Santa Cruz

Under the Boardwalk, down by the sea, on a blanket with my babies is where I'll be!

Hello, Summer!

Our first trip of the summer took us to Monterey and Santa Cruz. We went with some close friends and had a ball. It started off with an exciting stay in a hotel. The kids thought this was the coolest thing and kept on asking if we were living there from now on.


Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey, CA! It was filled with fun things for the kids. Anyone who has children of all ages, this is the park for you. It has everything from a huge train to play on to roller slides! I had a blast seeing the kids have a ball. Such a great way to kick off the summer!





This slide was different and fun!!

The fun these two have is priceless!

Love to go fast and feel the wind in my hair!

The biggest hit of the day was this roller slide that all the kids and adults had to ride at least once. The kids went up and down so many times! The parents still have the sore bums. Oh, to be young and never hurt when you go down this kind of obstacle course!

The McD's having a ball!




Can't wait for the next family get away!

Blue Marlins!

What a day! I was so nervous and excited to see the kids in their first official swim meet that took place at Hagen! I didn't really know what to expect, but was anxious to see how they did in a race sort of setting. I didn't have Sean to help out which was at times stressful since I had a toddler, but overall it went really well. Julianna raced first and I had no idea how she was going to react and frankly I don't think she did either. She jumped in and instantly freaked herself out. I was at the other end and my heart went out to her. Her and I are so similar when it comes to trying these new things out. I sometimes just want to give up when it gets hard and to see her crying all by herself in the water and me not wanting to take her out and go home. A coach went in after her and she looked ahead and saw me. I looked right in her eyes and shouted that she can do it and to push forward. She responded quickly and finished the rest of the way. I was so proud of her pushing her own limits and my heart was full of pride for not giving up. She has matured and I am so excited to see how this whole experience made her a little more mature. She had to race 2 more times after that and it took some bribing with Target dollar bins and ice cream to get her even in the water, but she did it and I was so happy for her. She is turning out to be amazing and I am happy to call her daughter.
Now, Elijah was made for this. In just the short time he has been swimming, he did so well. Not phased at all with the races, he did not stop for anything on his freestyle. He had great form and I am confident he is just going to get better. He has played some other sports but this was truly exciting. He was so impressive and I feel that there is a bright future in the Blue Marlins for my boy!
I didn't think this Swim life was going to be for me, but I got the fever of the Blue Marlins!

How to Save a Life!

I have heard some parents say that the biggest payoff they have as parents is when there most difficult children have a breakthrough and start rising to the occasion. As some know, I have gone through it all with my middle daughter. It has been a roller coaster of mixed emotion as I struggle to find a happy medium with my energetic, strongly independent, adventurous daughter. We battle daily of little things, whether it be she wears crocks that I know she won't be able to walk in for 10 minutes to whether she is the first to drink water before her brother before they go to sleep. It can be almost anything. I knew I had to find something for her to do; an activity or sport to get her to feel good about herself. Well, I have found it. My little girl is a swimmer! I put Elijah on the local swim team thinking it would be a good sport for him since he had no fear of the water and he would excel at it which he has, but I had no idea that while he was going everyday to the pool, Julianna would ask me everyday if she can do it too. I had my reservations because I have put her in things before such as dance and she would show alot of interest at first, but then the candle would burn out after the 2nd day. So, I assumed that the same would manifest and it was too much money to have that be the case. So, we went on and still she was persistent to swim. I asked Elijah's coach if Julianna could sit in for a week to see if she would still want to do it without paying. That was it. Her first day she was the best listener of the group ( which if you know anything about my little girl, she struggles with that quite a bit) and was swimming like she had been for months. I was dumbstruck and still remain that everyday I see her crush all the expectations. The best thing is that the attitude that she has shown in swimming has trickled into home life. She is showing me that she is more confident and happy. She is becoming a great helper around the house by fixing breakfast for her brother and baby sister. She tells me she loves me 20 times a day if not more. I feel strongly that if you put a child in sports, whatever if be, it does wonders for them! Swimming has been a time sucker, but I am so thrilled to see my little girl find herself and I am liking what I see!

Go, Fight ,Swim!

Got the kids on the Swim Team! Bring it!!