A couple days after we returned home I went to the Orthodontist to have my braces REMOVED!!!! I was so excited.
The appointment was over before I knew it and my teeth looked fantastic (its too bad I have to get my braces back on in a few years).
To celebrate, Mom took us to the store and let me pick out any type of candy I wanted. I made sure to choose something super sticky and gummy!
That afternoon I went back to pick up my new retainer and the staff surprised me with a yard of bubble gum!!!!!!
For the following week we celebrated summer with our neighborhood friends spending lots of time swimming, eating, and playing.
Most days our house was full. When it was time for Mom to run errands she let everyone tag along. Despite her constant (and almost daily) lamenting over the lack of space in the Tahoe, Mom was able to fit 8 kids and all of her Costco groceries (she had to break out her Tetris skills and get creative,but she made it work) in the car. We did break a few seat belt laws, but the fun we had was worth the illicit two minute commute home.
One of our new favorite places to hang out is Flipnout Extreme and we were lucky enough to be able to go a few times during the week. They have trampolines, zip lines, obstacles courses, lazer tags; its amazing!!
Presley is obsessed with cockroaches and likes to impersonate them...
Nixon is enjoying the different musical instruments in our house (both playing them, and putting them in his mouth)...
Now that Macie and I are "grown up" you would think that Mom knows better than to leave her phone somewhere that we can find it. When the opportunity presents itself we take full advantage and despite the fact that she password protects her phone we are still able to get into the camera. Here are some of Mom's favorite videos we made (without her knowledge)...
I took this video of Macie one afternoon while she was outdoors. She had been dancing to the music while eating a popsicle and watching her reflection in the glass (we have a dark tint on our back windows that creates a mirror.) Sometimes we catch her doing the funniest things. This moment was caught towards its end because Mom's phone was tough to find).
Macie took this video of Nixon was Mom was taking a shower. She left us upstairs for just under 5 minutes. Macie found her phone and followed Nixon around badgering him to put on a show...
This one was BY FAR Mom's favorite video. At night she reads with Presley before bed and Llama Llama books are some of their favorite. Mom always changes the words to accommodate our family. This is a video I took while reading with Presley as Mom was busy putting Nixon and Macie to bed. Listen as she reads the story in her special way:
As a surprise for Presley at the end of the week Uncle Will took her to see her very first movie in the theater. They saw Finding Dori and Presley was in complete awe (she was also in a food coma thanks to popcorn and candy).
On the weekend Dad took Macie and I down to Lake Mead for the day. We hung out at a campsite with Dad's friend and had a great time swimming, eating, and playing on the shore.
Dad even drove us to the local store to buy stuff for smores that night!!! Macie was BEYOND thrilled and let everyone know it.
At the beginning of the week we loaded up the car and took off for a week at the beach. One of our closest friends, Helaina, got to make the trip with us and we couldn't wait to show her around Pacific Beach.
The beginning of the drive was fairly uneventful and thanks to a movie we stayed occupied for a while.
Poor Nixon was NOT thrilled to be stuck in his car seat and let all of us know he was uncomfortable and tired.
I was beyond irritated with the noise, but Mom was impressed by his gusto and dedication- he went on for over an hour without fail...
By the time we arrived at Grandma Judy's late that afternoon we were ready for some action. Uncle Will and Grandma took us all to the beach while Mom set up our rooms and unpacked our luggage.
After a good night's sleep mood's were much better!
Mom let us watch early morning cartoons while eating the breakfast treats we picked out at the store (sausage covered in pancake on a stick). All of us enjoyed them thoroughly!
After an late morning walk to the convenience store
we met Uncle Ryan and his family at the bay. Nixon loved playing in the sand with his bucket and shovel and spent most of his morning in the same spot.
The rest of us played in the bay and floated on inner tubes.
That afternoon we rode scooters down to Soul Grind Skate Shop (Paul's shop) with Grandma.
We spent the next couple of days enjoying the ocean. The water was warm and the waves were fantastic!
Nixon played in the water for a short while but is still getting a feel for the ocean.
