Summertime

Did I mention that this summer has been so fun? I do believe that I have. Anyway, one of my best friends/old roommates was in the Bay Area for a week with her husband so I met up with her in San Fran and we spent the day there. So much fun! We took the kiddos to Golden Gate Park and let the two older one's go crazy. We went to this same spot a few weeks ago and Ada did nothing but go down this awesome cement slide, but this time, she only did it a few times then hit up the playground. I love Golden Gate Park...a lot. It is gorgeous and there is so much to see.

Lori helping her little man get a little push to get started. 

 Ada slid right off of her cardboard. I think that is when she decided to play on some of the other equipment

 So, Lo and I decided that it was time for us to do what we wanted. The kids had their fun, now it was time for ours. We were starving, of course, so we headed down to Market Street for some grub (and shopping of course). I have this giant double stroller that I brought and the place we went to eat had a huge flight of stairs to climb (the elevator would not fit my massive stroller). So we had the older kids walk up the stairs while we carried the stroller, then once we got to the top, we had them wait for us to carry up Ivy in her stroller (it might have been reversed, but I don't feel like re-typing). We were a pretty funny site.  This little diner not only had amazing food, but it was perfect for these two. They ran around, jumped off of chairs, danced to the loud music, fell down stairs (Ada). 

Too bad these two don't live closer. They played so well together (And danced. Video at the end of this post)

 Lori and I were roommates for over 2 years (I think) but we have known each other since 1999. As you can see, we look nothing alike (Maybe eye color??). Anyway, at BYU, we always "studied" in the periodicals and I remember getting asked on more than one occasion if we were sisters. "Sisters in spirit" we would say (Or something super cheesy like that). Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the awesome Apple Pie that I  ordered (After my main meal, of course). It was amazing. Seriously the best I have ever had. Lori agreed that it was tasty. I wouldn't know how awesome her milkshake was because she didn't offer me any of hers. Ha. Hope you are reading this Lo, and feeling really bad!

 I have to include Baby Ivy in this post. She was a trooper this whole time. Besides soaking through her diaper onto my jeans, she did great!

 

Enjoy this video

I must finish writing about our activities, though. After dinner, we braved shopping in a very busy area. It was so fun, and crazy awkward. Lori braved the beast of a stroller, while I pushed Ivy in hers. Luckily it was super long instead of wide because we would not have fit through the clothes aisles if it were wide. 

The kids were close to meltdowns (Mine anyway) by the time we were finishing up so we headed to my sisters house for the night. Of course, we missed our exit when we were almost there so that added 15 or so minutes (I am bad luck when it comes to travelling). We stayed up late talking about college days and what not. It was so fun! I took Lori and her boy to the airport the next morning and of course got lost going home. Sheesh. Anyway, it was a whirlwind of a visit, but it was so fun spending time with Lo and Juls. And thanks sister for letting us crash at your place just right when you got back into town. Mwah! Until next time! 

Enjoy the sweet movies of Brenton and Ada

More Lovell's!

This summer has been so much fun! I have been able to see so much family.  A week after my brother Steve and his family left, my little brother, John and his family came out to California. It was a lot of fun spending time with them and most importantly meeting their little baby, Preston. Too dang cute!

I wish we could all live closer. My brother John and I have this love/hate relationship sometimes. I guess I wouldn't say, "hate"  more like love/wanna slap each other sometimes, relationship. I am in my 30's and John is almost there and he STILL teases. What makes things even worse (funnier) is that I still react like a teenager when he teases me.

We had a good time hanging out, going to dinner/lunch, swimming, visiting. 

Come again soon, please!

Sweet little Ivy in Old Town Sacramento

Can you tell just by looking at this guy that he is trouble??

Glad that Scott could join us for lunch. If you look at Ada's hand you will see she has a rock in it. She was calling it her potato. It did not leave her side, either.
Funny girl.

My SIL, Amy and her perfect little baby, Preston

Thanks for lunch, Dad

Chad's classic camera face

At the end of the week, my sister and hubs went out of town so we watched their kids. Juls got her kids presents for each morning she was gone so they wouldn't miss her too much. They got into town late Thursday night and My sis and Brian left super early Friday morning. Around 7 Friday morning, I hear talking just outside my door and I thought for sure it was Ada. I go to check on her and find Lukey and Anna sitting in a dark hall talking to My SIL, Amy about the presents they were going to open. It was too cute and funny. My sister was kind enough to include Ada with the presents. The kids couldn't wait for Ada to wake up so they could open their gifts. 

We had 6 kids six and under at the house Friday. Let's just say things got a little crazy!

Swimming with Uncle John

Little Preston taking a dip with his dad

Chad just before the big lunge

Who wouldn't want a 3+ hour nap??

