I know, I know, I know..... it has been a long time

Ok, and I also know that this is a TON of pictures, but it is actually a small sampling from the pictures we have of our Hilton Head vacation (which is why I put off this post for so long)....and if you really love these pictures you should check out Amber's blog because she took some great ones!  I will try to keep the commentary short and sweet:

The beautiful house that was the home to the entire Jensen family for a whole week.

The view off of the balcony of that home (the beach looks farther away than it was)
Aunt Amber and her nieces and nephews.
The picture I may be killed for posting...  Nana in my hat, one of the masterminds behind the fantastic vacation...  I think she looks pretty darn good.
Nana was also the person that finally was able to get both Claire and Jacob to enjoy the ocean..  This really was a big accomplishment.  Thanks Nana!
Our preferred transportation around the island.  Jacob loved this!
Claire loved this too.  We logged a lot of miles on those bikes.
Our little family on the branch of the coolest craziest tree.
Lydia the mermaid... her dad, Matt made MANY sand creations (he is quite the artist).
Clayton enjoying the beach.
All the men and there amazing sandcastle.  If only you could see all of the little details.  They really enjoyed watching the tide come in and seeing the castle taken down.
Jensen brothers...and yes, that is Jared just feet from a dolphin.
Proof that I was on the beach..I love that hat!
Buried Jacob.  He thought this was lots of fun.
Claire having one of many poolside picinic lunches.
They loved their little beach bench.
One Cool Dude!
A very busy beach beauty.
I read "The Host" during the week and really enjoyed it.  It was a long book, so I finished it the day we got home.
Another picture I might be in a bit of trouble for.  But I love it when he gives me that look and I don't often get it on camera.
Such a great trip.  It was really hard to come home.  I apologize in advance for more vacation pictures that may pop up in the coming posts, but we have a lot of them!  Stay tuned.

Bubba-isms

We've always felt like Jacob has the energy of 2 kids - over the past week or two, we've wondered if he actually is 2 kids!  A few examples of some common sayings:

"I did it Bubba!"

"I got it Bubba!"

"Here comes Bubbas!"

"Where Bubba go?"

The most common saying from the past week in Hilton Head (more on that to come later...) was "Hi Lydia!"  At one point, Lydia resorted to hiding from him so she didn't have to say hi back!  He always has a lot to say!

A man named "Hello" - and a few other laughs from the kids

On Saturday night, we tooke the kids and headed to Kings Island with our friend Trevor Casper, only arrive just before a thunderstorm, so we changed our plans and went out for Mexican. Our server was very friendly, and he decided to teach the kids to say Hi in Spanish. Jacob and Claire were both very good at saying "Hola," but Jacob was convinced that it was the server's name. He kept calling out "Hi Hola!" every time he saw our server.

On a related topic, it's going to be a while before we allow our kids to go to a restaurant without strapping them into a booster or a highchair - the restaurant only had 1 highchair, so neither child wanted to be in it. Instead, they ran around the booth like crazy! We won't make that mistake again.

I called home today and Jacob and Claire nearly beat Dani (who was upstairs getting beds ready for naps) to the phone. What a great surprise it was to get to talk to a very excited Jacob and Claire - I think I had to say hi to them once every 30 seconds!

A cute side of Claire comes out when Jacob throws a fit or when a baby is crying. She quickly finds a toy that she thinks will make them happy and puts it next to him. If that doesn't do the trick, she'll look for something better. This, unfortunately, does not apply when the cause of the fit is her taking something away from Jacob!

While I was at training, I got Jacob a little t-ball set and brought it home for him. He had a fever Friday, when I got home, but he was so excited to put the ball on the tee and hit it. It was really sad watching him feel so miserable but want to play outside with the tee ball set so bad!

I like to tell people that our kids don't do anything if they're not doing it big. They are over-the-top happy but can throw some big tantrums. I think that the fact that they get to do it together makes life twice as fun most of the time, but can often be twice as frustrating! That is probably the case for mom and dad, too!

A Day on the Lake (oh how I miss these days)

Saturday we went wakeboarding with some friends that we recently discovered have a boat!  I was so excited.  Truthfully, I am a waterskier, but I was so happy to have any time on a boat.  I big thanks to the Ellis family for sharing the fun with us and letting me drive your nice boat.  I really look forward to a day that Jared and I can have a boat to share with our family and friends since it is something that I grew up loving to do with my family.  I cannot wait for this summer to get to Wyoming to ski with the family (I LOVE WATERSKIING).  We also might have a chance to waterski with all of Jared's cousins in Idaho...can't wait.   Anyhow, this was the second time ever that I have tried wakeboarding, which at first seems a little boring once you learn to ski pretty well, but I will admit that the more I wakeboarded the more fun it seemed.  Turning is different and was taking some getting used to, but I was getting the hang of it, so I decided to make some fun and try to jump on the wake, I did get a pretty good hop and land, but promptly face planted.  Face planting on a wakeboard hurts way more than face planting on skis because your feet are just stuck in the board.  My neck is pretty sore still, but it was worth the fun.

