i told them it was the wild wild west!
We’ve been inundated with various house and personal projects that we haven’t really been on many family adventures these past few months. Thankfully, most of our projects are wrapping up, so we’re trying to go on more adventures. This past weekend we told the girls we were taking them to the Wild Wild West and boy were they excited about that! Actually, it was really Pioneertown out in the desert, but that place made you feel like you stepped into a Western movie for sure. We had an early dinner at Pappy and Harriet’s and then we let the girls roam around the teeny little town. They had a blast just walking, exploring, and pretending they were cowgirls. They’ve got Texan in their blood, so maybe some of it comes naturally. That little baby of ours was especially happy to be walking and walking about. She’s got such a curious little personality and is an excellent copycat (always trying to do what the big sisters do). She’s such a doll!
After our Old West exploring, we headed out to Joshua Tree to get some family pictures taken by Kimberly Geneviève. Kim and Andre are such sweeties and we always have a good time when we see them. This was the first time we got official family pictures done as a family of 6! You could see a sneak peek of the pictures they got here and here, and I’m so excited to see the rest! We ended up getting an annual pass to Joshua Tree, so we can’t wait to go back and do more exploring soon!
Obviously, we had a pretty pack weekend, which included seeing the BFF and her hubs cross the finish line for the OC half holding hands (it’s such a big moment for them!), spending time with church family, and then spending Sunday afternoon feasting with my family. Weekends like this are fun, but oh man does it leave the house in a shambles. Oh well, that’s what Mondays are for, right?! Happy Monday friends!
on true: dress, vintage. on brave: mix match dress, c/o homespun vintage (their stuff is so cute!!!). on soul: dress, gifted from Rachel. on glow: dress, vintage. shoes, c/o freshly picked. the bigger girls all wearing salt-water sandals (we pass them down to the next gal each year).
now it’s time for tomato shopping
We are seriously working on this garden of ours every weekend. There’s really no rest. We’ve got a ton of (mostly house) projects going on at the same time and it seems there hasn’t been much time for play. Technically though, we love gardening, so though it’s work, it’s also play for us. It’s totally Ben’s hobby (We actually like doing it together, but he’s the one that invests all the time and research into it, I just do as I’m told) and thankfully when we’re outside working in the yard, the girls love joining us. It’s been especially fun for them lately since we’ve made the backyard much more relaxing for them.
It’s that time of year again when we start shopping for tomato plants. Typically, Ben grows over 20 varieties, but he’s telling me this year, he will probably only go with about 15. Though, if it’s anything like the orchard we’ve been working on, the tomato number will jump right back up to 20 soon enough. Normally, he orders his grafted tomatoes online, but this year he’s mostly getting them from local nurseries. This past weekend we went to our favorite one, Roger’s Gardens, and he came home with a few tomato plants and I got some edible lavender plants and caladium.
The girls are such troopers (we were there for 2 hours!) and they like looking at all the plants. Plus, this particular nursery is a bit fancy and there are a lot of little spots for them to ooh and ahh over. I’m thankful Ben is totally into gardening because of it we get lots of fresh fruits and veggies and a pretty yard!
on me: top and bottom, thrifted. shoes, c/o modcloth. the girls: dresses, misha lulu. leggings on true and brave, c/o hello apparel. moccs on glow, c/o freshly picked.
egg hunting at citrus state park
Sundays are filled with gathering with our church family, then hopping from Ben’s family to mine, so we made sure to do our own family Easter thing on Saturday. We went to Citrus State Park to go on a family picnic and do our egg hunt in an orange grove. Every time we have passed this park, True always wants to go and roam, but we never do, so we knew that a little time at the citrus park that afternoon was going to be perfect to celebrate Easter together.
It’s a massive orange grove, so we limited our eggs to one row and within 4 trees on each side of that row. Ben did a good job hiding the eggs and if we left some, then someone will get a surprise one day when they find it. The girls were totally into it, especially that little Glow. She watched what her big sisters were doing and she immediately knew what to do! It took us a bit of time to get situated after the girls ran around, Ben laying the eggs out, then doing the egg hunt, that we didn’t get to actually have our picnic. The park close time was earlier than we thought, so we had to skedaddle out of there. Instead, we drove down the road a bit, pulled over on the side of the road right next to the orange groves and had the picnic in our car. With 4 kids, you’ve gotta try and stay flexible when things don’t go as planned. I don’t always flex so easily, but this day, we all just rolled with it. Thankfully.
