Turtle Troubles

Happy Birthday to my sweet Mom! Wish we could have partied with you today!

Our week was simple with a few low lows. Namely when we thought a dog killed our turtle (I think I'll share that full story below because... Westin will probably have that burned in his brain and I'll want to have this post to set the record straight someday) and when Michael and I ran out of parenting energy on Friday around 5:00 for the rest of the weekend. Struggle.

Michael:
Finishes his radiology rotation tomorrow and that's a bummer. It was a goooood two weeks. So so easy! It was nice to have him around and he helps so much. Westin is in heaven with so much dad time. On Tuesday he starts two months of internal medicine, so we'll see what life is like when that comes. When Michael has more time he gets back into signing us up for mystery shops, fixing up things around the house, lots of yard work, and playing with the boys. He's such a good person and good dad. After internal medicine he is halfway through residency! I'll be honest, that isn't as exciting to say as I want it to be. Halfway...

Maddie:
Loved my scripture class about Patriarchal Blessings on Thursday, and hated my dentist appointment. All I've ever had done is a cleaning and it's still such a miserable experience in my mind. I felt stretched this week when we watched 3 dogs from Wednesday to Sunday. That's sometimes just not my favorite thing but it's so hard to say no to the extra cash. I also keep debating about what to do with Westin and preschool in the fall. I'm leaning toward just keeping him home with me but it's been occupying my thoughts a lot.

Westin:
looked out the window on Friday and said, "Why is there a turtle shell in the yard?" My heart sank. We had set up a little barrier to keep the dogs away from the turtle's home but it was not much. The dogs didn't even venture over there the first two days so I turned a little too relaxed having them outside. I looked out the window and sure enough saw an upside down Mr. T in the yard and I felt SO SAD and guilty. Poor little guy. I went out there and he looked dead. I won't go into gross details but just know that I felt without a doubt that he was in heaven.

I went back inside and felt so sad and messaged Michael. Westin kept asking me what the turtle was doing and I told him he was in heaven because the dog thought he was a toy. He started crying, I started crying, Bennett started crying. Ridiculous, I know. But we were responsible for that innocent little life, people! A couple minutes later Westin looked out the window and said, "But why is he moving??" I looked outside and sure enough, Mr. T was turning himself over and then walking across the yard. Ummm... what? Westin pulled a line straight from the Easter version of The Friend magazine and yelled, "He's ALIVE again!" He just kept yelling that he was back from heaven, and I went outside to check things out. I put Mr. T back in his home and to be honest I didn't have the courage to look him over too closely... This is not my comfort zone. I don't have the heart or stomach for such things. Westin continued celebrating that his turtle had been resurrected and I didn't know how to make him understand that this was not exactly what happened.

Michael got home right about then, went and inspected Mr. T, fixed up his home with more protection from the dogs, and all was well. Big shrug, guys. It was an emotional morning with a weird ending and I'm just still confused. Westin has wanted to reenact the entire situation so many times. He lays on his back and says, "You say 'Oh no, what is that turtle doing? Is he dead?'" Then after I say that, he starts moving all around like a born-again turtle, flips over and says, "Now say 'Oh my gosh! He's alive again!'" So I say my line and Westin laughs and laughs. Westin is all about directing specific pretend play. It's entertaining and draining, depending on your current energy reserve.

Bennett:
Opened the dog's jerky treat bag and was handing them to all of them before I noticed what went down. His comfort with animals cracks me up and he's just so at ease with them. He absolutely loves our daily walk and if we miss it for some reason and go to get in the car instead in the morning, he stands by his stroller and makes angry noises at me. He went to nursery by himself for the first time today. He had to be held the whole time by a sweet nursery leader but I call that progress. He liked seeing a baptism for the first time and hugged Michael's leg the whole time in the confirmation circle. It was so sweet.

Brothers checking out the baptismal font.

Doooooogs. Three at a time this week was a little much.
I do the dog thing first for Bennett and his serious love of animals,
second for some fun "play" money,
and third because I hate saying no. Even to strangers, apparently.
Maybe it's good for me to get used to having animals around.

Latest cross stitch for Michael's sister, Katie. This was supposed to be a Christmas present!
My cross stitch part of life is always a little overwhelmed but I still love it.

Bennett takes lollipops seriously.

My sweet Bennett. Anytime I'm busy he needs me to pause, sit down, then he climbs on my lap and just holds me. Physical touch is for sure his love language. After he feels like I've paid sufficient attention to him, he goes on playing and I go on getting things done. This happens multiple times a day and I love him for it.

