Fire Alarms, Shark Scares, and Locked in a WalMart

We went on vacation last week.

It was fabulous!!!

We went to Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina (I'd REALLY like to move to Charleston and live there forever and ever. I loved-loved-loved it!)

Day 1
On our drive down to Myrtle Beach, all 10 hours of it, our sweet baby cried. and cried. and cried some more. Luckily Jayda watched movies and Russ and I drank yummy Sonic Burger drinks so we survived!

Day 2
First thing in the morning, Bella pulled the fire alarm at the resort. It had to be evacuated. The fire department came. It was hilarious. Or I should say NOW it is hilarious. At the time it was total crap. Mothers were running down the stairs holding their babies and workers were dropping their duties to flee. As we drove away from the hotel we passed the fire truck. Russ just looked straight ahead and said "just act natural." Good times.

Our time in Myrtle Beach was filled with relaxing beach trips and fun at the kiddie pool at the hotel. Jayda had a FABULOUS time and although I thought the hotel was pretty ghetto...Jayda thought it was the coolest place ever so we were all happy!

In the evening we went and saw some exotic animals. I was able to cross an item off my bucket list and play with a monkey! We all got to hold the monkey and I got to hold a baby tiger. It was pretty great. I was nervous that one of my children would get attacked (I've seen how some of those home videos end!!), but the little critters were as sweet as pie!

Day 3
As we were making breakfast in the morning (our hotel had a small kitchen) Bella was playing with Russ' phone. I heard her talking as she normally does...but this time I heard someone talking back. She'd called 911. Really? Two times in two days? Parents of the year!

We went to the beach mid-day and were playing in the water when we heard the life guard blow her whistle (side bar...the life guards were hotter than the chicks from Baywatch. it was disgusting. It made me want to add "acquire eating disorder" to my to-do list! they were like gorgeous freaks of nature...not that my mom bathing suit isn't sexy!) okay...back to the whistle...there were SHARKS! Everyone had to get out of the water. Or I guess I should say everyone in a 10 yard radius had to be evacuated, but they let people further away stay in and play in the waves. Apparently sharks can't swim more than a few yards?? Needless to say...we left.

That night there was an amazing storm that had the coolest lightning bolts and deafening thunder...it provided us with quite a show from our balcony!

Day 4
We got up early to go to the beach one last time and then headed to Charleston. The baby cried almost the entire 2.5 hr drive...again. We had sonic burger drinks...again. It was a tad bit of deja vu.

Once we got to our hotel (and after switching rooms so we could have two connecting rooms instead of being crammed into one) we ate at the famous Hymans Seafood Restaurant. It was a recommendation from some friends...and it was AMAZING! I had to fight Jayda for the crab dip! So yummy!

We also walked down the historic district and drooled over the old mansions. If you've never been...GO! (but do it without the kids. Kids kinda suck in Charleston).

Day 5
On Wednesday we visited the USS Yorktown which was an air craft carrier throughout WWII and played a major role in several battles. We got to take a cool tour of the ship and Russ was in heaven.

We went to a plantation, but didn't get to see much of it. Although we tried to take the house tour, see the slave quarters, and go on a carriage ride...the kiddos were just too hot and tired and wouldn't cooperate. So we left and went to lunch.

We waited in line for an hour to eat at the famous Jestines! It was worth the wait. If you go...just order the fried chicken and don't waste your time on anything else. It was pretty delicious.

We ended the day with a horse drawn carriage tour around the historic part of Charleston. I should say I ended the day on a horse drawn carriage. Poor Russ had to walk beside the darn thing carrying our crying baby.

Day 6
We left to drive home (13.5 freaking hours) and realized we had to stop to buy some diapers. We stopped at a Walmart. 5 minutes into our shopping all the lights went off in the entire store. It the darkness we could hear employees telling all customers to move to the front of the store. We walked up front and realized that since the power went out...the doors were all locked and we were stuck inside. Although it only lasted about 10 minutes, it was quite hilarious to see some of the people get panicky and start to claw and pull at the doors. Plus, it was a nice cake topper to our vacation!


Although we had a few bumps in the road and a few "oy veys" over our kids...the vacation was amazing. I will always picture Russ playing with his girls in the water. I'll always remember holding Jayda on my lap while the waves rolled over our legs. I'll always remember Bella pulling the fire alarm and the look that Russ and I gave each other. The memories will be sweet. We had a great time and cannot wait for our next adventure!

Here's to trouble making kids, worn out parents, over priced hotels, 25 pee stops, and some of my favorite family memories to date.

Oh and god bless my mom and dad who took us on family vacations before the time of i-pods and dvd players. You are a much stronger breed of parents. I'm not sure how you managed to survive let alone provide us with so much fun and memories! I would have slit my throat.

VIVA VACATIONS!

This is what your baby looks like when you forget to lock the

bottom buckle on your long drive to South Carolina.

This is what your kid looks like when she's bored out of her mind.

