Peyton, the one girl band!

This is one of Peyton's favorite things at Legoland. She does her best to keep all the fountains going at the same time! This was early in the morning so she was the only one there. I love how she dances and taps her foot to the music, she's definitely going to be our musician!

Belle's Nursery

Being third time parents we now know things that we wished we'd known the first time around. Like that spending a ridiculous amount on bedding for a crib was just a waste or that the nursery does not have to be ready to go months in advance (or in our case, months after baby comes home), and simple is always better.

Since Belle sleeps in a bassinet in our room we had not done anything with her room. The crib had been up since February but it was full of stuffed animals, her clothes were in there but so were a lot of other things. While Sean was gone on a training exercise I decided it was time to make it Belle's room, not a storage room!

Belle's most awesome Godmother made this decoration for my Sip & See shower she threw in Belle's and my honor. I thought it would be perfect to display in her nursery. (Now all I need is to get Sean to take down the one strip of sport wallpaper at the top and it will be perfect!)

This quilt is another wonderful gift from Belle's Godmother. She does the most amazing quilting! I love love love it and I know it will be treasured for a long time to come!

Everything else is hand-me-downs from big sister! I am in love with the breathable bumper, we didn't have one for Logan so once we had to remove the pretty, decorative one for safety we often found him with limbs stuck hanging out of the crib. With the breathable bumper it is safe to leave on once they start rolling and it stops them from getting stuck.

And despite the lack of expense spent on her room, Belle loves it (and so does mommy)! It's amazing how much you learn with multiple children that you don't need to spend a lot to have a lot!

Peyton back float

This is just proof of how far Peyton has come. At the beginning of the summer she would barely relax with the instructor holding her. Right after taking this the instructor was able to get her to not panic & actually float on her own for almost 10 seconds! I was busting with pride!!!

Kids swimming 2

Another quick video of the kiddos swimming on their last day of class.

Kids swimming

This summer the kids took 3 two week sessions of swimming at our local YMCA. Between that and a week spent in the pool while we were in Minnesota both kids have come a long way. Logan has graduated from "pike" to "eel" and will continue with one 5 week (2 days a week) session in September to cement his new learned skills. Peyton has decided she'd rather do gymnastics so we will put swim off until next summer.

Here's a quick video I got of the kids on their last day of class.

Belle is 4 months & counting!

Oh me oh my Belle is 4 months already!! I thought she and I had a deal to stay teeny tiny and be my baby forever but I guess she's decided to grow up anyway!

She's so wiggly these days it's so hard to get a good picture! And with teething approaching she is constantly chewing on her hands. However every once in a while I catch a beautiful picture of this beautiful baby! My happy 4 month old!

On her 4 month birthday day she decided she was done just laying on the floor! She started pushing up on her arms and looking around. Now just 10 days later she is scooting across the bed or floor. She can push up on her arms or scoot with her feet and elbows but not both. However I see crawling in our very near future!!

She's happiest on the floor with her Bubba & Sissy! As you can see she does not stay on the designated laying areas anymore! We will soon have an area rug so she doesn't have to be on the old yucky carpet. I was cooking one night & came in to this. Logan was explaining to her just how his crane worked and she was just mesmerized with him!

Belle is my first baby to have a Bumbo seat and she loves it! Sitting up like a big girl & discussing something very serious with Duffy.

My latest consignment find! Belle loves her bouncy! I really can't believe shes big enough for this already! My precious angel is growing up way too fast!!!

Duluth, the city that I love!

Well those of you who know me and read this know we took an unexpected trip to the city of my birthplace, Duluth, Minnesota. Having kids now I see the city with a whole new perspective. The week was short and stressful but we squeezed in as much as we could. I really look forward to bringing my kids back both for a summer vacation and a winter one because they need to see snow the RIGHT way!

I've always thought the Aerial Lift Bridge was cool but to see it through my kids eyes made it even more special. The port of Duluth is a busy port, especially in the summer. In order for the big ore boats, or the lake cruise boats, or even the sail boats to get out of the harbor they must go under the Aerial Lift Bridge. We were trying to leave the island to get back to the hotel in this picture above when one of the cruise boats was coming back.

