Bring On The Beach

The 2nd Annual Family Vacation To The Beach Was The Best!
We rented a beach house for a week and enjoyed the sun, sand, water and cool crisp air. We spent a lot of time walking the boardwalk, exploring Balboa Island, riding our bikes, playing at the Fun Zone and of course just chillin' on the beach. The water was freezing, but the weather was pretty nice. We were blessed to have Kenny, Kirk and Laura all visit while we were there. Luca and Acacia loved playing in the sand. Acacia actually loved the ocean water as well, but it was a little chilly for her to stay in it. Luca boogie boarded (or at least pretended to) and even tried to surf with his boogie board--that was a bit entertaining. Tony spent most of the relaxing time with his head in a book. He was super grateful when Dustin and Lindsey came to visit because he had someone to go play in the water with. Hayden and Luca had a great time searching for seashells and playing in the water. Brooklyn and Acacia played in the sand. . .a lot. We all got a good amount of sun, but most of all we had great family bonding time. It was our last family vacation as a family of 4. At the time of the trip I was 37 weeks pregnant and extremely grateful I was able to enjoy the vacation without any complications. What a joy it is to be 9 months pregnant and still able to enjoy life. I feel super blessed.

Acacia bonding with the baby in mommy's "BIG FAT BELLY".

SCRAPES, BUMPS & BRUISES

Luca absolutely loves to climb trees. I guess I should say he "loved" to climb trees. This little tree monkey would challenge himself and climb as high as he could until Mom or Dad yelled at him to come down because he was too high. I think Luca thought he was invincible. . .let's hope he learned his lesson.

I was at the park across the street with a friend watching our children play. The boys were climbing trees having a grand ol' time. I realized I couldn't see Luca and started calling his name. He answered from high atop a tree. He was so high I could barely even see him. I told him he was too high and needed to come down. No sooner did I turn my head from him, when I heard tree branches snapping and screaming. I jumped up and ran as fast as my 8 1/2 month pregnant body would let me, terrified of what I might see. Luca was at the base of the tree (which was surrounded by large rocks) laying there crying. I told him not to move, assessed his injuries and told him to tell me where it hurt. He kept pointing to his leg and his arm. Once I calmed him down I realized that the only places he was hurting were the places where his skin was all scratched up. It didn't take long for us to realize he was fine, minus the many cuts, scrapes and bruises that were already forming. He took it easy for all of 20 minutes and then was out in the backyard playing soccer with his friend. If a 15-20 foot fall from a tree leaves only bumps, scrapes and bruises I am one happy momma. Needless to say, Luca will be taking it easy on the tree climbing until he can understand which limbs are strong enough to support his weight.

Long Way From Home

Christy brought her four little girls to visit a few weeks ago. They live in Indonesia and are back in the US for the summer. It was so exciting bonding and watching these four beautiful girls play. Acacia fits right in with all their blonde hair / blue eyed girls. I wish these reunions happened more often.

Acacia and little Blaire. They are about 3 1/2 months apart. Blaire is a strong little monkey. It's amazing how much bigger she is than Acacia. I guess Acacia has a lot of growing to do in order to catch up to her cousin.
Blaire, Ruby and Acacia. Look at all that blonde hair and blue eyes. You'd never know there was no blood relation. They had a great time playing in the park together.

Ruby(4), Luca(5), Acacia(20 mos), Regan(8), Paige(6) and Blaire(2)

Cutest Lil' Darlin'

The Pictures Speak For Themselves.

I'm still trying to figure out where this little girl came from. It doesn't seem possible that we could have produced such an angel.

CAMPING AND FISHING

We bombarded the Coon's Annual Family Camping Trip to Bishop This Summer. Boy Were We Glad We Did. It Was So Much Fun To Get Out In The Open Fresh Air And Enjoy Good Food, Fishing And Great Friendship. We Were There 3 Nights and 4 Days. Being 36 Weeks Pregnant Didn't Seem To Hinder The Trip At All. However, I Did Promise To Have Directions To The Nearby Bishop Hospital In Case I Spontaneously Went Into Early Labor.


The two Preggo Ladies kickin' it. I'm 36 weeks, Lindsey's 28 weeks.

Acacia the hiking pack. She loved being in this pack. We found this pack at a neighborhood garage sale that we happened to drive past. It cost us $15-so worth it!

Luca got pretty good at casting and was very proud of himself every time he got a good "bite". He enjoyed fishing so much that he keeps asking when he gets to go again. He was such a good sport and extremely patient.

Luca, Acacia, Hayden & Brooklyn after our few hours at the fishing pond. We got a lot of fish and had a yummy time eating them. It was the general consensus that pond fishing was great for the kidlets, but stream fishing was much more enjoyable for the adults.

Tony teaching our little girl how to fish. She was fascinated by the fish we caught and she even liked eating them too.

I was the only one willing to help the boys clean the fish. It's a pretty nasty job, but someone has to do it.

All the munchkins burned out and full from lunch.

Our little family in front of South Lake. Isn't it beautiful. Why can't the desert be that gorgeous? Acacia fell asleep in the car.

Tony thought it would be nice to have a picture of my 36 week "Big Fat Belly" at the lake. So there we are--Baby in tow at South Lake.

Luca and Hayden after their long hike. They are such cute little buddies, but can be a bit competitive with each other. . .typical boys.

