HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I guess it's time to stop wishing I was in Hawaii and update my blog. I don't know that Christmas will make it to the blog, but I did want to share my kids' birthdays. (Even if it is a group shout out.) I love all my kids and it is fun to watch them continue to grow up and all the new fun and learning it brings.

KARLY turns SEVEN!

DEREK turns SIX!

KAMI turns FOUR!

HAWAII

I was not expecting to go to Hawaii for say another 20 years, so this came as a big surprise. It all happened very quickly and unexpectedly. But, when you can stay in Hawaii for free and find really cheap plane tickets, you have to seize the opportunity and go right?! It's really all thanks to Casey and Tonya who let us bum a room, and my sweet mother who kept my kids while I went and played. Thank You!! Well, I was beside myself excited and had a few sleepless night from the excitement! I had to make a dozen phone calls to reschedule appointments and so forth, but I didn't mind. Within two weeks we were on our way. We drove with Casey and Tonya to Las Vegas and dropped them off at the airport. We then stayed in Las Vegas for two days before we flew out. I was expecting Vegas to be a lot worse then it was, but really enjoyed my time there, other than it was WAY cold. But it was just a lot of fun and Ty and I had a blast. We did A LOT of walking. We didn't know it was free parking at any of the casinos! We were walking everywhere when we could have been driving. Oh well, live and learn! It reminded me of walking in New York City, and I don't have much desire to go back to NYC for a long time. The first night we watched 'The Vegas Show' It was a smaller production and really enjoyable. The next night we saw Phantom which was AMAZING! and then ran across the strip to watch "Mystere" a cirque de soleil. I'll just say I was Blown Away!! So incredible awesome!! The other two shows were good and we got killer deals on them, but this one we had to pay full price, and it was worth every penny!! I wanted it to start over so I could catch more of the show. LOVED IT!!! Highly recommend it, and I want to go back to Vegas and watch more cirque shows!! (the family friendly ones, of course!) We could have ended the vacation right there and been happy, but let's be honest, we were stocked to go to Hawaii!! The excitement died a bit for me when I was nauseated and hating the flight, then driving another hour to the hotel! Didn't feel good and was glad we could just go to bed, knowing the next day the fun would begin. Here are just some highlights of the trip.

Day 1

Walked along the beach by our hotel to Kapalua Bay and went snorkeling. It takes my a bit to get used to that feeling, but Ty led me by the hand and helped me be calm so I could enjoy it. Right off there was a giant sea turtle right in front of us that we were able to touch. Way cool! I will say this about our trip. It was not hot! I was wearing a jacket over my swimsuit most of the time. We did get jipped by the weather.

Day 2

We drove to the north shore to some supposedly awesome biggest waves they get, but that wasn't true. But we did stop on a small rock cliff and watch some good sized waves with people surfing them. It was enjoyable just to watch the ocean.

After watching a bit we found a beach with a little smaller waves where the boys tried body surfing. They got tossed around pretty good. Mostly tossing, not much surfing! Another thing we got jipped on were the waves. We didn't have great weather or good waves for us amateurs! But still a fun day. Everyday was a fun day. Even spent time in Lahaina souvenir shopping on our way home that night.

Day 3

The building at the top of this picture is our hotel where we stayed. We came to this point to supposedly just watch people surfing, but then we saw a guide boat bringing people to snorkel in the bay at the bottom of the pic. So naturally, we wanted to check it out. I wasn't planning on getting in the water so I had to change into my wetsuit in a porta-pot! Not a pleasant experience, but well worth it.

Before getting to the the bay you have to walk through a 1/2 mile of splendid Hawaiian jungle! LOVED IT! This seriously was one of my very favorite places. It felt like I was really in Real Hawaii! The trees are so awesome and pretty and chickens were running around to boot.

Don't tell me that tree is not AWESOME!!

Day 4

Tonya and Casey spent the day with his family so Ty and I went by ourselves to our hotel's beach and were the ONLY people there because it was rainy and chilly. But we were in Hawaii, and by golly we were going to spend it on the beach!! It actually turned out to be really cool. We walked on some rocks around a bend and found small little caves where we could sit out of the rain and watch the ocean. After playing there for a long while, we drove ten minutes south of our hotel and low and behold there was sunshine!! And People! Black Rock became our new favorite spot! We snorkeled and it was Beautiful!!! SO Pretty! You can see the rock wall above the water in the picture. Well that same rock wall under the water was amazing to see. We also went around the bend and it continued to get better and better. Beautiful corral, fish, an octopus and more sea turtles. Ty caught one and I got to pet it. He's braver than I am.

