So, this summer flew by. I can't believe it's already over and we're back to the grind!
Here are some glimpses of what we did...
We spent lots of time outside and just hanging out with family.
Linds and O are now best buddies. He asks for her all the time, I wish we could be closer!
Two of O's favorites, Linds and Tigger.
We went to the Beal Family Reunion. Some of the funnest times I remember as a kid with our cousins were at this reunion. We went almost every year and we loved it! I was so excited when I found out we would be there this year. O had so much fun!
Getting ready for the reunion at my Grandma's house.
We chose bubbles as the game we were in charge of. It didn't quite turn out how we were planning, but the kids still had fun and that's the point. :)
There's a little stream that we floated down a couple times. It was so fun, even though the water was a little chilly.
Sarah flew in Saturday morning and joined us. We were so excited to see her and her cute baby bump!
We went to Linds' T-ball games. They were so cute! O mostly liked playing in the ball diamond dirt.
Mike joined us back in Montpelier half-way through the summer, so we had to make him his favorite for his birthday: Rhubarb Pie!
We went to Bennington's Sesquicentennial Celebration with Grandma and Grandpa Fisher...
Don't they both make cute pioneers? O like Linds' bonnet.
Papa pushing O in a big boy swing for the first time!
At Montpelier's Sesquicentennial Celebration they had a train that you could ride and Oliver loved it so much that we rode it twice. First with Nana, Aunt Sarah, Linds, and Great Grandma Lindsay. Then we went back when Dad got off work so we could take him, too!
Lil' O and Linds finished the summer reading program at the Library. They each got a special certificate, some pencils, a book, a coupon for $2 in fines, and a water bottle. O carries his around all the time.
Linds and Oliver also put on a dance recital for us.
Lindsay's dance was called "The Cat" and Oliver's dance was called "The Dan."
They put up posters around the house a couple days before and everything!
My sister, mom, and I decided that since the men were working and couldn't get away, then we should take a trip with the kids. Where could be better for such a trip than Disneyland?!
So we planned it and off we went.
Tauna, Steve, Jess, Jess' friend, Clint, Michelle, and Addy all decided to join in and meet us there, which was so fun!
The kids were so great on the trip there and we made pretty great time. We stayed in San Diego for the first three nights. We went to Sea World, the beach, and the Mormon Battalion Museum.
The kids loved Sea World! O fell in love with a stuffed animal in EVERY SINGLE gift shop. It was so ridiculous, but so cute. I decided he would love the little sea animal play figures so that's what I let him get as a souvenir. His grandma is so sweet she got him the stuffed animal shark he fell in love with in the last gift shop. His Aunt Tauna got him and Linds t-shirts. It's one of his favorite t-shirts now, he always wants to wear the turtle shirt. :)
The day we planned on going to the beach it was overcast and looked like rain. We were so bummed, but it was the only day we could go so off we went. We met one of my mom's friends there and she showed us a good spot on the beach. We had so much fun! O was scared of the waves but loved the sand. He had a whole swim suit full of it by the time we got back!
Sunday morning we went for a nice walk along the beach and got some pictures, then we headed for some historical sites, the Mormon Battalion Museum, and the San Diego Temple. It was such a neat experience! We learned so much and the kids loved it! Everything at the museum is very interactive and interesting. The temple is so beautiful and has such a special spirit there, it was so nice to be able to stop and see it.
This is the perfect example of what a crazy girl Linds is. We love her so much!
Keeping up the smashed penny tradition.
At the Mormon Battalion Museum.
They got to pan for gold and then keep a couple pieces. Oliver put them in his pocket and they made it all the way out here to Louisiana.
Linds got new church shoes on our way to California and really wanted to wear them to the temple. We didn't want her feet to get too tired in them, so she wore regular shoes for most of the day, but insisted on changing into her special new shoes as soon as we got to the temple to walk around. It was so sweet, what a special girl she is!
These two pictures are the perfect example of how trying to get a picture with these two kids is. Either O isn't paying attention...
or Linds is being silly. The two crazies!
