.:Staycation 2011:.

Usually, our family heads up to Sunriver, OR for our annual summer vacation. This year, we decided to for-go Sunriver and do a Staycation at my parent's house so that everyone could be there.

My parents have a big house that fits all of us and our kids, has a pool, horses, and 4-wheelers, so needless to say, we weren't wanting for much while vacationing there.

We kept plenty busy the whole time we were there, so be forewarned that this will be picture heavy. More fun to see pictures than read my ramblings anyway, right?

Although our girls aren't really car sleepers, for longer than 30 minutes at a time anyway, we decided to leave in the early morning hours and see if our girls would sleep for a bit of the drive. We ended up leaving at 4:45 a.m. Did they sleep? Nope, not for the first hour at least! But they were definitely happy - we couldn't have asked for better on the drive!

The mighty travelers, with their animals, blankets, and movies - we were good to go! PS - Can I just say how fantastic it was traveling with our van? We were able to load up everything and fit so comfortably!

When we got there, it was immediately into the swimming pool! Reece was anxious to use her new Barbie life jacket. My parents have an inflatable slide, and she loved going down it into Daddy's arms!

The next day, Grandma took all the grandkids out for a ride on Rio. Reece did a great job being up there by herself, and it was cute to see Rio nuzzling her when Reece 'thanked' her for the ride by petting her afterwards.

She was not happy when she had to get off!

Later that nite, Gramzee and Grandpa Paul treated the kids to snow cones.

Let's just take a minute and look at the two card tables filled with snacks for the week. Yep, we went through most of it. No one can say we didn't eat well!

Sunday evening, my dad did his usual marriage maintenance class for all of the adults once the kiddos were in bed. This has become a tradition for us each year, and I think it's so great to have some reminders of where we're at and where we'd like to be at in our relationships. It was fabulous as usual, and I think we all walked away feeling anxious to make some new commitments.

Along with the class, my dad did a little Fourth of July trivia quiz. I of course, failed miserably! Josh and Jefferson tied, though! I have a smart hubby, what can I say?

After both of those things, we headed out to have a fire and s'mores.

We had quite the array of s'mores options!

We were there over the Fourth of July, so that meant lots of fun festivities! First we headed down to the local parade. The kids all got a little flag to wave.

Sometimes we call Remi and Hudson the twins - with their red hair and being so close in age, they could be!

After that, we headed home for a burger bar, and to watch the PStew fireworks show! He let each of the kids take turns picking out which firework to light off. They thought they were pretty cool.

After our personal fireworks show, we headed out to watch the town's big fireworks. We had let Remi take a nap before we went, and both girls were happy and loved it!

Remi started walking while we were there! This is pretty much my new view of her - walking away from me!

We headed downtown to take a ride on the trolley. It's always neat to see all of the historic buildings.

After riding the trolley, we went to the park to feed the ducks,

and ride the John Deer around.

There were also just down times at home, blowing bubbles and playing with chalk outside!

One nite we got sitters and all of the adults went out for a lovely, kid free dinner at the local steak house. To say we all enjoyed ourselves is an understatement!

About 20 minutes away from my parent's house is this little community of trains, with over 35 miles of tracks. My parents know a guy in the stake who is involved with it, so we were able to head up for a relaxing morning enjoying the ride.

It was so pleasant just to ride around and look at all of the quirky displays.

About half way through, there is a little stop point where we were able to get out and walk around, use the bathroom, and have a snack.

One afternoon, the ladies headed out for our 'favorite things' lunch. Each of us brought one of our favorite things for all the others and we took turns sharing and giving. It was so much fun, and a great new tradition!

Alli - sixlets (still working on my bag!)

Nikki - wrinkle release spray

Sharon - swedish fish and fun cocktail ring

Dani - spatula, brownie mix, and recipe

Me - pocketwatch charm with family birthstones

Mom - super pretty necklaces that you can switch the charms in and out of

While we were there, there was obviously a lot of time spent here.

It was sooooo nice being able to put kids down for naps, but still be able to get outside and enjoy the pool.

Two of the cutest girls I know!

My mom wanted to get a picture of all the kids in jeans and plaid shirts - a western feel. I think it's pretty amazing that we got this good of a shot! Don't they look so cute! This picture will be outdated in October, and then again in December - we can hardly keep up!

We started another fun tradition for the ladies - at least I hope it's going to be a tradition! We headed to the spa for facials and pedicures. I'd never had a facial before, and now I basically believe that I should be having one once a week. And you can never go wrong with a pedicure!

(Yes, we all look a little.....rough. We decided to forgo makeup since we were having facials!)

