I absolutely loved watching the kids on the beach. They all had so much fun. Brooklyn loved playing in the waves and sand with her cousins. She definitely is my “California Girl” with her messy blonde hair and wetsuit. She loved roaming the condo and acting like a teenager. She was given the nickname “preteen” since she had an attitude all week. I knew that I would eventually be an embarrassing mom that was so not cool, but I really didn’t think that would happen when my daughter was only 6. I do love bugging her about it though which just makes her more upset :). She enjoyed the freedom and could usually be found playing with Kiley and her other cousins.
Brigham of course spent most of his time surfing. He would only stop for some snacks from Aunt Jer. I loved seeing him wet and sandy and wanting to have a towel wrapped around him as he sat in my lap to cuddle. I love that he isn’t too old for this yet. He hated that his sucker thumb would be covered in sand and we had to go up to the hot tub several times so he could clean it off and suck his thumb for a few minutes before heading back to the beach, which just made me smile.
Talmage wasn’t quite sure about the sand so he stayed close which was especially nice. After a few minutes would have enough and would prefer to be held and to take a snooze on the beach. He knows what is up I tell you. It sounded good to me as well. He definitely spent most of his time cuddled in someone’s arms and nobody seemed to mind at all. You can never get enough Talmage cuddles.
This is where Talmage spent most of his time. He loved standing out on the patio and looking out and see the beach and all of the crazy people. He would sit out there forever and we laughed at him all week.
My cute kids. I want to squeeze them all they are so cute! This is so them in the mornings–jammies, diapers and squeezable faces!
We made so many wonderful memories at the beach this year and it is hard to put it all into words. I love that we are together as a family for an entire week without any care in the world. I love being with my kids. Really being with them and not having to think about the house or anything else. We just enjoyed each other and we all loved it! I can’t wait to do it again next summer.
While we were in California we headed to the Birch Aquarium near San Diego. The kids loved all of the fish and Troy and I loved watching how excited the kids were to see everything. I love this picture of my boys! Brigham is such a daddy’s boy and always wants to be right by his side. They are so cute.
There was even an area where you could touch several different animals including star fish, sea cucumbers and lobsters. Brigham kept wanting the worker to catch the fish for him so he could pet it but they said the fish were too fast. He was pretty bummed but they both loved touching everything else.
Talmage is usually so mellow and will sit in his stroller without a fuss at all but as soon as we walked outside he started squawking. Jerlyn thought maybe he just wanted to be held so she picked him up, but no, he wanted to TOUCH everything just like the big kids. I mean what were we even thinking leaving him out?! He reached his hand in and touched the star fish and the sea cucumber and he absolutely loved it as you can see from his face. It was super cute but sad at the same time. I can’t believe that he is already trying to keep up with the big kids. Doesn’t he know that he is my baby?
And, of course, I loved spending time with my girl. She thought that this shark and shark cage were just too cool. Love her!
After the aquarium we headed to San Diego and walked around and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was gorgeous!
And I can’t forget pictures of my cute boy in his new “marathon shoes” as he likes to call him. As you can see he is ready for the big race!
We had such a great time! I am so missing the beautiful weather and time with my family. I love the memories we make each year.
This would be how Brigham spent his entire week at the beach–SURFING! He loved every second of it. He would literally stand there for hours on his boogie board just surfing away. He was so funny because he would put the board in the sand and wait for a wave to come. As soon as the water would hit him he would grab his board and head for higher ground. Towards the end of the week though he started getting braver and actually got pretty good. He and Coby had the best time surfing and playing together. I loved watching him be entertained for hours on end. I always knew right where he was which was also very nice. In a few years I guess surfing lessons will be in order.
We just got back from our annual trip to the beach. It is crazy to think that I have been going to the same beach condo for 25 years. It always feels like I am coming home as I walk through the doors to the beach condo. Memories always flood my mind and my first thoughts are always centered around my mom. She only came here a couple of times with us, but this is her place. This is one of the last things that she wanted for her family to spend time together every year. She made my dad promise that he would continue the tradition and I am so proud of him for keeping this tradition alive. Many things have changed over the years but this was always one constant that we all could count on. I know that my mom is with us each week on the beach because we are all together. And I know that she would never miss a party. I was Brooklyn’s age the first year I came. I couldn’t believe it when I came to that realization. I love that I can now bring my family here and make memories with them that hopefully they will always remember. I have so many fond memories of this week but that will have to be for a different time.