This was probably my favorite part of the trip! I'd really like to buy a monkey. I know they throw poop and everything...but I'm pretty sure it'd be worth it.

MYRTLE BEACH!

Walking along the historic part of Charleston, South Carolina. Can you believe I didn't take any pictures of the homes there? I'm such a loser. I was drooling the entire time-the homes are BEAUTIFUL. I did, however, grab a quick snapshot of my buggers alseep in the buggy. This was the only quite time Russ and I had for 5 straight days. It was magnificant babe...very romantic!

This was on the air craft carrier. Russ was really in his element. I, on the other hand, would have preferred to be shopping, or driving, or sleeping, or...that's why he calls me a "Commie" (as in Communist. I prefer Shopertunist).Family pic at the plantation.Here I am trying to act happy. I'd wanted to go to a cool plantation for ages, but didn't get to see much of it becuase of the little energy-suckers with me in the below picture. Man those critters are HIGH MAITENANCE (yes dear, I know they're just like me).

Viva Vacations!!

Fact or Fake: My Brother's a Star??

My baby brother, Austin (or Daaustin as Jayda has always called him), is one of the leads on a spankin' new tv show. It's called Fact or Faked and is on the Syfy Network. It airs on Thursday, July 15th at 10:00pm. WATCH IT!!

It's gonna be super cool.

Plus, if ratings are good and it gets picked up for a second season than I'm gonna make him buy me a house, or a car, or at least a burger.

Click here to go to the shows website, see Austin's bio, look at pics from the show...and watch the TV COMMERCIAL!

Bella - 15 Months

My sweet Bella Mae. You are now 15 months old and are a complete JOY. You are a big bundle of energy and keep me on my toes non stop. Today I found you eating old cake out of the trash can (and the award for mother of the year goes to...), trying to ride our small, 13-year old, one-eyed dog like a pony, and body slamming your sister as she was laying on the floor reading. Your laugh is infectious, your smile is contagious, and your cuddles are to die for. You are a smushy little thing that just makes me melt. I just adore you.

You currently weigh 22.5 lbs (50th percentile)

You are 32 inches long (90th percentile)

Your head is big (97th percentile)

You eat anything and everything you can get your hands on and LOVE it all (with the exception of Milk...which you detest). You love to dance (you often can be found "raising the roof") and peek a boo is still your favorite.

You're such a little muffin. We love you!

The Family - June 2010

I love this man. I love these girls. What a good life.

1/4 of a year in one post. Kinda ridiculous.

Wowzers...it's been quite a while since I've blogged! So, I am about to go crazy nutty with picture overload so that I can remember what our family did these past few months. Nothing too exciting, but filled with a lot of love and smiles that I just don't want to forget.

Although I have no pictures, I did want to mention that we all flew to California for a few weeks and spent mothers day in Huntington Beach. We each got to see our sweet mama's and LOVED being around family. Russ and I even had an uber romantic overnight trip to San Diego (thanks mom and dad for babysitting) which was great. However, we're lame and didn't take our camera to So Cal...so we've got nothing to show from our great trip. Which is super sad because Jayda got to go to Knotts Berry Farm and her Uncles (Dallas and Austin) took her to Disneyland....those would have been some great pics!

So...without further ado, I bring you March, April, May, and June:

MARCH

The sweet missionaries from our church came over and gave us some long hours of service. These two guys spent an entire day raking and clearing out leaves (and the occasional snake) so that we could make our backyard clean, safe, and extra cool for my kiddos. It's soooo nice to have a great big, gated back yard where Jayda can go and run and play...especially when I'm on conference calls and I need it quiet! Elder Rothman and Elder Perkins are THE BEST and are super duper appreciated for all they do. Can you believe good looking, sweet, funny, and awesome 19 year olds give up two years of their lives to serve others? The world is a much better place because of them!

My mom and I got in on the action too. We rented a Uhal truck and took a few tons of leaves and backyard crap to the dump. It felt sooo good to get our yard all nice and summer ready! Russ worked for days before, the big clean day, and days after making sure the yard was perfect for Jayda. What a good hubby/daddy. The big clean helped prepare the yard for this new addition!

As you can see below - Jayda couldn't even wait for Russ to put the thing together before she climbed on! I found this playset on craigslist for $150! it was beyond a nightmare bringing it home (rental trucks, a bunch of neighbors risking life and limb to get it over our gate), but it was better than buying one for $1000 new and it has been FANTASTIC to have!

and here's the sweet garden that Grammy made for Jayda. This picture does NOT do it justice. It's a super cute little place for Jayda to call her own. She eats her lunch out there on her little table and likes to get dressed up for tea parties she has with her stuffed animal friends. Sooo cute!March ended with sweet Bella having Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. It was gross and painful for the sweet baby. She had it for about a week. Was healthy for about a week...and then got croup. This little girl seems to be sick quite a lot. The doctors say its because she was two months early and that preemies get sick more. Poor pumpkin!

APRIL

We had a great Easter filled with picnics and Easter egg hunts with friends.

Bella learned to give kisses.

