The Getty

It really deserves it's own post. It is AMAZING. Kayce said when she went there for the first time she understood why people live in LA. When we were there I was ready to move to LA. She was so excited to take us and Brock & I LOVED it. The tram ride up, the incredible setting, the art work and furniture, the grounds and gardens and the building itself are truly stunning. I couldn't get enough. We met our good friend Hannah there and her two darling boys. She commented that she was glad she went there before she had kids, I can see why -there is so much to take in. The buildings are made out of a beige travertine (16,000 tons) that was taken from the same quarry as the Colosseum and Trevi Fountain in Rome. The gardens and are gorgeous. They are set up to wander around and around in and just soak up all the beauty.

I wanted to take this home

and this

who doesn't LOVE this Van Gogh?

just love Sargent's portraits

Lulu and Nathan running

Heading home

Disney

This trip also marked our first time taking a child to Disneyland. Greta, as many of you know loves Cinderella. She talks to her, sings like her, watches and adores her. Her love also extends to the other princesses, so Brock and I were very excited to be able to take her to see Cinderella and watch that little one's dream come true. It did not disappoint. I was worried when it came time(after the 45 min. wait) she would get scared but the second we rounded the corner, she walked right up to Ariel and gave her a hug. Then proceeded to talk and talk to her. That Ariel was about the sweetest thing ever, the first thing Greta told her was that she went to church (don't ask me where that came from) and Ariel looked at her and said "Oh, do you pray at church?". Greta said yes, and proceeded to tell her all sorts of things about nursery. Next was Snow White who she walked right up to, hugged and continued to talk to. Last, (luckily Cinderella was there that day) she RAN over to her and hugged her. You could see the look of magical disbelief on her face that she was really there. It was pretty sweet. Seeing Minnie & Mickey, riding the teacups, the Peter Pan ride and seeing Mary Poppins in the parade (really the whole parade) were all huge hits. The best part for me was that Brock's parents took Elsa to Sea World with the Hatch's so we got to really enjoy it with Greta.

CA Part 2

Next we headed to a beach house in Oceanside for a week with the Holts. I have fond memories of Spring Break trips with the kappas to this very spot, it doesn't seem like that long ago. It was so nice to be there with family.

Amber's birthday our first night there.

Trying to take advantage of all Southern Cali has to offer, we headed over to La Jolla to see the sea lions.

San Diego Zoo

The pandas

Greta and Halle

The whole crew headed to Balboa Island for the day - even the Mammen's drove down to join us. We did it all: rode the ferry over, ate at Ruby's on the pier, rode the ferris wheel, had Balboa bars and looked at all the amazing homes on the island.

Cypers girls and their bubble gum ice cream.

And of course the beach!

First interaction with sand: Elsa jumped like crazy in

my arms until I put her down

and let her have at it.

We couldn't keep Greta out of the waves.

A pit big enough for Halle

and a few more girls.

Beach baby

A little sand in the eye did not spoil her beach day.

My favorite

CA Part 1

We just returned from a delightful 12 days in beautiful, (not-so-sunny in june) California. Our trip started and ended with a stay at my sister's in west LA. She & Taylor (plus their 3 kids) recently moved and it was great to see their new place.

Out back the swings were a huge hit, the kids just lived outside. The woman that lived there before planted a ton of beautiful plants, everything from calla lillies & roses to this interesting passion fruit vine. Their garden is amazing, really everything grows in California.

The 2 little ones

3 kids in a tub

First swing

Tacos and Paper and String

I have been trying to capture a few of the cute things Greta says incorrectly before she grows out of them. She was so adamant about telling me it was Sleeping Beauty on her movie and not Aurora that I quickly grabbed the camera. I was also lucky enough to get her singing "Let's Go Fly a Kite", her current favorite song. When we were in St. George, we let her sleep in the same room with her cousins, like a big girl. But we had to remove her because she would lie in her sleeping bag singing that song and keeping the other girls up. After mastering the chorus, she has moved onto the verses, "With tacos for paper and string..."

Elsa Helen

My baby turned 9 months old this week, Tuesday to be exact. It has flown by, I'm not sure if it is because she is the 2nd and I don't have undivided attention for her but it seems like yesterday she was sleeping in my arms. She still gives her mom snuggles and gives everyone big smiles. Really people ask me if she is always this happy and yes, she is - except when you stop feeding her. The girl likes to eat! She usually makes a big mmmm after each bite. The other comment we get a lot about her is her skin color. No I do not keep her out in the sun, spray tan her or feed her massive amounts of sweet potatoes and carrots. She is just tan, like her sister was at this age. She can thank her great grandma (after whom she is named) for her beautiful skin color. She is pure happiness and a joy. Here she is with her namesake, my Grandma Helen.

Eating a cupcake with Grandpa

Doing a little reading

How do they know a phone goes up to your ear?

Check out the mohawk

Crawling and clapping