anniversary trip.

matt and i are coming up on our 10th anniversary (august 10) and we really wanted to do something special. we thought up a ton of different ideas, but ended up settling on a trip to san diego. we found a cute beach bungalow on mission beach, and snuck away to it for 4 days/3 nights.

it was dreamy!!!!!

my parents offered to take our boys while we snuck away. the boys were so excited. and so were my parents. and matt. but i was super stressed - like would lay awake in bed and cry, during the nights leading up to our getaway kind of stressed. but, now that we are back, i don't even know why i was so stressed! it was so amazing to get to spend alone time with matt. i can hardly wait to do it again!

we slept in, stayed up way too late, played in the waves, napped on the beach, went to all sorts of tasty restaurants, went out dancing, dressed up, held hands. we loved it!

we have been married almost a whole decade! wow. sometimes it seems like a lifetime, and other times it feels like it was just yesterday. time is funny that way. but, either way, it has been my favorite decade. like, ever.

other summer happenings.

kid workshop at home depot.

canada day cake!

tad grew a man pony.

parks. always.

we went to the beach on july 4th. it started out so well..

and ended with a missing fingernail.

some random kids at the beach invited themselves to play with our boys in the sand. which is great. but then they started building a rock pile, and this one girl was incapable of not throwing the rocks. and her parents weren't there to discipline her. and it wasn't really our place to, was it?! and, of course, someone got hurt. and, unfortunately, it was holden. his entire nail broke off! and that little girl ran off and never came back to apologize - that made me super mad. oh well. it has been a month now, and his nail is already starting to grow back.

watching fireworks near the rose bowl.

our AC sucks, so i usually just leave it off in an effort to save money. it isn't uncommon for our house to reach low 90's by the afternoon. therefore, we spend a lot of time around water to cool off - swim lessons, friends pools, sprinklers, splash pads.

these two get asked if they are twins every. single. day.

matt and i went to see the book of mormon musical at the pantages theater, in hollywood. it was sooo good! i definitely want to go again, next time it is in town.

tad, tad, tad. (insert shaking head). this darling little fellow keeps us on our toes. and apparently i like to take pictures of him..

tad likes matt 100 times more then he likes me. no joke.

one night, just before bed, a barstool in our kitchen tipped on tad as he was scaling it. it cut his lip pretty bad and we thought we should take him to get stitches. our neighbors kept on eye on the older boys as they slept, while we took tad to urgent care.. and then the ER.. and then eventually to a pharmacy at 2am, when we got sick of waiting around to see a doctor. the cut has healed good on it's own. tad will probably have a scar but, with his personality, it most likely won't be his only one!

still smiling away at 1am. ugh, go to sleep!!

chet caught the tiniest lizard. so, naturally, the boys made it their pet for the day. they fed it popcorn and 'dead flies from our window sills'. my bad.

back in 2004, matt asked me to grad by making me a VHS of all the 'skills' he had (bum drops on trampolines, saving stuffed animals from being stuck in a tree, riding tiny skateboards down steep hills) and then singing 'it's your love', by tim mcgraw. it is a hilarious video! years ago, i converted it to a DVD. the other day i showed it to our boys for the first time. after watching it, chet said, 'dad never told me he could do all those cool things!' haha.

friends!

leavitts & leavitts take on vegas.

we met the 'big leavitts' (we are referred to as the 'little leavitts') in las vegas for a few days. they did a big family road trip this summer throughout the western provinces and states, which sounds amazing.. and exhausting! vegas was the closest stop they were making to us so we planned to meet them there.

we all stayed at the red rock resort. it is not on the strip, but is still a vegas style hotel - lots of pools, gambling, and food. it was a blast to get away. we swam a lot, spent one night walking the strip, ate at cafe rio, went to an indoor trampoline place, and had the best time watching our boys enjoy their fun cousins.

we sure miss being closer to our family, and love any chance we get to see some of them.

holden is five!

it is kind of funny how it worked out this way, but both chet and holden got to have cousins in town for their birthdays this year. talk about special!

back in march, matt's parents and our nephew, haden, were in town for chetty's 7th birthday. and then my parents, and sister, and all the hughes cousins were in town for holden's 5th birthday in june! i wonder who will show up for tad's 2nd birthday in a couple weeks.. anyone? .. hello? 

we spent holden's birthday at huntington beach. it was a perfect beach day - we all had a lot of fun! unfortunately, matt couldn't make it because he had to work. blah blah. he joined us afterwards for dinner and a donut cake at our house. we played one party game, opened gifts, and called it a night. it was simple, but holden felt super special. and now he is a FIVE year old. i can hardly believe it. 

holden has grown up a lot this past year, and i know that as he goes into kindergarten this year the growing up will happen even faster. i am not really ready for that, but am aware that i do not have much say. bummer.

holden is a very sweet boy.
he is a great helper.

he is a quick learner.

he is so good at making new friends.

he is always up to try something new.

he is silly. and makes the silliest faces.

holden draws the most darling pictures. for reals.

he loves to wrestle, read, bake, ride bikes, built forts, swim, eat candy.
he is a sweet big brother to tad.

and he has a really special friendship with chet. they do everything together - sleep, play, read, pee.. you name it!

he has the best gut laugh.
he calls them 'pupcakes' instead of cupcakes, and i will be sad when that stops!
he is super handsome.
and he is our favorite middle child!

...

my parents and sister didn't get to stay long, but we did fill up their stay with fun activities. we swam at the hotel, went on a late night walk to a park, picnicked at lacy park, and some of us hiked the hollywood sign.