Daniel and I were a day away from our Mexican vacation that we had to cancel a year and a half ago because of my back injury, and we made a last minute trip to the doctor, who tried again to convince us to cancel our trip. Daniel ended up fainting in the doctor's office after getting a shot in the booty (feel free to make fun of him for this!), and the EMTs and firefighters insisted we go straight to the ER because he (apparently) fell on his head and was unconscious for a bit. Even though all results came back OK (phew!!) the doc still recommended not going to Mexico.
We went anyway this time, and everything turned out great!!! We went to San Jose del Cabo and stayed at the Royal Solaris resort, our first all-inclusive experience. It was beautiful and we had a great time! We spent lots of time eating & drinking, laying by the pool and on the beach, reading and enjoying the view from our (hot tub on the) balcony.
On our 8th wedding anniversary we took the bus to Cabo San Lucas and met Greg & Elizabeth, whose cruise ship docked there that day, for some lunch and souvenir shopping. The marina was so pretty!
And, in true Kelepouris anniversary style, we found a McDonalds!
We also had a full moon dinner right on the beach, a little less classy than McDonalds but delicious and beautiful nonetheless! ;)
The next day we had an adventure day zip lining (regular, up side down, tandem, pendulum swinging/falling and a 1 kilometer Superman style zip), hiking, crossing a rope bridge, rock climbing and bouldering. Of course, you can't take your camera on the adventure. :(
While we were on our vacation the kids had their own vacation at "Grammie's house." They had an AMAZING time in Mission Viejo with Grammie, Papa and Uncle Matt Matt ! They may have had a better time on vacation than we did! They had a bunch of fun adventures...at the aquarium, a petting zoo/train ride place, indoor playground and their favorite park...and visits from good family friends.
When we got back from vacation, Papou and Babcia visited Temecula, and we had a great time celebrating Mother's Day.
Landon changed his mind about soccer. He decided he doesn't like running and so soccer is not the activity for him. He says he would like to try basketball or baseball next. (2 weeks later, when he saw his cleats he asked if he could play soccer again on another team...go figure.)
Brooklyn loves to choose her outfits these days. She is especially particular about her shoes and always chooses her "frilly socks" with lace/ruffles. If she had her druthers, she would wear her ice cream cone shirt and ice cream cone shorts with frilly socks and "fancy shoes" (which are also chosen to wear with any outfit for any occasion, such as playing in the backyard sandbox). (Shoes and socks on the left. On the right, she found her ice cream cone shirt and shorts from the clean laundry basket and tried to dress herself in them over her current outfit.)
I should seriously count the number of times I hear "All by myself!" each day...all day, every day, about everything!
Brooklyn frequently asks, "Is there room for me?" when she wants to join in a game, conversation, on a lap while reading a book, etc. The way she says it is quite cute! (Picture below was when she declared she was going to "go to Costco to get bananas and pierogis". She got her shoes on, strapped "Sister Kitty" in her stroller and brought her basket with her.)
Landon and Brooklyn's relationship is so interesting to me. They each ask each other for permission to do things such as "Can I sit in my chair, Booklyn?" or "It's okay I play with my kitty cat, Nandon?" If I answer "Of course you can" they inform me that they are not asking ME. (Below right picture was on National Mismatched Shoe Day.)
They play with each other a bunch now! And for stretches of time! It's so cute! One day Landon asked, "Booklyn, do you want to go upstairs and jump on my bed?" And Brooklyn responded immediately, "Of course, Nandon." and they raced up the stairs. (These pics were taken when I was packing up snacks for their week at Grammie's. Landon saw them, asked if the snacks were for their vacation and when I confirmed he screamed, "Booklyn! Booklyn! All these snacks are for our vacation! They are all for us!" Then one of them would name one of the snacks and they both would scream and jump up and down while hugging. This was the best 3.5 minutes of packing I've ever had!)
Legos are Landon's new thing. He loves them, whether building with the instruction manuals or creating airplanes, vehicles, parks, etc. on his own. He also has had fun creating things with his Magformers (magnetic shapes) from the manual as well as custom designs.
I love how Landon sticks his tongue out when he's focusing.
