Disney with Dad

Matt had a few weeks off from school so we packed our time with some fun things we don't get to do together because he is always at school. One of which was a few days at disneyland before our Passes get blocked out for the summer.

Family Vacation to Yosemite

We had such a good time camping in Yosemite. I usually don't love it when people apologize for when they post a ton of pictures because I feel like its their blog, they should be able to do what they want. But I AM gonna say, there are ALOT of pictures. And, these are my most favorites from about a million others. The trip was that amazing!


Matt had the idea of making the trip and it was something he has been really wanting to do for awhile now. So he booked the campsite (which is a pretty intense process) back in february. There is nothing better then watching your kids play in the dirt, swim in the stream, skip rocks, roast smores, make a cobbler in a dutch oven, look at the stars and just really enjoy nature without anything electrical involved. We didn't even bring our DVD player for the 6 hour drive. It was a little rough, but I think it really helped make the trip all the more meaningful! The kids learned other ways to entertain themselves and have fun. I made a list of 16 cities along the way and everytime we saw one we would cross it off the list. This way when they asked "Are we there yet?", I could just show them the list!




Apparently the stream was REALLY cold! Right behind our campsite ran a big stream. The kids loved trying to skip rocks in it, swim and fish. I mostly just worried the whole time about it.

We left all of Porters shoes at home except for the flip flops he wore for the drive. So he got a new pair of hiking boots from the store inside Yosemite park. He was SO thrilled that he had real hiking boots and took them very seriously because he was a trooper on the hikes. Eliza...not so much!

No this isn't a butterfly. This little girlie decided one night she was going to catch moths. They were flying around our lantern and I guess she decided to make some friends. It was actually pretty cute.

I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it was. Breathtaking! Its no wonder people travel from all over the world to photograph/paint the scenery from Yosemite. The whole trip was so great. We just went with our little family. All three kids did so well most the time and the best part is that they all slept great! We borrowed my Sister and Brother in laws tent trailer which made sleeping nice! Last year we did Sequioa national forest, so were thinking we started a new little family camping tradition.

Porters Jedi Birthday

We planned a really fun Star Wars themed birthday this year for Porter. It was right up his alley and he had so much fun. We had about 14 kids for a Jedi Training! The parents dropped them off and we had 2 hours of FUN! They first were presented with their robes and light saber so they could complete the Jedi course Matt had planned out.


I love this picture below of Porter using the force on Matt. It speaks volumes about Porter and his intense personality. He really is whole heartedly into whatever he is doing at the time!













Porter could not wait to turn 4! He looked forward to this day for a long time. Although, I realized, I think he would have been just fine with the cupcakes I made for his preschool and a few presents from us. His preschool birthday was a few days before his actual birthday. Everytime I would ask him if he was excited for his birthday he would say, "no mom, I am already 4. Remember? at preschool!"

I just love this kid! I am so thankful for him and his place in our family. He brings so much "life" into our lives!