Santa Barbara in photos!

This weekend we went on a spur of the moment trip to Santa Barbara with Carrie and her family. It was a work trip for her and we just tagged along. Friday we arrived and joined in on kid's day at Cox. Yes, she throws parties for a living!
The kids got to tour the trucks.Micah loved that!We love cupcakes!That night we all joined up to head to the pier to have dinner. On our way we ran into this monstrosity. Santa Barbara wins the ultimate hippy award! He said you can take all the pictures you want, but he would like a donation because that's what keeps the hippy rolling in more ways than one. I snapped away, but didn't feel good about supporting his love of cannabis, so I stiffed him. Sorry!

Walking up the pier.
Brooklyn stopped and said she was "looking for mermaids." How cute!
My kids and jaws.
The pier.
Out to dinner and Brooklyn needed a drink. Looks like the real deal right? It's just apple juice. No worries!
Saturday, we headed to the zoo! We got to see the penguins being fed.
Micah was the navigator.
The elephants were out!
The giraffes were awesome.
I was there too!
Micah is a monkey!
So is Brooklyn!
Abby and Brooklyn are buddies!
We were hanging out with the apes.
How funny is Micah's face?We fed the goats.
There were birds here and there.
More birds.

We even got to see a snow leopard! The funniest thing though was the howler monkeys. I wish I had gotten it on camera. They sound like car alarms. We went down to see them and they were up in their trees. I told Micah to make the noises they did. Micah started making that car alarm noise and all of a sudden they started climbing down the trees to see what the heck was going on. There were two of them that just sat there watching Micah and looking totally confused. i think Micah might be the monkey whisperer (or maybe sqwaker would be a better word for that.) Anyways, they trip was fun. Carrie's family is beyond awesome and we were glad we went. Thanks Carrie!

D-day and milk art

Monday was D-day for me. Disaster day that is. I had planned a beach day week earlier with my mom's group and just happened to be watching my nephew the same day. I packed all of us and headed to the beach as planned. My mom's group has gotten less and less dependable and so at the last minute, everyone bailed. I ended up on the beach alone with three little kids. Austin was experiencing it for the first time and for about 30 minutes, he was thrilled, then he was over it. Then I was trying to keep everyone happy and keep an eye on them all. It was busy!
B loves the beach.
Austin...feels so so about it.
Micah loves the beach too. Well, after snacks and entertaining for a while, Austin had had it and I decided it was time to pack up and go. I took them to the car and got clothes changed and got everyone buckled and was about ready to go when I realized my phone was missing. I checked over and over again and it was really gone. I picked all the kids back up out of the car and headed back to the beach. I retraced my steps and asked people along the way if they had seen my phone. I went back to the spot I was at and looked around and even asked a stranger nearby if she could call my phone. Nothing! Stressed and tired, I put them all back in the car again and headed home. Along the way, my gas light went on. I got home and tried to get a hold of Chad to tell him I couldn't find my phone. My cousin helped me out by sending me a map of where my phone was (on the beach!). In the meantime I was getting the kid lunch and baths. When Chad got online, he told me to go to the beach to get it, but without someone to call it, I would be wasting my time. Annoyed, but always helpful, Chad got in his car and headed to the beach to meet me. I got all the kids back in the car, stopped to get gas and headed back to the beach. As I pulled up, Chad was on the curb with my phone in his hand. Someone had turned it in to the lifeguards. Awesome! Anyways, after a day like that, I was done! We headed to Frapy's for frozen yogurt and called it a day. So glad that day was over!
Here is a quicky on milk art that I grabbed from another website. The kids loved it! All you need is milk in a tray, food coloring, and something to stir it with.
Throw some of the food coloring in the tray.
Then swirl away!
We did this a few times. It was quick and easy and the kids loved watching the colors move around!

A fair is not a fair...

I always think of this song, when I think of the fair! We headed there on Friday with my mom, Shelby and Austin. We got to work checking out the animals.
Llamas have really bad underbites!
We petted the baby chicks.
Micah did too.
Austin enjoyed a lollipop...shhh don't tell Ashley!
The kids loved the massive bugs in this tent. Gross!
We went on some rides. I would recommend a sports bra for this one!
More rides...
They loved it!
The funny thing is that usually I got the fair knowing I am going to blow through all my money on food. I blew through my money, but we left hungry! What? I guess with the three little ones and all the things to see, we kind of forgot about getting anything for ourselves. The kids had plenty to eat, but I think I had half of an ear of corn and some lemonade. So wrong. Looks like we will have to go back!

Sand & Sprinkles

On Monday, we took a trip to the beach. We decided to knock an item off our summer bucket list and "tried a new beach." It wasn't a new beach to me, but I have never taken my kids to Corona del Mar. It was so fun. I forgot how much I love that beach. The sand is clean and fine and the waves are tiny, so I don't have to worry about the kids.
As soon as we hit the beach, Luke and Micah got to work.
This beach babe soaked up some rays.
Isn't Logan a doll? He is my boyfriend.
The kids played and played.
And played.
Got sandy...
..everywhere!
We love hanging out with these fun people.
After the beach, we headed to Sprinkles for cupcakes. Yum!
Is it just me or does this face say "take the dang picture already!" She was ready to eat!

In this weeks' news...

We did some night swimming, hit the dollar theater, Ikea and ate a lot of Sno on the Go! I was too busy having fun to take pictures, but I do have a few shots from the week, so here we go:

Micah does all sorts of designs with his cars and insisted that I take a picture. Maybe he will be an artist one day? Maybe a car designer? I don't know, but I know his mind works outside of the box and it is so interesting to see.
We did some shopping and this might show you how much B likes to shop. I am in big trouble.
These boys had fun being together even if the moms were shopping.
I wore her out. This is how she fell asleep!
Man, we must be boring! Asleep again! We were heading out to have our family pictures taken, so of course she fell asleep. I already got a sneak peek of our pictures and I am so excited to update our frames with new pictures.
One a quick side note, Happy Anniversary Chad! Seven years and all the craziness it has held for us. Here is to many more!