As I mentioned in my last post, both of my parents came to visit not long after my mom went back home. I mean, Grandpa had to meet Clara, right?
And soon after they arrived, they got to witness some of Clara's first smiles. Squee!
And Grandpa discovered a funny thing about Clara's sleeping preferences...
They also did a birdhouse project with the kids. (That reminds me that we need to finish it up and put it outside!) My Dad helped the kids construct it.
And Grandma got to sit with Clara. Not a bad gig! Then she (Grandma, not Clara) helped the kids paint the outside with stencils. No photos of that, unfortunately.
We also got to take Grandma and Grandpa to the annual Touch a Truck event that happens here in Castle Rock. We got to watch a helicopter take off, which Carter was very excited about. (Also, we totally underestimated the amount of dirt and dead grass that would get blown in our faces. We were not smart.)
And Aubrey enjoyed a nice breeze atop one of the trucks...
... until this happened. I think maybe something blew in her eye?
It really puts it into perspective how huge these things are when you see the kids with them.
The experience wouldn't be complete without sitting in the driver's seat of some of these bad boys...
Sadly, only Aubrey would get in the school bus. I believe Carter melted down a bit, so it just didn't happen.
No visit from my parents would be complete without a lot of eating out. My dad snapped these photos of the kids at one of the restaurants, and I just thought they were cute.
The main reason for my parents' visit was Clara's baby blessing at church. Both sets of grandparents were there, and it was a wonderful day!
This was the best we could do as a family photo, haha.
We did, however, manage to get this shot of the older two kids, which I thought was pretty good.
And then, of course, there's the whole group shot.
Yay, family! Haha. (I didn't know how to end this post, so that's what you get.)
After our big road trip, we got back to business as usual at home. We ran errands...
... made yummy dinners...
... and visited Nana and Papa, where Carter took advantage of some of the last good watermelon of the season. He took, like, a lot of advantage.
Pretty soon it was time for school to start back up again. Aubrey began kindergarten, and then a week later Carter began his first year of preschool. They were both so excited!
And then, the day after Carter's first day of school, our little Clara love was born! Both Aubrey and Carter were absolutely smitten with her from the beginning. I'm so glad we got these videos of them meeting her!
When we got home from the hospital, things were pretty slow for awhile. There's something about having a new baby in the house that kind of forces everyone to slow down. We did a lot of baby snuggling.
And we were so glad to have Grandma here to help!
Did I mention we did a lot of baby snuggling?
Anyway, after Grandma went back to California, we got back to our new normal. We started going out again. One of our first big outings was the Castle Rock Art Fest. We strolled among all of the booths and wished we had money to buy nice art. And then the kids had a chance to create some art of their own.
Then, of course, we snuggled baby Clara some more. Because duh.
We also started taking Clara to church. (She wasn't really aware though, haha.)
And the older kids returned to their house-destroying shenanigans.
Our new normal turned out to be just fine. And not long after Grandma left, she came back. Only that time, she brought Grandpa with her. More on that in the next post!
After our fun time in Utah, we got back in the car to head to Grandma's and Grandpa's house in San Diego. It was our last hurrah in Poway before they moved to Escondido. The kids were not excited about more time in the car, especially when we hit stupid L.A. traffic. But we managed to keep them entertained, and I myself was entertained by this bumper sticker I saw, which says, "Proud parent of a great kid that is sometimes an a$$hole and that's okay." The other bumper stickers were not my favorite, but that one made me chuckle. I really relate.
One of our first activities with the family was the San Diego Zoo. Being 8 months pregnant, I couldn't handle all of the walking with my bad hips, so Daniel, Dad, and Maren took turns pushing me in a wheelchair. I tried to sneak a candid photo of Maren pushing me up a hill, but she caught on and smiled in time. Also, I have no idea what I was doing with my face.
A lot of my photos from our zoo day are kind of bad quality, which is sad, but you get the idea of the fun that was had. The kids loved watching the fish in this exhibit, which had a larger animal in it (a polar bear?) that we couldn't see.
And Aubrey felt very at home among the gorilla statues, which isn't surprising. She's my little monkey girl!
Cousin Asher was super cute with all of the littler kids, especially Bennet and Carter. Here he is talking to Carter about the gorilla. Carter, of course, was more interested in the waterfall, but whatever. It's still so cute!
For her part, Aubrey enjoyed riding on Grandpa's shoulders...
... pretending to be a seal...
... and taking a skyride with Grandma.
At one point, we separated into two different groups--the big kids and the little kids. The little kid group was done a bit before the big kid group, so we waited at the exit listening to a band play fun music. Carter was particularly funny about it. He really wanted to hear the music, but then it was too loud when he got there, so he ran back.
And then the kids had an important meeting around the fire hydrant. Obviously.
When some of the adults went to get the cars, everyone else took a well-deserved rest under some palm trees.
And then we went out to dinner, where Grandma got to enjoy her only two (for the time being) granddaughters.
It was late by the time we were done, and Miss Aubrey fell asleep on Grandma's lap.
So Grandpa carried her to the car. It soon became clear that she had woken up at some point on the way to the car and was pretending to sleep. Stinker.
San Diego adventure #2 was the beach, which we all went to without the grandparents. The littles enjoyed playing in the sand together.
Then Bennett found a toy car, and he and Carter had a blast putting it on the sand, watching the waves take it away, and then chasing after it.
Aubrey and Carter had fun splashing in the waves together. This video cuts out at the end because I ran to make sure Aubrey was okay, haha.
In addition to the beach, there was also some pool swimming. We had to say a proper goodbye to the pool!
Aubrey got to show off her awesome swimming skills.
And occasionally we had some down time.
It was so fun to see Carter and Bennett play together on this trip. They really bonded in a way they hadn't before. Yay for cousin friends!
This is a game Bennett and Carter played over and over again. They thought it was hilarious!
And just in general, they played really well together.
And Daniel got some photos of Aubrey loving on Riley.
Down time never lasted long, as is the way when you have 11 kids under one roof, so you've got to find things to keep them busy! And the trampoline park is always a group favorite. My favorite moment was when Aubrey decided to join the big-kid dodgeball game and held her own like a champ! It's possible they were taking it easy on her, but I was still proud she got in the middle of it.
The little kids (except Carter) also had fun being thrown into the foam pit by Daniel.
While we were in San Diego, I had my 32nd birthday. It was fun to be with family, and not just because I got two cakes.
After eating at a yummy Argentine restaurant, my family surprised me with tickets to the Hugh Jackman concert! I LOVE him. Loooove. So needless to say, I was very excited.
And he was awesome! Because duh. He made me laugh out loud and swoon, and I wished he'd never stop singing. And that's saying something, considering it was a billion degrees in there and I was really pregnant.
I especially loved it when he sang Les Miserables songs...
... and Greatest Showman songs.
VIDEO
One of our last hurrahs was going to the Wild Animal Park (sorry, I can't call it the Safari Park... old habits, you know).
It's always fun to get up-close and personal with the animals.
We got to go into a special enclosure for the kangaroos, but they were being lazy in the shade. Aubrey still liked them though.
And this time it was Carter who got a ride from Grandpa.
When it was time to wash all the WAP dirt, sweat, and sunscreen off of the kiddos, the four littlest got to have a communal bubble bath. Riley pooped a little bit after this photo was taken, and I'm happy to report that both of my kids had already gotten out.
When Carter got out, he got some good Grandpa snuggles. D'awww.
And then it was time to head back home. The kids were REALLY not excited about road tripping at this point. And since my parents were moving just after that, they gave us a bunch of things, including a TV (pictured here between the kids) to take back in our car.
