Rewind: Part 2

Leaving California didn't seem real-- we had been talking about leaving for SO LONG, and something always came up that pushed it back. I never thought I'd see the day when we would really have to leave...

So, although the Marine Corps screwed us over and we had to stay in a hotel in San Clem for 2 extra nights, I was happy to still be in California. :) The nights in the hotel were kinda crazy-- it was us, the kids, our 2 dogs, and Adam's parents. Thank goodness for his parents being able to fly out and help us... the whole situation would have been 10 times more stressful without their help.

This was the first time the kids had been to a hotel, so they had a lot of exploring to do. They fell in love with every curtain they found-- it was perfect for "peek-a-boo"!

[M making goofy faces in the mirror. She was excited about her new Dora jammies!]

[R hangin' with the g'parents]

[R's 2 paci rule--still in effect at the hotel.]

While we were staying at the hotel, we were able to say good-bye to a very, very dear friend of ours, Vanessa. Ok, I'll try not to get too emotional about this, but it was extremely hard to say good-bye to her! First off, let me just say that Vanessa has been a complete blessing to our family. She was there for us through my entire pregnancy--bed rest included. She was at the hospital the night I had the twins and stayed until 1 a.m. after I was out of recovery. She has been in the kids lives... well, their entire lives. :) She watched them go from 4 lbs. to 20 lbs. in their first year. She gave me much needed mommy nights out. We could not have asked for a more caring, loving, and fun person to come into our lives while in California. We miss her SO much, and can't wait until she visits us!

[We miss you big time, Vanessa!]

Rewind: Part 1

During May and June I really didn't have time to blog about the kids or our adventures because of the move. I've been meaning to blog about those times, but we've been so busy with the house and spending time with friends and family that blogging has taken a back seat. Luckily, I finally have a night of downtime and I'm ready to rewind and update!

I guess I'll start with our prep for the big move. We spent almost a week in our house without furniture, dishes, laundry machines, etc. We pretty much only had the essentials! Most of the kids toys were in the moving truck, so they had to use their imagination...which proved to be very easy! They enjoyed opening and closing all the cupboards, crawling inside the cupboards, playing in Ella & Baxter's kennel--pretty much doing everything they couldn't do before! We spent a lot of our time cleaning and literally finished minutes before the inspector arrived. We were very happy, yet sad, to be leaving our house. I was a bit emotional since it's where the kids spent the first 14 months of their lives and a lot of memories were created inside those walls.

[no table=high chairs on the floor]

[while this photo isn't perfectly taken (blurry!), I had to post because Ryker's face is priceless!]

While I wasn't thrilled about living without pretty much EVERYTHING, it did give us an opportunity to use our last days in California as productively as possible. We ventured to Sea World as well as the beach during our last weekend in my favoritest place in the world. :)

[Hangin' at San Clemente Beach]

[lunch at Sea World]

[watchin' the fishies]

[feeding the sea lions--M wasn't sure what to do... and R got scared!]

I'm sure there will be many more "parts" to this Rewind project I started--come back soon! :)

Lake Life

We headed  "up north" last weekend with my parents, sister, and Curt for a long weekend. My parents always rent a lake home for a week in the summertime, and we were finally able to go along this year! It had been many years since I had been able to go "up north" with them because I've been living in different states for so long-- I was really happy to be able to go and take the kids and Adam along, too!

Bavarian Blast Parade

Today we took the kids to watch their very first parade with Auntie Kelsie, Curt, Kirra, Annie, Liz, and Talon. I think they enjoyed it-- Ryker's favorite things were the horses and the little cars that zoomed all over. Makaylin liked the music and she loved seeing the puppet wagon!

"I'm a big kid now!"

M has reached yet another milestone... she is now in a toddler bed! We had no intentions of moving her out of her crib at 15 months, but because of safety concerns, we decided to try it out. It has been going REALLY well... much better than we anticipated!

The morning of the big switch, Mak and I went to Wal-Mart to pick out things for her new bed. I wasn't surprised when I held up to blankets for her and she immediately grabbed the DORA blanket. She is Dora obsessed, but it's cute. :) We got her a pillow and some cute yellow pillowcases to match her blanket. We also stopped in at the bakery to see Auntie Kelsie and Auntie Brei...and pick up a treat! It was a GREAT morning with her, and I'm looking forward to more one-on-one time with her... as well as with Ryker!

Livin' the Minnesota Life

We are enjoying our life in Minnesota-- always surrounded by family and friends! We aren't too fond of the mosquitos or the ridiculous humidity, but everything else trumps those. :) Here are a few pictures from the last month or so!

M at Lisa's house for 4th of July

R exploring in Lisa's front yard

The flag on the front of our house after a weekend of severe storms.

One of these days I will start blogging again! The biggest hurdle will be having the time to remember everything from the last 6 weeks and to find all the pictures!

Where in the World are the Hester's?

We've been MIA for the past month roadtripping across the country and finally reached our destination-- New Ulm, Minnesota. We traveled from California to Tulsa via Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. We were able to stay in Tulsa with Adam's family for a week and we had a great time! We were able to meet our new neice, Addyson, and our new nephew, Ryley, who are both such happy little babies! Adam was able to spend a little time with old friends, play golf with his parents, and finally relax and enjoy the "civilian" life. I spent my time catching up with Kimberly, clicking pictures, and seeing my BFF's from college-- Lynnsey and Lauren. I was ecstatic to finally meet Lynnsey's son, Beckett, when I took KK and Ryker over for a playdate. I think B & KK may have a future together... we'll see how things pan out!

Once we left Tulsa, we drove through Missouri, Iowa, and then FINALLY arrived in Minnesota! It was so nice to see the "Welcome to Minnesota" sign. If I hadn't been driving, I would have a picture to post, but I should note that I honked my horn and Adam rolled down his window to wave his arm around (we were driving seperately)! :)

The kids had fun exploring their new house... and so did Adam! I was the only one who had even seen it, so it was new for the rest of the Hester fam. We are still working on getting things kid-proofed, unpacked, and organized. We're seeing some progress and hopefully in the next few weeks we can feel a little more put together.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from our roadtrip. I'll have a lot more seperate posts soon!

After being delayed 2 days, we were finally able to leave San Clemente! Here is Adam updating his facebook status to let everyone know he's a civilian!

Saying good-bye to "Auntie" Vanessa. We miss her SO much!

R finding new hiding spots at the hotel.

Discovering new things at the hotel!