Brooklyn just developed this perfectly high-pitched, giddy-sounding squeal and now uses it all the time, anytime she thinks something is funny or makes her happy. I wish I could bottle it up and save it forever! I guess that's what videos are for...I've got to get that soon!
Park day! (Try to find Landon...resting in the shade.)
Landon's curls are gone, but Brooklyn's seem to be popping up!
One day I dropped a key while we were crossing the parking lot, so I got the kids to the sidewalk and asked Landon to make sure Brooklyn didn't go in the street. I watched while running back into the street to grab the key, and he had put his arms around her and stayed like this the whole time. It seemed so protective and sweet. (Brooklyn's in one of my old dresses that Grammie saved.)
Landon is still very much into playing pretend, especially when he sees a new movie or show. This month the big ones were Elastigirl from "The Incredibles", Beast from "Beauty and the Beast" and Maui from "Moana". One of the kids in Landon's class had a face painter for her birthday, and Landon requested an Elastigirl mask. And he signed the Mother's Day card he made for me "Ulastugrl".
A week after we got home from vacation, Daniel and I got another date night at a friend's wedding.
...And the kids had their first sleepover with their cousins and had a great time!
When I was pregnant with Landon, for whatever (hormonal) reason, I would cry in the car every time I heard Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up", every time without fail (and it was quite popular at the time) and to no other song. So...from the start, that was our song. He now recognizes it as soon as the song begins and usually asks me if we can dance. These are some of my very favorite moments, listening to our song as I hold him and we dance in the kitchen, and it makes me so grateful to be a stay-at-home mom to be able to share these moments with my "babies". (And from the below Mother's Day questionnaire, he enjoys it too...yay!)
More fun times with the cousins!
We got to watch Tyson for a few days...which, of course, made Brooklyn especially happy!
Morning walk with Grammie :)
Landon and his best buddy from school, Addy, had a couple of play dates recently.
We ended the month with a fun Memorial Day weekend! The kids and I met Grammie and Papa in San Diego for a fun day goofing around on the hotel balcony, swimming at the pool and playing at the beach. The whole day was so much fun!!
We have visited the Zims at this hotel in the past and remembered giving Landon a bath in the sink, so we felt the need to recreate the picture (about 3 years later). Landon reluctantly obliged.
We also went to a party, a friend's house and the park that weekend...what fun!
May Bloopers:
We went anyway this time, and everything turned out great!!! We went to San Jose del Cabo and stayed at the Royal Solaris resort, our first all-inclusive experience. It was beautiful and we had a great time! We spent lots of time eating & drinking, laying by the pool and on the beach, reading and enjoying the view from our (hot tub on the) balcony.
On our 8th wedding anniversary we took the bus to Cabo San Lucas and met Greg & Elizabeth, whose cruise ship docked there that day, for some lunch and souvenir shopping. The marina was so pretty!
And, in true Kelepouris anniversary style, we found a McDonalds!
We also had a full moon dinner right on the beach, a little less classy than McDonalds but delicious and beautiful nonetheless! ;)
The next day we had an adventure day zip lining (regular, up side down, tandem, pendulum swinging/falling and a 1 kilometer Superman style zip), hiking, crossing a rope bridge, rock climbing and bouldering. Of course, you can't take your camera on the adventure. :(
While we were on our vacation the kids had their own vacation at "Grammie's house." They had an AMAZING time in Mission Viejo with Grammie, Papa and Uncle Matt Matt ! They may have had a better time on vacation than we did! They had a bunch of fun adventures...at the aquarium, a petting zoo/train ride place, indoor playground and their favorite park...and visits from good family friends.
When we got back from vacation, Papou and Babcia visited Temecula, and we had a great time celebrating Mother's Day.
Coming back from vacation I have found myself singing and dancing much more than I did prior to this vacation. I have been so pleasantly surprised by how much stress disappeared in just 5 days of laziness. I am a better mom and wife these days. And since it worked so well, I'm going to need some more vacations to keep it up in the future! ;) (Please note below that they're eating cookies in the bath below.)
We had our first trip this season to the Temecula Blueberry Co. to pick our own blueberries with the cousins. Yum!
Landon got to spend an evening with Auntie Amber, Uncle Peter, and, by request, Jacob for his birthday gift. They went bowling, played at the arcade, got burgers AND went to frozen yogurt. What a fun night for him!
