Life Lately + Blog Changes

I've got a random hodge podge of pictures to share of our life lately, but before we jump into that I just wanted to share one other quick thing with you first. I have decided to make our blog "private," so only "authorized readers" will be able to view it. I know my blog audience is pretty small, so hopefully this will be a smooth & easy process for people who still want to follow along with us! I think I know who most of my regular readers are, but if not just shoot me a message & I'll add you to my list! :)

Ok, on to life lately!! First up is Hadley proudly showing off our first strawberry of the season! We didn't get a ton of strawberries last year, but year #2 is proving to be very fruitful so far!!

I've got quite a few pictures of the girls snuggled up with Brady during their screen time and/or reading to him--these pictures slay me!!! I can't get over how cute they are together!

 

Brady is starting to do some "pretend play" here and there, and it's the cutest! Playing "night night" is a favorite of his for sure! In the first picture below he was using Hadley's dress-up clothes that were left on the floor as his "bed." Then in the following picture you can see he switched to using the Elsa dress as his blanket. ;)

{I just thought Brady looked so sweet & grown up here!}

{Brady loves playing Barbies with Hadley!}

{yogurt-faced & poolside!}

{watching the Masters....Brady was INTO it!!}

{On the way home from school we stopped to check the mail & Shelby had a new National Geographic Kids magazine waiting for her in our mailbox...it was the perfect after-school surprise!}

Friday mornings are always a favorite b/c Hadley is home!! This Friday was especially fun b/c these two found a puddle to play in! :)

{After school swimming for the win!}

Shelby's piano teacher {who lives a couple houses down from us} sent Shelby home with hot chocolate after her lesson one day. Despite the fact that it was a warm spring day & the other two kiddos had been playing in the water table {hence the reason Brady is covered up with a beach towel--ha!}, they were PUMPED about hot chocolate!

Hope you're having a great week!!

The Month of the Military Child

April is the Month of the Military Child. It feels like there's a special day or month to celebrate/recognize every little thing these days, but I love that there is a month to bring awareness to these strong kiddos who play such an important role in our country's Armed Forces. For those of you who may not know, the dandelion is the official flower of the military child.

I have read that little story about military children and dandelions many times before, but it put a big lump in my throat when I came across it this past week while scrolling through my Facebook feed.

We are about to embark on our third move in six years. This summer we will PCS back to San Antonio for what will hopefully be a longer assignment for our family. While there is a bit less fear & anxiety associated with this move b/c we know the city, I would be lying if I said this move would be easy. Military moves are never easy! Each time we PCS, it's hard to believe we'll ever be able to come to call the strange new city the Air Force is sending us to "home." But it happens every single time without fail--it always ends up being "home."

Las Vegas was at the bottom of our "Wish List," but we have grown to love this place more than we ever thought possible. We'll miss the gorgeous views of the mountains from our kitchen windows, the amazing parks we have within walking distance, the most wonderful climate we've experienced, the lack of bugs {except for those pesky scorpions, ha!}, the fact that our library & post office is right around the corner {two of my most frequented places}, walking the girls to school, and the proximity to so many amazing national parks! I could literally go on & on about how much we'll miss our life here. We never thought Las Vegas of all places could feel like "home," but we will have a hard time saying our goodbyes to this amazing place this summer.

I feel like each time we PCS it gets a little easier b/c we learn tips and tricks along the way to help us better navigate these military moves, but I also feel like each time it gets a little harder b/c our kids are getting older & more entrenched in their school & our community. We worried about breaking the news of our upcoming move to the girls, but we shouldn't have! These dandelions of ours took the news right in stride & are already eagerly planning out their new bedrooms in San Antonio! While some sadness has certainly been expressed by both of them, we are amazed at their resiliency & positive attitudes! This military life certainly isn't for the faint of heart, but I'm immensely grateful for the experiences it has allowed our family & I think our kids are so much more cultured & well-adjusted because of it!

Easter 2018

For today's Easter post, I've got all the quintessential Easter pics for you--our annual visit with the Easter Bunny, dyeing eggs, egg hunting, and a before-church photo op! :)

I read a tip on another blog before Easter about egg-hunting with multiple children in your family, and it worked like a charm for us this year! We picked a color for each kiddos {Hadley was of course blue, Shelby was pink, and Brady was yellow}, and then when they were hunting they knew to only grab their color egg. It's a huge help if you need to just scatter some eggs {aka not hide them} for the younger crowd, but you don't want older kids snatching them up. The girls really liked it, so we'll definitely be doing it again next year! Brady however wanted nothing to do with egg hunting, he was just playing with the girls' pool nets, ha! So Hadley hunted for his eggs this year!