Jared got to try wake surfing and was pretty good at it, he got right up and then got to play around on the wake for quite awhile.  
Claire was SO good, she loved just being on the boat, she also loved having a life jacket on.  She was so calm and just content to sit and ride along, you barely noticed she was there (except for her adorable little face).
Jacob didn't love the boat as much, he wanted to be held the whole time and was concerned if Jared or I were in the water or behind the boat.  He eventually fell asleep on my for a few minutes, but I think that this picture pretty much sums up his feelings about the experience (trying to block it out).
Kiddos rode on the the tube with Jared and actually really enjoyed it.  You would have never known by watching Jacob, he just buried his face and pulled his hat down over his eyes and held it there for the whole ride, but every time Jared asked if he wanted to be done he would say "no no."  Claire was propping herself up and taking in the whole experience!  I can't wait for the next time I get on a boat (hopefully there is a waterski involved).

Red River Gorge and Natural Bridges

Ok, I am FINALLY posting the pictures that I keep saying I will post, I kept putting it off because there are so many of them, but I finally decided to post a bunch and get them on so I might eventually catch up on my blogging.  We had so much fun on our trip with Matt and Camie's family and Rob and Holly's family and Jared's brothers who joined for a bit of the adventure.  The pictures are not in order, but I will just give you a quick tour of our trip.  

Our great cabin was lakeside and the lake was this nice little thing with clear water, canoes, and a paddle boat, we enjoyed all of them!

Taylor and Andrew were (are) such great uncles, here is Taylor with Ellie and Clayton by the fire pit.
We enjoyed SOOO much good food.  Jared and I made some new dutch oven recipes that are for sure keepers.  Rob usually ate at the kiddie table since he is so small and all.  (This picture was taken Sunday after we attended the tiny branch in Beattyville).
We did some great hikes.  This one was a short walk to overlook Red River Gorge, it is beautiful (or should I say GORGEous).
The two men in my life!
This hike was to a big natural bridge, we are actually on top of it in this picture...next year I will not carry my kids anymore!  They were really great though and had a great time, Lydia was such a great little hiker.
We played in some water, the kids were throwing rocks and Claire discovered if she holds on real tight she can pick up several rocks to throw so she doesn't have to bend down so much.
Taylor and Andrew came down to climb and were nice enough to let Jared, Rob, and I join them for awhile.
I discovered that climbing barefoot on sandstone is nothing like climbing barefoot in the canyons in Utah.  I really have missed climbing.
This is the great place we rented...it was so perfect for our group.
Rob, Ellie, and Lydia by the fire.
Jacob and Clayton were great buddies (unless they were tired or hungry).
After all of the toddlers had a fun bath they all needed a drink and a book together.
This is on the hike to the natural bridge.
As is this!  (Jacob is reaching for his snack...he loves food).
It was a fantastic trip, we had perfect weather and so much fun.  We played a lot of games and enjoyed the outdoor activities around, I hope we get more chances for these trips!

Kentucky Charm

This is the beautiful framed picture that is hanging on the wall in a Pizza Hut in Kentucky (right next to the Can-tuky Diner with backwards letters and all).  We ate the buffet at this Pizza Hut on our way to our Red River Gorge/Natural Bridges cabin vacation!  (It was a great trip by the way and I really do promise to post pictures, there are just so many of them that it seems really daunting right now).  I hope you can click on it and blow it up to read the letters on the plaque... "Our Hometown".  I just really got a kick out of the whole thing, it is actually a pretty nice really big frame with matting, a little plaque, and actually hung on the wall, but the picture is...missing?  blank?   In the defense of this little pizza hut, it was a small town, not much going on, so maybe to them a blank space is as good as a picture of the hometown.

When Grandma and Grandpa Came

Ok, I am so far behind and I put about a million pictures on my computer today, so I apologize for the abundance of pictures, I actually left quite a few out!  Anyhow, my parents came to visit a couple of weeks ago for about 10 days and we had a great time.  We packed a bunch into the time they were here.
The day after they got here we left for Berlin, OH...Amish country.  I didn't actually take any pictures in Berlin, but I got a picture of the chocolate pretzel the Grandpa bought for Claire at the Outlet Mall on the way (by the way we got some great deals at the outlets).  In Amish country we ate and bought huge amounts of cheese, cream cheese, jerky, fudge, and baked goods. We also went to a bunch of the shops and ate dinner at a Swiss Chalet type restaurant.  It was Jared's birthday... wow I really am so far behind.
From Berlin we headed to Kirtland, OH so the parents could see some church history sights.  Jared and I tried to join them for the tour, but Jacob and Claire wanted nothing to do with it.  It was raining while we were there (Jacob had a little pants accident, so he is wearing pj pants).


We went to a Reds game on the Monday after our weekend trip (picture above) and the Reds actually pulled off a win, it was a good time!  We also took a trip to the zoo while they were here.  The peacock was so happy to see us!

Grandpa and Jacob, I am pretty sure they were looking at the baby rhino.

There are elephants in the background if you look real hard. It was a great day for the zoo with great weather and we saw tons of animals, Jacob and Claire really are loving the zoo now.
We also took a trip to the children's museum while they were here and we went out for dinner at a great place called 'Grand Finale'...awesome desserts.  We celebrated Mom's birthday and Jared's birthday while they were here.  My dad also finally got the chance to get the sundae he has been dreaming about since his first trip to Graeter's: a brownie, a scoop of chocolate chocolate chip ice cream and hot fudge...he says it is proof that there is no such thing as too much chocolate.
Jacob and Claire really had a great time playing with Grandma and Grandpa and looked for Grandpa every morning for a little while after they left.