Right now I want to share my favorite picture from my entire week at the beach. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment type things. We were packing up ready to head home after an amazing week at the beach when I looked out on the patio and Brooklyn and Talmage were taking in the ocean view one last time. I took pictures of them for a few minutes and was enjoying every second of it, but then Brooklyn decided she wanted a picture with all of us. I can always count on her to point out the good photo ops. Love her for that!
This picture just makes my heart happy. I love that Brooklyn has her pjs on and her smile makes me just want to squeeze her. I love that she is holding Talmage as this is what she is always doing. She is the best big sister and is constantly looking out for her brothers. I love that Brigham has his blankie on his head and his thumb in his mouth. Every morning he puts his blankie on his head and then wraps up with it–we call it his “Pooh Bear Afro” and, of course, the thumb is always a necessity. And Talmage chillin’ in Brooklyn’s lap with just a diaper on is a place that you can find him often. And then there is Troy. I love the look on his face–the proud dad–protector and provider for our family. I can’t get enough of looking at pictures of Troy lately. It is interesting to see how he has changed over the years in pictures. When I first met him he would never smile in a picture and always tried to look so tough. But lately, he is different. He is softer. His face lights up. You can see in his facial expressions how much he loves and cares for our family. I guess the kids have finally broken his tough guy exterior.
I don’t remember what we were laughing at here but I love that all of our eyes and attention are on Talmage. We seem to be doing a lot of that lately. He is just too cute and he makes all of us so happy!
These pictures remind me that I need to be better about picking up the camera and taking those snapshots because they usually turn out to be my favorite pictures. These captured moments are priceless to me. This is who we are. This is our everyday. It really doesn’t get any better than this.
Last week I headed up to Payson to stay in the cool pines at the most amazing cabin I have ever seen. Stephanie was so sweet to invite the kids and I to come for a few days. It was the perfect little getaway before Brooklyn got her tonsils out (more on the later). Steph’s older kids were at scout camp so it was just the three youngest. We were lucky enough to take Hayden with us too since Jer was working. We had the most amazing time! I seriously felt like I was staying at a luxurious hotel or bed and breakfast rather than a cabin. I wanted to take the bed home with me it was so comfortable.
I was terrible about taking pictures but finally on the last day I pulled out the camera and got a few pics right before we left. Brigham refused to get in the picture since I had just woken him up from a nap. I figured it was a battle I wasn’t willing to fight but it was a nice surprise when I got home and realized that his Cars shoes were in the picture even though he wasn’t. I love this picture of all the cute kiddos. And Hayden doing Spiderman–SO HIM!
We went on the Rangers several times and after the first day I even got up enough courage to drive one of them myself. I am such a wimp and hate trying new things. I was proud of myself for being able to drive back into the woods. I loved that a lot of the time it was just me, Brooklyn and Talmage on one of the Rangers together. We had lots of time to talk and have some girl time. I think we both enjoyed the one on one time. I know I did. She would bail as soon as Stephanie would start doing crazy jumps or something that looked like more fun than what I was doing. It was funny because her and Hayden would trade places. He wanted nothing to do with anything crazy so he would hop on with me. I tried telling him that even though Steph might be doing crazy stuff she knew what she was doing and was probably much safer than me. The kids favorite part was going on the “rollercoaster” ride and must have made Stephanie do it at least 10 times.
Some of the other highlights were flying kites by the pond, picnicing in the woods, getting a treat at the little store, fires complete with smores and ghost stories every night, hearing football glory stories from Casen and Braden, watching movies and you can’t forget about UNO games. Brooklyn is all about UNO right now and loved getting all of us to play constantly. Needless to say, we had more UNO games than I can count. She is quite the little card player. I guess she has the Simonton blood in her after all. Just don’t let that girl lose — she is WAY too competitive. I see so much of myself in her that it is scary at times. I am really trying to help her learn early that winning is not everything as this is something that has taken me years to learn. Hopefully she will catch on sooner than I did. When the rest of us would get tired of playing, her and Casen would make up their own games using the cards. She idolized him on this trip and followed him everyone. Luckily, he was a good sport about it.
I finally got a picture of Brigham in his cute new glasses. Doesn’t he look so smart and grown-up? I have been trying to get a picture of him for about a week or two and he refuses but I finally got it. I love this cute face.
This was a wonderful vacation and I hope we can make it back up there again. I love making fun memories with my kiddos. Thanks Stephanie!
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