After donuts, we kept with the patriotic theme while picking up some groceries at the store.
We met up with our good friends, Dustin and Desa, who were visiting in town from L.A., and we finally got to meet the newest member of their family, little baby Remy! We loved on his baby chunk and Acelyn was totally into petting him, saying, "Mommy, Bay-bee!" Of course I spaced on snapping any pictures, but we loved our quick visit with baby Remy and hope to get some more snuggle time with him soon! Later that night, us adults had a night out at The Golden Tiki, and it was so nice catching up with our friends we don't get to see often!
The next day was the 4th of July, and we spent it at the Westin pool with the Espejos, Halls and Sebastians. We all had fun swimming in the pools, and the kids loved the water slide just like previous years (sans Nolan, who was terrified, yet again, despite our bribes to get him to go down with us). Acelyn loved it when she went down with Daddy, and asked "again!" as soon as she landed in the water.
Nolan remembered taking the picture with the American flag from last year, so we definitely had to recreate it again with all of the kiddos.
They were both brave with the sparklers, and even enjoyed all of the fireworks that were lit off this year- from small ones in the street to the surrounding huge ones lighting up the sky.
Jason and I decided to take the kids to The District for dinner and to let the kids play at the splash pad on the weekend, and although the food was so good (Me Gusta Tacos is a new fav. over here), we practically died of the heat while watching the kids play in the water.
On Saturday, we used our Pogo Passes to enjoy some free bowling at the Orleans, which was the first time either kiddo had been. They loved it! Bowling is a new obsession over here and a fun way for us to spend some time as a family on the weekend, plus it doesn't hurt that it's free with our passes at different alleys around town! Nolan had the best time and was so, so serious about getting a strike. He didn't end up with any this time, but Jason bowled an amazing game with a score of 203, when neither of us had played for over ten years.... so, there's that.
That afternoon, Acelyn played dress up with some new tutus from a friend (thanks, Lindsay!) and decided she needed to dress Harley up, too.
I made a second round of Jello poke cake per Jason's request, and we devoured it within days. It's the BEST summer dessert!
It was 7-11, so we did our civic duty by visiting 7/11 for Free Slurpee Day.
We enjoyed a random storm that hit down hard right as we pulled in the garage from running some morning errands during the week.
We held another Field Trip Friday, and this time, visited Anderson Dairy for a tour of the plant, to see how they make all of our Anderson dairy products local to us. The tour had a room full of animatronic characters to explain some of their dairy process, and although some kids were definitely not fans of these creepy animals, my kids were all about them.
Although the cows aren't directly from Las Vegas, all of the processing and packaging occurs here at the plant, and we saw up close where they store the milk, process and test the product, and package it all up (one of Nolan's favorites, watching the cartons slide down and fill up)!
One of the coolest parts was walking through the "arctic" portion of the tour, where the kids thought the fog was super cool and Acelyn loved on the penguins but was not a fan when she thought the fog was "chasing her" as we were leaving.
Next up, a little video of the history of Anderson Dairy in Las Vegas, which was interesting for the parents but a little long and dry for the kiddos. Luckily, they were able to distract themselves by chowing down on some free ice cream samples given out by Anderson Dairy... and cookies and cream was LEGIT! It was extra yummy and everyone approved!
We tried to get a group picture at the very end, but some of the kids didn't want to go anywhere near that cow... haha! So we took what we could get with the boys! It was a different type of field trip and a great way to spend a morning with friends!
That weekend, we hung out with the Espejos and Halls for a game night, where the kids played all evening and we rocked some old school Pictionary, with some hilarious results! These nights are the best- just staying in, letting the kids run wild and enjoying company with good friends!
On Sunday, Aaron and Althea invited us up to Desert Shores to enjoy the lagoon, and the kids had the best time playing in the water and on the beach. They both have done so well this summer with their puddle jumpers and being really independent in the water, and this was even better since they had full access of in and out via the beach. They loved it!
We took a break from the water to have some lunch, and made some duck friends that hung out the whollllleeee time we ate... just waiting for us to drop something, I'm sure! Earlier in the day, Aaron told Nolan that the ice cream truck usually makes it's way around during lunch... and sure enough, just as we were finishing up, the music started playing and it showed up at the perfect time! Of course we had to take advantage of it, and Nolan was stoked to get something from the actual ice cream truck!
Back in our weekly grind, the kids played dress up in their pajamas and looked like a bunch of crazies (they are)!
While Nolan was in Preschool on Tuesday, Acelyn and I took a trip to Build a Bear to create her pacifier friend! We used this as a way to wean Nolan from his pacifier right when he turned two, and Acelyn had been starting to ask for hers more and more in the recent weeks, so I knew it was time to ditch it before it became a problem! We ended up receiving a coupon from the huge, national Build-a-Bear chaos and disappointment a few weeks prior, so the timing actually worked out perfectly. We got their right as they opened, and Acelyn had the place to herself to choose her paci-friend and get to snuggling! Right away, she chose a kitty cat, and knew exactly the one she wanted. She was a big helper in pressing the pedal as the kitty was filled with stuffing, and rubbed the little heart with some love before putting it inside her new friend.
She was able to place her paci inside the kitty all on her own with no issues, and we quickly snuck it back out (since they don't allow you to actually stuff it inside, anymore). Once her kitty was stuffed and sewn back up, we made our way to give her a bath and get her brushed and squeaky clean!