Of course, we needed to let the kids roast marshmallows one day, too, since they missed out when the adults did it.

I think they liked it!

As I said above, we ate well while we were there. My dad got a new Traeger grill, and oh.my.goodness. We had turkey and prime rib from that thing, and it was some of the best things I've ever eaten! We also had a seafood fest nite. We just wrapped the table with paper, and went at it!

Crab legs, coconut shrimp, scallops - it was heavenly. Well, for most of us. Josh just ate bread and veggies. :)

This picture of Remi is from our last day there. I guess she was all tuckered out from all of the fun! (That, or the 5:30 a.m. wake up time she decided to set for all of us while we were there.)

It was just a fabulous week, and it went by way too quickly - I don't think we even got to everything we had planned to do!

Thanks for a fantastic week Mom and Dad! We are so spoiled!

Who's up for two weeks next summer?

.:Triple Threat:.

This entire pregnancy, I've once again thought that we were having a little boy.

And once again, I was wrong.

Reece and Remi are getting a little SISTER!

I had a few moments a few weeks ago where I thought she was a girl, but then these past few days I was just sure she was a boy. But I woke up this morning and started getting the girly vibes again. It took awhile for the tech to get a good shot of her goodies, but throughout the ultrasound I was pretty sure that I could tell it was a girl.

(Foot)

Reece was totally right! I asked her multiple times, asking differently each time whether it was a girl baby or boy baby, and each time she was adamant that it was a girl baby!

(Spine)

This little lady hasn't been very active until the past few days. And she sure was active during the ultrasound today! She was kicking and punching and fighting back every time the tech poked at her to try to get her to move.

(Looking straight on)

She was being extremely difficult, and was either curled up in a little ball, or had her back arched, as you can see in the picture below.

She kept opening and closing her mouth during the ultrasound. In the picture below, you can actually see her tongue! I think it looks like she is laughing at us. We may be in trouble having these three little gals in a row!

There was one little hiccup. Apparently her bowel looked a little off color. This could be an indicator of nothing - just a weird, off color for whatever reason. Or it could be an indicator of cystic fibrosis, down syndrome, or some other things. I didn't have the screening at the beginning of this pregnancy. I'll go back in 4 weeks to have a repeat ultrasound and see if the discoloration is still there and requires further testing or not.

(Apparently it's called Echogenic Bowel. You can read more about it here. In earlier ultrasounds, there was some blood showing up, so maybe baby just swallowed some?)

(Profile and arm)

The doctor was very clear that it looked very mild, and his gut feeling was that it was absolutely nothing. He said he just wanted to keep a balance of being on the safe side versus starting a barrage of tests without knowing if there was really a cause for concern. I'm hoping it will just be nothing, and we'll just be in for a fun little show seeing our little gal again.

(Fist - she was definitely using it the entire ultrasound!)

Aside from that, she looks absolutely perfect! I know we are going to love having three little girls, and I'm just in love with her already!

Let the name game begin!

.:Warm Weather Fun:.

It's taken us awhile to get our weather to summer weather, but we were lucky to squeeze out a couple of warm days back in April and May.

We took advantage of those rare days by going to the zoo! We have a pass, and decided to go with my friends, Sarah and Stacy, and their kiddos one day.

The kids had a great time seeing the animals,

and of course, riding the merry go round.

One day we headed out to Gardner Village. This was mostly so that Sarah and I could go to the fabric and bead stores, but luckily, the kids were content to be dragged around since they got to feed the ducks at the end of it.

This week we went down to Thanksgiving Point to go to Farm Country with Britney and her boys. Reece and Luke had a great time feeding the cows.

There were lots of other animals, and a little 'jail' for the kids to play in.

Reece also rode a pony for the first time, and threw a FIT when I took her off. Good to know she's not afraid!

Poor little Rem gets stuck in the stroller a lot. She's close to walking, so hopefully she'll be easier to get out more soon!

We've also made it to the pool once already, but no pictures to show for it! Remi likes to relax in the floatie, and Reece loves kicking her legs while Josh floats her around the pool. I'm sure we'll be enjoying lots more trips to the pool now that the weather is better!

We also go to the dollar movies every week. It's a bunch of moms, kids, and daycamp kids, so no one cares if it's a little noisy and wild in there. So far, the girls have been amazing at the movies. It's a fun and cheap way to get out of the house!

Other than that, I just spend my days at home looking at these two beautiful faces.

Pretty much the best job in the world, if you ask me.

.:Look Mom!:.

Right after I heard those words the other day, this is what I turned around to see.

It's clean. And it was hanging up to dry. Looks like the perfect accessory, right?