After falling off the top bunk (twice) in Lindsey's Dad's trailer, Luca joined us in the tent. He looks pretty out of it eh? I guess falling off the bed twice in one night can really wear a little man out. He was a champ about the whole thing, but he sure did have some good bruises on his back and side as evidence of his battle with the bed.

Acacia had a pretty rough time one night. She screamed for about 30 minutes straight in the middle of the night. We tried rocking her, soothing her and cuddling, but nothing seemed to work. Tony went around the campsite walking her, but she just kept screaming. Finally I convinced him to take her for a drive and eventually she calmed down enough to go back to sleep. We don't know what that was all about, but it isn't the first time it happened hasn't been the last either.

Family Bonding

Jenni came for a visit with her 5 munchkins, so Uncle Kirk and Aunt Laura came down for a visit too.

It's special bonding time as Kirk and Laura read scripture stories with the kids before bed.
It's a full house with Jenni's five plus Acacia, Kirk and Laura. Family bonding doesn't happen all that often, but it sure is nice when it does.

New Addition To The Family

Acacia got her first baby doll and she fit right in with the family. I'm not huge on the whole "doll thing" but Acacia seems to love taking care of babies and stuffed animals. We decided that since we are having another baby, it would be a good idea for Acacia to have a baby of her own to take care of. Boy does she LOVE IT!

Holding and Squeezing her baby
Giving Baby Lots and Lots of Kisses

The three kids.

Acacia often tries to put diapers on her baby. She tries feeding her with a spoon, gives her a sippy cup, pushes her in the stroller and constantly pulls out the baby wipes to wipe up her baby. What a great little mother hen. I love watching her take care of her baby.

32 Weeks and a BIG FAT BELLY!

We call this the time of the "BIG FAT BELLY".

32 Weeks down. . .8 To Go!
Acacia loves playing with my "big fat belly". She is putting her bare belly up against mine. She loves to feel the baby move, kiss him, hug him and give him lots and lots of zerberts.

Kisses for our baby!

Luca's attempt at having a "big fat belly".
He loves touching, kissing and hugging my belly too. He is very excited for this baby and insists it's a boy. I keep trying to tell him that we might have a girl, but he'll hear nothing of it. He's 100% convinced it's all boy.

Luca X. Smith, P.G. (preschool graduate)

Luca is now officially a preschool graduate. As silly as it is that we have graduations for everything these days, it was fun for the preschoolers to put on their caps and receive their diploma. Luca grew up a lot this year and we are all really looking forward to the next year of kindergarten. He is beyond ready for the scholastic challenge and we can't wait to watch him learn, and of course, learn with him. He will be attending a special aeronautics and science charter school where the first 3 years will predominately be taught in Spanish. It will be a challenge, but one we look forward to.

Acacia and Luca before the big event.
Cool Cap dude!

I love this silly picture of Luca and Lizzie. So classic of their personalities. These two children were hilarious together. They got along pretty well, but they teased each other like brother and sister.

Luca receiving his diploma from Mrs. Morales.

The rowdy class. There were about 20 students. It was a very exciting and interesting year. The children were very ambitious, dramatic, energetic, competitive and loud. It was a good class, but a lot of work. Summer is welcomed as a much needed and earned break for all of us!

These are the parents that regularly participated in the classroom. This preschool program is a great place to meet wonderful people and friends.

Acacia was a regular at preschool. She started going with me when she was but a few weeks old. She needed her moment to be recognized as a student too.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. . .

Ahhh. . .creatures of pure comfort.

SWEET DREAMS!

Loma Linda Health Fair

We went to the Loma Linda Health Fair on a field trip with Luca's preschool class. I remember going last year when Acacia was just a baby. This year we all enjoyed it even more.

First Stop. . .FREE Jamba Juice Smoothies! The kids' favorite thanks to Daddy.
Luca got a special tattoo from one of the nurses.

The casting booth was one of Luca's favorite booths. The nurse casted his finger. After it hardened, Luca thought it was pretty cool that he had a finger cast he could pull off and put back on. What a fun little toy!

The Lung exibit our favorite booth last year. Actually, Luca has talked about this booth many times since he first saw it. Every time he sees someone smoking he reminds me that smoking turns our lungs from pink to black, and then they don't expand very well. What a true example that really helped Luca understand why smoking is so bad for our health. Even at the age of 4 it made a big impact on him.

Luca with the LLMC mascot. Acacia loved looking at this guy, but she didn't want anything to do with getting near him for a picture. He was only fascinating from a distance.

The fire department had special hoses for the kids to squirt by themselves. What fun for Luca. He had a blast spraying the balloons.

After going into the fire safety truck the firemen handed out little hats. Luca learned about staying low (where the healthier air is) during a fire and that you should dial "911" in case of an emergency.

The surgical department handed out surgical gear. Luca enjoyed dressing up Acacia in the surgical garb when we got home. I mean really. . .can this little girl get any cuter?

SWEET GOODNESS

Thank goodness for Mothers!

My sweet mom came to see us for my birthday and made me my favorite German Chocolate Cake all from scratch, (really it's the only way). She also made me granola and even watched the kiddos for a couple days so that Tony and I could escape by ourselves for a two night get-a-way. (That definitely needs to happen more often!)
Thanks Mom! We all enjoyed the sweet goodness of your baking expertise. YUM!