Camping!

We went camping at Lake Casitas with the Little Piggies (our daycare) families a couple of weekends back. The kids got incredibly dirty (as they should).  Thank goodness for the amazing water park .... nothing like a water slide and lazy river to get the camping grit off!

Chilling, relaxing.

Z with Alex. Love this.

The 2 daredevils of the group. They went down the water slides together and played with worms. :)

We had to push Zoe down this slide the first time - we couldn't get her out of the water after!  She loved it!

Lazy river with Ava.

Breakfast with Lily, our favorite babysitter  :)

Probably the only time Maddox will ever look bigger than Sammy. Believe it or not, Sammy is 3 months older and probably 3 inches taller than Maddox. You can't tell in this pic though!

Z and Ben

Besties! These 3 have been together for so long.

Ava, Zoe, Ben and Maddox.  Adorable.

So clean!

What do you mean I can't have this beer??

Mad Maddles - upset that we took his beer away.

Having a fit. In the middle of the street. I guess he wasn't looking forward to getting clean?

He seemed really happy to be getting a bath.

The families are starting to move away and kids are entering different kindergarten next year so we hope that we can keep this up as an annual tradition!

Fiesta 2013!

Santa Barbara celebrates Fiesta the first week/weekend of every August. It's quite the celebration filled with parades, festivals, live  music, and good food. This was the first weekend back after France so we just walked to the park up the street from our house with our favorite neighbors and took the kids on some rides.

I think Maddox is going to like roller coasters like his sister.

So fun these two!

With Siena!

 

The brothers keeping a close eye on their sisters.

 

Maddox was fascinated by the ride that does a big loop.

Zoe loves the confetti eggs - every year they are her favorite.

 

Happy 4th Birthday!!

We are the luckiest parents in the whole world to have this amazing FOUR year old as our daughter. 

Happy 4th birthday, Zoe!

Zoe celebrated her birthday with cupcakes and friends at school, dinner at The Croc with her family (she ordered her favorite mac and cheese) and a ice cream clown cone as dessert.  She cannot wait for her big SuperGirl themed party on Saturday!!

Zoe loves to sing, wear dresses, climb trees, mani/pedi's and riding her bike. She is very adventurous and prefers roller coasters to princesses at Disneyland. She loves her brother and will not go to bed unless he is in the room with her.  It's hard to believe that at this time next year she will be entering Kindergarten!

22 months!

I've been traveling so much for work, I have a hard time to find the time to download pictures and update the blog... and now I'm officially 8 days late in posting this. BUT....two. More. Months. Until this handsome guy turns TWO!  I really need time to slow down.

Two of his last 3 teeth came in while we were in France. Now we are just waiting for one last tooth to come in - the last stubborn one is his bottom left canine. I can feel it, it's so close!

If you ask him a question that starts with "who wants..." he now always answers "I do!" in a low, raspy voice.  It's adorable.

A few new words/phrases/things:

• "Maddox" - yes, he now says his name.
• "I love you"  - It's not consistent but he's said it enough times to count
• "Bulle" - which means "bubble" in French
• He can point to all his body parts when called out in French.

Overall, this kid is a stud.  

France 2013 - Castles!

A trip to France wouldn't be complete without visiting castles, right? :)  We were lucky enough to go visit 3 castles.  Well, really 2 and a half.  The first one we went to was Chateau de Chaumont. It was founded in the 10th century and it amazes me that this was built before cranes and machines existed.  We went during their annual Garden Festival where 30 themed gardens are created by various artists, architects and designers from around the world. It was amazing.

Here are some pictures of the gardens.

 

We decided to take some family pics in one of the gardens.  They turned out pretty good!

 

"Mommy! Take a picture of me in front of the castle so I can show my friends!"

 Then we were off to visit the actual castle. Too bad the princess was on "vacation."

These stairs are killing me!

 

 The carriage house and stables...

 Our drive back...Francis thought we were going to get run off the road a few times.

 The second castle we visited was Chenonceau.  I LOVE this castle.  Francis and I visited it when we were in France last and it is still as beautiful as we remembered it.  This one was used to house the king's queens and mistresses.

 The maze!

These kids sure do act like royalty sometimes  :)

 The kid's playground...

 We headed back towards Paris the last day and were hoping to visit Versailles but it turns out that it is closed on Mondays - such a bummer.  But the gardens were open and it turns out that you can take a little train to the bottom.  The kids loved it and it turned out to be a perfect end to our vacation.  We found the best restaurant in front of the canals overlooking the huge gardens!

Outside of Versailles. We were peaking in the windows like creepers.

Yay!  We're on a train!

 

Such a ham!

At the front gates - no way in unfortunately.

Overall, we had a great trip!  Although I wish we could have stayed for another week to explore more and to get the kids immersed in more french. Vacations always go by so fast!