukas' superhero masks and weapons! It was a FUN night!

We had to get a normal nice one too because we realized we didn't have a picture of us 4 girls together!

July Casa Alegre Trip

Awww.... I had forgotten how WONDERFUL a full week of vacation was. It was one of the fastest weeks of my life but it was so nice to enjoy oceanside life for 7 whole days! 

WEDNESDAY

We got to Mexico a little after 3:00 pm. Everyone was excited to get out of the car. We unpacked, explored some, then Ember went down for a nap. When she woke up, we headed to Sam's Club and The Super Lei grocery store to get some food for the week. While we were out, we got pulled over by the police. In Mexico, they have a blinking green arrow that signals the light is going to change yellow. I guess that Dustin ran the blinking green before the yellow and that was not allowed. Oh well, the ticket was only $20 and he let us pay him. Who knows where that money actually went. But thankfully we made it back in time for hamburgers at sunset! 

THURSDAY

Woke up and had a homemade coconut mocha (we brought the espresso machine) with my love on the beach and read the Word.

Look what Ember learned to do! She was obviously pretty proud of herself :)

First time down at the beach! She LOVED it! But she would not stop eating the sand. We had to eventually pick her up because she just kept eating it in between crawling around and splashing in the water!

Later that night, we took an empty Pamper's box down to the beach to take some picture of us on the timer :)

We got some other good ones too!

Around midnight, Matt and Jenna's friends, Tom and Liz, arrived with their 5 month old girl Avagail (Ava for short).

FRIDAY

We started the day with a family walk down the the estuary and back. Then Ember and Sophie (almost 2 years old) played for a while

. We were impressed the whole trip with how well these two got along. Sophie would bring Ember toys and copy her. They would "talk" back and forth and crawl after each other!

We went down again to the beach today! Ember still liked the sand a lot but decided to throw a little seaweed in the mix now and again. 

Look how small she looks

Later that night, the "cabellos" (horses) came by! There was a cute little baby horse!

SATURDAY

Dustin, Matt (his cousin), and Todd went fishing on the kayaks. After Tom being flipped out of the single kayak from the fairly large waves, and Matt having to get snorkel gear for Dustin so he could dive down and unhook Tom's anchor which got stuck, they brought 2 fish in and cooked them up for a lunch snack. 

While Ember was taking her second nap, all the adults, Sophie, and Maci headed down to the beach and played a little wiffleball. Once Ember woke up, we got her ready for beach trip #3

SUNDAY

Dustin and I kayaked around the ocean some in the double kayak. Later, Dustin and Matt hit some golf balls around on the beach while Jenna and I played with Sophie and Ember in the water and sand. Tom, Liz, and Ava left around 2pm to head back to Arizona.

MONDAY

We drove over to Manny's Beach Club for breakfast. We all got Huevos Rancheros and it was VERY delicious.

That afternoon the tide was so high that it was splashing up over the retaining wall. Dustin and Jenna decided to try and fish of the stairs. All they caught was seaweed. We played some more wiffleball this afternoon too.

Another fun beach trip for Ember. She started eating less sand and crawling around more and more. She did try to grab the little black hole in the sand signaling a clam was below.

TUESDAY

Matt, Jenna, and Sophie left today around 11:30. We enjoyed our last full day relaxing and reading in the sun. We used the self timer again to get some pictures at night!

We ended the night with a little fire under the full moon and then went to sleep early so we were ready for the long drive home! Casa Alegre - it was great as always! Cheers until next time! :) 

Parent/Tot Swim Lessons.... CHECK!

For the last two weeks, Ember and I joined Aleecia and Addilyn and about 7 other parent/tot pairs for swim lessons at the Aquaplex. It was alot of getting them comfortable in the water. We worked on "jumping" in, reaching for the side and climbing out, kicking, blowing bubbles, floating on our stomachs and backs, scooping with our hands, and bobbing. Ember did get better at most things and could do a few of them really well. Here are some pictures from a few different days!

Jeff and Dustin were there for the last day!

Friends! Friends all around!

We had a week full of FRIENDS for Ember! We saw her friend Addilyn pretty much every day this week because of swim lessons and then Amber and Harper came up for a visit!

Amber and Harper came to our house first and we got lunch at the new Some Burros and then went to the park to play for a little bit before the luminous clouds and thunder forced us home.

Harper kept sticking her butt in the air and Ember thought it was fun to climb on her!

That night, Dustin, Ember, and I went over to the Mews so we could all have dinner together! 

Addilyn gave Ember some shoes and a hat that she didn't need anymore. I put both on Ember to try them out and this is what she did to her hat! :)

The next night, we had our next door neighbors over for dinner and Ember got to play with Evelyn too. They are so close in age that they are similar in so many noises and movements it is hard to tell which one made the noise or movement. It was fun to get to know our neighbors a little more! We like them alot!