Fun in Del Mar

This past weekend, Brailyn and I decided to tag along with Grandma on her weekend at the beach vacation with Larissa and her friend. Who's gonna pass up a free trip to California?? I just wish we could've stayed the whole week, but alas, there was high school and preschool, and no one to watch Brailyn while I ran (or a treadmill onsite for that matter...otherwise I might still be there!)

We had such a good time, chillin' at the beach, swimming in the pool, playing in the park, and just having fun together. I had some nice runs along the coast (not in the sand, too dirty) and enjoyed the time to do whatever Brailyn wanted to do. Thank you Grandma!! We're definitely doing this every year. Let's just book it before school starts...


Building a Sand Castle



Getting Buried in the Sand


Silly with Lala and Kelsey


Braving the Cold Water


Learning to Boogie Board (although, it lasted only once. A big wave snuck up on us and she had enough after that...)

Preschool!!

Brailyn is excited to be back in preschool at MCC. And this semester Jaxon is there too, so it's even better! She's already jumped right in where she left off, and is determined to paint enough masterpieces to cover every square inch of our walls! I'm so glad she loves school and can't wait to see her learn and grow even more this year!



She insisted I take a picture of her backpack too:)

First Dance Recital

Brailyn had her first dance recital! She took a ballet/tap class through Gilbert Parks and Rec and at the end of the summer, they did a little number to "I just can't wait to be king" from Lion King. It was pretty cute. It took a little bit for her to start dancing, but she hit it big at the finale (a big jump and then fall to the floor- of course she wanted to do that!)



With Miss Bethany

After the recital we gave all the little girls a flower. It was a great little class and have signed up for the next one, which is tap/ballet/tumbling. Can't wait!

I Love Puzzles

We recently got a couple of 100 piece puzzles and started working on them together. The first puzzle was a Coca-Cola polar bear rolling blading (a gift from Fred Treece). We would help her do the outside and she could do most of the bear.

Then we got a Fancy Nancy puzzle, which she LOVES, and did the same thing. She likes to work on the puzzles before breakfast and pretty much any other time during the day.

(here's the bragging part) Yesterday, you guessed it, she put the WHOLE puzzle together by herself!! She was so pleased with herself, because, as it says on the box, you're supposed to be 5 to do this puzzle (she's 3 1/2)


I'm quite impressed with her focus. If it's something she really wants to do, she can concentrate so well and works at it until she accomplishes it. Now, if only I could get that determination and focus for other things ie: picking up toys or getting dressed in the morning...

Summer Update

I forgot that I've missed a few things since our memory card gets a little finnicky sometimes. So here's a quick catch up:

Brailyn has been taking ballet lessons this summer through Gilbert Parks and Rec. It's pretty cute to see, and I'm hoping helping develop some good coordination. Her recital is next week, so I'll post some more pics.


We went to a splash pad last month with Ashley and Jaxon.

and we're really excited that they'll be doing preschool together this semester at MCC!

Ben left on his mission (Fresno, Ca spanish speaking) and before he headed up to the MTC we got to spend some time with him and go out to eat!

Tired of waiting under the misters at Oregano's. Headed to Liberty Market instead




After dinner we headed home for his setting apart and played some music (momma on the piano, Brailyn and Grandma on the ukulele, and Paca on his accordion!

July 4th 2009

Well, our Independence Day celebrations was pretty low key. In fact, we spent the morning taking naps, getting our food from the co-op, and playing at home. Daddy went to the Gilbert Tea Party (Republican rally) and came home with lots of pamphlets and patriotic gusto. After our naps we headed to Grandma's house for dinner and swimming. Paca was home from his 1 month hunting safari in Africa, so we were excited to see him and hear some of his stories. We were all too pooped by the time the fireworks started (which happens every year), but we still had a good day singing along to "Take your hat off" in the car.


Brailyn in all her patriotic glory


One of the Fam


Swimming with Daddy

By the way- you are doing so well at swimming. It took a couple of days to get back your groove, but now you are working on side breaths, your flutter kicks are going fast, and you can swim from the waterfall step all the way to the big step no problem. Grandma thinks you'll be swimming from the diving board by the end of the summer!

Trip to Annapolis

This is a little late, but I had to get the picture from my mom's camera.

A couple of weeks ago Brailyn, Grandma and I went to see Ben at the Naval Academy one more time before he heads off to summer training and then his mission (got his call this weekend- Fresno, CA spanish speaking!) I've been to Annapolis 3 times now, and I love that city, love the Naval Academy, love watching the midshipmen practice marching, formation etc. I just love it. I think I'm going to tag along every year to see him. I guess I'll have to wait a couple of years now. Bummer.

We spent a couple of days in Pennsylvania because Ben did a sprint triathlon. So we took a day and visited Gettysburg. Really big museum and a great movie and 'cyclorama'- a gigantic circular painting that you stand in the middle of and listen to an audio presentation with lighting effects. The painting looked 3D in a lot of places. We also visited the battlegrounds. Brailyn wanted to go up this watch tower on Little Round Top a million times! This tree is for Clint

We also had fun shopping at the midshipmen store (where I can my running shoes for $40 less than the stores!) and the shops down main street. Ate at some good restaurants and just had fun seeing the Yard. Watching the Tartan band play (I don't know if that's what they're called, but it's a good description I guess)

The last pictures are actually videos, but my mom's camera was in video mode, so oops. And I can't rotate the one of us with Ben, so just tilt your head please:)



We even spent a couple of hours in Baltimore's Inner Harbor before our flight home. No pics because the camera died, but we got to tour an old Anti-slave ship from the Civil War and a WWII submarine!