Summer Lagoon Days Have Begun

Yesterday was the first of the Lagoon Days. Our church has a membership to the Woodbridge Lake Lagoon and on Wednesdays during the summer they invite all the Mom's and kids to come and play. We went last year almost every week, and had so much fun.



I ran with the girls in the stroller for exercise and got there right when it opened. Immediately Courtney took to Emma Conaster and was with her for a few hours. It was nice for me because she entertained her, but I still had to watch her constantly. She loved being with all the big girls. Caylee had fun in the water too. It's a beach entry, so it is really shallow. Caylee was able to just sit and play.

The second week we went and Courtney by passed going to the park first because she wanted to get to the lagoon sooner. Again, she played with all the big girls, but not as long. My friend Karly's daughter Emily got Courtney to go down the water slide. By the end she was going up and down by herself. My little girl is growing up! I couldn't believe how well she scaled up herself.

The third week, we invited Courtney's friend Abby from our mom's club. So she and her mom and baby sister came. We had fun showing them the lagoon and Abby even went down the slide like Courtney. The girls had a blast. Courtney did really well introducing Abby and including her in with the kids. Hopefully they come again.

Courtney's 1st Sleepover

On Saturday, we went to our friend's Ariel and Jana's engagement party. Our friend's The Mier's hosted it. So we helped bring some of the food. We spent most of the morning getting ready for the party and then the entire afternoon at the party. The girls had fun. Courtney played with all the kids and Caylee was passed around from kid to kid. They all love holding her. She is still so easy right now. Ben and I go the chance to visit with friend's and as the guest began to leave we were able to talk more in depth and Karly and I were able to get to know Jana so much better. She is such a sweet person and I think is just perfect for Ariel. The Lord couldn't have picked anyone better.

We ended up staying thru dinner. We were all having such a good time chatting that we didn't want to leave. Then daddy had the great idea to invite the three girls over for a sleepover (Bella, Maya and Maddy). The girls were stoked and so was Courtney. Courtney was so excited for the girls to come over. She showed them her room and her new "punk" bed. We made some yummy snacks and laid out a bunch of blankets on the living room floor. Daddy rented them a movie and we all laid down to relax. Daddy was out in 20 minutes and I was up with the girls. Fortunately, these girls are all so well behaved. We were up late and it took us awhile to settle down. Between Daddy snoring and Coco with some mini night terrors, I didn't get to sleep til 3:15 when I came upstairs.

The look on Coco's face when she woke up this morning was priceless. She woke up and looked around and her eyes got wide and she got a huge smile on her face. She ran to each of the girls and gave them hugs. We got ready for church and then set out to walk to church ( because I still don't have my car), we stopped at Starbucks along the way and I got each girl a drink. Then off to church we went.

Coco's New Bed

We have been talking about getting Courtney and Caylee a bunk bed for along time. We have been looking at all types. I kept putting it off because Caylee is no where near ready for it and Courtney has a great bed for now. However, Courtney only will sleep in her toddler bed if her "gate" is up. We "Jimmy Rigged" a baby gate propped up by two storage boxes. It is ugly and she pushes it over weekly in her sleep and it makes a loud crash and she often falls out. It is just now super practical and looks bad.

So we were out shopping last week and found a good deal on a bunk bed. We thought about it for a few hours and decided to go back and bargain with the guys. It was $485. We were able to get it out the door with bed, tax and delivery for $500. I was proud of getting it down so low.

In the meantime we had a lot of work to do to get ready for the bed. We found a comforter set, bought a bed rail, bought and had a mattress delivered, moved all the furniture out of the room, cleaned the room, redecorated, had the mattress delivered, put the bed rail on and then put all the sheets and bedding on. Whew!! It was exhausting.

But it looks good, she loves it, and we have a lot more storage. I still have to work on it, but we are going to put her stuffed animals on the top bunk for now and then I put storage boxes of clothes and toys underneath the bed. It hold a lot!

Long time no see!

I'm not sure why, but it has been so long since I last posted. We have been busy, preoccupied and stressed. A few things that have happened: I joined the Mom's club board, crashed our car (whole story of it's own), my parents visited for 4 days, date night, Romo was sick, and doctor appointments. So too much to cover in one blog.

I'll start with the crashed car. I was just parking our van in our complex. I pulled into the covered parking and parked next to the trash area surrounded by a wall. Courtney said something and I glanced back and then pulled forward not realizing how very close I was to the wall. I barely hit the wall and I got out and saw my car just torn to pieces and unable to drive. My heart pounded as I tried to pull the fender off the front wheel. I was devastated and knew I had caused significant damage. How was I to tell Ben? He was going to be so mad. I just wasted so much of his hard earned money.

