Central Coast Vacay

Seth had a week of vacation the first week of December, so we had a little mini-trip to check out the Central Coast area. We made it to La Jolla (20 minutes) before we needed a stop at Jamba Juice. We were starting to feel a little sick in our family so thought a boost of Vitamin C was in order. That, and because it's so delicious. 

When did this kid get enormous?

He's just so cute. And we neeeeed to get rid of the binky.

Beautiful coastline. It was a grey, rainy drive but still very pretty I thought. 

We stopped in Oxnard for lunch at, wait for it....Cafe Rio. They have one! Holla! We might have stopped there on our way home too. 

Best brothers

We stayed in the darling town of Solvang. It's a Danish settled town in the Central Coast area, but a little inland. The town was full of cute shops, Danish restaurants and bakeries, with workers dressed in Danish clothing. It reminded us a bit of Leavenworth, WA, the little German town we visited around Christmas time when we lived in Spokane. These little towns are cute, but make you really homesick for real-deal European towns. Can I say homesick if it's not my home? The landscape around the valley was gorgeous and I'm sure it's even better in the spring. It's definitely worth a day trip. 

Can you believe the building on the right dates all the way back to 1976? ;) 

We stopped at a fun park that had play equipment set up like a small town complete with houses, ships, castles, and a jail. We also visited a miniature horse farm, which is kind of random but it was really cute. 

I had to add this because Seth asking these guys about what it took to keep a miniature horse. Like, because he thought it would be fun to have one. Doesn't want a dog but does want a mini-horse?

I call this "Bored in a hotel room" 

Solvang shops at night

The second day we drove about 45 minutes to Pismo Beach and visited yet another park. The boys had a blast here. Just behind the park were beautiful (and dangerous) cliffs. 

Captain of the USS Imagination. I'm jealous of Taft's imagination. I don't think I was nearly as imaginative as him ever. 

Lukie likes to give a lot of things "loves".  He always says, "Ohhhhh" while hugging. So sweet. 

We checked out a bit of the town, ate at a recommended restaurant for lunch, and walked along the pier. The town wasn't too impressive, but we think there are some big sand dunes that are really popular  for whatever you do on sand dunes. 

Seth the travel-agent teaching Taft how to plan awesome vacations. Seriously, Seth plans all our trips and I just show up. It's really nice. 

After our day in Pismo Beach as we were headed back to the hotel we stopped at a butterfly grove. There were thousands and thousands of Monarch butterflies in the trees. The picture doesn't show it well, but it really was pretty cool. 

I had to.

The cute blue eyed boys

It needs to be noted that Seth felt absolutely terrible on this trip. The day before we left he had his flu shot. The next 3 days he felt like he had the flu. He still played tour guide despite feeling awful. I would have laid in bed and ordered people around if it had been me. And you all know that's true. Seth is a better person than me on a lot of levels. 

It should also be noted that Luke does NOT sleep well in new places. This trip was no exception. 

Wednesday morning Seth was starting to feel better and it was also my birthday.  I woke up to a hot breakfast and homemade cards. Taft was really excited that it was my birthday. Probably because he knew there would be cake at some point. 

Due to Luke's lack of sleep and subsequent crankiness we decided to head home a day early. We planned to stay the day in Santa Barbara before heading home. First off, I want to move to Santa Barbara one day. It's the cutest town wedged between mountains and the ocean. The town itself is so clean, well-maintained, and so classy looking! We visited a gorgeous mission-style courthouse and went up the tower to get a view of the city. We also visited a very old Spanish mission. It was after the mission that everything went downhill. Luke and Taft refused to walk and we didn't have a stroller (our fault). Luke cried over anything and everything. Taft said in reference to Santa Barbara, "I hate the bells! And I hate the buildings! And I hate this city! And I hate this world!" They obviously had forgotten that it was my birthday or they would have never acted this way. We had spent about 2 hours in Santa Barbara and called it a day. I wished we could have stayed all day because there seemed to be a lot to see and do. 

View from top of courthouse

We made it home safely that evening. Taft remembered it was my birthday again (oh yeah! Cake!) and insisted on me staying in my room so he could decorate the house. It really was so cute. Definitely cute enough to forgive him for his earlier shenanigans. Seth made dinner which was  followed by delicious ice cream cake. 

Solvang- take a day trip, not much to do otherwise

Santa Barbara- could definitely spend the weekend, preferably with Seth and without our dear children

Pismo Beach- Had good clam chowder

Palm Springs Mini Vacay

Mid-October we headed to Palm Springs for a night with our good friends,  the Christensen's. The kids had a great time playing the pools and floating the lazy river. It was perfect weather for the pool and was a fun way to spend the weekend. 

Logan

Miss Gwen

Cute Tuke

Taft in his "superhero suit" (on loan from the other Herways)

Baby O

Logie doing thing right.

The Christensens are moving at the end of this month and we are so bummed about it. Logan is right in between Taft and Luke's ages and they all seem to love playing with each other. The Christensens don't have family around here either, so most Sunday's it seems we're hanging out,  we spent last Thanksgiving with them, and will again this year before they leave. They're always up for doing something and as a result we've spent a lot of the last year and a half with them. It's been so nice having friends like them here. We'll miss them a lot.

Just last week we did a family hike in Torrey Pines with our friends. Taft was a great hiker and Lukie does surprisingly well hanging in the hiking backpack.

What sign?

