California:: the beach

Flying across the country is no joke, especially with kids.  Our girls actually did great on the flight, but we were all so exhausted with the time change and having to wake up super early to catch our flight.  Mattie has been sick on flights in the past so I was totally prepared for it on the airplane then totally unprepared when she threw up on the drive from the airport to Bryan's parents' house.  There were some miscommunications that led to a lot of waiting with grumpy hungry people (mostly me.)  But we made it!  And were thrilled to be with the Martinez clan.  We spent our first full day on the west coast at the beach.  The kids were in heaven playing with their cousins, and a little sand, sun, and the sea was just what we needed to start our trip on the right foot.  Kylie had her camera out all day to catch these awesome pictures. 

beginning of July 2017

Red, white, and blue Sunday

Right after church we headed to the beach! We stayed at a hotel in Salisbury for the night then went to Ocean City for the day on Monday.  Our friends the Reebs let us come to the beach by their condo which was so nice.

I think this was Livvy's first time pulling herself up on something (or someone)

This is kind of a sad picture.  The girls had a great time playing hard all day at the beach.  In the late afternoon Mattie climbed into the stroller and was out.  We finally had to wake her up because it was time to go and she seemed a little dazed and was shivering.  We got her a drink and some dinner and she perked up a bit for the drive home.  I checked on her a few times in the night and she was okay but then the next morning her fever spiked again to 103 and she just seemed so listless and glossy-eyed.  I was a little panicked and felt SO bad that I hadn't been more careful about making her drink enough water.  We got her some gatorade and made her keep sipping and eventually she perked up, thank goodness.

We spent most of the morning of the 4th of July worrying about Mattie.  When I felt like she was finally getting better I took Jilly and Livvy to a friend's house for a bbq which was a lot of fun, then Bryan came and we switched so he could spend some time with friends.  By the evening Mattie was much better and I took the big girls to see fireworks.  

On the 5th of July I took the kids down to Richmond to visit for a few days.  This is the only picture I have though!  We met my dad for lunch, went to a splash pad, went to the pool, and played in the backyard.  It was a fun little visit.

Bryan's been wanting to go tubing on the Gunpowder River.  We decided it wouldn't really work this year with Livvy being so little but we checked out a place we could go tubing next Summer.  

Jilly took my phone and did a little photoshoot with Mattie 

Our favorite babysitter Kacy moved to St. Louis.  The girls adore her and I love her too, she was so good to us.  This was her last night babysitting, we were celebrating our 10th anniversary and had reservations at Woodberry Kitchen.  Well, Miss Olivia had other plans and when I went to put her to sleep before we left she screamed and screamed.  Forty-five minutes later we realized we weren't going to make our reservation so we canceled and took a third wheel with us to get burgers.  We were pretty disappointed, but still had a fun night together.  And we'll definitely make up for our lame anniversary someday soon.

the anniversary saboteur-

These four are the cutest best buds.  We really love the Wilsons.

June 2017

These cousins love spending a day together!

This must have been one of our last mornings at the bus stop.  We're so lucky to have so many cute girls on our street.

Livvy discovered how fun it is to empty her book basket

Ready for summer!  

Some friends were moving and gave us this mini trampoline.  I had never seen a trampoline this size and it is perfect for our girls right now, they love it!

Kindergarten Celebration Day - They spent weeks practicing songs and poems to perform for their families.  We loved getting to watch Jilly and say goodbye to Mrs. Schmaus.

Obsessed with audiobooks.  This one was a Frozen book but the girls have listened to so many Boxcar Children books this summer

I took Jilly on a date and she wanted a "cheese hamburger" and ate the whole thing!  I love the kind, generous, and helpful girl she is becoming, we had a great time chatting together without any other distractions.

Practicing guitar, Bryan has been teaching her a bit here and there which is really fun

Last day of Kindergarten!  Jilly was a bit sad, but I was SO excited to have her home for the whole summer!!!

Bryan's office moved down to the Inner Harbor in May.  We went down one Saturday and walked around for a bit and went to see the new office.  

First beach day of the summer, we love Hammerman!

Clark's Elioak Farm - this is a little fairytale village and farm that was a little underwhelming for the adults but the kids still had a great time (and as you can see from all these pictures Jilly LOVES her tie dye shirt, haha!)

Birthday party for our friend Ellie and saying goodbye before she moved