Our Day

Today was a great day. We let the girls pick what they wanted to do pretty much all day long and it was so fun. We of course had a few errands we had to run but other then that we did whatever the girls wanted. We had to rain Savannah in a bit because some of her ideas were a big grand, she like her mom in more ways then one. We started off by running a few needed errands followed by visiting the dollar store. The girls each got to pick out one toy that they wanted and they each got to pick out a balloon! They were so excited it was beyond adorable. We came home and had lunch and then we played a few rounds of hide and seek followed up by a fun game of Candyland. The girls played together for a bit and then Savannah asked if we could go to the park near our house. The girls had a blast and I was shocked at how dirty Olivia managed to get, seriously check her out in the pictures she's filthy.

Whenever we go to the park with Jacob, Savannah always asks to ride on his shoulders while going across the monkey bars.

Its a good thing I brought my water with me because between the girls and Jacob we finished off the whole thing.

Olivia wanted a turn with the monkey bars too, she didn't quite get the hang of it.

One of Olivia's favorite park activity is sitting under the playground and digging holes and building towers out of the dirt or wood chips. Jacob said that's exactly what he used to love doing at the playground when he was a kid.

I think the girls have had a great day and so have Jacob and I, I love days like this when we get to just hang out and be together as a family.

Visitor

So after our amazingly wonderful two weeks in Maryland it was time to head home but the girls and I didn't travel alone. My brother Jordan came with us! He came out for a week visit and we LOVED having here. The last time Jordan stayed with us was when we lived in Idaho and he was going to BYU-I which was like 3 years ago. The girls were so excited to have someone else around the house and they loved all the attention Uncle Jordan gave them. Our days were pretty routine just because Savannah was back in Preschool and Olivia had therapy appointments but we packed our Friday and Saturday with two super fun day trips.

Since Jacob has Friday's off over summer break we decided to head to Phoenix and go to the zoo, I love the Phoenix zoo! Its ranked as one of the top 5 zoos in the nation for children and I can see why because my girls have a total blast when we're there.

The girls wanted to get their pictures taken on this statue of some animal which I cannot remember the name of. When we went to the zoo with their cousins over Thanksgiving we piled all of them on it so it was a fun tradition of sorts to get a picture again.

Both the girls did a great job at spotting the animals and loved looking at everything!

The two highlights of our trip were first the girls got to ride a camel! Savannah was in love and was beyond excited. Olivia soon became jealous and also wanted a ride so Jordan volunteered to go with her since he kind of wanted to ride too. The sad part is I totally deleted the picture of them riding, boo!

Their second favorite thing was the petting zoo area. I was shocked at how brave both girls were to brush the goats and go right up to them, especially Savannah. They loved seeing all the different farm animals and they even milked a cow! They had this awesome fake cow that you could try and milk, the utters totally felt real but instead of milk water would come out. Savannah did a really good job and Olivia needed a little help which she made clear she didn't want. We made it threw the whole zoo in 3 hours and we were booking it the whole time, needless to say I was exhausted by the end of the day.
On Saturday we headed in the opposite direction and made our way to the Grand Canyon! It was beautiful.

None of us had ever been, although Jacob said he may have gone as a little kid but he doesn't remember. It was really fun and the girls loved it! We were boring and just hiked around the rim but that was plenty for us since our girls are 2 and 4 and I'm 6 months pregnant. I'd love to do something a bit more adventurous when our family is a little older but for now we had a perfect experience. Jordan was thrilled that we went and Jacob liked it a lot more once we realized the drive up wouldn't take as long as we originally thought.

We didn't' take the stroller at all for our trip so both girls walked all day, it really ended up being a good choice because they both wanted to walk out of the rocks and the places where you could look out over the canyon would have been a bit tricky to get to with a stroller. Savannah surprised me with how brave she was and she wanted to get right on the edge of most lookout spots. She pretty much gave us a heart attack the whole time but she was usually pretty good at holding hands on the rocks. Olivia loved the freedom of walking around like her big sister and loved pointing out different things. On the way back to the car both the girls were pooped and at one point Jacob was carrying both girls, they were pretty much fighting over him all day and he was usually the one holding their hands because both girls wanted their daddy.

We had such a great time having Jordan visit and we couldn't believe how fast the week went by, hopefully we didn't scare him off and he'll come visit again.

Call Us the Busybodies

Oh my good gracious it feel like forever since I've written on our blog and we've been so busy I'm going to have to write a couple of posts because I have way too many pictures to post. Life has been good and we have been busy to say the least. I really do love it, it makes the time go faster and I'm happy with what we've been occupying out time with. To get back into blogging I'll start where we left off, the girls and I went to Maryland for 2 weeks the end of April thru the beginning of May. It was glorious and wonderful just like it always is.The girls were just as excited as they always get when they hear we're getting ready to go on an airplane and Olivia had quite the fun time trying to help me pack.

 I was pretty proud of myself for packing so lite for this trip because I am known to over pack.

 We had some beautiful days and some not so nice weather days so when it was nice outside we took full advantage of it. The girls love playing outside in my parents yard, Savannah and Olivia loved picking all the dandelions for my dad.

 Sidewalk chalk was another must do activity and the girls loved drawing pictures for my dad and brothers to see when they would come home.

 Also what trip would be complete if we didn't go to the park, we go to the same one every visit since its right down the street from my parents house. The girls always have so much fun, on this particular visit Olivia pretty much wanted to stay in the swings the entire time we were there, silly kid.

 One of Savannah's favorite things to do when we go to the park is walking along the wall surrounding the playground, she pretends she's on the balance beam.

 Something new we tried this trip was paining pottery with the girls. They loved it! Its just one of those local places where you can pick out the piece of pottery you'd like to paint and the colors you want to use and then you get to work. I helped Savannah while my mom helped Olivia, my mom had to use much more patience then I did. Savannah did so good at not mixing colors and making a design while Olivia was very abstract with her paining.

One the not so nice weather days we had fun hanging out at the house watching shows and playing with toys. The girls had fun playing with my brothers and dad when they were home and would always get so excited to see them after they'd been gone.

 

Having fun lying on Mark.

Having a yummy lunch after so much fun playing.

Something I always miss is seeing all the green, while we were there everything started blooming and it just got greener every day we were there.

While we were visiting I hit the 25 week mark, its crazy to see how fast time is flying by.

The morning we left my mom had minor knee surgery so while she and my dad were gone we made her a get well soon sign and the girls made her some pictures. They were able to make it back before we had to leave for the airport so we could say goodbye one last time.

We always have such a great time when we visit my family and I love that the girls are able to make so many fun memories each time we go back. Its always bitter-sweet going home for a visit because I love my time there but I'm always ready to come back to my own home. Maryland will always hold a special place in my heart and I hope it always will for my little family too.