We went...we vacationed...we took pictures...

910 of them to be exact! I am in the process of uploading them and it is taking some time. I think the best way to chronicle our vacation is to break it up into adventures! So keep your eyes posted for multiple "vacation" entries because we had a ton of adventures (trust me)!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Six years ago today Danny and I sweat our asses off while sharing vows with one another.

Today we spent the day hanging out with Maya, Fin, Mel, Britt and Odin in Fargo! It was much cooler...just fyi!

We survived the journey to Seattle, the flight to MN and the journey up to Fargo. It has been quite relaxing and wonderful to hang out with the McThors world fam! We even got to see Monk, Sue, Quinn and Marina tonight for supper.

Tomorrow morning we will head over to Concordia and look around (perhaps stop by the bookstore) and then have some lunch before heading out to head down to Owatonna.

I have some pictures to post and hopefully I will get to that in the next couple of days down at mom's house.

Hitting the road...

for our next big adventure! Two kids on an airplane...what in the world were we thinking!

Today we are driving to Seattle with a brief stop in Portland to have lunch with Lindsey and Ben. Supper with the Thomas grandparents and sleeping at Auntie Kate's house. Then tomorrow morning we get up at the butt crack of dawn and go to the airport (thanks Auntie Kate) and head to MN. We are spending Saturday and Sunday nights with Mel, Britt and Odin in Fargo! We haven't seen them for nearly a year so it will be great to catch up! Then on Monday we will head down to O-what-a-town to see the Wesely/Kuchenbecker clans!

I hope to update while we are gone and I imagine it will be much easier now that mom has her fancy internet hooked up! :)

And on that note...we are off like a cow kite!

Maya honors Great Grandma Wesely

(or something along those lines)

I'm not sure who (because it's not Danny or I) uses the term "babe" but Maya has taken to calling Finley babe. Not baby or baby sister...just babe. Frequently heard phrases include: "Hey babe", "What's wrong babe", "Don't cry babe", "I wanna hold babe". As many of you know, Babe is what Grandma Wesely goes by to most people who know her. It confuses my brain...is she talking about Grandma or Fin?!? Pretty soon the two "Babes" will meet!

still finding sand

howdy...
checking in after our wonderful trip to the ocean!
Maya and i had a blast playing in the waves and flying kites.
i got to spend a lot of time holding Fin and getting lost in her eyes...
We had lots of laughs and good food and playtime with Kevin and Leah and Tuesday.
Jennifer and i got to enjoy a few extra moments of rest and relaxation together when the girls were both sleeping or when one or the other of them were being held/entertained by Kevin, Leah, or Nana (Kevin's mom came along for extra hands)

I keep finding little piles of sand all over the house!

We managed to only bring home two small rocks!
(I could usually bring about 5 times this many treasures on my own let alone with Maya's help).
I think we were more preoccupied with running around than collecting treasures.

One of the highlights of the trip, for me, was at one point in the afternoon Maya and I had a solo adventure in town - we were driving and i put a Peter Paul and Mary CD on in the car - thinking she might dig it ( I am working on a show that may use some folk music from the early 60's)...

well after about one and a half songs she was like - "daddy, can you turn this off? I want to rock..."

I was like "yeah sure," and the only rocky thing i had in the car was the New Pornographers album Twin Cinema - I put it in and she instantly started banging her head.

I asked, "How's this?" "This is better." My daughter is a rocker. i was beaming with pride!

After the second song she said - I like the girl singers better - the boys are too noisy - this is a girl who knows how to make both her parents proud!

Wow...

Hats off to parents who stay at home with more than one child while maintaining their sanity! Whew!

So...our trip to the coast was wonderful. We have 300+ pictures so I will try and post a few here and perhaps set up a link for those of you that want to view the others.

We spent lots of time doing this...

We had several rides on this...


There was time for snuggles...


We flew kites...


And played in the sand (glamorously of course)...


Finley spent a lot of time in the Moby wrap getting snuggled around the beach. She was a trooper about the whole trip! We are seeing a lot of smiles and starting to hear coos and little beautiful noises. She seems to be getting into a rhythm at night as well, sleeping from 9pm-2am and then again until 7am or so. She wakes up long enough to nurse and get her diaper changed and then falls quickly back to sleep.

Tomorrow we get back the regular grind...well, Maya does. Danny worked today (thus, my solo mission). I, however, am still "chilling" and getting my hair done! Yippee...this is much needed. Tomorrow night we have a birthday party for one of Maya's classmates. Wednesday we don't have anything (I think). Thursday is a birth to three social at the swimming pool. Friday we head up to Seattle to start the beginning of our MN adventure! Sounds a bit crazy doesn't it!

Home alone...

with 2 kids.
If I survive the day I will post stories and pics of our adventures at the beach!