Build-A-Bear

Today we took a trip to Build-A-Bear so Charlotte and Daddy could make a teddy. Charlotte picked a doggie out and was thrilled with running around the store.She didn't mind that the dog had no stuffing in it, she was happy with it the way it was!
Charlotte was obsessed with the heart beat sound hearts, she kept taking them out of the container and thought she was so cool because she would stand on her tippy toes and reach them!
It was our turn to make our doggie! Charlotte watched for a few minutes before running around the store again!
Once the dog had its filling, the girl gave it to Charlotte to give it a squeeze!


Before sewing it shut, we had to pick out a heart for him.
Charlotte thought these would be fun to throw on the floor.
Her and Daddy both gave the heart a kiss.
And then she put it inside her doggie.

She waited while he was sewn shut!
She was thrilled when he was done and she could continue carrying him around the store.
We picked out an American flag for him to carry in his hand.
Daddy recorded a message to Charlotte and now whenever she misses him she has her "Daddy Doggie" to squeeze!

Mandatory Retreat

A couple weeks ago, (totally not keeping up on this blog!) we had a mandatory retreat for Chris' work. Luckily they paid for us to spend the night at this great resort in San Diego and we took advantage! Abby and Chris had the little girls, and even thought it was in the 80's Abby was cold so they went in the hot tub!
The resort had 3 water slides! Charlotte acted very concerned every time they went down...
But she would get right out and head to the top again!
Charlotte decided that she was done with the pool/hot tub and sat on the chair and put her shoes on for about 15 minutes. She is determined!
We decided it was time to go back to the room and get ready for dinner so we got the kids changed out of their suits and gave them a snack while we packed up!

We had adjoining rooms with Abby and Shane, but our room wasn't ready so we went and hung out with them until it was! Charlotte was so happy just sitting on the bed with Syrus and Lilly and eating snacks!
Joe and Lisa's room wasn't ready yet either and they joined us. Joli and Syrus loved the curtains!
We finally all had our rooms and were ready for dinner! Lisa and Joe ended up with a suite with a separate living room and their own private yard! Grandma made the girls these adorable hawaiian dresses for the event! The kids were so excited to see each other again after our two weeks of leave!



Getting a group shot is always interesting!
In true fashion, all the guys decided that since it was a Hawaiian retreat, they would wear flannel shirts and hats....
Lynsie came up to the retreat and stayed with the kids so the adults could enjoy ourselves! They provided childcare but Charlotte and Lilly wouldn't last until midnight with strangers! She was amazing and had all the kids asleep by 9... we love her! We had a pretty good time, although we didn't attend any "mandatory" sessions that didn't include food... we all agree there is much less stress to sit by the pool and have cocktails!

Sorry...

...for the lack of blogging. Things have been crazy around here getting back into the swing of things! Charlotte has been sleeping a ton... like 14-16 hours a night, plus a nap! We decided she was growing, up until last night when she decided she wasn't going to sleep any more! Poor baby is getting more teeth and is just a big drooly mess! She literally was just pouring drool tonight. We changed her pajama top three times in an hour! Anyway, here are some pictures from our ride home from Big Sur. We stopped in Santa Barbara at the playground to get Charlotte's wiggles out. She wasn't too happy. We wished we stayed longer in Santa Barbara, it seemed awesome!

She briefly enjoyed the swings.

She didn't really like sitting on the dolphin...
...and she didn't like playing in the field. I think she had enough traveling! We stopped south of Santa Barbara for dinner at this place that had all outdoor seating with a huge sand box/pit with lots and lots of sand toys. We ate dinner while Charlotte happily played in the sand!
It was great to be home again. On Thursday we had music and Charlotte was very excited her Daddy was there! We had to wake her up for class (at 10:30)! She was still asleep from the night before. I think she had a lot of catching up to do!
Charlotte and her friend Anna like to jam out to the music. Anna is a great dancer!
Kissing girls as usual....

Big Sur Day 2 Evening

After playing by the river we went back and Charlotte had a nap. It was the first nap she had the whole trip in her pack and play! All the rest had been in the car! She slept for over 3 hours! When she woke up she was thrilled to see that she could go back to the basketball court. Here is a view of our cabin from the court! We stayed in the left part, the other side was another cabin.
We decided it would be fun to make a fire and cook hot dogs for dinner.
Chris didn't realize that there were fire pits, so when I suggested getting hot dogs and sausages from Whole Foods in San Francisco, he said no. So we had to go to the general store and get Ballpark Franks... ick. I am a hot dog snob. It was more for the experience.
Charlotte enjoyed the buns.

She also read Three Cups of Tea for Grammy.
After dinner we roasted marshmallows. Charlotte didn't understand that she couldn't swing the stick up and down. We lost a couple marshmallows in the fire. She didn't even want to eat them when we were done.
She just wanted to go to the playground!
We went and got soft ice cream at the general store and Charlotte got a lollypop. We went down by the river to eat them!


We walked back up and Charlotte of course had to stop at the bball court. Her friend Pauline was there and Charlotte cried and tried to chase after her when she went back to her camper to go to bed!
This was by far the most relaxing part of our trip and a great way to end our vacation!