After a few laps in and out of the waves he stayed clear of the water- he was far too interested in playing in the sand.
Macie, Helaina, and I built a few castles before deciding to bury Presley in the sand. She was quite the trooper and never complained. Poor Mom had severe levels of anxiety watching little Presley getting buried in the sand. It got so bad that she had to look away until we were finished and even then couldn't wait for us to dig her out of the hole.
We tried our hand at surfing again this trip, but the water was a little cold for our liking so our interest quickly dissipated.
Mom took us down to Belmont Park one afternoon while Grandma Judy spent special time with Presley and Nixon.
We all got unlimited ride wrist bands and shortly there after the real fun began! I FINALLY reached 50" and was able to ride the Giant Dipper. Mom was so excited for me but sad for poor Macie who was an inch shy of making the cut. The roller coaster was first built over 50 years ago when Grandma Judy was a little girl and Mom used to hang out at Belmont Park and loved the roller coaster when she was younger. Our nerves were through the roof before our first ride.
Helaina and I loved the roller coaster so much that we rode it over 8 consecutive times. While we were taking hot laps Mom took one for the team and rode all of the carnival rides with Macie (she later lamented her decision as she dealt with different motion sickness issues for DAYS to follow).
After an hour of rides we took a break to watch the sunset on the boardwalk.
On the walk back to the rides Mom surprised us with a stop at the ice cream store.
You could say that Macie was a little too excited to OD on sugar...
By 9:30 that night we had ridden over 20 rides and were ready to head out when we saw one more ride that we just HAD to try...
Mom had an uneasy feeling about riding the ride. I guess she was unsure about her ability to maintain conscious. The ride was phenomenal and even Mom enjoyed certain aspects of it. What she DID NOT enjoy was the spinning and although she didn't pass out she quickly declared that she was "done with rides for the evening." She sat on the sidelines while we took one more ride before calling it a night.
Our mile long drive back to Grandma's seemed WAY longer than it should have. It was 10 o'clock, way past our bedtimes, and poor Mom said she was so motion sick that she felt drunk driving home despite the fact that she doesn't even drink alcohol (except for the one time each year when she sees Miss Elizabeth (: ).
All 3 of us passed out as soon as we hit our pillows. Before passing out herself, Mom sat down with Uncle Will and looked at the pictures of the fun evening they had with Grandma. Nixon is such a sweet and silly kid!
The next day we drove out to Rancho San Diego to spend some time with Pa and his family. We are so fortunate that we get to spend time with Avery and Lawson and watch them grow up.
We had one more day at the beach before heading back home and chose to go to the ocean in the morning. Mom tried her best to take a picture of all of us, but gave up after she realized that it was far too difficult without Dad or Uncle Will. No one would sit still, and getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time was exhausting...
She gave up after a couple minutes and we cheerfully ran off to play in the water.
The water was significantly warmer towards the end of our trip and Nixon discovered just how fun the water could be.
After naps that afternoon we went to the park while Presley and Uncle Will went to Sea World.
Exhausted from a full day we all snuggled on the couch and read books with Grandma.
The next morning we said our goodbyes and drove back home to Dad!!! Our car ride home was much more pleasant than our drive to San Diego. We discovered a few ways to turn Nixon's tears into laughter.
When Nixon tired of Mom we kept the laughter going. Even though his shrieks break the sound barrier we all agreed that it was much than the tears.
We returned home and were super excited to snuggle with Dad. The next morning Presley was thrilled to discover that the Tiki Man Grandma had bought her found its new home on our shelf (Grandma was worried that Mom's distaste for tchotchke's would cause her to throw it away or toss it in a closet).
She was even MORE thrilled when she saw that he had "snuck into the cupboard and eaten a granola bar."
This summer has been jam packed with fun and continues to not disappoint. Mom is beyond ecstatic because the Grzelaks, a FAVORITE family of ours, are coming to Las Vegas for the next 10 days and we have all sorts of fun things planned. Check back soon to hear about our fun stories and new adventures.
