remember that one time...

... we put Trace in soccer practice just to spend the half hour like this and not to ever return. Yeah..... $100 down the drain, haha!!

lake day with landon

SoCal part 10 - family pictures fail

So I thought it was a good idea to hire a photographer and take family pictures at one of our favorite parks and overlooks in Laguna Beach. #fail. It was awful... the kids had meltdown after meltdown after meltdown. There was the most beautiful sunset, yet our photographer never used it as a backdrop. I'm pretty sure she wasn't used to working with kids and didn't even edit these photos. Nor did she take any horizontal pictures. And I look fat, ha! The whole thing was just not meant to be... We'll try again next summer, but I'm guessing it won't be any easier with 2 toddlers lol! Will I ever have a good family picture?! Hahaha!

SoCal part 9 - lake mission viejo

So much nostalgia, but this is where I worked when I was 16-20 years old... good old LMVA! Hard to imagine, but I was a "sales girl" renting out boats, selling bait and tackle, etc. It was the perfect job and so much fun! My parents neighborhood is just above the lake, so we took the boys there on a whim several times. Bryan loves it and now wants to live in Mission Viejo, haha!! But it is pretty special and I can see why he loves it so much...

We ran into my friend from high school who also worked at the lake when I did - so fun catching up with her and introducing our husbands and kids to each other for the first time! Hard to believe she's lost 30lbs - using the same nutrition I use - since this picture was taken!

SoCal part 8 - hanahan family fun

I dragged my feet with legally changing my last name until I was closing in on my due date with Trace. For family unity I wanted us all to have the same last name, but my heart just couldn't do it any sooner. And to this day, do you know how much it pains me to not have the same last name as these people? My mom was crying like a baby, to have her kids and all of her grandkids together... The kids all had a ball together...... and it was just simply the best family day we've had in a long time! These are my people!! My beautiful, fun, smart, sarcastic, worldly, driven, playful people...

Giving his cousin a big hug!

Melts my heart to pieces seeing these 4 cousins in action <3 p="">

SoCal part 7 - pool days

There's just something about watching your child splash, play and jump in the same pool that I had so much fun in when I was a kid... Wow, floods of old memories being replaced by new ones. These days, at my parents home... the house I grew up in.... were the best days of the entire trip. I think Trace's face says it all!

I'm pretty sure that this is my idea of heaven on earth...

SoCal part 6 - beach days

We took Landon to Crystal Cove along the Newport Coast to dip his toes into the ocean for the 1st time. This is a pristine beach located within a state park and just the perfect place to experience such a fun milestone.

 A few days later our friends and neighbors from North Carolina drove down from LA, where they were visiting family, so see where we come from. They had never spent any time in Orange County, so it was nice to be their Laguna Beach tour guides for the morning...