Kern County Fair 2015

We took the girls to the Kern County Fair yesterday.  We stopped to have a ride on an elephant - not something you get to do everyday. The girls loved it. Then we walked through all of the animal barns and the girls really liked the pigs.  We then headed to do a few rides and look who we found - Sinai! Gabby and Sinai screamed so loud they were so excited to see each other...since Sinai no longer goes to LRSH - Gabby misses her terribly.  The girls went on the giant slide and ferris wheel together. They had so much fun catching up and I think this will make this trip to the fair memorable for Gabby. Who needs an elephant ride??? Well - I thought it was pretty cool. I remember doing that as a kid.  The fair was fun - hot a dirty! They have a cool dinosaur exhibit and butterfly exhibit but we didn't make it to either one last night as we were tired after 3 hours - maybe another night.... So interesting to see things through a parents eyes rather than a childs....

Incredible Trip to San Diego

We had an incredible trip to San Diego this weekend. These are the only pictures I took.... I was too busy enjoying the weather and chasing kids in the ocean.  We were on the fence about going as the kids had been snotty for a couple of days.  We decided to get out of town when we saw the temp was supposed to be 104 over the weekend.  We had an incredible trip.  It was 90 degrees at the beach in La Jolla!  It was hot but the water was wonderful.  Gabby was in the ocean almost the whole time.  I took the girls to the zoo on Saturday morning and while we had some great sightings - it was just too hot and most of the animals were hiding in the shade.  Maddy had a blast this trip as she gets older and older she loves to look at the animals. She tells us all kinds of things - we are just no sure what she is saying exactly!  On Sturday night, we went back to the zoo and then the beach after naps.  Lilly was rolling around in the ocean naked at 7:30pm!! That does not happen very often :) Maddy was soaked through as well and Gabby was out boogie boarding.  When it was pitch black we finally told her she had to come in. On Sunday I was able to sneak in some good ocean swimming and remembered how much fun it is.  Maddy had her first full dunking in the waves and didn't appreciate it but was OK with it.  Lilly's swim suit is finally int eh trash and now I have to find her a new one ASAP!  We had great traffic coming home and overall - had an amazing trip. 

English Riding Lessons

We have been trying different activities for Gabby after school. We tried dance but Hip Hop was not working for her so we decided to try trampoline - only to find out that she is too young. So...we opted for English Riding Lessons.  First days are always exciting but I think Gabby truly loved it.  But we had a few horse issues...as it goes with animals.  The first horse Gabby was to ride was Sassy - she was out giving a lesson when we got there and when they were done - she went down. I mean down and was not getting up! It was hot and the horse was dehydrated so that one was not an option. So we waited for about 10 min and then they decided to put her on Zoey.  Beautiful horse and Gabby went to her stall, caught her, brushed her and helped get her saddle ready.  We were about 30 min into the lesson when Zoey decided to get excited. As this was Gabby's first time riding English and Zoey looked like she was about ready to jump the fence and take off - they took Gabby off. Zoey didn't want to calm down so we went back to the stables and got Prince.  He was tired but perfect for the end of the lesson.  The whole time I kept thinking that Lilly was going to be so jealous because she ALWAYS asks to ride a white horse :)  Prince was a good pony and did not move fast at all!  Gabby began to learn abotu stirups, keeping her heels down, to keep her pinky on the outside of the reins, how to have good posture in the saddle, and how to move and stretch and control the horse.  It was a good first day and Gabby was thrilled. She enjoyed the lesson and I think we will continue to do them every other week.  Here's to trying something new - for all of us!

Love my Girls

The other evening we let the girls have a cartoon before bed. It was so cute to see all three of them sitting together peacefully.  Maddy hangs with the big girls so well and is quickly movnig into the full-fledged toddler phase.  As I took this picture, I had a moment of reflection. When I was pregnant with Maddy, I wanted a healthy baby but if I was given a preference, I thought I wanted a boy. I thought since this was our last baby, it would be fun to change it up (since we had 2 wonderful girls).  I also had thought around having a boy to carry on the Bigler name, having a boy so I experienced "boy" things and so that Gordon got to as well, and the list goes on. Well, I didn't have a choice and was given a beautiful girl.  I love her dearly, as I love all my girls and as I see them all interact and get to know each other, I am so happy that I have three beautiful, smart and funny girls.  I wouldn't trade them for anything!  Funny how time can change our persepective and make us see things different. I love my girls and know that they will come to learn how lucky they are to have each other as sisters and as friends. 

Happy Grandparents Day

Today is Grandparents Day and Lilly made this beautiful broach for Grandmother Ann.  Ann picks Lilly up most days and they enjoy singing songs in the car, reciting nursing rhymes or talking about traffic lights. Lilly is really starting to enjoy school and most days pushes me out the door so she can go play with her friends :) We are very fortunate to have Ann to help with our kids and picking them up from school - they enjoy having a few extra minutes at home where they get to have absolute freedom and free-play!

Guess the Princess

The girls had a fun time last night playing with their cousin Ella. They all dressed up in their finest attire and went to their palace. I bet you can guess which princess each of them are :) It was fun to watch the girls play together and have a good time. All were well-behaved and got along. It was great to see my sister Sandy and her husband Seth. We had a nice time hanging out and catching up. Life will be changing for her very soon!

Beach Trip

So then Sunday came around and we decided to hit the beach! We were going to go to Orange County but the drive through LA seemed a little much so we just hit the beach in Ventura. We tried a new beach in Oxnard but it was too steep and not a good kids beach. So we packed it up and went to the Ventura Beach Pier where we have found the beach to be the best for kids.  The kids lasted until 2:00 at the beach and it was hot! Gabby did some awesome boogie boarding and Gordon got to do some body surfing - only downside is that he hurt his finger. He rolled out of a wave and hyper-extended his finger and now it is swollen and black and blue! Good thing it was just a finger and not more serious! 

Then on Monday - the girls and I took a trip to the farm. Gabby and Lilly went riding, Maddy played with Grandma Debi and then we had a nice BBQ salad and Tuna sandwich for lunch. Tom and Kristi and their kids came over and so did Grandma Winnie so it was just like a party! The girls were exhausted and with no nap for a couple days, we headed home about 3pm.  It was a fun filled weekend with a variety of acticvities. By the looks of the last picture I have posted - they were worn out :)

BBQing with Friends

Happy Labor Day weekend! The kids had a nice fun weekend - at least I think they did :) Saturday we stayed in town and then had the Cupers over for a fun BBQ and swim playdate. The kids all get along so well that it makes it very relaxing for us. Our kids like to run around naked....I'm pretty sure I know where they get that from! Anyways, there was a lot of trampoline jumping, sliding, swimming, yummy dinner and frozen greek yogurt (kids thought it was ice cream) for dessert! It is starting to cool off which makes the evenings very nice here.