Great Grandparents

The boys have enjoyed a couple visits with their great grandparents over the past couple weeks as they have been in town from Vegas.  Their schedule always fills up so fast as so many people want to spend time with them and then throw in our busy schedule and school starting so it is hard to spend a lot of time together but we did the best with what time we had available.  We will miss them when they leave this weekend, guess that just means we need to plan a trip to Vegas soon to see them again!

First Day of School

Well it is that time of year again, Back to School.  But this year was a big year for us as both boys are going to school.  Colton is a 4th Grader this year and Mason started Pre-K at the Elementary. Mason goes to school 5 days a week but only goes afternoons.  He is so excited to go to "big school" with his brother.  I on the other hand had mixed emotions on his first day, he is supposed to be my baby but here he is ready to take on the world all by himself.  I am very proud of both my boys and am excited to see where this school year takes us!

End of Summer

As I sit here on the last unofficial night of summer I can't help but look back at what an amazing summer it has been.  This summer has been all I could ask for and so much more and to be honest I really wish it wasn't over.  This summer was filled with plenty of time hanging out with family and friends, playdates with the kids, BBQ's and Bonfires and just plain old relaxing.  But for some reason this summer it all felt so much more different, I think because I really allowed myself to just sit back and enjoy and make the most of every moment.  I spent a lot more time just hanging out with my boys instead of always rushing to the next event, activity or thing on our agenda.  I spent time in the moment and if that meant an unexpected late Friday night around the fire and then scrambling Saturday morning to get something together for what was going on well I just dealt with it.  Sometimes it meant finding that last minute sitter so I could go out with friends and enjoy some adult time, which I have to say has been wonderful these last couple months.  Don't get me wrong I love every moment (well most moments) with my boys but sometimes a break is exactly what I need, a night or even weekend away is relaxing and really allowed me to reset and be an even better mom when I was back with them.  I also managed to squeeze in some traveling this summer which was so much fun.  I attended some events that I have always wanted to attend but just never made the time (like WE Fest, Heritage Days Street Dance and a Saints Game)!  I spent a lot time hanging with some of my best friends but also made a lot of new friends this summer and even reconnected with a few from the past, one who I haven't seen since shortly after Colton was born!  It was been a summer I won't forget anytime soon and one I wish didn't have to end.  But as school starts tomorrow I reminded at how blessed I am to have all I have in my life.  I may not be rich, may not have all the newest and biggest and best things in life but I am surrounded by some pretty amazing people and for that I am very lucky.  I hope the end of 2015 is just as wonderful as the summer has been for the three of us.

WE Fest

So my sister called me in early July to ask what I was doing the second weekend in August, I said nothing and she then said "We are going to WE Fest"!  I seriously about jumped out of my moving vehicle, I was so excited.  I couldn't wait.  So this all started because her Mother in Law entered a Karaoke Contest and she ended up taking second place.  Well second place came with an amazing prize package.  She won VIP camping at WE Fest along with several extra passes to bring her friends and she got to open for Miranda Lambert on the big stage.  And somehow I was lucky enough to get to be one of the people to use one of the extra passes.  My sister and I headed up to Detroit Lakes Friday morning and then fun started almost immediately.  The early afternoon was spent at the campsite enjoying laughs, drinks and listening the three winners of the contest sing karaoke at our site.  That evening we headed into the concert bowl and we were all prepped to go back stage.  That is right people, we got to go backstage to watch her perform.  They took us back and got us all settled at the Entertainers Bar (hello, how cool are we) and we just hung out while Dirks Bentley preformed on the main stage. We met some new people and somehow I was convinced to enjoy some shots with some others in our group - WE Fest makes you do some crazy things!  Then it was time to head up on stage, so cool to see the We Fest crowd from that angle.  And watching Wendy perform on the main stage was just awesome.    After her performance we were booted from back stage so we headed out to the concert bowl and watched Miranda Lambert's concert with the other 50,000 WE Fest attendees.

