Our Annual Souza Family River Trip

Every summer (I think except 2010) since I met Yosh his sister, Missy, her husband, Chris, and kids Bailey and Peyton come out from New York for a visit.  They live in upstate New York…and crave the California sunshine, Mexican food and Slurpee's year round!! Every summer we look forward to their visit…especially now since WE have our own kids…I seriously LOVE watching my niece and nephew love my kids. Nothing like some cousin love!

The kids are growing up…and real memories are being made. You know what I mean…not just the memories for the adults, but Peyton and Bailey will now start remembering these river trips for the rest of their lives (unless they have a memory like their Aunt Erin…then they are screwed!)

We played, ate, chatted…and Ella made Mommy’s relaxation time difficult. BUT that’s ok. She really is a great baby out on the boat…its just my days of lounging are gone…for another few years anyway.

Owen is the best child at the river..he plays and plays…never asking for anything but the odd juicebox or to help find a certain gun or sandtoy. I’m blessed with him. He’s more than amazing!

Watching Owen play and adore his cousins was a beautiful site to see…this trip did the fam good!

And it couldn’t be the annual family river trip without the annual grandparents/grandkids picture…


Years past…

And while I’m cruising down memory lane…let me show you some comparison pics…that seriously make me so happy…

The VanSoest Picture with my babies…

Hotel After Bath Pic…
((ps. notice my camera capabilities have kinda improved along the way as well…Thank Goodness!!))

Love seeing our family grow together…Fun Times…and cheers to many many more to come!

 

4th of July…few days late

So its July 10th…and I realized I haven’t blogged about our 4th of July yet. Usually people would just skip it…but you see…I NEED to blog about holidays at the least so I can remember what we did, so next year when I get online and look back at our blog I’ll be able to remember and relive it! haha My memory is ridiculously horrible and I LOVE looking back. That’s my all-time favorite thing to do!! For Example…Owen’s first 4th of July…

Doesn’t this picture just make you smile…when we all THOUGHT life was hectic…bahaha OH how times have changed!

But anyway back to this year…my in-laws arrived from NY on the morning of the 4th. Owen was trying his hardest to patiently wait to see his cousins…and I decided it was a good time to do a little photo session…to keep his mind busy right….(bahahaha not a great idea)

Owen asking me a million times if they are almost here….

We got 2 things on camera during this shoot….Ella finding brother’s hair (he was NOT happy)…and her rolling…thankfully she’s finally mastered the rolling from back to belly…not the other way over yet.

And the roll…

She was so proud of herself!!! I love it!

So Aunt Missy, Uncle Chris, Bailey and Peyton finally arrived and Owen was so excited to see them, talk to them, play with them! I loved it. And Peyton was so excited to get her hands on little Ella…adorable!

Peyton with Ella…and Peyton back in 2009 holding Owen for the first time! Proud cousin!

We spent the day in Redlands with Papa and Mya…swimming, BBQing and hanging out! Then after dinner came back home, put Ella to bed and illegally set off some fireworks in our backyard! Owen was terrified at first but by the end of our mini show he seemed to relax a tad…and even held a sparkler!

Another wonderful 4th of July down…next year we’ll have a crazy toddler so we MIGHT have to skip the illegal mini firework show! haha. Hope everyone had a great day too!!

LEGOLAND

Months ago I noticed that Owen was playing with coins and money every chance he had. He would carry them with him and I hated it…money is dirty! He would get coins off my parents or take them off Yosh’s nightstand. But once he was “done” playing with them they would disappear. And we’re talking dollars…not just pennies! So I gave him the idea one day that IF he collected enough coins in his piggy bank we would go to LEGOLAND! So the hunt began…he was ALWAYS putting money away! It was great…spare coins never went to waste! Every time he’d find money he’d ask how many more we needed for LEGOLAND…and I’d always respond with “Tickets are $79…we need LOTS more”. 

This AWESOME Piggie Bank made by my pal Liz at This Little Piggie.

Now…that being said…LEGOLAND is seriously like $79…its crazy expensive! Our friend called one day (months ago) and said her sister could get us cheap tix…were we interested….and DUH heck yes we were interested. So we got 2 adult tickets and a child's for $68! Awesome right? She got some deal through her school district and field trip priced tix or something like that. But Owen SOOO wanted to go to LEGOLAND because he watches “his friend Evan” (a kid that has a youtube channel that critique's toys and kids places…its super cute! Here is a bit that “Evan” did on LEGOLAND that Owen watched a million times!) Since Evan went to LEGOLAND CALIFORNIA (yes Owen emphasizes the California haha) Owen kinda already knew what he wanted to do and see there. The kid did his research! haha I love it.

And our day was fantastic! Owen absolutely loved the place…almost every ride was suitable for Owen…which is great. He only chickened out on 2 a few of the rides. But that’s a great improvement from our last amusement park experience.

Notice that Daddy was the riding buddy…while Mommy was Ella’s buddy! lol The Mom’s had babies and Dad’s had “big kids”…except for Lindsey…they have 2 big kids so she was a ride buddy too! lol

The babies did GREAT! They were NO issue AT ALL!

All the kids seem to really enjoy themselves! I was shocked on HOW much there is to do there…we hardly made it around the park...missing LOTS of stuff. Their hours are also weird…they close at 6pm in the summer time and 5pm during the off season. Nuts right? But probably smart…since the park is targeted for smaller children (teenagers wouldn’t enjoy themselves much) and they are having melt downs by closing time anyway. But our group had a great time…so thankful that the opportunity arose to allow us to get in at an affordable price!

As we walked out of the park Owen’s little lip started quivering…he had seen a Face Painting stand earlier in the day and asked to have his face painted. I told him later (thinking he’d forget about it). Well he didn’t…and was so upset because he REALLY wanted his face painted. I thought it was odd he wanted something like that done…so Yosh brought him back into the park and got his face done….

I was SHOCKED that he picked that. Seriously a FULL face painting (costed $18!!!)…of a BLUE triceratops?!? Really Owen? That was very unusual of him to want something like that…but it was cute. Made me giggle…and he seriously LOVED it! He begged to keep it all night…so we did…and he cried when he woke up the next morning to see it all over the towel I had laid over his pillow! He told me next time he wants it done again! (oh dear!)

We will be going back there forsure!!! And Owen has informed me that we’ll be staying at the LEGOLAND Hotel! lol Smart kid!