One night we had dinner down in Canal Park, where the bridge was. We must have watched that bridge go up and down two or three times. They announced as we were leaving there was one of the large ore boats on it's way in and that is a big deal because the bridge has to go all the way up and stay up for a long time. When we got back to our hotel we drove to the top of the parking deck and were able to watch the boat go under the bridge at night. What a beautiful sight, in a beautiful city!

The word "lake" is kind of misleading if you have never stood on the shores of the vastness of Lake Superior. It covers over 30,000 square miles making it the biggest of the Great Lakes, it's deepest point is almost 1,500ft making it the deepest, and also the coldest! But what a magnificent sight! Even on the bad weather days it's beautiful! It can look smooth as a sheet of glass or have white caps and waves ocean-like.

The kids had a blast climbing on the rocks in Canal Park. Logan was so proud of himself that he actually posed for a great picture! Behind him you can see the lighthouse that marks the entrance to the Aerial Lift Bridge.

Another thing I miss about Minnesota is Old Dutch potato chips. They are SO SO good! The regular ripple chips come in a box with 2 bags inside and oh how I could eat the whole thing! They also have a very yummy Dill Pickle chip. Don't knock it till you try it! SO GOOD!

Despite the circumstances, I was glad I was able to show my kids by birth city. We did a few more things that I will blog about shortly. I just wanted to show you my town! Can't wait to visit again and explore even more!

Family time

As much as I love San Diego and pray that the Marine Corps lets us stay here forever I do miss our family and my kids getting to spend time with their cousins (one of which they have never even met!). Our trip to Minnesota gave us a chance to get a few snapshots of the kids with the family they rarely get to see.

This playground I played on as a child. It's a large viking type boat. Here's Logan with my mom, aka Nana. And Logan and Peyton with cousin Kaitlyn (and yes they actually call her cousin Kaitlyn most of the time!)

One night we were down in Canal Park and we found this cute little mock Aerial Lift Bridge and I thought it was a perfect chance to get another of the 3 big kids (poor Belle, I promise she was there too, hanging out in her sling!)

After a long stressful week the kids decided to be silly with their grandmas! We miss all of our family so much!

"You don't chose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." ~Desmond Tutu

Duluth's Children's Museum

The last stop at the Depot was the Children's Museum. Field trips to the Depot as children came rushing back when we walked into the room with the BIG tree that you climb up to the second floor. I didn't do a great job taking pictures but here are a few. The kids all had a blast and I'm sure they would have stayed there all day if we could have!

Only in Minnesota would the Children's Museum have a mock campsite and boat! Love it! Both kids sat in this boat, separately - without seeing the other, and sang Row Row Row My Boat! Totally cute! Peyton insisted that I sit in the boat with her.

This was the biggest game of tubes Logan had ever seen! He spent at least 20 minutes playing with this.

Peyton, my little musician (with Aunt Angie) playing in Music Alley. Every time you stepped on a different colored light a different tune played so if you danced and ran back and forth it would make a cool song.

Peyton and I at the top of the big tree. I'm really bummed I didn't take better pictures of this place! It made such an impression on me as a child that I remembered it 25 years later! It was so cool! Definitely will be returning on our next visit!

Duluth Train Depot

Ever since Logan started showing interest in trains I have dreamed of taking him to the Depot in Duluth. I remember going there as a kid and just loving all the trains and I knew we couldn't be in Duluth and not take Logan.

The last train left Duluth's depot in 1969 and they converted it into a museum and refurbished trains. Some of the trains you can board which Logan thought was totally awesome. The girls were pretty impressed as well...

On a lot of the passenger cars there are historical displays that I would have loved to stop to read but little kids just want to be on trains, check it out and move onto the next one!

This was by far Logan's favorite train, it was a steam engine where you could see inside where the fire would burn, sit in the drivers seat, and the wheels even "chugged"!

Conductor Logan! His smile was from ear to ear!!

Not only are there real trains there are model trains too! Logan is in love with model trains. Don't get me wrong he still loves his Thomas, Chugginton, & Geo Trax but he thinks he needs model trains! I made the mistake of telling him that when he's bigger Grandma Pat has model trains for him so now he asks almost daily if he's big enough for model trains!

We were really under a time crunch, it had been a long week, and we were all beat so we didn't spend as much time as Logan would have wanted but we will visit again and do the Depot up right!!