Newport Beach

A couple of weeks ago we had a fun family vacation at the beach. The timing was great because I got to tag it onto a "girls trip" I had been planning with my life-time girlfriends to celebrate us all turning 30 this year!

I said good-bye to my sweet husband and kids and flew down to San Diego on Wednesday and spent that evening, Thursday and Friday with my friends (I'll post more about my fun-filled girls trip later!) On Saturday morning my sister-in-law Angela and her family (who live in San Diego) picked me up and we all headed up to Newport Beach to meet up with Aaron, my kids, and some other members of Aaron's family (who had all driven down the day before.) I am so grateful to my husband who was brave enough to make a six hour trip with the kids without me!

We spent the next five days enjoying the easy-going atmosphere of the beach, pools, and just amazing weather! We had a wonderful time as our own little family, but also with our extended family. Thank you so much to Aaron's Mom and Dad for inviting us to come share in the fun with them! They are so great!

A few highlights:

Eve, looking very proud of her castle.

Grace with her cousins on our first day at Newport Beach.

Grace and Julia were so excited about the hole they spent a good portion of the afternoon digging!

Grandma helped the kids build a huge sand castle at Corona del Mar.

Eve, Aunt Sarah, Grace and Julia getting ready to roast hot dogs for dinner in a fire pit at the beach.

So, I kind of took a lot of picture of the kids at the beach (and nothing else!) But, like I said, that's a lot of what we did...and it was wonderful!

Fourth of July

We had a blast celebrating the Fourth of July with Aaron's family.

The girls and I made an American Flag cake.

Eve and Grace were thrilled that their cousins were in town for the occasion!

A fourth of July tradition from Aaron's Grandpa: homemade ice cream!

We had so much fun doing fireworks in front of the house. The kids really enjoyed this part!

Grace with her sparkler.

Eve didn't want to hold a sparkler, but enjoyed throwing "poppers" on the sidewalk with Aunt Rene.

Grace the Wonderful Magician!

On Friday the girls and I attended a magic show put on at our local library. Both girls enjoyed it, but Grace was especially impressed with the amazing magic. She immediately wanted to check out a book about being a magician. She found one that showed kids how to do their own magic tricks and we checked it out before heading home. After thumbing through the book, she informed me that she wanted to put on a magic show of her own. So after putting Eve down for a nap, Grace and I spent the afternoon finding a few tricks that were within her skill level, making the props she needed, practicing her mystifying illusions, and coming up with a name and costume for this budding magician (Grace the Wonderful Magician.) When all was prepared she called her daddy at work and invited him to come see a magic show that night. All was ready when he arrived home from work (Eve had even dressed up for the occasion in one of her best tu-tus!) We all enjoyed a fun night of amazing magic that will be hard to forget!

Callen's Bracelets

My sister-in-law has started selling these adorable bracelets on etsy.com...I just wanted to share!

Disneyland

Earlier this week we went on a quick, but very fulfilling trip to Disneyland. Growing up in Southern California, I've been to this magical place many times, but this was a whole new experience...witnessing my little ones' excitement for the first time! The girls had great endurance, starting the day off early in the morning and lasting well into the night with no naps. We got to do pretty much everything we wanted in one day and had so much fun spending this time together as a family.

The next day after a very leisure-filled morning of recovering from our big day, we stopped by the beach before heading out of town. We all enjoyed the waves and sand and had a hard time leaving such beauty...but then again, it's always nice to return home.

They were very impressed by the "real castle" we got to see.

Small World was definitely a favorite!

Aaron had fun with his girls on "Autopia." Grace got to drive, but I think she was most excited about having her own drivers license given to her.

Eve really liked this Winnie the Pooh ride because there were no scary parts.

Aaron took the girls on Splash Mountain ( I refrained...wasn't sure if it might be too bumpy for my little baby bump!) The big drop made poor Eve cry, but Grace seemed to enjoy it (I was kind of surprised at how much she enjoyed the "big rides" she went on with Aaron. Space Mountain and Star Tours were her favorites.)

Grace got to dance with Goofy during the Parade.

Grace loved splashing in the waves and writing with a stick in the sand, while Eve preferred to sit on a towel under the umbrella and expressed that she thought the seaweed was "nasty."

Hairspray

Even though it happened a few weeks ago, I wanted to mention the fun time Aaron and I had taking Grace to see Hairspray live on Stage. It was fabulously done and better yet...we had front row seats! Grace has been a fan of this musical for some time, and can sing along with most of the numbers. She is even found on occasion belting "Good-morning Baltimore" throughout the house. It's become a favorite of Eve's lately as well and she often requests to listen to "Tracy" while we're driving in the car. I'm so excited that my love of Broadway is being picked up by my girls!

