Missed Moments

Back in August, little Miss Lexi decided to dip my camera in the pool for me.  How sweet!  So, we've been without a camera for awhile now.  Since I'm one of the only people alive now that doesn't have a smart phone, my phone doesn't exactly double as a camera quite as well as the rest of the world's.  But, here are a few moments we did manage to capture.

 Libby at her 3 year check up sporting an adult sized gown - awesome!  All I have to say is thank goodness for Doc McStuffins - Libby loves the doctor's office now!

 A Tuesday afternoon after work spent at the beach.  Life is good when you're a mermaid!

 On Friday night the Hawks took on Aliso Niguel (Summer's school), so the whole family showed up for the event.  It was a "Pink Out" for breast-cancer awareness, but apparently Ty didn't get the memo.  Fun times with Jenny Hawk!

 One Friday after work while Brad was waiting to meet up with us at Disneyland, he decided to go on a ride by himself - and what did he choose? Grizzly Rapids!  Crazy boy!

Brad's spur of the moment trip up to Crescent City with Mark and my dad was a man's dream come true.  Flying over the entire California coastline, hanging out with Lowell, playing with his guns, and listening to tales of the wild frontier in Alaska.  According to Brad, "Lowell IS the wild, wild West!"  So glad he got to go!

Fun at Aunt Jen's

My sister, Jen moved here from Montana this summer and has taken over watching my girls for me while I'm at work.  It has been the greatest blessing I could possibly imagine to have her watching them for me.  They love it, I love it, and I really hope Jen loves it (I'm pretty sure she does by all the fun pictures she sends me!).

 The little Dutch girl after her first day of school.

 Lexi playing some sweet tunes!

 Jen gets to take Libby to and from pre-school twice a week.  Here she is showing off her "Jesus Loves Me" t-shirt on shirt day.  And she's got her bucket of treasures to show off, too!

Painting at Jen's house.  Yeah, life is good!

Pumpkin Patch Visit #1

Part of the Fall Break tradition has been a visit to the Pumpkin Patch one night while the gang is all here.  Apparently this year the teenagers thought going to a dance was cooler than a pumpkin patch (crazy kids!), but those of us that went had a GREAT time!

 The giant pumpkin has been invaded!

 Max and Libby on the "boat ride with no water" as Libby called it.

 Lexi and Ty had a great time together!

 Crazy cousins!

 But Lexi's true favorite was this little 3-horse carousel.  She LOVED that thing!

 Max drove Libby around in his sweet ride while she looked the part of the unimpressed girlfriend.  They both had fun, but no brilliant smiles to indicate it.

 

 

 The little ones on  the little train.

 Look how tall our big bad 3 year old is!

 And little Lexi is nipping at her heels.  (Well, not really, but she sure is cute!)

And the final must-have tractor pic. 

(Brad and the boys were on a man's trip to northern California to visit Lowell and missed the whole event, but had a great time on their own.)

Fall Break for UT = Fun in CA

The Openshaws always get a fall break while the rest of us are still in school.  They come down for a few days and we spend lots of time at the beach, eating Thrifty's ice-cream, and just having fun.

 

 On Friday, they got to go the Santa Ana Zoo while I was at work. :(

 

 Ellie at the wheel - scary!

 They got to go on a little train ride there, too.

And they always love a good carousel ride!

They Just Play, Play, Play!

Here's a sample of the adorable pictures Jen sends to me while I'm at work.  I love that my girls get to have so much fun all day long!  A million thanks would never be enough - you're the best, Jen!

 Libby in Barbie heaven!

 Play-doh pumpkins on our one day of fall-like weather all year!

 Lexi loves to swing!

 And swing some more!

 What cute sisters!

 One of Libby's new favorite things is painting, and boy does Aunt Jen provide!  Look at all those colors! ;)

And Libby even convinced Ty that a Sofia-the-First tea party was JUST what he wanted to do when he got home from school one day.  What a good sport!

Disneyland with the Openshaws

Amy and Mark decided to surprise their youngest two, Ellie and Max with a trip to Disneyland towards the end of September.  We, of course, were thrilled to be able to tag along for the fun.  Libby had a blast showing her cousin Max the ropes at her favorite place on earth! :)

 Max's first must-see was Cars Land and it lived up to the hype - he loved it!

 Libby and Max climbing on the tractor after Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.

 And Disneyland didn't disappoint either....because right after we took this picture....

 look who showed up!

 Followed by all of the girls' favorite, Minnie!

 We sang along on Small World,

 sailed through the sky on Dumbo,

and enjoyed all the fun fall decorations.  Yep, we love Disneyland!

Whale-a-palooza!

The last week of summer, we really tried to do it all!  We got to go whale watching with my parents and the Stewarts.  We don't exactly have the greatest of track records when it comes to whale watching, but this time really made up for all the rest - it was AWESOME!

 Syd and Libby ready to head out to the big blue!

 Jen and diva-Lexi

 The happy whale-viewing family.  Well, mostly happy.  Turns out Brad gets seasick and was somewhat less than thrilled over the whole experience. :(

 But the rest of us LOVED it!  It was a whale-a-palooza!

Libby was totally convinced that her Shamu chant and whale wave were the ticket!  She was so good, we ended up seeing not one, but FOUR blue whales - we were surrounded!  What a great day of whale watching!