Life With Boy

I've been thinking a little about the day that we found out our fourth child was going to be a boy. We were a little horrified, to say the least. We felt like we had the girl thing down pretty well, and adding a rambunctious and unpredictable boy into the mix was definitely a frightening prospect.

But from the first second we held Spencer and every single day of getting to know him since, we have certainly been blessed with the understanding that he was meant to be a very special and important part of our family. He's such a cute and fun and vital part of our every day. And, as cliche as it sounds, we truly cannot imagine our lives without him.

Life with Spencer. It's a joy.

It's also...

physical, physical...

messy...

...loud

...snuggly

very, very {very} hungry...

sticky...

wet...

sunny...

adventurous...

...sometimes grumpy

...curious

sneaky...

daring...

...fast

bubbly...

...risky

very wild...

...and always amazing.

We sure love this little boy. He may have brought a new brand of crazy into our lives, but it's surely a brand that we have come to love. 

The Sum Total

“We are the sum total of our experiences. Those experiences – be they positive or negative – make us the person we are, at any given point in our lives.

 And, like a flowing river, those same experiences, and those yet to come, continue to influence and reshape the person we are, and the person we become. 

None of us are the same as we were yesterday, nor will be tomorrow.”

B.J. Neblett

So Long, 2016

We are turning our backs on 2016.

It has been a year of growth, of opportunity, of learning compassion, patience, peace, and joy amidst great emotional challenges.

It has blessed us in so many ways. More than we could fully articulate to others, or even understand for ourselves.

But it is time to say goodbye.

And so, we bid it farewell, looking forward to a future getting to know, learning to love, and being there for each other even more than before.

Because every time we turn our back on something, that means we are turning to face something else. Something new. Something wonderful. Something hopeful. Something beautiful.

Welcome, 2017.

Let us love and appreciate you. Help us to grow in love and compassion as we experience life's lessons. And let us ever remember and treasure what we were able to learn--and do--before we said hello to you.

California Christmas Part Two

Day 2 of California was a little...er, a lot, more packed. We hit the San Diego Children's Museum in the morning, then the tide pools and lighthouse at Point Loma, followed by another sunset beach trip, this time to Coronado, and then we ended the day in Old Town San Diego with some yummy Mexican food.

{Sand, glorious sand. No one wanted to leave this awesome black light sandbox.}

{Clay Creations}

{Most. Amazing. Playhouse. Ever.}

{I was the one who didn't want to leave this time.}

{Two cuties and a secret message about patience for Mommy}

{We love eachutter}

{It's where the heart is, what can I say?}

After we peeled ourselves away from the museum, we had sandwiches in the car and headed to Point Loma. 

First we hit the tide pools. The tide was coming in so we didn't get to explore a whole lot, but we climbed around on the rocks and enjoyed the lovely views anyway.

{lovely views}

{yours truly enjoying said lovely views.}

{This was a dream come true for Spence. He could throw as many rocks 

in the water as he could get his hands on, for as long as he wanted.}

 {My little guy}

{triplets...ish}

The lighthouse was next. 

{To the Lighthouse, as it were.}

{View from just outside the lighthouse}

Then it was time for another sunset beach trip to Coronado. 

Coronado was gorgeous and chilly and so much fun. It felt strange to sit and watch the kids play in the sand and water at the beach in late December, but also magical in a way. The grownups hunkered down in the cold sand and talked in their hoodies and jackets while the kiddos pretended it was summer.

The poor girls were still had wet pants by the time we got to Casa de Reyes, which turned out to be an outdoor Mexican restaurant. (An Ah-MAZ-ING outdoor Mexican restaurant, for the record.) Parking was scarce and there was a little hike to the restaurant from a residential street at least a block away. The kids were all troupers. And it was so worth it.

Thus concludes our "mellow" day 2 of our California vacation.

Stay tuned for .... SEA WORLD! 

{here's a preview of the excitement to come. 

I know you can hardly wait.}

California Christmas Part One

In an effort to create memories rather than fill our home with toys and trinkets that the kids don't need, last year we adopted the plan of doing a family trip for the kids for Christmas rather than giving them a bunch of presents. With California being so close, that has become the obvious place for us to go to create family memories. Last year we did a few days at Knott's Berry Farm and this year we opted for a 4-day theme park extravaganza including Knott's, Legoland, and Sea World, in any combination we wanted for those four days.

It was the perfect, Craig-planned, action-packed trip to start off the kids' winter break. Tow days after the kids' last school day, we packed up, we drove fast, and we arrived at the lovely Seapointe Resort in beautiful Carlsbad.

{He's the Jedi of trunk packing. And handsome, to boot.} 

We had pretty much planned for everything--our budget, what we were doing for meals, which parks we wanted to do on which days, which park we wanted to do for a second time on our fourth day of adventuring.

What we hadn't planned for, though, was sick kiddos. Julia had a yucky cough and bad sore throat the day that we left, and poor little Spence got so sick that first night with a terrible cough that he needed an early morning trip to urgent care on what was supposed to be theme park day #1. 

Needless to say, we were a little stumped. Should we still go forward with our theme park plans? Should we just skip the first day and still go to theme parks the other 3 days? First we decided to just skip the first theme park day, take it easy for a few hours, and then make a decision later. As time went on and Spencer's cough didn't seem to be getting a whole lot better, we opted for changing our whole week of plans in favor of smaller family activities. We returned our unactivated passes, and planned out a much more mellow week. 

It ended up being the best thing ever. Our more spontaneous family adventure was so much fun and we felt so grateful for our little blessing in disguise. 

The first day after spending much of the day hanging out at the hotel, we went down for a quick sunset visit to the beach which was just across the street from the hotel. It may have been December, but that sure didn't stop these guys from putting their feet in the water and playing in the sand. 

{When I say that we went "down" to the beach, I meant it literally.  

It was quite the hike down a LOT of stairs.}

It was an absolutely beautiful way to end what started out as a disappointing day. A gorgeous beach sunset and delicious Panda for dinner were just what we needed. 

Much more adventuring to come!