Grammy got to join us and had this little one stealing her food all day...or being attached to her hip like a 5th appendage.

I love this picture! All her friends are so cute and special. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how Jayda is getting ready to run and go find her eggs. She really enjoyed herself. Thanks to Grandma Axtell for her cool, personalized Easter Basket. She's used it for two years now and will use it for every Easter to come. She adores it!

Here is Jayda playing with her new Lakers bunny that Papa sent. It's kinda an Easter tradition. Nothing says "Christ is the reason for the season" like a stuffed bunny wearing a Lakers shirt.

Bella got some new rainboots from my dear friend Suzanne and felt so special wearing them on Easter morning. Because again, nothing really says "Christ was resurrected for us to live again" quite like Paul Frank rain boots.

All joking aside, we had a great Easter Sunday. We went and had a picnic in downtown DC and saw the Cherry Blossoms (of course I forgot my camera) and had a really nice weekend sharing stores of Christ death, resurrection, and love for us. We are all so grateful that we can live together forever as a family thanks to Christ's atonement and sacrifices.

We call Bella "Destructo" It's a good nick name. She likes to destroy things. She's super cute when she does it, but its still a pain in my butt!

Silly me...I went pee. I was gone for about 30 seconds (prior to becoming a mommy I had no idea a human could pee as fast as I can now accomplish that task) and this is what I came back to.

As you can see in the other picture...Jayda was also shocked at the damage done in such a short period of time.

Jayda learned how to dance like a country star (according to her).

Bella's a climber. She scales everything. She's also climbed pretty high on the "moms annoyed that you won't sit still scale." She can now reach the knobs on the over and stove. I LOVE trying to cook dinner and realizing that Bella either burnt the beans or turned the water off so we can't eat our rice! She swings from the door handle on the oven and the dishwasher. She stands at the gates we use to contain her and yells. She's a handful.

Jayda had a "Special Person Tea" at her preschool. Her daddy took the day off work so he could go and be her special guest. It just melted my heart to see him walk out the door with a little bouquet of flowers for his little Gracie. As you can see by her smile and her bright eyes...it melted her heart too.

This is Christopher. He is Jayda's first crush. She talks about him all the time and when she picks what she's going to wear in the morning she says "oh, Christopher will like this shirt" (like Christopher gives a crud about Princess Tiana). Funny story - Jayda was talking about Christopher at dinner one night. Russ started asking questions like "does he have a job?" "What are his intentions?" He was being funny. She was being serious. About a month after that dinner conversation Jayda went to have a playdate at Christopher's house. When I go to pick her up, Christopher's mom says to me "Jayda says that her daddy doesn't like Christopher and that her daddy thinks my son is a punk." AWKWARD! I really wish Russ could have picked her up and tried to get himself out of that one...instead I was left standing in the lady's entry way trying to explain my hubby's sense of humor. Good times.

Here Jayda is selecting the fine delicates served at the tea
(jello jigglers and cookies) to serve to her daddy.

Grammy went home a few days before this picture was taken.

Jayda, since she can't talk to her for hours and hours in person,
does the second best thing and talks Grammy's ear off on the phone. One conversation they had clocked in at 41 minutes. What can you talk about with a 4 year old for 41 minutes straight? Those two are pretty close.

Now my second offspring is starting to take to Grammy too. In fact, there were many, many times here and in California where she would be in Grammy's arms and when I would try to take her away she would slam her head down on Grammys shoulder and just lay there holding onto Grams shirt to make sure I didn't take her. It's a bit hurtful, but my mom was LOVING it! My mother would give me looks with wicked little smiles that clearly said "nah nah."

MAY

Have I mentioned she's a climber?

I wake up to giggles and squeals of delight. I go into Bella's room and find these two munchkins playing and loving on each other. Jayda climbed right in with her sissy as soon as she heard her at 6:30am. It was early...but too cute. They just melt my heart.

Some good sprinkler fun with friends on our front lawn.

JUNE

Russ and I started P90X on June 1st. It is a 90 day fitness program. It's gonna get Russ muscle ripped and hopefully my butt won't touch the back of my knees, my back rolls won't make people crave muffins, and my arms won't wave hello or goodbye longer than my hand does. We took our pictures to document our weight loss...but there's no way I am sharing those. Ever.

I'm pretty sure Russ gets more emotional seeing her in this Lakers dress
than he will on her babtisim day or in her wedding gown.

We think Bella may be a Celtics fan!

(Which could easily get her kicked out of the house if Russ had his way)

Favorite Jayda Saying for the past few month:

Cori: "Jayda put your breakfast dishes away in the sink."

Jayda: "why mom?"

Cori: "because that is one of your chores you're responsible for."

Jayda: "Mom, chores are so passe. I don't want to do them."

Cori: said nothing but gave her a shocked look.

Jayda: "oh, passe is French for "over."

----

Yes, I know what passe means. That's not why I was giving her that loook. Thanks Pinkalicious book. I appreciate it.

This concludes our 5 hour update. Thanks for reading!