California Part II

After 6 fun-filled days with my side of the family, we drove across town (how cool is it that we can visit both families on 1 trip?!?) to Reid/Shipman side! We ate our family-famous Reid Tacos, spent countless hours swimming with cousin Kat and ate homemade ice cream on Independence Day! Here are a few pictures from our trip...

Jarrett and his Mama

It was so incredibly hot while we were in town, we were ready to venture out into the heat to John's Incredible Pizza (similar to Chuck-E-Cheese). It had tons of indoor games and rides in a huge air-conditioned facility. We thought Lindsay would love it, but our little daredevil Madison was the one who had a blast! She wanted to ride every ride (especially the ones that were too big for her), and didn't seem to mind the loud game noises.

Rides aren't so scary when you have your Daddy by your side!!

Madison riding the carousel... anytime  I tried to hold on to her she would squeal, "Nooo!"

Nonna & Madison

We rode the little train, and my Maddie Grace wanted to sit in the front and steer! There was a button that let out a loud, "Toot Toot" and she had so much fun pressing it. Over and over again. That was a long 3 minute ride...lol.

She pointed and said, "Tat! Tat! (That That)" until she could ride the frog. Twice.

The girls had so much fun with cousin Katarina, and they would swim, play on the playset, splash in the water table, then do it all over again!

 

Snack break!

We visited Rosemary's Creamery, one of our all-time favorite places to get ice cream. Jarrett and I had been dreaming of a Black and Tan (almond ice cream, hot fudge, caramel) since we have moved to NJ. Nothing beats that homemade fudge and caramel... yum!

Good thing we don't live too close... these are addicting!!

One morning to beat the heat, Nonna, Grandpa Jerry and Lindsay went to go see a movie. They saw Despicable Me 2, and ate popcorn and candy... what a treat! It was Lindsay's first movie-theater movie, and she did great!

 Grandpa Jerry gave the girls a ride on a real school bus!! Wheee!

Happy Independence Day! We had a blast hanging out with family all day, eating pizza and home made ice cream!

Attempting to take a photo... unsuccessfully. Instead they were inspecting each other's tounges.  

 

Sweet Cousins! Kat (3.5 yrs.) Madison (17 mo.) Lindsay (3.5 yrs.)

 

Chit-Chattin' in the pool!

I love this picture... If you look closely, you can see Madison is copying Grandpa Jerry waving his arms in the air...adorable!

Aunt Katie & Uncle Walker brought some goodies with them on the fourth, vegan brownies and cookies. They were yummy!

Bakersfield is one of the few cities in CA that sell street fireworks (despite fire hazards...LOL fireman's daughter!) This was the first 4th that Madison was awake to see, and Lindsay's 1st to see fireworks in the street...she loved it! Lindsay got to stay up late with her cousin, watch fireworks and eat ice cream.. she was in heaven!  

The girls before the firework show

We got an arsenal of fireworks (I think Uncle Walker and J had fun picking them out) and the guys took turns setting them off. I was a little worried the girls would be scared, but they did great!

 Around 8pm Madison got a little freaked out with the noise from the bottle rockets the neighbors behind us were setting off. I took her inside and put her to bed, and she didn't even wake up, and the noise from fireworks lasted until well after 2am! I can't help but think about all the people around the world who hear noises not from fireworks, but from grenades, bombs and guns. We are so blessed to live in the USA!!

Whoo Hoo! Yay America! 

Here's my lame attempt at capturing a bottle rocket over the neighbor's house... maybe next year I'll perfect a firework photo!

Sweet girls having a blast!

 

Happy 4th! Love, The Fishers

 

We had a pretty bad flight home, and for future reference, we shouldn't let the girls nap before a 5 hour flight. 5 hours, no sleep and cranky kids... we were totally "Those People" with the annoying kids. Sorry Folks!!  At least you can put in your earphones and zone out. I guarantee you, it is always worse for the parents.

We had a blast in CA, and enjoyed our time with our family more than words can express. The girls soaked up the time with their grandparents, aunts/uncles and cousin and can't wait to get together again! We love and miss you already family!!

California Part I

Hurray!! We made it to California! We spent 11 days in the sunshine state, and when I mean 'sunshine' I mean 108 degree weather! We all enjoyed hanging out and visiting with our family, and celebrating my sister's new marriage. Here are a ton of pictures from the first half of our trip with the Cross side of the family! 

Papa picked us up at the airport, and after a 2.5 hr. drive to Bakersfield, the girls couldn't wait to try out the waterslide!

Maddie Grace LOVED the water and had a blast! Lulu didn't like the water in her eyes, but was happy to be cooled off.

Papa and Grammie watching the grand girls play.

Papa's Little Shadow

Funny story: Madison remembered Papa, and was literally connected to his hip whenever he was near. She would put out her little arms for him to hold her (which I Papa LOVED) and talked and talked her baby talk to him. Her little face lighted up when he walked in the room, he was a rockstar!

A tired Lulu getting some snuggles from Grammie!

Madison brought a book over to Uncle Matt, and he was so sweet to read it to her. Twice.

Grammie has a tradition of taking Lindsay and Madison to Build-a-Bear when they see her, and the next day we went to the mall and Lindsay picked out a pink/purple bear. She named it "Fruity"..lol. Madison wanted a little brown puppy, and decided to name it "Pup Pup".