It's a Girl!

We are so excited to welcome our third little girl into the world at the end of October! Grace and Eve can't wait to be big sisters...and we are all looking forward to having a little baby in the house again!

Wonderful Weekend

We had the best weekend ever! Aaron left work early Friday and we drove up to Pinecrest for an overnight camp out. After enjoying the lake, mountains, and trees all day Saturday we headed home to 100 degree weather and jumped in the pool when we got home! Our wonderful weekend continued the next day with our typical "Dad is home all day" excitement and family togetherness on Sunday. I am so grateful for my sweet family and that I got to be with them all weekend long!

Talent Show

Last night Grace performed in her school talent show. We were so impressed with her bravery. Not only did she remember all the words, but she also didn't seem to be phased by the large audience of strangers staring at her. I just love hearing her cute little five-year-old voice reciting all fifty states as if she were spelling her name. Believe it or not, I actually taught her this song about a year ago...so she has been singing it since she was four! We definitely had a proud parent moment last night! Click on the video below to enjoy for yourself!

Congratulations Tausha and Joe!

My wonderful sister got married last week. It was a beautiful wedding and I am so grateful that I got to go and be a part of it. I flew up to Utah by myself and the whole trip (including travel time) was only 48 hours, but it was so worth it. I had a lot of fun helping my mom with last minute wedding arrangements, and just really enjoyed being there for my sis...I love her so much! She married a great guy...welcome to the family Joe!

Easter

We had wonderful Sunday celebrating Easter together as a family. It was a good opportunity to discuss with the girls how important Jesus is and how much He has done for us. I love that when I asked Grace why we have Easter she said, "Because Jesus was resurrected." I also love that the girls got to have fun hunting for eggs! It was so exciting for them to run around the yard finding brightly colored little surprises where they least expected them. Oh the joys of childhood!

Dance Recital

The girls had their dance recital last night. They both did a great job and were a lot of fun to watch! Grandma and Grandpa Lewis, Uncle Brad and Aunt Sarah were able to come and watch...it meant so much to the girls to have them there! Sarah did a great job getting videos of both dances. Click below on each box to watch and enjoy!

Eve

Grace

Kid Quotes

One of my favorite day to day things about being a mom is hearing the funny things my kids say. Here are some samples of recent things I have heard come out of their mouths...

While explaining to Eve what happens when you go to the dentist--Grace: "They get the cactuses out of your teeth."

After I answered the phone with Hello? Hello? and there was no answer--Grace: "That little boy or girl is gonna go to prison." (If you've read curious George you'll know he goes to prison for calling the fire department by mistake!)

When her camera wouldn't take a picture because the memory was full--Grace: "It's full of memories."

Grace: "I'm Grace Harriet, The Brave. I'm not scared of ants or spiders, or monsters in my dreams. I'm not even afraid of trying new foods!"

Eve: "I wish I was a Penguin."

Eve: "Everyday I go potty...and then I'll be a grown up."

Eve:"Those squitos bited my foot."

Eve: "I said to Grace, 'For crying out loud!' because she was crying out loud."

Eve: "Do you want to smell my foot Grace? It smells like cotton candy."

A Day of Dr. Seuss

So even though it happened like a week and a half ago...I really wanted to share a fun day the girls and I had last Monday. It was Dr. Seuss's birthday and we decided to celebrate (any excuse for making cake and blowing out candles, right?!) It started with my suggestion that we make cupcakes and decorate them fun colors, but the girls kept coming up with fun ways to make it truly a Seuss-tacular day! They decided to wear their Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes (from Halloween) for the majority of the day; they rounded up every Dr. Seuss item in the house from which Grace made a display table; and of course we read Dr. Seuss books to our hearts content! Later that night we had a FHE lesson on the importance of learning, and I spotlighted Dr. Seuss and his contribution to the world of children's reading and literature. We ended the night by singing Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss and letting the girls each blow out a candle. Okay...it sounds kind of fanatical, but when my kids get an idea in their heads they want to carry it out to the max (and when I see them having so much fun, it only makes sense to encourage it!)

Who Needs New Toys...

...just look what we can do with the old ones!!

You'll have to look closely to see just how off the wall the girls and I got creating this funny scene. Grace and Eve thought it was hilarious and couldn't stop laughing!

