Summer 2010 in not just pictures – Part 1

Published by Catherine on November 14th, 2010 in Family. No Responses.

So I actually wrote this post back during the actual summer, while we were actually in California. Sadly, I just got around to selecting and uploading the photos now. So here goes our awesome summer in California.

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Scott and I have been slackers at blogging lately (like for the past year). This has been for a number of reasons, but the most recent one is that the main people we write posts for (our parents) know exactly what we’ve been doing. Mostly, we’ve been hanging out with them…and driving.

We drove out from Illinois to California at the end of May. Scott’s a die hard, not want to stop ever, too bad if you have to go to the bathroom, drive all night while the kids sleep kind of guy. Okay, he’s not that bad, but we did make it in one straight shot driving 36 hours with stops only when we got too hungry or the kids got too crazy.

We came out to California, because Scott has a summer internship with a law firm in Costa Mesa. We both want to come back to California permanently and this job feels like we’re getting our foot in the door to come back. Additionally, we’re enjoying the 9 to 5 (well 6) kind of day, where we get to play all evening…and we’ve been playing a ton.

The kids and I have packed a lunch pretty much every day and headed out to some of the parks in Irvine and nearby. We love, love, love the 75 degree weather with little humidity. We’re getting very tan and now I don’t have to get highlights put into my hair like I was considering. I’ve felt less stressed and have been enjoying playing with the kids more than I have in a long time. I have even been feeling like I am receiving answers to prayers more often and more easily than I have in a long time. Is that weird or am I just less busy and more able to ponder and meditate?

Not only that, but we have a tone of time to spend with family. (Well, the kids and I do.) We been hanging out at Grandma Wilkie’s.

Just counting the major trips, we’ve traveled about 5,100 miles so far(although the 70-mile trips to our parents house every two weeks adds up).
I took a trip up to visit my dad and other relatives in Willows, California. It’s a small little town, and most of my dad’s family lives in the area. Is it weird that I know that I could show up in Willows and find my dad within half an hour with no prior knowledge of what he was doing that day? In the off chance that I didn’t find him, I would be sure to run into a few relatives in the process. In one day, I saw Uncle Greg and Aunt Becky outside a restaurant, ran into Uncle Kevin and Grandpa and my cousins Alisha and Tami at my grandparents’ house, visited Grandma in the hospital (she broke her pelvic bone the morning before we got there) and saw Aunt Judy there, and we called Uncle Ervin to hang out at a park with my Dad and the kids and me.

After the kids and I got back from visiting my dad, we all went with Scott’s family to their family reunion near Denver. We couldn’t believe we were really driving halfway back to Illinois.

On the way we swam at Grandma and Grandpa Healey’s house (Scott’s grandparent’s) in St. George. The water was nice and warm and the pool has some cool rock and waterfall features. Andrew loved it. We also saw fireworks, since it was the 3rd of July. After another day of driving, we stopped in Glenwood Springs, Colorado for some more swimming in the hot springs pool. Scott and I went on the diving board and I proved I can still do a one and a half flip. The kids got super wrinkled and we all enjoyed the hot water, despite its smell of sulfur.

After yet another day of driving we made it to the YMCA of the Rockies where

Andrew went roller skating for the first time,

the girls rode trikes for the first time

we rode the alpine slide in Winter Park
and we played ping pong, volleyball, killer frog, do you love your neighbor, Healey family jeopardy, and human guess who.

When not traveling, we have enjoyed some of southern California’s many activities:

gettin’ sandy at Corona del Mar beach

gettin’ splashed at Knott’s Soak City and ridin’ some wake at Lake Perris.

So, all you guys hanging out back in Champaign, with your barbecues and your trips to Hessel park, and your Tastes of Champaign, I was feeling left out and jealous. Um, but now I’m not. But I do miss you…wish you were here.

Copy Cats

Published by Catherine on November 7th, 2010 in Family. No Responses.

There’s this thing about having twins that they copy everything they see the other one do. I’ve begun to realize that this really leads to them reinforcing each others habits, and many things get really ingrained in their behavior.

Last night I was considering posting about how the girls are basically potty training themselves. It began with them taking their diapers off every few days and asking to use their potties. Then it led to them following Andrew outside in the backyard when he snuck out to pee on the grass (I guess they don’t just copy each other), which as you can imagine ended up with two little girls standing in puddles on the back porch.

Anyway, so then they began taking off their diapers more and more often, despite me trying to duct-tape them on. Eventually I realized that they were actually using their potties and not having hardly any accidents. So now we’re on day three of the girls not wearing diapers at all at home, and they have had only one accident.

Potty training Andrew was the second most frustrating thing for me about having kids. I don’t know if it was him or me doing it wrong, but it took about 9 months and really only got good a few months ago. So I really feel for anyone else who has had a rough time with it, and I certainly don’t claim to know what I’m doing.

So, as I was composing this post in my head about how awesome the girls are at using their potties, we put the girls in their cribs for bed, and they climbed right back out, and we put them in again, and they came out again, and again, until an hour later they finally went to sleep, and I was reminded that having some little copy cats around is not always a good thing. Especially when the number one most frustrating thing for me about having kids is…fighting with them to get them to sleep.

Which also reminded me of how they unceasingly:

throw their food on the floor
take their shoes off in the car
have to have the hoods of their sweatshirts up all the time
and try on other kids’ shoes.

All because they see each other doing it, and think it’s fun. Also, want to bet they can’t manage to leave their diapers on during nursery today?…In fact, I think I might just put them in overalls for church today. Crazy little girlies.

But, I am really, really, really enjoying the thought that they might be potty trained soon. Ahh, no more diapers for me. If it really happens, that will be so awesome. En serio.

Halloween Photos and Videos

Published by Scott on October 31st, 2010 in Family. No Responses.

See photos from our Halloween adventures here.

Having fun at the pumpkin farm:

Andrew’s Tractor:

New Stuff

Published by Scott on September 26th, 2010 in Family. 2 Responses.

New pictures here. New videos too!

Camping at Marrs Farms

Published by Scott on September 7th, 2010 in Family. One Response.

We got to go camping over the weekend at one of our law school friend’s parents’ farm: Marrs Farms. We were there with a bunch of other law students and their families. One of the cool things that they had there was a giant hammock swing, which the kids loved.

Hopefully we will be able to post more about our trip soon!