Well, we loved Black Rock so much we brought Tonya and Casey back the next day. This trip was just as fun until I was chilly from snorkeling and couldn't find Ty for another 20 minutes. It took away my desire to jump off the rock. I now wish I still would have, but alas. Ty had it worse though, because at some point while we were out there snorkeling he lost his driver's license, credit card, room card, and defogger. He was most upset about the defogger stuff because it was his brothers! (Thanks to his eagle scout card in his wallet and me affirming he was Ty Peterson, he was able to get on the plane back home!)

Day 6

We spent the day walking along the beach north of Black Rock stopping to snorkel when it looked good. I saw another small octopus and while keeping my distance really enjoyed watching it swim and then change colors to blend into the rock. It was really fun to watch. It was again nice weather because we got away from our hotel and we enjoyed being on the beach. There were cute families with their kids and we wished ours were there with us. Up to this point I was having a blast not packing kids around, but I sure wanted to build a sand castle with them that day. Then I saw a chubby little baby and wanted to squeeze my chubby Brock really bad. We were pretty much homesick bad from then on and looking forward to getting back home.

Day 7

Time to come home! Ty wasn't feeling well because of diving in the water, so we kept it mellow. We stopped at the Whaler's Village and wasted a few hours there looking around at the shops and eating before taking the bus to the airport. A long 15+ hours later we were loving on our kids and HAPPY to be home.

Our second honeymoon was a TON of fun. We saw some awesome places and did super fun things. But what I loved most, was just being with Ty 24/7 and just enjoying ourselves. So happy to be married to my best friend!!

Who's the Monster now?!

So, I was surprised the other day when I got on my blog and saw Teague's birthday. I've totally forgotten about blogging for a long time, so now it's time to catch up. I may be get to Christmas by summertime!

Anyway, just today we were chatting about Brock taking over Teague's 'Monster' title. And really Brock is following Teague's footsteps quite closely. Here are a few pics from a while ago that are totally Brock, and totally remind me of Teague!

Standing up to things wanting to climb them.

I don't know how many pictures I have of Teague with dirt on his face.

Something about boys and dirt I guess. Didn't know it could be so cute!

We kind of miss Brock's crazy hair style. No matter what I did, it would not stay down, ever!! And again in the dirt!

Teague's Birthday

Yes, Teague's birthday was in August (my blog has been on the back burner for quite some time now) Anyhow, he's felt like a two year old for quite a while, in both the good and bad ways to think of a 2yr old. I really do love this age. I love just watching them and the things they do. It's when I'm not watching that we have problems! Teague has been a handful for me, but oh, he is such a cool kid that I just LOVE! He likes to "help" and do everything himself. Which is a good quality to have, but sometimes it means milk and cereal all over the table right next to an empty bowl. He's also very helpful to put soap in the dishwasher and turn it on whether it needs to be or not. He is so cute though and has quite the strut that makes me laugh. He isn't potty trained, but has followed his brother's example of peeing outside! Glad I witnessed that funny story! Anyhow, I love this little guy, and he really is a good kid! Happy Birthday Teague!

So, you've probably gathered, I like fun cakes. My awesome sister-in-law showed me this cake on a blog after seeing Derek's pac man cake. Yes, this was back in January, and ever since I have been planning this cake for Teague. Derek had just gotten the Tonka truck for his birthday, so I kept it an inside truck so I could feel good about putting a cake in it that people would actually want to eat. It was so fun to make and I must say, tasted divine!

Great thing about little kids, getting great joy from small, cheap presents!!

Who doesn't love bubbles?!

Happy Halloween

Oh, I do love a good Halloween theme! This year we all got involved. Even Ty, who had the most embarrassing costume out of all of us. He doesn't even like Halloween, so he gets major brownie points for going along with it and being happy doing it. What a good guy.

My kids and I decided on Wizard of Oz this year. I don't think they had ever seen the movie before, so they watched it at Gma's and decided who would be who. Kami did not want to be a boy, so she chose the good witch. I was going to have Brock be the Tin man, but I just couldn't resist dressing him up as a monkey. It just seemed to fit so well. And thanks to the amazing Bonnie Z. it all came together perfectly. She is awesome, and made it so I spent Zero dollars, which is a really good thing, seeing as Ty doesn't care for the Holiday and would not be cool with me spending lots of money for it. We had a super fun time. Trunk-or-Treat at our church and Gma Peterson's. Tons of candy! Ty and I have persuaded the kids to save the candy bars for ice cream blizzards, since we bought an ice cream maker and now can have homemade ice cream/blizzards anytime we want! Hope you all had a fun day!! Happy Halloween!!

The Good Witch

Dorothy with Toto

Quite convenient we bought a Yorkie a month ago!

The Cowardly Lion who turned courageous

The Scarecrow

We had to bribe him with candy to wear the hat. He wasn't a fan.

The Flying Monkey

Everyone hates the monkeys on the movie, but this little guy is adorable!

Wicked Witch

I wasn't thrilled about being the ugly witch, but all's good.