Our last day was Disneyland. We were so ready. Linds had been asking if it was Disneyland day every day since we got to California. We found a hotel in Anaheim the night before so we could be right there when the gates opened. We had our day all planned out. It was such an exhausting day, but so fun!
Linds was so excited to meet some princesses and we were nervous that the lines would be too long, but we were lucky to find the line really short as soon as we got in. She started off the day by meeting Ariel, Cinderella, and Snow White. She loved it and they were so cute with her!
Waiting in line to see the princesses.
One of Sarah's friends came over the night before we left to give us tips on going to Disneyland. While he was there he found out we had been looking everywhere for an Elsa dress for Linds to wear to Disneyland. She wanted to be Elsa so bad, but they were all sold out. His mom had been sewing some for his nieces, so he asked her if we could borrow it. They not only let us borrow it, but she finished it and hemmed it just to Lindsay's size that night and dropped it off to us about 10pm so we could take it with us at 5 the next morning! We didn't tell Linds until we pulled it out that morning in the hotel. She was so excited to be Elsa all day. All the princesses called her "Your Majesty" and pretended like she was Elsa, it was so awesome. She wore it almost the entire day!
O wasn't took keen on meeting the princesses. We tried to get him to say "hi" to Tink when we met her, but he wasn't sure about that either.
We went on several rides and they loved that, too. O especially loved the Casey Jr. Train ride. He smiled the whole time! Well, except for when we took this picture apparently...
We met Minnie and Mickey. Mickey's line was deceivingly short. It took about an hour to get through! It was only made worth it when we got in there and O LOVED Mickey! Somehow I made a major mom blunder though and didn't have the camera and there wasn't a camera guy in there, so all I have is a picture on my phone that I haven't figured how to get off of my relic yet. I've got work on that... He hugged Mickey and even gave him a kiss on the cheek, it was so cute!
One of the best parts of the day happened while we were on our way to another ride. We came up on Mary Poppins and her crew singing and dancing in the square. We stopped to watch for a few minutes and Linds was singing and dancing right along. She loves Mary Poppins, we had just watched the movie the week before we left. We were just pulling Linds away so we could get in line when Mary came up to her and took her into the circle to dance right along with her! The look on Lindsay's face was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip! It happens just 3 or 4 seconds into this video.
Afterward she took Linds by the arm and said, "Walk with me" and away they went. She walked and talked with Lindsay for a while and then had to go. It was so sweet! Mary is now officially one of Lindsay's very favorites and she's pretty sure she wants to be her for Halloween.
We had such a great day. I think both Lindsay and Oliver's favorite ride was "It's a Small World" they both couldn't stop smiling and laughing and pointing the whole time.
We headed toward home that night and got a good ways. We decided we wanted to try and see the Grand Canyon on the way home, so it took us a little longer than we were planning. We also got to see Route 66, which was really neat!
The Grand Canyon was incredible. I'm so glad we went to see it even though it took us so much longer to get home! I know we look horrid in the last couple pictures, but just imagine this: you drive 14 hrs in a car with a 2-yr-old and a 6-yr-old, you spend one day at Sea World, one day at the beach, one day site-seeing, then one very long day at Disneyland. You drive very late into the night, about 2am before you find a hotel and get to bed. Then you head for the Grand Canyon and home with said children. By this time the children are nap deprived and so antsy to be out of the car and home and so are you. That is how we were when we got to the Grand Canyon. So exhausted.
The trip was so fantastic though and I'm very glad we did it. It was an experience that we might never be able to do again as just the girls and Lil' O and I'll never forget it!
After Disneyland everything went by so fast. We went on a fishing outing and had a birthday party for Lil' O. I'll post pictures from that when I post about his birthday. Then the fair came and Oliver won his first ribbon for a painting he did. The summer was so busy, but a great time to spend with family!
Sorry for the long post, but I hope you enjoyed seeing what we did this summer!
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