And the weather was gorgeous on Easter, so we heated up the pool for the first time of the season! Derek grilled steaks for dinner & we had smores for dessert--Brady's first time! It was a great day!

The girls were lucky enough to have the Monday after Easter off, too. With Derek back to work on Monday + the girls at home + summer temps, it felt like summer! We spent the whole day either at the park or in the pool or playing in the playroom, and it was delightful!

As I was putting Easter stuff away that afternoon, Brady caught a glimpse of our trick-or-treat pumpkins in the storage closet and just had to have them. ;)  He didn't want to his Easter basket, but apparently this was okay!?

 

 

We had an absolutely wonderful Spring Break & Easter, and as sad as we were to see it come to an end on Tuesday it's always good to get back into the groove, too! 

Wrap-Up {Spring Break 2018, Part Three}

This is the third & final post of Spring Break 2018! We're starting off this post with luggage cart fun as we were checking into our hotel in Fresno! :)  Brady is now big enough to ride along with the girls, and he was a big fan of this activity!

It was about a 6ish hour drive from our house to Fresno, and then from there we had about a one hour drive to Sequoia & a two hour drive to Yosemite. We chose to go to Sequoia the first day & Yosemite the third day of our trip, and then we stayed in Fresno the second day to have a break from all the driving. It was a perfect plan! The weather in Fresno was picture-perfect, and we got to take advantage of their zoo which was a big hit for us since Las Vegas doesn't have a zoo. The girls really wanted to feed the giraffes, so we made sure we got to do that! I love the first picture below of Hadley feeding the giraffe and Shelby's huge smile as she watched & waited for her turn.

 

We ate dinner really early on our zoo day, so after we got the kids bathed and in their jammies we let them have fruit salads while they watched Disney Jr...this was like heaven on earth for them!

Brady's first time in a Chick-fil-a playplace...I think he's a fan!! :)

Road-tripping calls for a stop at DQ!!

 

 

As I mentioned above, we did a lot of driving on this trip. We did let the girls watch a movie or two on the long drive to Fresno and back, but the drives to and from Sequoia & Yosemite were void of any entertainment {ie. screens, toys, books}. The girls both enjoyed checking out the scenery with us a good bit {we were all amazed by how lush this part of the country was compared to what we're used to in Las Vegas--I've never seen so many miles & miles of crops growing}, and we all had so much fun watching for the first signs of snow as we drove higher and higher up the mountains. But one of my favorite memories from this trip was watching the girls figure out how to entertain themselves together in the backseat. {Our car has two rows of passenger seating in the back, but ever since we brought Brady home from the hospital we have kept our kids' carseats in one row so they're three across & all very close to one another. During our typical drives around town, it's never an issue having them so close...but as you can imagine, it can be a bit dicey at times on long drives! But on this trip, having the girls so close together was what made it fun for them!} They were playing eye spy together, pretend punching one another, playing pinching games, and who knows what else they were up to...all we knew was there was lots & lots of giggles coming from the backseat, and it was such a sweet, sweet sound!

 

Another favorite memory from this trip was teaching the girls how to play Twenty Questions, and they loved it!! We were in the midst of playing the game when Brady fell asleep in his carseat on our drive back to Las Vegas, so we told the girls we were going to put on a movie for them {aka to keep them quiet so Brady would hopefully sleep longer}..and they were complaining about watching a movie b/c they just wanted to keep playing Twenty Questions! ;)

 

Derek & I both often wonder how much of our adventuring out west the girls will remember as they get older. Regardless of what they may or may not remember, we're so grateful for the opportunity to see so much of our county's natural wonders as a family. And while they may not recall the sights & sounds of Sequoia or Yosemite, we hope & pray they'll remember the way these trips made them feel.

 

We're already in the works of planning another national park trip over Memorial Day Weekend, and the girls are pumped! They love all the little things about our road trips--sleeping in a hotel, getting candy at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, trying to find a new radio station to listen as we drive, & playing car games. And nothing beats the uninterrupted family time!

 

Today was the girls' last day off, and tomorrow we are back to our regular schedules! Today had me itching for summer--Derek was back at work, and the four of us spent the day at home, at the park, or in the pool. Hard to believe we've got less than 2 months of school left, and it will be summer! I'll be back soon with an Easter post! :)