Brooklyn and Daddy had a date day at the Farmer's Market, Old Town Temecula and a stop for a (not-so-small) ice cream.
I should seriously count the number of times I hear "All by myself!" each day...all day, every day, about everything!
Brooklyn frequently asks, "Is there room for me?" when she wants to join in a game, conversation, on a lap while reading a book, etc. The way she says it is quite cute! (Picture below was when she declared she was going to "go to Costco to get bananas and pierogis". She got her shoes on, strapped "Sister Kitty" in her stroller and brought her basket with her.)
They play with each other a bunch now! And for stretches of time! It's so cute! One day Landon asked, "Booklyn, do you want to go upstairs and jump on my bed?" And Brooklyn responded immediately, "Of course, Nandon." and they raced up the stairs. (These pics were taken when I was packing up snacks for their week at Grammie's. Landon saw them, asked if the snacks were for their vacation and when I confirmed he screamed, "Booklyn! Booklyn! All these snacks are for our vacation! They are all for us!" Then one of them would name one of the snacks and they both would scream and jump up and down while hugging. This was the best 3.5 minutes of packing I've ever had!)
Legos are Landon's new thing. He loves them, whether building with the instruction manuals or creating airplanes, vehicles, parks, etc. on his own. He also has had fun creating things with his Magformers (magnetic shapes) from the manual as well as custom designs.
I love how Landon sticks his tongue out when he's focusing.
Brooklyn just developed this perfectly high-pitched, giddy-sounding squeal and now uses it all the time, anytime she thinks something is funny or makes her happy. I wish I could bottle it up and save it forever! I guess that's what videos are for...I've got to get that soon!
Landon's curls are gone, but Brooklyn's seem to be popping up!
One day I dropped a key while we were crossing the parking lot, so I got the kids to the sidewalk and asked Landon to make sure Brooklyn didn't go in the street. I watched while running back into the street to grab the key, and he had put his arms around her and stayed like this the whole time. It seemed so protective and sweet. (Brooklyn's in one of my old dresses that Grammie saved.)
Brooklyn still loves going to gymnastics. Daddy played hooky from work for an hour so he could come watch one day this month!
A week after we got home from vacation, Daniel and I got another date night at a friend's wedding.
...And the kids had their first sleepover with their cousins and had a great time!
When I was pregnant with Landon, for whatever (hormonal) reason, I would cry in the car every time I heard Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up", every time without fail (and it was quite popular at the time) and to no other song. So...from the start, that was our song. He now recognizes it as soon as the song begins and usually asks me if we can dance. These are some of my very favorite moments, listening to our song as I hold him and we dance in the kitchen, and it makes me so grateful to be a stay-at-home mom to be able to share these moments with my "babies". (And from the below Mother's Day questionnaire, he enjoys it too...yay!)
My kids are obsessed with In-N-Out, by the way...
Not to worry, Brooklyn and I also have a song, Ray LaMontagne's "Hold You in My Arms". This song choked me up when she was an infant, and we've danced to it ever since. 
More fun times with the cousins!
Morning walk with Grammie :)
Landon and his best buddy from school, Addy, had a couple of play dates recently.
Auntie Gail and Uncle Fred came for a visit and took both Brooklyn and Landon (individually)golfing and to the park before dinner and a bike ride. This was Brooklyn's first time on a golf course, and it sounded like she had just as much fun as Landon always does!
We ended the month with a fun Memorial Day weekend! The kids and I met Grammie and Papa in San Diego for a fun day goofing around on the hotel balcony, swimming at the pool and playing at the beach. The whole day was so much fun!!
We have visited the Zims at this hotel in the past and remembered giving Landon a bath in the sink, so we felt the need to recreate the picture (about 3 years later). Landon reluctantly obliged.
We are so lucky to have Grammie, who loves to play and have fun with the kids. We all are so thankful for her love and willingness (& ability) to play so hard with her grandkids.
We also went to a party, a friend's house and the park that weekend...what fun!
May Bloopers:
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| Daniel on the left / Landon on the right |
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| Where's Waldo? (by the way, Landon is really good at finding Waldo in those books!) And how did he get the animals on his back (before falling asleep)? |
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