Newport Beach

Even though the purpose of our trip to Newport Beach was Dave's grandpa's funeral, we really enjoyed our visit.  We were able to celebrate a great life, reconnect with extended family, spend time with Dave, and enjoy the beach.  

This is nearly the entire family.

We ditched the kids with the grandparents and went on a date with Chip and Andrea. 

Our family. 

Dave and his brothers. 

It wasn't super warm, but the girls loved playing on the beach anyways. 

Sand was definitely a big hit with Eden. 

Milan and some of her second-cousins. 

Throwing flowers into the water as Grandpa Jim's ashes were being spread in the ocean.

Daddy working on a sand castle for Eden. 

Looks like Eden liked eating sand too. 

Milan's Birthday (Part 1)

Milan had an extra-special birthday this year starting with a sleepover at Grandma Kat's house.  She woke up at 5:00 am after only 6 hours of sleep and told Grandma Kat, "I'm 4 today!  She was super excited about the birthday balloons, decorations, and presents!  Good thing I decorated the night before since I totally didn't anticipate such an early wake-up.

Grandma Kat set up all her dolls (which is apparently quite a few) for the birthday party. 

Milan only asked for a pair of Crocs for her birthday so she was a pretty happy camper when she opened them up :). 

And, I couldn't resist getting her this Fancy Nancy doll. 

Flower cupcakes. 

 Eden's morning look is always priceless.  She was super obviously excited to have a cupcake for breakfast!

My girls.  (Well, minus the rest of Eden's head.) 

 In the afternoon, we flew to California (for great-grandpa's funeral) and met up with tons of family.

We ate dinner with a bunch of Dave's cousins who all sang "Happy Birthday" at Milan's request.  She also got to run around with a bunch of kids, play on escalators, feed some big Coy Fish, hang out with grandma and grandpa and pretty much live it up 4-year-old-style.

Day 1 of Milan's birthday extravaganza was a hit!

Little Nuts

These little girls tried to drive me crazy today...."decorating" with a pink Sharpie (Milan), potty accidents in the tub (Eden), and crazy amounts of whining (Eden).  Milan reacts to my disappointment by being super chipper and happy so it's hard to stay mad.  When Eden's happy, she's really fun to watch.  She walks around with purpose, chats up a storm, and randomly hugs me.  She just started saying Milan's name (Bahn) and yells for her whenever she can't find her.  Love these girls to pieces!

So, that was our day today.  Tomorrow will be much better!

The Drive Home.....

We are really glad that we were able to make it to Denver and visit with family.  The drive home was pretty much a disaster though!  

A couple miles down the freeway, the truck just stopped working.  Eden kept saying, "go da-da go."  Luckily, we were able to pull off to the side and I'm married to a pretty great mechanic who just happens to carry spare parts around with us (which I used to think was ridiculous.)  Since we happened to have an extra fuel pump and a Leatherman, Dave decided to fix the truck on the side of the freeway......

Milan was exhausted so she just passed out and Eden just destroyed everything in her reach (but at least she was occupied :).

After a while, grandma and grandpa met us and kept us company.  I am so grateful for their entertainment; I was running out of steam! 

While Dave was under the truck, I turned the key to roll the window up and managed to douse Dave with diesel fuel!  Oops!  

3 hours later we were on our way again!  Five minutes later, we ran into the hugest traffic jam!  

Here's my smelly husband patiently waiting while I kept scouting out places along the freeway to pee!  Kidding.  Just not that gutsy!

 Milan woke up from her power nap with lots of energy and lots of questions!

Many hours later we were on our way again.  Not sure exactly how long since I gave up and went to sleep at some point.

 We stopped at our house in Laramie that night then continued the next morning.  The girls were so tired, they pretty much did this the rest of the way home.  They are troopers!  The weren't even phased by the rock that left a huge hole in our windshield.

We really enjoyed our visit with family and we even had fun during our crazy drive home!

Great Grandpa Jim

Dave had Thursday and Friday off work so we took advantage of the opportunity to visit with his Grandpa in Denver.  Our trip coincided with Dave's parents trip to Denver so the girls loved to see their grandparents, even if it was only for a day.  

Milan was really content to play in this awesome sand box all afternoon so grandpa caught this picture of her playing. 

Grandma and her dad.  We all just sat out on the deck, enjoyed the weather, and chatted with great grandpa for a while.

Eden just mastered her hops so she LOVED the trampoline even though it was pretty tricky for her. 

Grandpa got to play lots of Barbies and other fun games! 

We got to visit with great grandpa again after dinner.  Eden was especially hyper after dinner and she was running around the family room giggling.  At first I was worried that she was disturbing Jim, but he really seemed to enjoy watching her.  He was saying that she was really happy and wanted to watch her do a somersault.  Jim passed away today; Dave and I will hold on to that memory from our trip.  We are very glad that we got a chance to visit with him.

Play Dates & Park Fun

It's starting to feel like summer and we are in full swing!  Milan gets to have lots of play dates and of course she still LOVES to play with Anna and JP.  Not sure what they were doing here, but they sure look cute. 

Snack time!  Eden thinks she's pretty cool when she gets to tag along :)  Eden decided on her own that she is too grown-up for a booster seat so she has to stand for every meal in order to see her food.  She is also trying to bypass sippy cups, but I'm just not ready for that.  

Lunch is always better when it's a picnic :).

We've been hitting up the park every chance that we get.  Eden is now willing to hold hands, but holding Milan's hand is her favorite.

 Our little acrobat!

Look how grown up this little girl is!  I seriously can't even believe it! 

Milan saw a rock, so obviously she needed to act out Ariel for a little while.

The best part about the park.....the kids are content playing so Dave and I get to chat uninterrupted for a little while :) 

Little Helper

Milan loves to help me in the kitchen and for obvious reasons, baking is her favorite! 

To be honest, I don't really enjoy cooking or baking (although I love eating) so we take as many shortcuts as possible.  Milan thinks most baked goods come out of boxes, but I'm okay with that.