virginia pt 2

I just want to throw it out there that I nailed it on the first try taking this picture!

We spent a lot of this day at the beach walking the board walk! The water was ice cold and the waves were really big (you can't tell in the picture) so we didn't do any swimming. We did stick our toes in the water just so we could say we've touched the Atlantic Ocean, ha!. The lifeguards were going crazy! We just happened to be there during whats called the Patriotic Festival. Every branch of the military goes out and promotes themselves, brings all their cool vehicles and blasts music. The Marines tried to get Dave to enlist with them and it was quite funny watching Dave lead them on. Too bad they'll never hear back from him. If only they knew he's already in the Air Force! There's stands, vendors and all kinds of activities going on. People were covering the boardwalk! There were concerts and parties everywhere. Big stars were there like Lee Brice, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Andrew McMahon, Alabama and so many more. It was so fun!! We walked around just taking it all in, did some shopping and did a lot of people watching. There is absolutely no shame at Virginia Beach! Ha!

This is when we found out just how cold the water was! This picture was taken the second after a wave came crashing into us and although you can't tell, we got soaked in ice cold water! This was our reaction. And no that little kid is not eating my butt :)

After the beach we headed to our hotel where we got fancied up and went to dinner. I really wish I would have taken a picture of our dinner attire, dangit! We walked down to this real fancy Italian restaurant where we spent almost three hours eating and enjoying each others company. It was such a nice restaurant! I found a hair on my plate, not in my food but on the plate and guess what? I didn't even care! haha gross I know but I guess that's the hairstylist in me! I threw that hair on the ground and chowed down. But seriously, you would think if you're paying that much for a fancy meal, they would at least make sure to wear hair nets? Call me crazy! On our walk back to the hotel, my feet were killing me! Who walks a mile to dinner in wedges?! This girl does! Dave was so sweet and carried me back! We decided to jump in the hotel pool and hot tub to help my feet feel better! My feet definitely felt better but my eyes about burned out of my head! They had so many chemicals in the hot tub and no ventilation in that room that our eyes were watering the entire time, haha! We just laughed about it though.

We seriously had the best time in Virgina and cannot wait to go back with a little more time! It's such a fascinating place!

con-GRAD-ulations!

So the whole reason why we made the quick trip to Virginia Beach is because Dave graduated from a school there and we wanted to attend his graduation! He got his Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering and I couldn't be more proud! That degree was a killer right at the end. So many sleepless nights and a lot of stress, for the both of us! We are both very happy it's over! Did I mention he graduated Summa Cum Laude?! #proudwife

Congratulations, babe! Now on to bigger and better things :)

a quick trip to Austin, TX

My parents were in Austin for a few days on business so of course I had to drive down to see them. I loaded up the kids and we made the short three hour drive there. Of course about 45 minutes from Austin we hit some bad weather! Texas, man!! It was such bad rain/hail/wind that we had to pull over on the side of the freeway and wait it out. My poor car took on some hail damage. Dangit! We didn't let it stop us from having fun though. We got to Austin and couldn't find our hotel. Ha! My navigation needs an update. BAD! Anyways once we finally found our hotel we went and picked up my parents. We went to dinner, did some shopping and sight seeing. We didn't really have much time to play the first night because we arrived a little later than planned. So, we called it a night and just decided to do everything the next day. While my Mom spent the day in and out of meetings all day, my dad and I took the kids out on the town. Austin is such a green city! Trees everywhere! It was beautiful! The only request I had was to go see the Graffiti Park. I really had no idea what to expect aand when we arrived it was seriously such a cool place. Different than what I imagined but still pretty awesome! I'm not really sure of the story behind it or if anyone can paint whenever they want but there was just paint on paint on paint. And a bunch of levels. It was pretty cool! It had recently rained so the ground was muddy and there were mud puddles everywhere so I had to hold Presley nearly the entire time. And she did not like it! So of course, she would not pose for pictures!

Other than the gazillion selfies Kyson and I took, these are the only pictures I took in Austin!

We went and did some more shopping and ended up spending most of our time in the Lego store. We didn't buy anything, but Kyson and Presley sure had fun building stuff. Presley's bright pink outfit was a big hit with all the girls who were working there. They loved her! Who can blame them though? :) We ate at Chipotle for the first time and although it was delicious, it doesn't even compare to Cafe Rio! It was fun getting to see my parents for a couple days. It's so hard living in different states then them. We only get to see them once maybe twice a year so we'll take every chance we get!

our first time to the east coast

A couple weeks ago Dave and I took a little getaway to Virginia Beach. It was our first time to the east coast and we were so excited. There is so much history in that area and it had us giddy with excitement! We love history! It was only supposed to be a three day getaway but Dallas had some bad weather the night before our flight. Our flight ended up cancelling the next morning so we didn't even get to Virginia until 10;30 PM. An entire day, gone! I could have cried!! We were so upset that we missed out on a whole day of exploring, especially since our trip was already so short! Once we finally arrived we woke up the next morning as early as possible to get as much in as we could! We toured an old WW2 ship, the USS Wisconsin. Holy crap! That thing is huge but still so crammed on the inside! I don't know how they lived in such tight quarters. I would go crazy! It was such a neat experience and Dave is still talking about how it's the coolest thing he's ever seen :)

 Seriously, look at the size of those chains!!

