Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Summer Part II

September 15, 2017

We had such a great summer! I am overwhelmed with happiness looking through photos of all the fun we've had the past few weeks. I still have some catching up to do from my earlier summer post, so I'll work my way backwards...

     
First Day of School
August 14, 2017
(Well...technically this was Kinley's 2nd day of school. She wasn't cooperative on her first day). 

Devyn is coming to school with me now for half-day preschool. She loves it! I think she's the bossy kid in class. I can't imagine where she gets that from!?! Her favorite things at school are playing dress-up and going to music class because she gets to play instruments! 

Kinley is attending the same preschool class she was in last year, at the elementary school just up the street from us. She rides the bus there every day, which makes her sisters very jealous! She likes going to school and comes home singing all the songs she learns there.

 
Our last big adventure for the summer was our first real family vacation...to the beach! The kids had never been to the ocean, so we took them to San Diego for a few days. The Hinton family and Marsh Grandparents were along for the chaos, I mean...trip! 

We spent the first day at the beach! As with most new experiences, I never let my hopes get too high because you never know how long it will be before the meltdowns begin or patience runs out. To my pleasant surprise...it was an AMAZING day! We were literally there all day and everyone was happy and had a great time! Well, we did manage to lose Brylee within the first few minutes of arriving, but after a few minutes of panic, the rest of the day went great! Devyn absolutely loved the ocean! She spent the day jumping in the waves, digging in the sand, and crawling around like a crab. Brylee and Ellie weren't such big fans of the water, but they were thrilled just to walk up and down the beach and play. Kinley wasn't thrilled that she was covered from head to toe in sand the entire day, but had a blast anyway!
      
            "There's sand in my mouth." -Kinley                    "This is the best day EVER!" -Devyn

Ellie the beach bum!

This is as close as Brylee wanted to get to the water. 

Grampy and Ellie

Digging her way to China???

As close as I get to a workout.
This is a MUST on every trip to the beach, right?

Our second day was spent at the San Diego Zoo. It was way too hot and humid for our tastes, but we powered through and had a great time anyway! The biggest hit of the day wasn't any of the animals...it was the bus tour ride around the park. Maybe we should have just stayed on that all day!

San Diego Zoo
Grammy and Ellie watching the elephants

         
             Enjoying the ride through the zoo.                            A monkey looking at a giraffe.
   
Grampy and the double-decker stroller. 

During our stay in San Diego we also spent some time at the Children's Museum downtown and even had a bonfire on the beach at sunset...until the lifeguards made us put it out because we didn't have a proper fire pit. Devyn keeps asking when we're going on vacation again. I'm wondering the same thing myself!


Earlier this summer we took our first camping trip to Utah with the Hinton family. Daddy got to do a little fishing....or maybe I should say an attempt to fish:-) The girls took their first boat ride, played in the lake, had their first campfire, roasted marshmallows, and had a fantastic time getting incredibly dirty!
 
Ashley looks like she has this under control! I should have just relaxed on the beach 
and let her take the 5 girls on the boat:-)

Daddy and the littles.

Devyn getting fishing lessons from Ashley.
      
                  Brylee loved the lake too!                      Kinley tried to throw EVERYTHING overboard.                                                                                                             Literally.

       
Boat selfies with Mommy! Brylee on left, Ellie on the right.

Rocks and water....all a girl needs to keep busy.
Kinley could have stayed in the lake all day.

Captain Jeremy (aka Cowboy Jeremy) with Brylee


And because I'm behind. Always. The annual NICU bathtub photos that I take around the girl's birthday:
Devyn Marie 
4 year-old princess (above). 
About 6 weeks old (below). She weighed a little over 5 pounds in this photo.

Kinley Grace 
4 years old (above) About 3 weeks old (below).  
Notice her leg is skinnier than Daddy's finger. She weighed about 3 pounds in this photo.


In case you couldn't tell already....almost all of our fun is spent with the Hintons! This picture is a perfect example! Hailey was kind enough to share her jeep!

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