Daddy actually handled it really well. He was disappointed but reassured me that these things happen, we were lucky no one was hurt and that we have insurance.

The next day I had to claim it with insurance and get it towed to the repair shop. Three weeks til its done and it's $3085! What a bummer! Good thing we are only responsible for $1000 of it. I went 2 years without a car, I can make it 3 weeks. I'm going to get a lot of exercise and more time to be in our routine at home. Not so bad.

Camping with Daddy

Every summer our church does the dad and kid Campout. Daddy took Coco last year for the first time and it was a rough night. So this year a year older and a little more prepared, Coco did great according to Daddy. She had a blast. It was Friday night to Saturday morning. They got there and set up camp, and Coco got to play with all her friend's. They had a campfire where Daddy led worship and he let her stay up til 10:30. She fell asleep pretty good for him. Daddy didn't get much sleep because he said Coco took over the whole tent and rolled everywhere. She even hit him in the face. They stayed till about 10:30 and came home. She loves spending quality time with just Daddy.

She came bursting thru the door telling me all about it. Daddy gave her a bath and then put her down for a nap. As soon as she woke up it was off to her best friend Haley's birthday party. It's nice that she is a little older and able to handle stuff better.

Summer Night Walk

It was one of those nights that Daddy was gone and the girls and I needed to get out for a walk. Courtney is getting bigger and a better listener, so she can handle walking on her own a little more.
I carried Caylee and Courtney pushed her stroller. We walked to one of the nearby parks. We swung on the swings, played in the sand and went on the slides.
Then we walked back home for bedtime. I can't wait to do this more over the summer since it will stay light longer.

Courtney's First Hair Cut

I took Courtney to get her first hair cut. We talked about it all week. I decided to run there since it was fairly close. As soon as we arrived Courtney started to get scared. She wouldn't even let me get her out of the stroller. There was a lot of coaxing and I finally just pulled her out. She hid her face into my body and cried. I prayed for her to be brave. The she asked the stylist for a red cushion. She still didn't want anything to do with it. Then the stylist offered for her to sit on my lap. Perfect! She did great. I kept telling her how brave she was. I had bought her an "ICarly" episode on her phone. So she was able to watch that and be pre-occupied. We just got bangs and a trim on the back. It looks cute.
Since she did so good I took her to the candy store next door and let her pick a few out. There was also a little playground, so Courtney ate her snack and I fed Caylee Love. They gave her a balloon to have. She was having a blast with it on our way home, until it flew away. Just a little melt down, but she handled it well.


I was so proud of her. That night before bed, she prayed, "thank your for helping me to be brave for my haircut ...". It was really sweet.

Summer Photo Session

I took the girls today to get their photos taken. They both did so well. There were so many to choose from, I had such a tough time. But these were the ones I chose. Oh and these are pictures of the pictures.

Movie Night at the Great Park

Another fun filled Saturday. Our friend's the Mier Family invited us to lunch at their house. We walked over as a family, this challenge is getting us walking much more. We hung out for a while and the kids played. Ben was going to a Yankee game with Gaddiel and his son, so I took off to get the girls down for naps.

After naps we went and bought some beach chairs, pizza and then we headed to the Great Park in Irvine. They had a free movie on the lawn. I got there early to save our spot. Karly and her daughters met us there. We set up a blanket and our chairs and ate pizza, popcorn and candy. The movie started after Courtney's bedtime, so it was a little tough keeping her interest. She definitely didn't watch much of the movie. Oh well she still had fun.

2011 Summer Run/Walk Challenge

A few friend's and I have the same app on out phones that tracks your mileage you run or walk. I have been using mine since last No ember and have logged over 200 miles. I was telling a friend and he was determined to pass me up. I took on the challenge. Then Ben decided to try and then my friend Karly suggested challenging the guys to a summer run/walk. So we set it up. Erica wanted to join so we recruited Gaddiel and formed two teams. We are going from Memorial Day to Labor Day and the team with the least miles owes the other team dinner and watching the kids.

Everyone has been super motivated and logging a ton of miles. It has definitely gotten me out a lot more than usual. In 5 days I have done almost 20 miles. My goal is to do about 3 a day and 300 miles by Labor Day.

Even Coco is helping me out. We have been walking a little bit in the evening. I let her walk. Tonight we walked to Sprouts. I got her an ice cream bar for being so good. She was so happy, eating her ice cream and walking home. She walked about halfway back until I made her get in the stroller. It was getting too late. She did at least a mile.