The Grovetown Kicks

We started Natalie in soccer this year. It's actually soccer school for 3 and 4 year olds. We missed her first couple of practices cause we were in California. She had her first practice last night and it didn't go that great. She was really tired and grouchy. She didn't want to listen to the coach or even play. Once he got the cones out she had a blast. She liked running around them and then kicking the ball into the goal.

So then we had her first game this morning. It was like night and day! She had so much fun playing this morning! This is also the first time I have ever seen 3 year olds play a sport of any kind. Definitely something to remember. Kids would just start crying and run to their moms or just stand in one place and not move.  As soon as we got there Natalie started kicking her ball around. She would kick it into the net and we would cheer and she would jump up and down.

 Heidi really wanted to play too! She was not very happy about standing on the side lines watching Natalie play. We let her play a little before the game started and then she played with Nokie at the end of the field. She only ran out into the playing field a few times. :)

 When the game started Nat was awesome. She ran all over the field, chasing anyone who had the ball. She didn't understand the concept of "taking" the ball since whenever she does that with her sister, she gets in trouble. :) So pretty much she ran around the whole game but didn't ever take the ball from anyone. Whenever there was a break or a time out she would play around kicking the ball by herself! Oh, her team also couldn't figure out what goal to hit it into. Both teams would run to this one goal.

 Natalie is number 3. Here's another picture of her running around chasing the ball but not really going anywhere near it.

The best part of the whole game was when Natalie would run by us with a huge smile on her face. She wasn't watching where she was going or the ball or anything like that. She just loved that a whole bunch of people where watching her, cheering for her and calling her name. Made me laugh every time!

The End of our California Trip

Our last full day in California...the trip went by too fast! Shane got to go ocean fishing in a kayak with Mitzi's husband Rob. Rob picked up Shane at 6 am and they drove down to Redondo Beach. Shane said it was really awesome...even though he got seasick twice. :) While they were doing that, Hollyann and I got all three car seats in the back of her car and drove to Mitzi's house where she took pictures of the girls. Check them out HERE. If you are ever in the Santa Clarita Valley area, you should definitely have her take pictures of your kids. Her photography website is www.photobymitzi.com.  After our photo session, we all went to lunch at Jimmy Deans. So yummy! I remember going there all the time when we used to live in Valencia. It was just as good as I remembered!

 That night for dinner we got to go to Islands with Hollyann's dad, Arnie and his new wife Gilda. It was so nice seeing her dad again! I have always loved spending time with him. It was also really nice to meet his new wife. She was super nice and they seemed really happy together!

After dinner, we put Heidi to bed and Shane watched the bigger girls while Hollyann and I went out for coffee. It was so nice to have time together to talk without the girls cutting in every five seconds. :) Then we came back the house and hung out with Shane, drank wine and ate ice cream. Chocolate Malted Crunch of course!!

This morning we pretty much just packed up and got ready to go home. Not enough time to do anything exciting. We took a picture of the girls with Savannah but they didn't really want to cooperate. :) 

We got to the airport with no traffic and hit up In N Out one last time before heading back to Georgia. Yes...I realize we are obsessed. :) 

So...just to vent a tad...I HATE the airport! I feel like they just make things as difficult as possible to get to where you want to go. They wouldn't let me check in online before getting to the airport, the kiosk wouldn't let us check in when we got there...we had to have someone do it...kinda like they used to do all the time! Then we go through security. Do you know how hard it is to get all your carryons, random things your carrying, plus your shoes and your kids shoes and all their junk? And then you're standing there on the dirty ground in your bare feet trying to keep your kids from running around, waiting for the people in front of you to go through. Then you have to gather it all up again, get your shoes on and your kids shoes on with people waiting behind you. UGH!! Not fun. The flight was really good though. The girls were great. They slept a lot.  Heidi was adorable curled up in Shane's lap.

We ended up on the same flight as Shane's mom on the second half of our trip so that was pretty cool. I got to show her all the pictures I took of the trip. So now we are home and just vegging on the couch watching tv. It feels nice to not have anything to do. Also...my mom cleaned the house while we were gone and had soup in the crock pot waiting for us. It is so good to be home. :)

California Trip Day 5

I can't believe that I am getting stuff on here for every day! It's so nice to have some relaxing down time during our vacation but also it's just really nice to get stuff on as it happens so I don't forget all the good stuff! So day six...we had a family reunion brunch. Not everyone came back for it and some family that couldn't come the day before got to come. We had a yummy lunch and they played some funny games. We hung out till almost 2 and then left so the girls could nap on the way to Hollyann's house.

 Heidi eating her strawberries and blueberries. Happy girl.

