The Very Beginning of Our Last Vacation

So, from our last trip we have about a million pictures and we did about a million things, so I am going to do this in spurts.  This first spurt is our pre-family reunion reunion with some of our greatest friends.  We were able to visit with our great downstairs neighbors from Provo the Kiltons and with my best friend growing up and her family the Rasmussens.  We had about one full day before the family reunion started in Idaho to see people.  

We went to a place in Idaho Falls called Blastoff with the Kiltons, the kids had a GREAT time and we really enjoyed the time to visit with Dave and Christina and see how much their girls had grown.  Claire really fits in with their little red-headed family.  Blast off has lots of ball pits and slides and things to climb and play on.

After Blastoff we went out for ice cream, it was fun to watch the kids interacting (and Dave interacting with the kids).
Danica and Claire, don't they look like they belong in the same family!?!?

Dave playing with all of the kids....they really love him!
Earlier in the day we got to visit my friend Ashley and her husband James and their girls.  We went to a park and got some lunch with them, unfortunately Jacob was having a hard day.  Here is a great picture of Daviny and Claire holding hands.
Our best attempt at getting a picture of Ashley and I with all of our kids.
Daviny was really into giving Jacob kisses.  He wasn't really complaining either.
The picture we took when we finally gave up and just let the toddlers go.  It was so great to see her little girls and have a chance to see each other for awhile.
Pictures from the rest of the trip to come.

Olympics (and yes, I know I am behind)

I am so far behind and have so many pictures and events to post about that I will start with something small and simple.  We are a little bit obsessed with the olympics and in turn are A LOT sleep deprived.  GO USA!!!  Anyhow, we decided to kick off the olympics right so we had friends over for an opening ceremonies party on Friday.  In honor of the olympics being in Beijing we had Chinese takeout food with spring rolls from Costco.  We also had an Olympic fruit tray and for dessert those red, white, and blue firecracker popsicles.  We really had a great time watching the AMAZING opening ceremonies together and were constantly blown away by the incredible light works and people moving together; it was really something!  We have since been enjoying as many events as we can get in.  I promise more pictures from our trips soon.

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!