Belle Shores

We went on our 1st week long Fullerton family vacation.......it was a blast! We hadn't been anywhere just the 4 of us, no friends or family yet, so we really enjoyed the time. The resort was really nice, and we already booked a week next summer. It has a white sugar sand beach across the entire lake front - it was awesome. The kids really liked the sand and water, and would spend most of the day playing in it.

Jenna wasn't so sure about the waves at first, but seemed to get used to them as the week progressed. She really liked it when Andrew would dig a hole and fill it with water, we'd find her in the hole splashing shortly after the water was added. Andrew enjoyed going fishing with just Dad in the mornings (and a few evenings), and he also caught his 1st fish off the dock all by himself, with no help from Dad (other than getting it off the hook!). Jenna also surprised me while I was painting my nails by wanting her toenails painted....it was fun, and she sat really still while it did it, then when Bruce and Andrew came back showed her toes off - it was cute.

Here are a few pics from the week:

Pretty Toes

Andrew being silly:

Playing in the sand:

Fishing:

Jenna & Andrew during snack time:

Popcorn night:

Family shot:

That's if for this vacation. Next week we head back up to the lake (different resort), we can't wait, it's going to be so much fun. This weekend it sounds like we're going to be headed to the MN zoo with the Ihrke's, and may try to sneak in a bonfire or two.

The trip & trees

I thought I'd share a picture of how packing for Chicago went......

I'd get the suitcase started (1/2 full or so), remember something that needed to go in, run and get it, come back and this is what I found......it only took me 2 or 3 times to remember to zip the suitcase!

We survived the trip to Chicago...or should I say Jenna survived. She's just not much of a car kid. On the way down I ended up sitting in backseat for a bit, and on the way home Bruce sat in the back with the kids for about 3 hours. This allowed for a peaceful ride since Jenna seemed a little more content, and was willing to sleep. Andrew did great in car (like always). He picked out 2 new movies for the ride down, and was content watching Clifford and Bob the Builder.

We all enjoyed seeing Camille, Theo & Callie. Jenna seemed particularly found of Carlos the cat, and Lizzy the dog. Both of them did great with Jenna too. The kids loved Callie, and it seemed like Callie enjoyed watching all the extra activity that comes with having visitors. Andrew seemed to have a knack for getting Callie to laugh, which was really cute and Jenna loved to give Callie kisses, and sit in her bouncy seat.

We went to a small zoo, which Andrew enjoyed. He liked trying to feed the goats straw, although as you can see from the picture Jenna did not like the goat sticking his head through the fence to get a closer look at the kids. (crying ensued).Camille, Theo & Callie have a really cool water park type thing close to them, which Andrew loved, and Jenna was interested in, but I think the water was a little chilly for her liking. We don't have a park like this by us, but I wish we did. It was perfect for younger kids (great find Camille!). We finished off the evening with a wonderful meal prepared by Theo, and a bonfire.....you couldn't have asked for a better weekend :) Thanks guys!

When we got home on Sunday we were able to see the trees that were planted after we left on Friday. Thanks to the neighbors, they were all freshly water, and looking good. We had 7 tress planted, and they look really nice, it definitely adds to the house. We had one added next to the sand box/swing set that we're hoping will give the kids some shade to play in. The amazing part was that they only nicked 1 signal line for the sprinklers thanks to all the planning that Bruce did.

Well that's it for this past weekend. Bruce and I will be spending this week getting ready for the lake. We leave on Saturday for a week. We are looking forward to a week of hanging out at a lake with the kids. I'm sure we are all going to have a blast.

National Night Out

Our neighborhood had a National Night Out get together last night. The kids both had blast. We had a visit from the local firefighters. They brought 2 of their larger trucks, including their ladder truck. Andrew had fun pretending to drive the ladder truck, and Jenna did a great job of trying to climb up on the truck, and inspecting anything she could reach. The firemen seemed to take a liking to her, and her determination to be one of the big kids. Target provided goodie bags for the kids, which was nice. Jenna found the sidewalk chalk right away, and even tho we've never had her play with it at home, so started 'drawing' on the street right away ( I was just happy she didn't try to eat it). I don't know if Andrew even looked in his bag because he was too busy riding his bike,playing football, and trying to throw a frisbee. Jenna had everyone laughing with her insistence on walking everywhere (no stroller for her!).

We leave Friday to visit Camille, Theo & Callie. We're excited to go see them again, I can't wait to see how big Callie has gotten, and their 'new' house. We just hope that Jenna does ok in car. Hopefully she'll do better now that she's turned around, otherwise it could be a very long 5+ hours in the car!