 

Maddie Grace loving her Grammie kisses!

On Friday my sister and her husband flew into town, and we got to celebrate their marriage at Hodel's. They have such yummy food, and Great Grandma rented a private room for us to be together to catch up.

Papa, Lindsay, Grammie, Gigi, Aunt Annie, Alex, Me, Madison, Uncle Matt, Jarrett (taking the picture)

Annie & Alex... What a beautiful Sis I have!!

Gigi and Madison catching up on some love

 Mom gave a lovely toast to the new couple, and we all drank apple cider. There were a few pictures of the girls driving the cider from the glasses that I chose not post...lol.

Uncle Matt, Papa & Madison

Me & My Sister... Can you tell we are related?!? LOL

Saturday was Grammie's birthday, and we had a BBQ at her house. Gigi made her famous Texas Cake and Lindsay decorated it with candles.

The best part of getting together: the conversations!

 Grammie had lots of help blowing out her candles...

 

We set up the water slide, a blow-up pool and a baby pool to stay cool. I wasn't exaggerating about the heat: 109 degrees!! Whew!

What a hottie!

Me & my Grandma

Maddie Grace and Gigi having a chat

Grammie Kellie, Great Aunt Eunice and Madison



We stopped in at Gigi's house for a treat, a parfait with ice cream and strawberries. She always has something yummy for us!

 

 Jarrett and I ran some errands and stopped by the high school where he graduated... his ASB President picture is still hanging on the wall! Right before we moved to NJ, a student at Pepperdine tapped him on the shoulder and said, "You look so familiar? Are you from Bakersfield?" Turns out the student went to this high school and was in ASB and recognized him from his picture... Can you guess which one is Jarrett?

It's not fair- you age so well! You still got it, honey!!

On Sunday we had a great brunch at my Dad's, and had the opportunity to meet his girlfriend, Paula, for the first time. She was so easy to talk to, and sweet.. I think she's a keeper :) We had so much fun, and cherish the moments we got to spend visiting together. The girls had a blast being the center of lavish attention from the grandparents, and we love seeing our parents be grandparents! Thank you so much for the meals (oh we ate SO much) and the company- LOVE U!

Malibu Peeps in PA

We were so excited when we found out our sweet friends from Malibu were on the East Coast for a conference. Stacy, Graham and Emma were some of our best friends at Pepperdine, and we miss them SO much. They drove up from Maryland to meet up with us at Philly's Please Touch Children's Museum where we let the kids go bananas. It's one of our favorite places to take kids, and the best children's museum we have ever been too. So glad we were able to share it with them! The girls had so much fun playing and were so tired they fell asleep before we were on the freeway.     

Lindsay (3 yrs.) and Graham (2 yrs.) had fun running around from exhibit to exhibit. Here they are at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party in the Alice in Wonderland area. I first met Stacy when she was newly pregnant with G, and left Malibu when she was expecting her second little cutie, Emma.

When we lived in Malibu, Stacy and G were our dates for the park and beach almost every week. I was so excited to meet precious Emma (4 mo.) who made my ovaries skip a beat ;)



Lindsay's favorite part of the museum was the Children's Hospital, that has a Dr.'s office, nursery, and mini X-Ray machine. Madison loved the baby dolls in the nursery, and spent 15 minutes wanting to rock them in the tiny rocking chair. Lindsay had a blast giving her sister a "Check Up". It amazed me she knew what all the tools were in the play Dr. bag and how to use them!

 

Lindsay and Graham giving some love :) Stacy and I always laughed about how much they look like siblings. A special thanks to Stacy's in-laws who made the trip with us and helped us wrangle all the kiddos!

One of the greatest things about having a husband who works in higher education is the fabulous people you meet through the universities. The McNeal Family is one of those treasures, and we are looking forward to hanging out again soon, maybe over some Malibu Yo! xoxo

Father's Day 2013

Happy Father's Day! We had a fabulous one, which involved lots of swimming, splashing and grilling! Jarrett is adored by all the ladies in his life, and he is a tremendous father, husband and friend. Love you! Here's a few pictures of silliness we captured...

So excited to get into the kiddie pool from Walmart.

Best Daddy Award #1: Got into the FREEZING cold pool with his ladies. I opted out as the photographer.

DIVE!

Happy Father's Day to my Dad, I love you and can't wait to give you a big hug next week!! Thank you for being a terrific Dad and Papa to the girls!

BURRR! The water was COLD!

 

"This isn't like the bath!!" Not too sure about the cold water.

"BALL!!"

 Best Daddy Award #2: Getting into the pool with a banged-up thumb. (He smashed it earlier in the car door!)

My Handsome Honey

Simply J-O-Y

Daddy is so much fun!

Stop Splashing Maddie!!!

 

Testing out his Father's Day gift: a new grill!! We all got to enjoy that one :)

 

Thank you Sweetheart, for going to work and juggling the many hats you wear every day: Husband, Daddy, Son, Dean, Friend, Writer, GQ Model .... the list goes on and on. I appreciate all you do for me, our girls and our family. Your sense of humor, integrity and faith in our Lord make me love and respect you more each passing year, and it fills me with joy knowing you are imparting those traits to our sweet ladies. Your special bond with each girl echoes through our house when the door opens and a loud "DADA" and shrilly "DADDY" reverberates through the house. We love you!! Love, Your Girls xo