Chad teaching Anna chess

Fun, fun times with the family. The only family left to see (On the Lovell side) is the Jeff Lovell family, so get out here guys!

Love and miss you all. 

Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better...

Ada and Ivy are proving to be pretty good buddies, however, anything that Ivy does, Ada has to show me that she can do it too...but even better. It's cute, really, and I try to make a big deal about things that Ada can do so she doesn't feel left out. 

I was teaching Ivy how to hold on to the side of something so she can stand, and Ada showed me how she could do that too (Disclaimer: I know Ada is almost three. The binky is going away forever  very soon. Just getting up the courage to actually do it).

 I started running low on the milk supply (TMI) so I started giving Ivy formula and she loves her new freedom with the bottle. After naps yesterday, as soon as I gave Ivy her bottle and laid her down, Ada told me that she NEEDED a sippy cup filled with milk just like Ivy's (Don't worry, she got cows milk). As soon as I gave it to her, she said that she needed room to lay next to Ivy.

 As much fun as these girls have, I have a feeling there will also be battles. Already, Ivy tackles Ada if she gets too close, or she will swat at her face if she takes something that she was playing with. 

 I took a picture of Ivy cuddling the GIANT teddy bear

 I took the exact same picture of Ada after she ever so politely demanded I take one of her. She doesn't look too comfortable in that position. 

I am so in love with these two girls. Ada and I have had some rough patches but I have been really trying hard to not react to her tantrums by practically throwing a tantrum myself. What a difference that has been making. She loves to give hugs and kisses (and "wipes them in" afterwards) and has been giving them more freely lately. Ada has also been "protecting" me from the bad guys or crocodiles that frequent the home. I feel like this week has been way better than the last two with my Ada.

Ivy is the biggest sweetheart around (Ada was too at that age which makes me a little nervous), but takes absolutely no crap from her sister. Ada bit her one day and the next day, Ada was letting Ivy "kiss" her cheek and Ivy clamped down hard. With tears in her eyes, Ada said, "Mom, that didn't make me feel very happy." What goes around comes around my little Ada. Hehe

Ivy is crawling. She will crawl the normal way to crawl sometimes, but most of the time, she has one leg out, like she is trying to walk on it, and scoots the other one underneath. I think she finds she can go faster that way, so that is her preferred method of crawling. Ivy is a talker. She is loud just like her sister was. She is starting to use words like, "Ball (ba), bottle (baba), Uh oh (uh, uh), Mama (mama. hehe), No, No (na, na), Ada (Aada). It is so dang cute.  She just started shaking her head, "No" and loves it. She gets a kick out of my exaggerated reaction. 

She still hasn't really started pulling herself up or scooting along tables while standing up, but I know soon enough, that time will come. 

My little girls bring me so much joy (and I am sure gray hairs) and I love them more than I could ever say. 

The Lovell's Come For a Visit

My brother Steve and his fam came up for a visit. It was so much fun spending time with them and letting all of the kids run wild. Like this picture below, for example. The kids were picking apples like crazy, taking bites and leaving half eaten (or barely eaten) apples all over the place. BUT, it kept them entertained and that's all that matters, right?

These two little one's found something exciting under the deck table...spiders and webs maybe? All I know is we found them there on many different occasions. 

Warming up in a nice tub after a dip in the pool.

Ivy loved spending time with the cousins.

Ada found more courage putting her face in the water when she wore goggles.

We spent two days in the Bay Area. One day in Monterrey and the other in San Francisco. So much fun!

It was such a beautiful day at the beach. It started off cold, but after a couple of hours, the wind died down a bit and the sun was warm. 

My brother braved the cold and took his boys and Anna out on the Boogie Board. Lisa and I were kicking ourselves by the end of the day that we didn't bring our swimsuits because the boogie boarding looked like so much fun.

Saigey and Lukey watching the waves

We spent the night at my sisters and bro in laws after our fun day at the beach and took our time getting ready for our fun-filled day in San Fran (which I didn't get any pictures of).

My S-I-L had a really cute outfit for Saigey that she bought on sale so I copied her and got one for both of my girls. This picture was taken Sunday morning just before church. Steve's fam was getting ready to leave and we were just about to go to church. I was trying to get a normal picture of Ada but she was more interested in what Saigey was doing so I got a half-interested smile. Oh well!

I have noticed that Ada has picked up some things from her cousins. She spent a lot of time in the car with them (She drove out to the Bay Area with Steve's family) and I guess their kids don't travel well in the car and ask pretty frequently "when will we get there?". Ada asks me all the time now. It is so funny because we will just be driving down the street to get somewhere and Ada will ask me how much longer. Ha. She is also adding the word, "like" to a lot of her sentences. For ex: "Mom, like, I am going to jump off of the rock and put my face in the water."

Hilarious!

We can't wait for the next time! So much fun!