SoCal | Day 1

Usually, I consider our trips ‘traveling.’ But this was a vacation!

It started with an easy 11:30am flight out of Minneapolis that put us on the beach by 2:30pm (west coast time).

The flight was one of our easiest with the kids. I hope this is the beginning of a new trend for our family. No one was kicking the seats in front of them, no one was squirming out of their seat begging to walk / climb around, and no one needed to be bounced in the back galley of the plane for hours! Instead, the big kids were interested in the maps, they played with their cats cradle string, and watched movies / played iPad games. Breck played quietly for the first hour, slept for two, and watched the Delta Kids movies until landing. Meaning I got to read, watch a movie, and take a nap! *Crazy*

We landed in San Diego, grabbed our rental van and headed to Pacific Beach. We had dinner and drinks at Baja Beach Cafe right on the boardwalk. This meant the kids could play in the sand within view while Shawn and I hung out on the restaurant’s patio. There were a couple moments where Brecken gave us a scare and I sprinted back into the restaurant and around to get out the front door and chase him down, but for the most part the kids stayed close :)

After our early dinner, we hung out on the beach until sunset. Sand toys, football, chasing waves and getting way too wet.

It’s the little things that I love the most about these trips. Being barefoot as much as possible, being outside the entire day, the boys getting along and making up games in the sand...

After sunset, we drove up to our hotel in Orange County and transferred our sleepy kids to bed. 

The first day at the beach is always pretty magical. Especially since it was snowing and single digits when we took off at MSP!

Milestones

It has been a bittersweet fall full of milestones!

Brecken, being the youngest, has had the most milestones recently. Some are big and some are small, but they are all signs that my baby is not a baby anymore.

The biggest game-changer for us has been Brecken’s bedtime routine. With some advice from his new doctor at his three year check up, we have been able to get him to bed at 8pm every single night. That’s huge because I had been parenting until 10:30 or 11pm since the day we transitioned him out of his crib over a year ago! It’s amazing how important this time is for recharging, doing your own hobbies, hanging out with your spouse, and planning / organizing / doing house projects. 

He also graduated from speech. This is so great because at one point, I wasn’t confident that he was capable of making all the sounds he needed to in order to properly form words. He struggled with dropping the initial consonant. But with Teacher Brittany’s help, he is now is as chatty as the other boys. It’s also great because it frees up our Fridays for more play / outings.

And, a huge one for me, Thursday was his last day at his home daycare. Our kids have been there for about 7 years, raised in a home without a fenced backyard, eating food from her garden, with plenty of time for freeplay. Similar to how I would have ideally raised my kids if I were home with them. On Monday, Brecken starts at his new daycare center (‘preschool’). Crossing my fingers the transition goes well.

Ryder achieved a milestone that we have been working on for years and are celebrating by redoing his room. More to come on this as the project is still in progress.

As of this year, Logan is a swimmer, becoming a fluent reader, a gymnast, and starting to have a social life all of his own. I think I plan more get togethers with our kids’ friends at this point than I do with our own friends! 

We took all the baby latches off our kitchen cabinetry! It has been 9 years since we’ve opened a cabinet without pushing a special latch. A subtle sign that my babies are no longer babies anymore...

But, with us moving on from the baby stage, the boys are able to do so much more. They are so fun to play sports with, take to events (like local football games), and travel with. So I am ok with these changes, but would still be happy if time could slow down just a little right where we’re at :)

Halloween 2018

The boys covered some serious ground this Halloween. They went for about an hour with me in our neighborhood, then Ryder and Logan kept going with Shawn. 

It was a perfect night to be out - we didn’t even need jackets. Brecken walked most of the way by himself, but could only make it to one house in the time the big kids had gone to three! 

I think my favorite was when Ryder walked Brecken up to each house (at his snail’s pace), holding his hand and watching out for him the whole way ❤️

Birthday Boys

We had about one weekend between August and October that was free, so we had a combined family party for Ryder and Brecken. Ryder was a pretty good sport about holding off on a friend party and having a little kid party theme.

Brecken had been talking about having a ‘George Party’ all year. I don’t think he meant as a birthday party, but he just really likes George. 

So that’s what we did. 

And then he had to leave the party a little early. He was playing with toys in the garage and went into my car, accidentally closing his thumb in the door. He was such a trooper and did awesome with his four stitches and xrays. 



Big day all around.