Eve's Secret Personality

Eve's a lot like me in social situations. She's a little nervous in new settings, and tends to be pretty reserved around large groups of people, but once she does feel comfortable...watch out! People we meet in public would be surprised to find out that our shy little girl is quite the chatterbox at home! Here's what I mean:

Our Little Writer

Grace's new-found joy is in expressing herself with written words. She is our constant little letter writer. She writes letters to her Uncle on his mission, to her Grandparents near and far, to her teacher, to cousins, to classmates, to friends that have moved away, to her sister, and most frequently to Aaron and I. I will often find a note tucked under my pillow as I slip into bed, or be handed a folded-up piece of construction paper from a very proud-looking five-year-old. On Valentines day she made at least five cards for Aaron and I expressing how much she loves us. The best was when she came into our room early the morning after Valentines day with folded letters for each of us that said, "Dear Mom (Dad), It is past valinetine's day! Mom I love you. Love Grace." Apparently she wanted us to know we were loved even though the holiday was over! She also taped these notes around the house on Saturday morning to lead Aaron on a Treasure hunt:

"Dad go to my room"

"Dad go to the laundry"

"Dad o to the office"

"Dad go to the garage"

I love the invented spelling! My favorite is how she spelled garage (groj.) She also likes to write stories. Here is one she wrote the other day (Word for word...my translation is in in green:)

The Animlz
yb Grace Lewis
The Animals
by Grace Lewis

Once on a tim thre wuz a littl shep.
Once upon a time there was a little sheep.
Se wotid a littl haws.
She wanted a little house.
Sow the shep crod in.
So the sheep crawled in.
The Shep thot the Haws wuz cruftubl.
The sheep thought the house was comfortable.
The Shep liket the Haws.
The Sheep liked the house.
Ten tan wuz urnuthr shep soit.
Then there was another sheep who saw it.
he wutid to cume in the haws sow he crudin the house.
He wanted to come in the house, so he crawled in the house.
The shep shard, the hows
The sheep shared the house.
The haws wuz prite krftulbl.
The house was pretty comfortable.
Tay liket it. it wuz fun.
They liked it. It was fun.
Thu Ed.
The End

L.A. , A Baptism, and a Trip Down Memory Lane

Aaron, the girls and I had a fabulous weekend. We spent it together on a quick overnight to the L.A. area. The reason for our trip was to attend the baptism of our dear friend Lisa's grandson Robert. We hadn't seen him since he was a baby, and it was so much fun to get to know him...what a cute little boy! I just loved him. We hadn't seen Lisa since Eve was a baby, so it was great to be able to catch up with her too. She is an amazing person.

Another fun part of our trip was kind of spontaneous, but well worth it. After church on Sunday before embarking on our 5 1/2 hour journey home, we decided to take a trip down "memory lane." We stopped in Glendale, which is my hometown. I was born there and lived there until I was 18 and went away to college. Even though I've been back to visit a few times since getting married, I hadn't seen the house I grew up in in almost 9 years (because my parents no longer live there.) From the moment we got into town, I was pointing out things to the girls (Aaron had already heard it all!) "There's my elementary school"..."I had a friend who lived in that house"...and so on. I'm sure it was weird for them to imagine that Mommy had actually once been a little girl!

As we pulled in front of my childhood house, the situation felt surreal. Even though I could tell it was the same house, it looked different. It was painted a different color, the driveway and walkway were completely changed, and my favorite climbing tree was hidden behind years of overgrowth. It was hard to see a place that had once been mine, now belong to someone else. Even though it was raining, I got out of the car to get a closer look at an area by the house where my younger brother and I used to play a lot. It was a our little hideaway, and it was really special to me as a kid. As I walked closer to it with Grace's hand in mine, it appeared just as it had all those years ago. Not only did it look the same, but the fragrance of the trees and foliage instantly reminded me of the feelings I had there as a kid. I was caught off guard by the flood of memories and was overcome with emotion. I couldn't believe I was crying, but it was just such a special place to me. I explained to my little girls how their Uncle Jonny and I used to pretend we were rulers of a secret land, how we buried treasure in the dirt, and how our cat used to stand guard for us! It was a really neat experience.

After that we headed to the Los Angeles Temple were Aaron and I were married nine years ago. Now it was Aaron's turn to get emotional! We hadn't been there together since a year after we got married. As we walked around and remembered our special day and how blissful it all was, we couldn't help but smile as we watched our little ones skip around the delightful setting. Aaron pointed out the doors we first stepped out of as husband and wife, and the many photo spots we occupied. My favorite part was when we sat down on a white bench, and Aaron told the girls the story of how he proposed to me right in that very spot. He even got down on one knee to demonstrate the moment to them!

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the car on our drive home. It was actually very pleasant, and we were even home in time for dinner. What a wonderful way to spend the weekend...I'm so grateful it all worked out!

One of our wedding day photo spots


Eve on "the bench"

Picture Book Mama

I absolutely love going to the library with my kids and picking out new books, and then bringing them home to read together. I love it because it's time with my kids, but I also just adore children's literature! So I created a children's book review blog to share all the literary treasures I come across in our reading adventures. Introducing:

picturebookmama.blogspot.com