CA 2018: Bakersfield Fun

We stayed a week at Nonna and Grandpa's in Bakersfield and had so much fun...

Play hard. Sleep hard.

After Jarrett was on on the mend, Nonna made family favorite, Reid Tacos!

Family Fiesta

All the cousins got their own table, and they had a party of their own...

Later that night they had a cousin camp out. It was Lindsay and Madison's very first sleepover! Andrew wanted in on the fun, but he needs to wait a few more years ;)

Nonna and Grandpa took the kids to go bowling...

Andrew saw this chopper and wanted a picture with it ;)

This picture sums up our super relaxing and fun week: swimming, nice visits with the family and good food!

Did somebody say dessert?!

Andrew soaked up the attention from Katarina. She was so sweet with him!

Here's the yearly picture of all the cousins...

Andrew wanted to take a turn sleeping on the "red beds".

One of Madison's must-visits while in Bakersfield was Hodel's... She ate her weight in jello and ham. LOL.

Later in the week we were able to attend Cousin Sawyer's 3rd Birthday Party, held at Grandpa Joe's.

Splashing fun

Auntie Annie and Grammie did a great job of decorating the party with the theme of Sawyer's favorite show, "Shimmer and Shine".

Papa drove down for the party and had some fun with the birthday girl and playing trucks with Andrew...

All the kids got along great and had so much fun going on the water slide and helping Sawyer open presents.

Happy Birthday Sawyer Girl!

Auntie made delicious Lavender Blueberry cupcakes... they were gluten free and scrumptious.

Maddie had to take a ride on one of Gigi's stone deers in the backyard.. something every grandchild has done since she put them there 30+ years ago. LOL

We took the kids to the jump and sports center in town..

Madison rock climbing

Madison climbing the giant cylindars

Jumping on the trampolines

Foam pit

Hamster balls?

Jarrett took the gluten eating children to Rice Bowl to re-live some childhood memories. There are just some places and food that bring you back home and remind you of people you love ;)

Nonna took the kids to Dewars for ice cream...

Banana Split!

Bakersfield was so much fun, and we made some precious memories with the cousins, aunties and uncles. Thank you family for hosting us, we had a blast!! Next up... San Diego!

CA 2018: Bakersfield 4th of July

We headed to the West Coast in July to enjoy some fun family time.

Early am flight

Somebody was pretty excited to be on the plane... he didn't mind one bit that it was 5am.

 We had a layover in Chicago.. they had a fun playground in the airport for the kids to burn some energy.

We landed in LAX and Nonna picked us up in her new ride, a Durango with purple (only in the sunlight) paint. The girls thought it was the coolest! As soon as we arrived in Bakersfield, these kids were ready to get in the pool. They had been waiting all year for this moment!

We were so happy that Cousin Kat came to swim and play!

Unfortunately right after this picture was taken J told us he wasn't feeling well. 

Poor J was so sick for the next 48 hours after we arrived. He puked, ran a fever and was in out of sleep all day. We think he must have gotten sick while on the plane? Maybe his body finally rested once he was on vacation, who knows? He missed the 4th of July and celebration, and the arrival of Uncle Peter, Aunt Sarah and Cousins Nate & Mia. While poor J recovered, I was so grateful to have Nonna and Grandpa wrangling the kids for me while I brought him the gatoraide, crackers and sanitized the bathroom. .

Boys stick together...Nate 9 years, Andrew 2 years

 Uncle P and Aunt Sarah brought their cornhole game, and everyone had fun playing.

 On the 4th there was tons of swimming, homemade ice cream and fireworks!

Ms. Bathing Beauty posing

 Poor Nate had stitches on his ear the week before, and wasn't able to get his head in the pool for the first few days of their stay. It didn't stop him from swimming, and Lindsay loved her cousin-powered raft!

 Little Buddy was just loving all the attention, yummy food and tried his best to keep up with the big kids this year.

He was pretty excited for the fireworks...until they actually began. Then he wasn't much of a fan of them. LOL.

 A huge thank you to Uncle Walker and Aunt Katie for being the firework experts and putting on a fun show for the kids.

I think this might have been the third round of ice cream that day, and that is totally fine with me!

 Nothing like a Bakersfield 4th of July... making memories ;)

 Aunt Katie and Kat brought glow in the dark necklaces and the kids loved them! We felt like we should play some rave music instead of patriotic tunes. LOL.

Getting some snuggles from Nonna... "I no like fireworks!" 

 Our Maddie Grace was moving as fast as lightning this trip, and I could barely snap pictures of her. She finally slowed down a bit so I could get a couple with her sparklers..

Sweet cousins Sidney (12), Madison (6), Mia (6), Lindsay (8)

Mia and Mads eating their ice cream and swinging.

 While we waited for it to get dark enough for fireworks, the kids swam in the pool and waited for the lights to come on.

Madison is a party animal

Oh what a fun day we had! The kids finally got to bed around 10 pm, the latest my kids have ever been awake. They fell asleep exhausted, but with the sweetest memories to last until next year.

Father's Day 2018

Happy Father's Day to our wonderful Daddy Bear!

When Jarrett gets out his tool box, look out! Andrew is right under his feet helping Daddy "fix it like Bob Builder". 

Even trips to the hardware store become an adventure with Daddy...

Let's take a ride on the lumber cart!

Jarrett began his big day by sleeping in (hooray!) and he barely made it downstairs for a cup of coffee when the kids bombarded him with opening presents. Of course, he had three pairs of hands to help him open his gifts ;)

Since the kids have each been 2 years old, they have been filling out a sheet every year "All about my Dad". It has gone into a book and been fun (and pretty hilarious) seeing their answers and drawings every year as they grow. Andrew got to do his first one this year.

After church we came home and continued the fun...

Jarrett requested tri-tip roast, baked potatoes and green beans with ice cream sundaes for dessert.

We had a great day celebrating the fantastic Father J is to our children and husband to me. He protects, leads, sacrifices, encourages us and makes us laugh. Thank you for simply being you, and pouring out your love into our marriage and family... we are one blessed bunch! Love you J! xo