Visitors

Toward the end of October the Peterson's came to San Diego for their fall break vacation. Mike Peterson was in Seth's transitional year group in Spokane, but they now live in Arizona. Mike is a DIE HARD BYU fan, so naturally he and Seth bonded quickly. We spent an afternoon at the beach with them,  ate at Phil's BBQ, visited Legoland, and had a weenie roast on the beach one evening.

The picture above is at the beach near the Naval base. The planes fly overhead and can be SO LOUD. 

I love this little Lukie. He is too small for just about everything at Legoland which is the absolute pits. For him and for me, but mostly for him. He cries every time Taft goes on something that he can't go on. 

Halloween

This Halloween was the best yet. Taft and Luke were so in to Trick or Treating this year and were literally running from house to house.

Our Halloween festivities included pumpkin carving, a library party, ward Trunk or Treat, pizza with friends and Trick or Treating the night of Halloween.

I had to put up this series of pictures because it is so difficult to get a normal picture of them. Taft found it appropriate to keep his arm on Luke's head for these pictures.

This Little Lukie...

The day he put loads and loads of vaseline in his hair while I was in the shower.  FYI Vaseline is incredibly difficult to get out of hair.

This little Lukie is definitely becoming more of a little boy and less of a baby. He loves "choo-choos" and "cucks" and any other train, plane, or automobile. He is starting to speak more, but he has his own language that only true linguists can figure out:

Shoes-"she-she"
Thank you-"dee do"
Snack- "ack"
Taft- "Taaaa"
Mom- "Mama"
Dad- "Mama"
Nana- "Nuhnuh"
No- "Nuhnuhnuhnuhnuhno" (while shaking head)
Ball- "Doll"
Kung Fu-"Fu" (Taft is obsessed with "practicing" Kung Fu with Seth (read: being thrown all over the bed)
Water- "wah-wah"
Cookie- "cookie" (go figure)
I want- "Eh" Example: "EH wah wah, EH wah wah, EH wah wah" and yes, he'll say it multiple times in a row to make sure he gets his point across.
Out (as in out of high chair): "Owie"
Outside: "ide"
Again: "ginn"
Where did he/it go? "Wheredego?" With a shoulder shrug
Pee Pee: "Tee-tee"

One of my favorite things about Lukie right now is a little skip/hop/limp thing he does when he's excited about something. He'll do it while we wait for Taft to get out of school, or when he is excited about a toy, or just about any time he's pumped about something. I also love that Lukie is such a goof. He's gets in moods where he just acts so goofy and I don't even understand what he's doing to trying to be. Seth's favorite is that Lukie wrestles now. Lukie is still a snuggy bug when he's going down to sleep and again when he wakes up.

Lukie had been showing a lot of interest in using the potty. I did the three day program like I did with Taft. It was pretty promising up until the afternoon of the last day when it all fell apart. I gave up and we'll try again in another month or so.

Lukie likes to have some time to relax before he falls asleep. He sings "Twinkle Twinkle" and "ABCs" to himself in his crib until he falls asleep. He doesn't say the words clearly but he has the tune down. And yes even though they are the same tune, he does know the difference between the two songs.

Lukie says hi to everyone we pass along the street.

Lukie misses Taft so much during school time. He gets so pumped to go and get him when it's over. "Ta coo! Ta coo!" (Taft's school) But then tries to annoy Taft the whole stroller ride home. That's what brother's are for right?

Here are a couple of videos Seth took the other night when I was gone. They're kind of long but I love them.

An Update

I've just been terrible at keeping up with the blog. Part of the problem is Instagram has taken place of all my blogging. Since our only camera at the moment is my phone (and the quality is not very good) so I don't actually end up with many photos that are worth keeping or sharing, but I guess something is better than nothing!

So an update according to the contents of my phone:

(L-R: James (3), Bennett (3), Jack (4),  Dane (3), Taft (3 1/2)

These 5 boys are all around the same age and all live on the same side of our street. They are all very good, sweet, nice boys. The older boys on the street are a different story. I'm trying really hard to like our 6 year old next door neighbor, but he makes it really hard. He's super bossy to Taft and he's kinda naughty and likes to talk Taft into being naughty too. I really feel we lucked out on this street. Every evening when moms and dads are getting home from work, you will find all these little boys running around, riding their balance bikes and scooters.

At the bay, killing time one evening before bed while Seth was working overnight.

Seth taking Lukie out for a spin (err....float) on the bay

Seth and Ryan taking the boys (Taft and Logan) for a ride while Gwen sends them off mermaid-style.

The kayak was our big Christmas purchase last year. Unfortunately, we don't take it out as much as we'd like. It turns out it's kind of a hassle to strap it on the car and Luke pretty much hates wearing a life jacket.  Our next ocean gear is supposed to be a surf board or stand-up paddleboard. I don't think Lukie will like either of those.

Family walk at sunset

This looks like a hug but was actually a wrestling match. One of many more brotherly wrestling matches in their future.

Entertaining themselves while we waited for Seth to round on patients one Saturday morning.

Seth has been looking forward to the Coronado Fire Department's open house every since their open house last year. Seriously, he's been talking about it for weeks. The Fire Department does a great job with their open house. They invite all branches of law enforcement, search and rescue, border patrol, and a few others. They bring all their vehicles and let the kids get inside and take a look around. It is pure heaven for boys between the ages of 1 and 10. They have live music, free food (well...hot dogs), and lots of stuff for kids to do. It's one of Coronado's top social events of the year. ;)

This cracks me up. These boys have so much personality EXCEPT when it's time to take a picture. Helloooo...anyone home?? They were so pumped to get inside a real fire engine but you would have no idea from these photos.

Three out of four looking at the camera. I'll take it.