 Rose Marie and her brother Bob

  Hanging out inside watching football. :)

 Another cute shot of Reuben

 Such a cute family photo...Reuben, Josh and Amy

 Heidi was hanging out in the gutter. Silly girl.

 So they played this game called Rooster. You put your hands behind your back and you have to look on the other persons back to see what number they have pinned to their shirt. Pretty funny!

 Rose Marie and Marilyn gave it a try too.

 By the end of the trip, Heidi was just starting to warm up to Josh.

So pretty much as soon as we got to Hollyann's house the girls wanted to go swimming. Natalie and I are sitting on the steps of the pool and Heidi is running around...I look up at her again and she is sitting in their fountain! How funny is that?? As soon as I found her she started giggling. She knows she's funny!

California Trip Day 4

The Mix Family Reunion...Yay! Even though I've been with Shane for 11 years, I have never been to a family reunion. It was soo much fun. I loved being able to see all Shane's family. People I haven't seen in years and people I've never even met. It was wonderful. I loved being able to catch up and talk to everyone. The kids were great too. I did chase them all over the house and yard but hey...they are 2 and 3...can't ask for much more. :)

They had a really great friend in their cousin Reuben. He was their playmate for the whole weekend. He taught them all sorts of cool boy things like playing drums with spatulas, wrestling, and having water fights...more pics of those later. :) This was him doing one of the girls activities...watching a Mickey Mouse Movie. 

Heidi loved to run around and hide in the bushes. When I would call her she would just give me this adorable grin

I LOVED seeing Aunt Eva again. She is so sweet. 

Shane took this picture of Heidi and Me

Aunt Eufie and Aunt Eva...sisters

Aunt Eva and Rose Marie

We haven't seen Lisa in such a long time! We got to meet her new little girl Paloma...sooo CUTE!!

And we got to meet her new husband Andy. Super nice.

Natalie love love loved Aunt Eva. She would follow her around, try to talk to her, let her hold her her giraffe. When Aunt Eva wasn't around Natalie would be talking about her and when we would get to see her again. I love this picture.

Heidi and Grandma

Rose Marie and Marilyn in their matching outfits.

Aunt Eva and Uncle Reuben...married 69 years

Such a cute shot of little Reuben. He was showing the girls how to dip their spatulas in the ice bucket and then flick the cold water on everyone. They thought that was really really funny. :)

California Trip Day 3

Our last day with Steve and Melissa. We had such a great time together. The girls played and played and played. Shane got to have guy time with Steve, I got to have girl time with Melissa...it was great. For breakfast we got Rolling Pin Donuts. The best donuts in the WHOLE world. I feel like our trips to CA are surrounded by food! :)

 We left their house at lunch time and stopped at In N Out...again. :) So yummy. The girls love those cheese sandwiches.

 Thankfully the girls slept on the way to Eva and Reubens. They got a nice good nap in. So cute!

 We ended the night by getting Thrifty Ice Cream. Chocolate Malted Crunch...heaven!

California Trip Day 2

Who would have thought 11 years later. On our first date, Shane and I went to Universal City Walk and then afterwords stopped at Point Magu Rock to talk.  We also came here a bunch while we were dating. Memories. :) Now 11 years later we are back with our two kids...pretty crazy!!  We had so much fun at the beach.  The girls had never been to the beach but they have seen it on Curious George and Blue's Clues. They were so excited to go.  It was a little colder than we were expecting. Nothing like the Georgia weather we are used to! As soon as they warmed their feet in the sand they were good to go. Playing in the sand and covering their feet with sand were the favorites. Natalie wouldn't go near the ocean. Heidi didn't want to touch it but she wanted Shane to carry her so that she could dip her bucket in the water. We only stayed for about an hour but it was perfect with the little ones!

Shane and Steve went golfing together in the morning so they let Melissa and I go shopping at the outlets after the beach. Yay!! I'm such a mom...I didn't even go shopping at any normal stores. I saw the Osh Gosh outlet and made a beeline. :) I got the girls the CUTEST outfits. I think Osh Gosh is my favorite! We didn't stay long after that. We went back and had dinner with the guys and then went out again for Starbucks. Then to top it all off...we all had big bowls of Chocolate Malted Crunch!  What a perfect day!!

 Trying to keep her head from falling into her lap

 Heidi, Natalie and Madison

 The beautiful California coast

 Heidi loved playing in the sand

 Daddy and Heidi

 Heidi didn't want to get in the water but she wanted to dip her bucket

 Playing with Heidi in the sand

 A cute shot of Melissa

 Melissa and Steve

 Love this shot of Heidi

 Shane covered all the girls hands and feet with sand...they thought it was pretty cool