Three dogs, guys. It's been a circus.

I love our roses right now! We have a few groups of these in our backyard and it's beautiful. Fresno spring! Sunny and 70s, temperatures are climbing fast and we just want this weather to stay as long as possible.
Also, rosy cheeks. Those come around a lot, too.

Michael's hat stayed on Bennett surprisingly well. That 98th percentile head holds its own.

They thought the real goldfish in that pool were pretty awesome!

He held on tight to these three little ducks through all of Mornings with Mommy.

Obsessed with the plastic duckies, oddly and uncharacteristically unaware of the REAL baby ducks.

Guys, I still call Bennett my baby. This picture makes me laugh so much. This boy has GROWN.

Playing while Daddy picks oranges. We keep picking " for the last time" but then we finish that crop, and go back to see how the trees are doing and come home with another bag. They're the yummiest.

We love this Rosie girl. We'd keep her in a second if we could!

Six Years!

We've been married SIX years as of yesterday! Anniversaries are so fun.

I decided I wanted a family tradition for our anniversary since technically it's a day we should all be grateful for! Also I needed a serious sugar fix because I'm oooooover my health challenge (3 more weeks to go). So when the boys woke up I showed them our short little wedding video, fed them a quick protein/veggie breakfast because I'm not THAT fun of a mom -- and then we headed out for donuts! I think a donut breakfast on our anniversary will be a fun little family tradition. We decided to just walk there together and walk the long way home, and it was a fun morning. I crack up when Bennett eats something sinfully delicious because he just looks at you like, "Why do we not eat this ALL THE TIME??" 

Oh to be young.

That night the boys got to play with Ashley (Westin looks forward to babysitters so much!) and Michael and I went out on a fun anniversary date. We went to Yosemite Ranch and I had the best mashed potatoes I've EVER eaten and the tallest steak I've ever seen. Michael loved his shrimp and ribs too, and it was fun to watch a little of the Jazz game while we ate. Then we went to A Quiet Place and it was stressful. But good because #Jim. We grabbed 30th Anniversary Cheesecake to take home and eat, and it was a happy little anniversary date! Six years. In about 5 days is the 8th anniversary of the day we met in the Salt Lake City airport, before our summer together in Jerusalem. Oh to be young.

Michael:

finished week one of his two-week radiology gig. It's supposedly the best two weeks of all of residency and we LOVED it. Basically he's been gone from 8am to 12pm with no call. Um, yes. This week he transferred all of our DVDs to digital that could do that, and is working on selling hard copies. He always does such good stuff when he has time! I love him for it. I just know that our laundry situation would be much improved if I worked and Michael was a stay-at-home dad. Sorry babe. Laundry has become my weakness because... who wants to do that when there's always other work to be done that you actually enjoy? That's the only downside of my newish side gigs that I love. He also did some major fixing of a new sink faucet that we sort of fell into, and I was so impressed with how he figures stuff out. It's a funny story, but definitely funnier now that the 2.5 weeks of sticking my garden hose through my kitchen window is over. (I love you, Emma.)

Maddie:

gave the boys haircuts on Monday and I gotta say I'm getting better each time we attempt that! When you don't know what you're doing AT ALL, there's no where to go but up. Bennett's got a few iffy spots but that's because he will not sit still, so it's quite an involved task. We went to the library together, and to the fish hatchery with our preschool group. Michael got The Greatest Showman for me for our anniversary and I'm excited to watch it again!

Westin:

is becoming an even more skilled Duplo builder and I love coming across his creations throughout the house. He's definitely becoming sweeter and sweeter as we approach 3.5 years old. He was so funny before our date night -- asking me all sorts of specific questions about what restaurant we were going to and what the movie was going to be about, and why he couldn't come. :) I just feel like he was just barely as unaware of all that as Bennett is, but they are both getting so big. Westin gives us a kiss on each cheek, then a "piggy kiss" on each cheek, then a hug while saying "A hug for thaaaat" every single night. It's so sweet. (A piggy kiss is something he randomly made up where he snorts while giving you a kiss and it cracks me up every time.) We're working on helping him treat Bennett with patience, and when they wrestle and laugh it is so fun to watch.

Bennett:

loves to close his eyes then open them with a surprised face to play peek-a-boo and it's so funny. It's like he thinks he's completely hiding when his eyes are closed, and he makes such a funny face when they're closed. He does it when I get him out of the car or when we're getting him ready for bed. He still won't go to nursery without Michael or me there, but he'll get the hang of it soon. We have amazing, AMAZING nursery leaders. We watched our favorite Rosie dog this weekend and Bennett was over the moon to see her when he woke up from his nap on Friday. He gave her a kiss the same way Rosie gives him kisses. Which I know is disgusting, but it was also really funny and cute. Bennett has the funniest deep laugh and such a joyful personality.

