More Fun in the Sun

It takes so long to upload pictures to Blogger, I'm surprised I made it through all these! Here are the last bunch of pictures from our time in California. We road-tripped from California to Stanley, ID on Wednesday (yes, you read that right). We rented a car in Orange County and made the 15 hour drive. Because we had the boys and had to stop so often (and because of a tiny wrong turn I made) it took us closer to 18 hours.

But Jack and Cullen did SO WELL!! We couldn't believe it! Cullen didn't make a peep the entire drive, he was such a trooper! And Jack, true to his strong-willed self, was a little fussy and certainly put up a fight when we strapped him into his carseat time after time but overall he did great too. Driving for 18 hours with these boys was infinitely easier and less stressful than flying for 6 hours. Go figure- I guess they love the open road!

We got into Stanley late on Wednesday night and have been catching up on sleep and relaxing ever since. We are so excited to be here! I'll be posting pictures from Idaho soon but for now, here are some from Cali.

Kisses from Auntie Anna

Great-grandma Sue with her boys

Playing in the park

Sweet Violet

Brandon arrived on Thursday and we had a really fun date night on Friday.
I missed him so much!

Beach day!

Playing with big boy toys at my Aunt and Uncle's house

Enjoying a juicy peach by the pool

Swimming with Uncle Jon

The boys kept pointing to Violet and saying "dat!"
But they would kiss her sometimes too and that just melted all of our hearts!

Auntie Anna looks like she's got her hands full!

A very happy Aunt!

The boys loved Violet's bouncer

Feeding the ducks

Except Jack and Cullen ate most of the food instead of throwing it to the ducks :-)

Fun in the Sun

We have spent most of this week just hanging out at my mom's apartment and playing in the pool for a few hours nearly every afternoon. The boys just love being outside in the water! They've always been fearless but they've taken it to new levels recently. They literally jump into the pool to swim with their aunties and Nana. And Cullen likes to dunk his face right in the middle of playing with his water toys. He will suddenly just bend down and dip his face into the water. Then he comes up laughing! And both boys, especially Cullen, have started flinging their entire bodies down into the water in the kid's pool and trying to 'swim' by themselves. The first time Cullen did this, my heart stopped. I was only an arm's length away so I pulled him up and, of course, he was laughing hysterically. Then he kept trying to do it again and again. I have to watch them like a hawk in the pool! I guess their fearlessness around water is both a blessing and a curse. I'm glad they're not afraid of it, but I do wish they wouldn't enjoy diving into the water by themselves so much. I think we'll definitely be taking them for swim lessons next spring! Here are some pictures from the week:

Just chillin' in the pool

They are fascinated with this hand rail, they like to squeeze through it over and over and over...

An old favorite, the swings!

This might be my new favorite pic of Jackson

Spinning with Mommy

Fun in the pool

Being silly with Grandpa

I often laugh at the things that seem like a good idea to Jack and Cullen

Stuffing his face with watermelon

At the Angels game

More fun in the pool

Sweet Violet lounging poolside

Jack swimming in the big pool with Auntie Anna

Jumping in!

Daddy comes tomorrow and we couldn't be more excited! This is the longest we've ever been apart and it feels like like forever. I miss my husband so much! I can tell the boys miss him a lot too, I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they first see him!