When she was finished, she was totally obsessed with her Paci-Kitty (as we call it, just like Nolan's Paci-Puppy), and just had to hold her the entire time. After check-out, she was able to ring the special bell to tell everyone she had adopted a new friend!
She couldn't figure out why we put the kitty in the bag, so of course we had to unpackaged so she could hold it. Once we got into the car, she kept snuggling and chatting with her kitty, and held onto her the rest of the day! The next day, she must have finally realized what was going on with no paci and her new kitty, because she was terrified of it and wanted nothing to do with the thing for daaaaaysss. Luckily, they made up, and she snuggles her kitty on the daily now. Phew! I'm just glad it was a (somewhat) easy transition with minimal meltdowns, and now we are paci free! Wooohoo!
Nolan continues to play with his hockey set every day, and recently has added his dress up masks to his play to act as a hockey mask. Maybe I should buy him an actual hockey mask, soon?! Haha.
Monsoon season has been in full force this month and we've enjoyed spending time outside, catching each raindrop that we can and enjoying those pretty summer sunset colors in the sky.
We took advantage of one of Grandma's last days off of the summer, and hit the M Pool again. They were preparing for a concert that night, so the mic checks and audio testing was super loud, but we still managed to have a good time and the kids, as always, loved their time swimming.
Acelyn looked adorable in her lemons outfit before we went out to run errands on the weekend.
When we came home, it was cloudy and super cool, so we spent some time out front playing and enjoying the drop in temperature. Even though we only got a few sprinkles, we did get a faint but full rainbow on display!
That night, we enjoyed a family movie night and watched Shrek while we listened to some storms roll in and out through the evening.
We did some more bowling during the week with Grandma and her friend and her grandchildren, and the kids loved it, yet again!
Acelyn asked for Nolan to help her this time, and he was a great big bro and carried her ball to the ramp each time, let her push it down and cheered her on as it made it's way down the lane.
After lunch at Panera, everyone took a great nap and I got stuck under this chick, but enjoyed the cuddles and even took a nice little nap with her.
The kids got pumped up for their newest adventure... Daycare! (more about that below) They spent the morning picking up some necessities for school, and were so excited to pick out their own backpacks (which are actually super, super cute!)
That night, after dinner and before bath time, we enjoyed some more storms and the kids played for a bit in the rain. We had another faint rainbow and the best sunset cotton candy sky, even though the pictures don't do it justice! These are some of my favorite type of summer memories.. monsoon season is the best!
The next day, we spent time with Grandpa at his house and swimming in his pool. When we drove back home, I died over the temperature from our car thermometer. UGH!
Jason had a bachelor party in Reno/Tahoe for the weekend for his friend Aaron, so Grandma came over to have a camp out with us! We pitched a tent in the playroom, enjoyed some microwaved S'mores and had the best time pretend camping (which Nolan had been asking to do for weeks now)! We slept downstairs with them because I wasn't sure how long they would last or how they would do in the tent, and although it took them some time to settle down and actually fall asleep, they did and stayed there the entire night!
At one point, I woke up around 1 or 2am to check on them, and panicked when Acelyn wasn't on her mattress. As soon as I flashed my phone over, I saw this adorable scene:
I. DIED. I let them snuggle, and then she found her way back over to her side because she woke up back on her mattress in the morning! We had so much fun and they have asked to "camp" numerous times since. It's definitely worth doing a few times a year!
On Tuesday, we all started a new adventure, with my return to work part-time and the kids starting daycare! I had been looking for part-time work for a few months, and an opportunity came up at the Surgery Center I worked at pre-kids. We decided it would be a great opportunity for me to take, and after touring a daycare some of our friends use, we chose to enroll the kids there on the days I would be working, two days a week.
The big day came, and I actually started the kids at school before I even started work for the first week, just to give us some "extra" time to work out any issues or bumps along the way. Nolan was super excited to start his new school, and Acelyn really didn't know what to expect. We took some non-official "first day" pictures before leaving, and their huge backpacks on their tiny bodies kills me. So cute!
When we got there, both kids did great with drop-off! Nolan was a little nervous but did okay, and Acelyn had no tears and said, "Bye, Mom!" and ran off with her BFF Perry. It's so nice to have her in class with her friend she knows and loves, and I think made the transition that much easier for her. Nolan also gets to spend some time in class with Grace and Charley, before they leave for school, so he enjoys knowing friends there, too!
Their school has cameras to log into and see the kids and how their day is going, which makes this Mama's anxiety much less throughout the day. When I peeked in around nap time, Acelyn and Perry were set up right next to each other, and they looked so friggin' cute laying together before falling asleep. (Bottom right, Acelyn is on the right with the bow and Perry is on the left!)
Their first week went great, with just a few minimal tears the next day! The last few weeks have been the hard ones, as they transition to a whole new schedule and long days away from Mom, but I know they are enjoying their time there for the most part and we will fall into our new normal soon!
On Nolan's first day, he made a Kindness donut, where he said he "can be kind by helping people when they are sad." While he decorated donuts, Acelyn had a barnyard theme in her class, and made some Muddy Tire Tracks! We can't wait to see more cute projects and how they mature with this much needed time with friends and learning!
...Until next month!
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