Donut run!

Tallest steak of my life. Should've gone medium-well rather than the usual medium here. But still amazing.

I love stumbling on Westin's lego creations, stashed in high places by him so that Bennett can't destroy them.

Checking on Mr. T from the window!

Blurry, but represents the party that Rosie brings to the house.

Michael and the ladies.

Bennett preferred his own couch for movie night on Friday.

We bought Coco and I am in love with that movie.
We haven't bought a movie in ages and this week we bought three great ones.
Keep making better movies, please!

You guys, running water in the kitchen. I was stoked.

Have you ever seen so many small children look at a camera at the same time before?
Thoroughly impressed with our preschool crew.

Westin lives for Fridays when he can play with Braelynn.

We bought daddy sunglasses (not these ones) and they were a flop. I'm terrible at shopping for Michael.
But I'm really good at shopping for small children and for myself :)
Anyone else have a husband that seemingly never wants or needs anything?? It's both admirable and super annoying!
Haha, love you babe.

Westin made a self-portrait at library story time. He looked at the face, added the eyebrows, then said, "There mom, does he look angry now?" Rolled my eyes so hard at that. We can't listen to anything from Taylor Swift's new album anymore because Westin relates too hard to the anger she's channeling, and I don't even know where he gets it. It's so funny except for when it's not. I just tell him every time I put him to bed that he is a kind and sweet boy. Because he is! He really is.

Post-haircut!

Pre-haircut. We put it off waaaay too long.

Big Sur & Monterey

We took off for the coast this weekend when Michael unexpectedly had Friday off. It was such a happy and smooth trip and I wish we were still there! We drove a southern route to the coast, went up Highway 1, explored state parks and Big Sur, then stayed in Monterey Friday night. Here's our plan so I can remember our fun weekend!

Friday:

Drive: from Fresno to south of Big Sur, through Coalinga

Limekiln State Park: Hare Creek Trail and Limekiln Trail

Julia Pfeiffer State Park: McWay Falls (we took turns while the boys slept) and Partington Cove Trail

Pfeiffer Beach

Bixby Bridge

Monterey: Clam chowder outside on Cannery Row (Bennett had a sad fall down some concrete stairs, poor cutie) and a perfect hotel set up for us at Bide-a-Wee Inn (the boys had their own room within our room, which we did not expect. I love when they sleep well in a new place!).

Saturday:

Breakfast at the Inn, then a walk along the coast from our hotel. (Michael and I both agreed we would finally be regular runners if we lived there...)

Point Lobos State Reserve: Sea Lion Cove, Bird Island, Whalers Knoll, etc.

Drive home through Los Banos

Dinner at Tofas before fully hitting reality again

It was such a fun weekend that I barely remember what we did during the week before that... Just the usual! Still no faucet, the hose life is feeling rough around here. Mr. T is settling into his life here pretty well. Kitty randomly got caught in our blinds and that was sad/scary/weird and I have some scratches to prove that I tried to help (but was no help). She worked it out. 

Westin and Bennett are such good hikers and so fun to be with. I loved our weekend together.

Can you spot the sea lions?

Morning walk along the coast in Monterey.

Deer spotted outside our hotel!

Bixby Bridge

Cows living the life on the coast.

Bennett took a little while to get used to walking in the stream but then he was all about it.

Pfeiffer Beach

These boys could have played here all day.

Tunnel on Partington Cove trail.

Partington Cove

McWay Falls

These boys were out after Limekiln State Park, so Michael and I took turns hiking to McWay Falls and let them get some rest.

Limekilns in Limekiln State Park

I love these boys!

Westin was pretending to be a mountain lion. Later we saw a garter snake and Michael told him what it was called, and for a while after that Westin said, "I'm a gardener mountain lion!"

Hare Creek Trail

Highway 1 Driving!

Our drive out was through so many random roads and farms and fields. We were worried we were never going to connect to Highway 1 because it felt so random, but it worked!

Michael had to make a presentation for work so Westin had his computer out "working" too.

Sometimes if you have really bad manners, you can't sit with us.
Jk, we love you Benny. But you have to eat soup outside now if you won't let me feed you.
...can you tell it's tomato soup? :)

Westin's buddies, Annie and Ellie.

Mornings with Mommy was rain and cloud themed, and I thought her decorations were so cute. They do such a good job.