When you're finished walking around on the ship they have a museum right next to it full of cool stuff. They have walls and walls of old pictures and other cool things from WW2. Dave found this old picture of  B-1 and he just had to take a picture of it. (Dave's entire job revolves around the B-1!)

 Walking around the city was so cool. The streets there are so gorgeous and it looks like a scene from a movie. Narrow roads with outdoor cafe's everywhere. Tree's flowers and art all over the place! And the buildings were breathtaking! So old with so much detail! We fell in love with the area and would absolutely love to live there! For lunch we decided on Hell's Kitchen and oh my word! Yum! I got the chicken ranch wrap (something like that) and I devoured that thing! I've been way into wraps lately so it was calling my name.

We walked some more and came across the ship yard where they have massive ships being built right in front of you! We were on the other side of the bay so the pictures don't do it justice but there were 3-4 Navy ships being built at the same time. 

I want to go back SO BAD!! Norfolk/Virginia Beach is one of the coolest places I've ever been! Day two coming up next!

family pictures - april 2015

A few months ago I wont a free family photo session on facebook. I seriously never win anything so I was pumped about this! The girl was the nicest person and she really knew what she was doing, especially with small kids! It makes it so much easier when the photographer is good with kids! 

I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Utah getaway

Back in April we took a short trip back to Utah. The main reason was to have our video made in a place that meant something to us. So we took a short week long vacation back to our hometown! On our way to Utah, we stopped in Arizona and surprised my sister! She was shocked and so excited to see us. My sister is my best friend and I always love seeing her! We played at the coolest park in Mesa and ate our favorite Hawaiian food Mesa has to offer. We go there every time we're in Arizona!

Once we got to Utah we spent what little time we had with family. We have so much family in Utah so our time is always spread so thin while we're visiting! It makes it so fun though! We played at more parks, ate more food and had a mini family reunion. We spent some time with my Grandpa, who's about to turn 92. He's been a widower for a couple years now and he's so depressed so it's always nice to cheer him up a bit when we visit. We went and explored my parents house that is currently being built and I'm pretty excited to see it when it's finished. It's in a part of town that I literally had no idea existed! 

(all iPhone pics)

On our way back to Texas we stopped in Mesa again and spent a couple days with my sister, again! We went to a splash pad/park, a trampoline park and just played the whole time with cousins. Kyson and Presley were having the time of their lives! We tried Bahama Bucks for the first time and oh my word! Ah-mazing!! Can't wait to go back!

family video 2015

About a year ago I saw one of my facebook friends post a family video they had professionally made and to be honest I didn't really think much of it. And then I saw a few more people do it and I thought, "is this a new thing?" I started looking more into it and loved the idea! So, I contacted Kavin and we set something up. Last month while we were in Utah (I have yet to blog about that little getaway. Oops!) we met up with Kavin and had our own family video made. You guys, Kavin was amazing! He made us feel so comfortable. We were a little nervous about doing this because we've never done anything like this before so we didn't know what to expect. But Kavin just jumped right in and started doing his thing. I've watched this video a thousand times already and there's scenes where I honestly had no idea he was filming and I'm so glad he caught all these little candid moments because they show off exactly who we are as a family. I'm completely obsessed with our little video and I'm excited to share it with you. 

We've already decided to make this an annual tradition. I love that not only can we watch our family grow but we can also capture their personalities on film. Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do!

Happy Birthday to me (3 months late)

This year I celebrated my 28th birthday (way back in February!) and it was the first birthday that I've just totally dreaded. I love getting the extra attention and love each year but I felt like this year, I was actually feeling a year older! If that makes sense!? I only have two more years in my twenties and I feel like there's so much I want to do before I turn 30. Expect a 30 before 30 post soon ;)

Anyways, so for my birthday this year Dave's little brother came down from North Dakota to visit and he was kind enough to offer to babysit so Dave could take me on a date. Lucky for me I got two dates in one week. Thanks Brandon!

Why do iPhone's have such crappy cameras?

Our first date we took the kids out for Hibachi. The restaurant was so dark with just horrible lighting, hence the awful quality pictures. It was snowing outside and absolutely freezing in the restaurant even with all the fire everywhere. But nothing was going to stop me from celebrating in my sparkle pants! After dinner we went shopping in an empty Target! Whenever it snows in Texas, people become hermits and refuse to leave their houses. I wasn't complaining because we had the entire store to ourselves. It was perfect!

Our second date was just Dave and I. We stopped for some crappy Taco Bell, my favorite, and took our food to the drive in where we watched American Sniper. Or at least tried. It was sleeting the whole time so the windows kept fogging up and there was water all over them. We were able to fold the seats down and we took pillows, sleeping bags and blankets and just cuddled up in the back. So even though we weren't sure what was happening in the movie we still got to cuddle for a couple hours uninterrupted! haha

Even though I still feel old, 28 has been a great year so far. We've already done so much and there's still a lot more in store for this year. Happy Birthday to me!