 

Saturday morning we woke up with the intentions of just relaxing at our site until later afternoon.  But then we got a little surprise that the Swon Brothers were going to be doing a private show at the campsite next to us and we were invited!  Hell yah, that is awesome.  I sat front row and enjoyed the private performance and then shook their hands afterwards  - doesn't get much more VIP than that! Saturday night was the Blake Shelton concert and it is one concert I want forget anytime soon, I love me some Blake!

 

We woke up bright and early Sunday Morning to head home, it was a long weekend but was so much fun and tickets to WE Fest 2016 have already been purchased and the countdown is on.

Congrats Travis and Amber!

Just wanted to share a few pictures from this beautiful wedding.  My cousin Travis and his beautiful wife Amber tied the knot on August 1st and the wedding was perfect.  The ceremony took place outside (at Breezy Point Resort), over looking the lake.  They both smiled the entire time, you could tell just how much there were in love with each other.  And the reception was a blast but that is only because I have the most amazing family ever, I swear my cousins are the best!

San Diego, California

Every couple years my mom goes to a conference in San Diego for her work and I always wanted to tag along but it just never worked out.  Well when she found out she was going this year I decided I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.  My sister quickly decided she was going to join as well.  I tossed around the idea of bringing the boys but that would get expensive very quickly. I then thought about just bringing Colton and after talking with Frankie and with Colton we decided that the trip would be his birthday present.  Thankfully Grandma Yvonne was willing to keep Mason for the week so Colton and I could enjoy this amazing trip together. 

We flew out Sunday Morning and we were at our hotel by 2pm.  We unpacked a little and then decided to some exploring of downtown San Diego even though it was was raining, we were on vacation and weren't going to let a little ran ruin our trip.  That night we were in bed early as we were all exhausted from traveling.

Monday our fun really started.  My mom headed to her conference while Colton, Marissa and I headed to La Jolla to see the Ocean.  It was better than I could have ever imagined.  We started at La Jolla beach where we were able to get super close to Sea Lions.  This was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced.  After a couple hours in La Jolla we drove over to Mission Beach and enjoyed lunch on the boardwalk and then headed over to the beach to play in the mighty waves of the Pacific Ocean for a while. California is simply stunning and I can see why people say you will never once to leave once you visit.

Tuesday we headed to Legoland, this was Colton's request of course.   We spent 8 hours at the park checking out all the Lego creations, enjoying a few rides (some them the lines were so crazy long that we didn't even waste our time), we spend a couple hours in the waterpark and of course we did some shopping for a new Lego set!

 

 

Wednesday we toured the USS Midway which was one of the largest ships used during WWII.  It was probably one of my favorite stops of this entire trip.  We spent almost 5 hours on the ship and we still didnt cover the entire thing.  However Colton did earn his Junior Pilot Wings and was presented them by a WWII Veteran which brought tears to my eyes.  Colton didn't realize what an honor it was to be shaking hands with a true hero like he was but maybe someday he will look back at the pictures and be proud.   After touring the ship we went back to the room and relaxed while we waited for my mom to get back from the conference.  That evening we drove over to Coronado Island to do some shopping and most importantly see Hotel Del Coronado and maybe even see a ghost sighting (which we did not).  We walked the beach a little enjoyed the fire works put on by the hotel for some event they were hosting and then headed back to the hotel.

Thursday we decided to enjoy another day at the beach.  We packed up and headed back to La Jolla Cove but this time our plan was to do some snorkeling.  This was a first time for all three of us and it was an experience I will never forget.  Colton was a pro right away and as soon as he saw all the brightly colored fishing swimming around us he was hooked!  We snorkeled for almost 4 hours before deciding that we were hungry and should probably go find some lunch.  But we couldn't leave without checking out of the 7 Caves of La Jolla.  We paid our 3 dollars and hiked down 150 stairs into one of the caves, it was a cool thing to see however the hike back up make me think I will do that again :)  That night we did a little more shopping down at the Gaslamp District and Seaport Village and then packed up as we were flying home Friday.

This was such a fun trip.  It was awesome to have so much one on one with Colton and to just explore and travel and laugh and have fun with him, no other worries in the world for those few days.