Bonfire at the beach

On Saturday night we enjoyed an evening down at the beach. The sunset was beautiful! While the sun was going down we saw some sea lions swimming where the waves were breaking... we tried to get Conner to swim out and catch us one!

We had a great time down at the beach with the O'Malley's and our neighbors the Keene's...lots of kids and lots of space to run! It was fun enjoying hotdogs for dinner and smores for dessert.

The Family at Sunset

Girls at Sunset
Hannah Kate with her marshmallow in the fire while Steve's marshmallow is on fire!
Conner, Isaiah and Madison enjoy some sparklers

Labor Day at the Beach!

We spent our Labor Day down at the beach... it was a beautiful sunny day and the girls loved it. This time we ate before going down as to not have sandy food to complain about!

Blue Water and Sandy Beaches at Carmel Beach

Even Grayson enjoyed his time at the beach! He was awake for the first part and then slept the rest of our time down there...love the jog stroller getting us across the sand!
Daddy & Caroline get out the sand toys!
The biggest hit of our time at the beach was a huge piece of kelp - the girls used it as a jump rope. This is a picture of Madison jump-roping.
Then Hannah Kate jumping too!
Still find it hard to believe we're living at the beach. As busy as life can get we try to slow it down and enjoy all there is to do here in Monterey before we have to leave next year... why are the good spots always the shortest?!?

Sweet Snuggling Sisters

Our bedtime routine usually includes Daddy snuggling with the girls...something he started when he traveled so much.

The girls sometimes request "sleepovers" now that they have their own rooms. Last Friday night they all fell asleep in Madison's bed - we moved them when we went to bed so the whole family was not up with Caroline at 6:30 am!

The sleepovers have made Caroline start requesting her sisters to snuggle with her. Last night was Hannah Kate and tonight was Madison. She tells Ed, "and tomorrow night I'll have you snuggle with me... and that will make you so happy!" It is so sweet to see them chit chat as they go to sleep - usually needing my help of, "I'll move you back to your own bed if you do not stop talking" to get them to sleep, but they do love each other so much. I think Caroline misses Madison being home with her since she is now at school all day.

I took this picture tonight of Caroline & Madison sleeping away in Caroline's room... they are too sweet!

Where's Grayson

While I put away laundry the other day, Grayson played with toys on the floor of his room. On one trip into his room the room was quiet and he was no where to be found... until I looked under his crib! He rolled several times to get there and was actually up against the wall sucking his fingers, but was excited to see me and when I got the camera he was kicking & smiling... he's too sweet these days!

Fortunately the dust ruffle is pushed up from where Caroline climbs up on his crib to look at him... gave me a good view of him under there!
Grayson is for the most part a happy guy - smiling all the time. He loves playing with his toys now that he can grab his toys & such.
Sometimes the noise from his sisters can get to him:)
Grayson at six months... time goes too quickly!

Our favorite thing to do...

Sea Lions!!

The girls love going down to the Coast Guard Pier to check out the Sea Lions. They are EVERYWHERE! They lay along the rocks & enjoy the warm sun. They are constantly barking at one another and making all sorts of noise.
This little guy looks cute and friendly, but would bark at anyone who came close - scared Hannah Kate away! It was moving all around and barking that she thought it was going to jump up on the pier with her:)

Kaitlyn, Caroline & Madison check out the Sea Lion

Our babysitter turned family member in Las Vegas came to visit us for the week. We had a lot of fun w/Kaitlyn here and sure do miss the extra hands! Hopefully we showed her enough of the great things in CA that she'll come back again soon!!!

Start of the school year!

Girls off to their 1st day of school!

Well, we're starting our THIRD week of school and I'm finally getting around to putting pictures up! It has been a busy couple of weeks getting into our routine, but the girls are enjoying school. Hannah Kate misses her old friends, but is adjusting and has a lot of friends here in the neighborhood that keep them both plenty busy.

Off to KINDERGARTEN! Hard to believe my Madison started kindergarten! She LOVES it and has a very sweet teacher. She turned FIVE last week - time passes too quickly! She turned five, Grayson turned five months and popped out TWO bottom teeth! Everyone is growing up.

We need to leave the house by 7:45 to get to school for the 8:00 bell... a little earlier than last year, but we're making it. Can't say Caroline & Grayson are dressed then too, but that's OK. The girls are use to getting to school and love walking by themselves... Hannah Kate is a great sister and walks Madison to her class & then goes on to her class.

My 2nd grader with Mrs. Heartfelt, her teacher

Grayson's Four Months

Happy 4th of July!

Yesterday Grayson turned 4 months old!  He's turning into such a fun little guy - his personality keeps getting better & better as he interacts with us all.  Such a joy these days as he's happy to just roll around on a blanket and look at his toys.  

We bought him a Bumbo seat and he enjoys it for little bits of time as his neck still isn't totally steady.  He really knows his hands are there and can grab things...like his sister's hair!  He's learning young how to defend himself when they are too close for his liking!  

He also uses his hands to grab his feet which he loves to do as well.

He loves to suck his 2 fingers...or toes!  He's so funny to watch as it takes him a while to get his foot into his hand and then work it into his mouth...flexible little one we may have to start in gymnastics like his sisters!

His fingers are his favorite - he sucks the middle two fingers on his right hand.  My older two were pacifier kids and Caroline sucks her first two fingers on her left hand - each one is different for sure!  

When Grayson is sleeping, he uses his right hand to hold in his left hand - too cute!

Our Family

All six of us enjoyed the 4th of July celebration in Lake Tahoe.  We rented a cabin here near our friends, the Dahlstroms, for a few days.  The kids had a great time playing with their boys at the lake and bike riding... another blog!  We're moving into our house this week, but I'll hopefully have some down time before our things are delivered on Friday to update the blog.  We've had a month on the go - Estes Park, CO, visiting friends in CO, family reunion and Lake Tahoe - lots of pictures I'd love to share!  I hope you all enjoyed celebrating the 4th of July - lots of freedoms here in the US we take for granted, but we're so thankful to all who are serving our country and are away from their loved ones... you are in our prayers!