Beach Visit and a New Bike Rider!

It had been too long.  Forever since we put our feet in the sand!

Met Kelly at the Oceanside Harbor for fish and chips, a little wine and lots of chaos with the kids. 

Everyone wants to push the baby!

Family pic.  Nice.

Playing with Magnolia Beau.

Kelly's sporting our new favorite game, Headbanz!

Kelly and I have been friends since pledging Delta Gamma at LSU in 1994.

Translate:  We're old.

In other news, we have a new bike rider in the family.
 

Blake taught Lainey to ride without training wheels!

Such a big girl.


One more.  Love this pic.  Kel brought me fresh flowers.

I love California.

Oceanside on Dwellable

New Year's Eve

 

Resolutions?

 

Many.

 

1.  Be more grateful.  2012 has been a tough year in many regards.  The national news has inspired me to treasure each day with my family.  To cherish my children.  To value each and every day here on earth.

 

2.  Pray more.  Make it to mass more often.  Lead by example.  Sending my children to CCD and ensuring they receive all of their Catholic sacraments is not enough. 

 

3.  Be a better friend.  I would be nowhere in life without my friends.  I received a sweet gift from a close friend this year that read:

 

"Sometimes friends are family, too."

 

Amen to that.

 

4.  Yell less.  Laugh more.  Seems easy enough.  Not always the case.

 

5.  Travel and explore and show the world to my children.  Within our means, we will see and experience new things. 

 

 

New Year's Eve agenda? 

 

Work and then watching the ball drop in NYC on tv.

 

Beach visit tomorrow with Kelly and baby Beau!

 

Happy New Year, dear friends!

 

 



Post-Christmas, Lamby's Back and Zoo Lights

Christmas Eve was a beautiful night.

 

Our punks at mass.

 

Alert the media:  We all sat through the mass, IN THE CHURCH, from start to finish.

 

I called the local paper. 

 

 

We donated $26 for the victims of the Connecticut tragedy.  A small effort, but I hope our kids understood why.

 

 

Night Before Christmas followed.

 

And, each kiddo got to open one gift.

Time to prepare for Santa!

 



 

Little ones quickly fell asleep in my arms as Carter and Blake threw rocks on the roof to mimic reindeer and rang bells outside their window to sound like Santa.

 



Christmas morning!

 



 

And, a gorgeous Christmas sunset finished the day.

 

 

A day or so after, a special delivery was made to Laine.

 

Lamby, her beloved friend from birth.  Left in NYC.  We were all a total mess over this loss.

 

We called the hotel.  And, called.  And, called.  We were told "No" and still called.

 

FINALLY, they found it.

 

We were all in tears!

 



 

 

Zoo Lights at the San Diego Zoo were fun, as always.

 

 

 

 Skyfari!

 

 

 Christmas has come and gone.  I opened our store at 6am the day after.  Crowds were kinder than expected.

 

Little ones are busy with new Ipads.  Carter is even busier with his PS3. 

 

Here's to a quiet house and hopefully seeing them in 2013!



Disneyland Christmas

Beattys were home with a sick baby, so we enjoyed Disneyland with the Davidge family. 7 kids and 3 parents. Blake took the night off to work on Christmas presents. It was wild, chaotic, unpredictable fun! The park was nearly at capacity. We headed to the back of the park and rode lots more than I was expecting.

Lainey and Ainsley.  She was a bitty baby when we reunited with the Davidges.  My, how time flies.

 



 

Sword in the stone!

Haunted Mansion!  Even Ainsley had fun.

 



 

 

The crew!

No lines for Splash Mountain.  And, you don't even get wet!  Love it.

 



Kooky, crazy Disney fun inside.  It's like the Six Flags of Texas Log Ride on steroids.  With animatronics!

 



Honeybears on Whinnie the Pooh!

 

Who doesn't want to take 6 kids on a ride alone?

 



Not even out of the parking lot and all 3 of my punks were asleep.

 



 

Merry Christmas to all, friends and family! 

 

Back soon with a recap of our fun holiday ahead.  Lots of surprises in store!

 

 



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