Santa Cruz

This past week we got to head up to Santa Cruz for a much needed and thoroughly enjoyed time away. Some of our dear friends moved up to the Watsonville area just about two years ago and we always look forward to visiting them. We spend all of our time laughing, eating, and relaxing...three things I enjoy most! This year Hylke brought his new mountain bike up, so he and Terry went out biking each day too. We had so much fun, and especially loved the cool weather!! Unfortunately I didn't take very many pictures...sometimes relaxing means being too lazy to run downstairs to get your camera. ;) Here are a few fun pictures that I did manage to take:

Bananas!

Storytime with Bethany

So sweet

I just love this picture...they're watching Bob the Builder

On our way to the Monterey Bay Aquarium...hard to get them all looking at me :)

My adorable little girl. Can't get enough of her!

Noah's silly, but very cute, face

Noah checking out the Sea Horses

The really cool jellyfish at the Aquarium

Practice makes perfect

Enjoying the roses

When my mom was visiting last month she couldn't believe all the roses that were on my rose bush. But the problem was that they were on the rose bush, and not being enjoyed inside. They were the most beautiful, fragrant roses. We have gone a hundred miles an hour this summer and quite frankly, I hadn't even stopped to remember that I had rose bushes to be enjoyed. Well, my mom cut some roses for me, put them in a vase and set them out to be enjoyed. Ever since then, I have made an effort to go out and cut some fresh roses to enjoy. This morning I went out back and cut about 25 roses and set them out all over. Thanks, mom, for reminding me to slow down enough to enjoy the roses. :)

Elliana Laughing

Sea World

We just got back from a fun trip to San Diego. Noah loves Sea World, so we made sure to spend lots of time with Shamu and his friends. :) Besides being BLAZING hot (and terribly humid) we had a wonderful time. Here are some highlights:

Waiting for the dophin show to begin:

Feeding/touching the dolphins (mommy's favorite part):

Shamu!

Mommy and Noah on the Elmo Fish ride (notice Noah saying, "Cheese"):

So tired (and so hot!):

On the Oscar's Eel ride:

Elmo's Zebra Fish (I didn't even mean to flash the "I love you" sign to Hylke...but I do love him :)

long overdue

So sorry for my lack of posts. :( This won't be long, just a quick video of Noah, my little water baby...wait, I mean water toddler. :)

Busy Bees

We have stayed very busy this summer. However, it's the fun kind of busy...trips to the beach, grandma/grandpa's house, a couple days in palm springs, camping....you get the idea. This past week we decided to hit the beach again. It was such a beautiful day! Noah had so much fun building sand castles with daddy, and a large trench that he sat in as the ocean water came and filled it up. His very own sand pool!

On another note, my sweet Noah is getting SO big! I can't believe how quickly they grow up. He carries on conversations with us, and is putting together long sentences (he's been carrying on sentences for awhile, we just didn't always know what he was saying...haha). Here are few of the cute things he's been saying, "Mommy, Look!", "Mommy (or daddy), come play too?", "Elliana awake! Go get her?" "Hi, Mommy. How are you?" This morning while we were playing with his Thomas trains, I had the whole crew of trains go over the bridge and they all stayed on the track...Noah looked at me and said, "Good job, Mommy!" He's also mr. independent. Most things that we used to help him with he insists on doing by himself..."self, self!". I love that he is excited to do things on his own, even if it takes him awhile to do it.

Noah absolutely loves his sunday school class, and adores the teachers/helpers. He always remembers what they learn about and is sure to tell me on our way home. Today I asked him what he did in Sunday school and he said, "I sing".

ME: What songs did you sing?

NOAH: "Light Mine" (This little light of mine) and "Jesus loves" (Jesus Loves Me).

ME: What did you learn about today?

NOAH: "Camels!"

ME: You learned about camels?

NOAH: "Yes. And Joseph!"

We're getting ready to spend the week up at Hume Lake with some of our good friends. But first, there's a BBQ and swim party we must attend first. YAY for summer fun! I'm sure I'll have lots of fun things to update when we get home.