Category Archives: SUNSHINE

C K Say I Do!

The entire reason we went to Hawaii was because my sister was getting married there! I’ve been wishing/hoping a family member or close friend would have a destination wedding for quite some time because DUH! Automatic vacation!

The wedding was beautiful and I hope it was everything my sister and her husband had hoped it would be.

I originally had about 20 photos of their day to share in this post, then I really thought about it and even though I took the photos, even though they’re living in my computer and even though I edited a bunch of them, they aren’t really mine to share, ya know?

But the wedding and the day was too fantastic not to share so I figured if I’m in the photo or if my kids are in the photo, they’re fair game. So here’s a few shots from my sister’s Hawaiian wedding…

The Wedding Location

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The Rings!
{This one might break my rules, but I kind of love this one}rings

Sisters helping the bride.
{This pretty much sums up our personalities…K1 The proper one. K2 The poser. K3 The goof}
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Rylee as one of the flower girls.
{My sister chose not to have a wedding party so she had all of the nieces & friends’ kids as the flower girls/ring bearers. It was very sweet.}DSC_0696

A Dad and his Baby.DSC_0090
Ry adores her Auntie.DSC_0093

Playing in the rose petals waiting to head to the reception.DSC_0132

K2 and K3
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My sister is married!!
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Sisters!
{And two of my best friends}

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Our Family of Four!family

Sis, if you’re reading this {and I know you are} you were a beautiful bride. You will make a wonderful wife and someday an amazing mother. Thank you for letting me be a part of your big day. I’m so happy that I can call you my sister and my friend. I love you.

Oh, and P.S. I’m SO glad you decided to do this! ;-)

 

Hawaii

We spent months anticipating our trip to Hawaii for my sister’s wedding.

Then we blinked and it was over.

On one hand, it was amazing. On the other, it was exhausting.

This was mine & Andy’s first vacation* since our honeymoon almost 8 years ago. This was both the girls’ first plane rides and trip out of state. It was also our first time to Hawaii.

In 6 days we…

Hiked Diamond Head
{Holy Hell that was steep!}

Diamond Head

Visited Pearl Harbor
{Just…wow…}
Pearl Harbor

Watched my sister say “I Do”
{That will have a post of its own.}

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Played on the Beach
{Both the girls LOVED it}

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Had Breakfast With Mickey & Friends
{Reese was not a fan.}
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Visited the Dole Pineapple Plantation

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Drove along the North Shore looking for surfers.
{no surfers, but amazing scenery!}

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Enjoyed a Hawaiian Sunset
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Overall, I’m so glad we were all able to make it to the wedding. It’s an experience I will never forget. Of course there’s so much more I could say about our trip {like our experience flying Allegiant Air for the first (and last) time or flying 5+ hours straight with an almost 1 year old or sharing a condo with your family of four and 4 other family members that aren’t used to being around kids 24/7 or that I came back from Hawaii just as un-tan as I went} but I think I’ll just let the photos tell the story because bottom line is the trip was amazing.

I think I’ve been bit by the vacation bug.

*I now understand {and completely agree with} what people meant when they said taking your kids isn’t a vacation, it’s a trip.

Work wins so you get a 10 minute update

Work is busy. I’m home with a sick kid (yes, again). So I’m left juggling a sick kid and the work I brought home. I’m tired, you guys.

Hawaii is 17 days away and calling my name.

Anyway, my point is this, I’ve got 5 half completed posts sitting in my drafts. I’m sure I’ll get to them eventually but for now, you get 10 minutes of my time:

Our weekend was awesome. It included an impromptu movie night on our front lawn…just Rylee & me. The movie was really stupid but that didn’t even matter. Followed by a slumber party in her room.

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It included being silly with my girl. Sucked that Andy was sick, but I really loved this time alone with Rylee.

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It included goat feeding and a picnic and an ice cream cone and fresh strawberries and lots of sunshine.

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The weekend was great. I didn’t want it to end.

Reese is sick now. Croupy nasty cough and just generally miserable. Someone told me today “at least you get a day off!” Ha. HAHAHAHA! Trust me, I’d much rather A) my child be healthy and B) be at work and not falling further and further behind because I feel like I’m just treading water right now and at any minute I could get pulled under.

Rylee has her “Pre-School Graduation” in a few days. Don’t know what else to say about that…it’s kind of leaving me speechless. Andy can’t go to it because it’s at 9:30 in the morning…that REALLLLLLY sucks.

School is out at the end of this week. He needs it. I need it. The girls need it.  This year has been particularly rough. SO ready for Summer break.

Oh, and I can’t forget…my big girl has upgraded to a BOOSTER! Can’t believe how fast she is growing.

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DING! Ten minutes is up.

It’s TACO TUESDAY!!!!

The busy season

I really try not to use the word busy to describe my life in a conversation when someone asks how things are going. Because as a family with two young children, two working parents, a dog, two houses and 12+ acres to take care of, that’s just life. Our reality every day. There is always something that is going on or has to be done. I’m sure much like yours. We are a culture of go-go-go.

But it seems like starting around mid-May life gets kicked up one notch further. This year, despite my best efforts to “keep things simple”, is no different. Well, actually that’s a lie…it is different than previous years but not because we have any less going on…in fact this year we have even more going on than years previous.

Because on top of the Mother’s Day, Andy’s birthday, Rylee’s birthday and end of the school year junk like graduation, classroom clean-up and what not we always inevitably deal with, we’re throwing a memorial weekend camping trip with friends into the mix. Then there’s also Andy’s trip to New York for his best friends wedding and we can’t forget about our family trip to Hawaii for my sisters wedding the week after that. Oh yea, and my sister’s shower/bachelorette party.

I was looking at a calendar the other night and we literally have something going on every single weekend until mid July.

On top of the weekends being booked, I’ve got extra work stuff happening after normal work hours that I’ll being doing on some nights during the week.

So right now? I think I can say we’re busy. But at least we get to top it all off with a week in Hawaii, right!?

So yea…if you need me in the next few weeks and I’m not at work or with my family, I’ll be one of two places…either standing outside at 6 AM with a hot cup of coffee watering my flowers trying to relax before the day even begins, or sitting in a corner making to-do lists like a crazy lady making sure we don’t forget to pack our kids along with our pillows for our camping trip.

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YAY SPRING!!

Wordless Wednesday: Reese’s First Swing

Here I am doing another one of those “OH LOOK! It’s my kid’s first time doing XYZ!…that happened two months ago.”

Meh…I figured out a long time ago I’m not going to be winning any Mother of the Year awards.

So, LOOK! Here’s Reese swinging for the first time!…that happened back in March…

After a particularly rough {read: annoying} day at the office for me, Andy left work early to pick the girls up from school so I could go do whatever. {Sweet/Smart man, that one.} Anyway, I ended up right in front of him on the drive so we both went to pick up the girls then opted to go to the park to play for a bit. Reese went on a slide for the first time and it reminded me I never posted these swing pictures.

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