St. Louis vaca with daddy

After we took Tom back to the airport, we went to stay with TJ's cousin. Jenny is about the sweetest lady on the planet! We visited that night and the next day we went to the Butterfly House. So beautiful!

yes, those are cockroaches. gross. 

the mating butterflies that landed on me. cool and strange. 

the moms went shopping while TJ "babysat" the kids

California, Part 2

It's been a few months since our trip and I can't remember the order we did things in, but here are some more fun things we were able to do. 

We went to a "petting zoo" which was really some person's back yard. Sophie would not ride the horse. Papa tried to get her to but she kicked and screamed. They had a zebra-donkey (the girl loves zebras) and horses, llamas, goats, pigs, and a playground. She was pretty much a but the whole time we were there and when we left. The grownups had fun feeding all the animals. 

Papa showed us the "old school" way to make bubbles and that was quite the hit. 

She rode the planter tricycle and loved it!

We visited mommy's old work friends. These two were born two weeks apart. I babysat his for a few months before we moved. 

Things I don't have pictures of:

Visiting lots with Heather and kids

Visiting with Renee

Visiting with Aubs, Alli, and Dave

Visiting with Sister Dulin

Girl's night with the Upland girls

Visiting my old work

Visiting with Aunt Deann

and I'm sure a few other things that I am forgetting. 

We had tons of fun just sitting in the sun and visiting with our family. It was sad to leave, but we sure missed daddy! Tom flew home with us because he felt bad that I had so much stuff and two kids on a plane. It was very nice to have him there and to visit for a little bit longer. 

watching a movie on Papa's laptop

teething child

ya, I'm pooping. 

sleeping on the plane. so much better without the carseat. she couldn't reach the seat in front of her to kick!

California, part 1

We got to California on Monday and on Wednesday we drove out to Ridgecrest to see Tom. I got sick that night (fever, chills. so fun). The next day Tom had to opportunity to fly in a brand new F-18 jet. Insane! He had to wear a pressurized suit and was trained to not press the button between his legs, otherwise he would have been ejected. Too much pressure for me!

 Then Aunt Kathy came out. We had a bbq with Aubs on Friday and we all went to Sea World on Saturday. Sophie had a blast. Her favorite part: The penguins! Remember this picture from the Omaha Zoo:

Omaha Zoo, 2011

She is still that excited about the penguins. We had to go see them twice. She loved all the animals. We didnt get to see Shamu cuz it got too cold.

We fed the chickens and collected their eggs.

 We rode on Papa's tractor. 

We went to the beach a couple of times. The first time it was just me and the kids. I couldn't get Sophie in the water for anything. We played in the sand and swung on the swings. The second time was with Papa, Nana, and Uncle Mike. Papa and Nana somehow got her to love the water! She still asks to go to the beach and I feel so bad that we don't have one :(