It’s a place not too far from us, so we’d love to go exploring more when we’re able to. Next time, we will be sure to allow for ample picnic time in the orange grove. Despite our picnic getting cut short, I think it’s obvious from these pictures that the girls still had the most lovely time. Wouldn’t you agree?!
getting out to the beach
I had True and Brave back to back, and after I had Brave, I pretty much didn’t venture out of the house by myself. It was fine by me because I’m a total homebody and also I love to stick to routines and didn’t want to interfere with their nap schedules. My kids thrive on routine. Then, Soulie was added to the mix and leaving with 3 terrified me, so you can imagine what happened when we moved up to 4. They were all so little and all took naps, so I didn’t mind not leaving the house. Ben does the grocery shopping and I just send him a list of what I need.
Now, True, Brave, and Soul are bigger and no longer nap, so it’s just Glow who naps (two times a day: 9am-12pm and 2pm-5pm). With that, I’m noticing the need to go on more adventures together. To actually leave the confines of our home. It does them good and it does me good too. The idea of leaving with all 4 by myself doesn’t scare me as much (as much is the key word here). Glow won’t ever nap in the car, so it does mess her up a little, but planning quick adventures out and coming back home before traffic hits (see, it all revolves around traffic here) isn’t so bad.
True, Brave, and Soul are getting so curious about the world around them that it does them an injustice to coop them up at home all day, every day. These girls of mine need to get out and explore, so I’m working on trying to give them opportunities to do so. Plus, we live in southern California where the beach, desert, and mountains are all within an hour or less of where we live. I better take advantage, don’t you think?! And if for some reason, we aren’t able to leave the house on a particular day, I’m making sure they spend it in the backyard playing. Lately, they’ve been spending hours out there. Being outside, just reminds us that the world is so much more than just our little family and home. It’s easy to live in a cozy little bubble, but we need to be reminded that there really is a whole world out there and we need to live intentionally and we need to live life well. We need to love and serve others beyond our little family, and honestly, I really suck at teaching my children that.
I don’t always feel like I’m living life well or intentionally. It’s more like I’m just trying to survive my days (and keep my head above water until it’s time to go to bed), but it’s something I need to keep in mind and work on. Sometimes a post about going to beach, turns into a little reflection. This is to remind myself… take the girls on more adventures and teach them how to serve others. I haven’t figured out exactly how to get better at both, but I’m working on it.
btw- they had a blast at the beach!
a turnaround road trip
I woke up at 4am, picked up my friend Reese (and her bun in the oven) up at 5am (okay, 5 minutes after 5am), then we headed out towards Santa Barbara. We wanted to make sure to get out of the city before traffic hits and come back home before traffic hits. When you live in southern California, your outings revolve around traffic. You want to try and avoid it if you can!
It was a great drive up. Reese and I were chatty about everything and laughing about everything. We actually just met a year ago (as a result of her traveling to L.A. to meet her boyfriend’s family and friends), then she married said boyfriend (who is one of my closest guy friends), and they just moved back to Southern California from Minneapolis with a little baby on the way. Despite not knowing each other for very long, it seriously feels like we’ve known each other forever. She’s someone that I just feel comfortable speaking and laughing with despite only knowing each other for a short period of time. No awkward getting to know each other moments at all! I’m always thankful for kindred spirits and Reese definitely is one.
We got to Santa Barbara and walked around the beach, more like the cliff area of the beach. Then, we grabbed some yummy breakfast. After which, we continued about another hour northeast into the country until we reached our destination. The reason for the little road trip was to pick up some fantastic find on craigslist. It’s something Ben and I have been searching for and we finally found it! It’s a bench for our backyard and when everything is set up, I will definitely share pictures.
I found the listing Sunday morning and Ben and I would have picked it up Sunday afternoon, but the seller had work at 1pm, so we wouldn’t have made it in time. We didn’t want to chance waiting until our next chance to go together because I’m sure the bench would have sold had we waited a full week. We thought it would work out if I went on Monday morning. Thankfully Reese, who is a Starbucks manager and used to being up so early, was up for the challenge, we were able to borrow my dad’s truck, Ben had to leave the house at noon for work, so we had Steph, our babysitter, come watch the girls until I got home. We’re so happy it worked out and that we safely got there and back home. I love driving (as long as it isn’t in traffic) and I love road trips, so I had a blast even if I had to wake up before the sun did.
The bench is outside and we are still working on pulling things together for a cozy, comfy outdoor space, but it’s slowly coming along. We’ve been budgeting to be able to do some things to our backyard and that’s our main project for this spring (last spring was wood floors), so it’s been fun seeing it all come to fruition. Don’t worry… I promise to share it when it’s all done. Do you have any major house projects you plan on tackling this spring?
