Spring Break

We took a day to do a little "spring break" trip.  Ryan of course does not get spring break but he took a day off so we could go to the beach.  We are super big fans of living two hours away from the beach, now this is not nice warm Southern California beaches, this is Northern California (family: think Oregon coast but slightly less overcast), the water is freezing and the outside temperature is not much over 65.  But everyone is still there shivering in their skimpy swimsuits which I think is dumb, maybe they just do it out of principal because after all this is a California and it is a beach. Whatever.  I make the girls wear long sleeves. Anyway we go for the awesome view and the sand (and because it was going to be 95 in Sacramento).  The girls LOVE playing in the sand, especially Rachel she just rolls around in it and got a face full several times.

Rachel couldn't get enough.

Ryan trying to get the girls to touch the water

The girls running away so it wouldn't touch them

The baby tent.

The Jelly Belly Factory was on the way so we made
a stop.  The line for a tour was super long though
so we bought some jelly beans and snapped some
pictures and left.

The look Emily gave me.

The look Emily gave Lauren.  Lauren is clearly a favorite.

Photo Shoot

A dear friend of ours offered to do a photo session for us after Emily was born as a gift.  We have never attempted anything like this before (a real photo session) so it was an adventure. They all did amazingly well though.  I LOVE how the pictures turned out and I think they really capture the girls' personalities.  These are my favorites:

I always thought when seeing pictures like this that the poor kid must be freezing, but the secret is a space heater.  It keeps everyone nice and toasty so all you want to do is sleeeepp.......

My little BumGenius (cloth diaper) poster child shot :)

Daddy's Girls

What you can't see in these cute pictures of their feet is all the snacks we kept stuffing them with and me and my mother-in-law holding them all down to keep them still :) Oh the things we do for cute pictures ;)

I love all my sweet girls!!

 This is what happened afterwords when I tried to take a quick picture of the girls in their matching dresses to email to daddy:

They were exhausted from being cute for sooooo long

Rachel bailed and Lauren did her best to force a smile. Thanks.

A Couple of Bucket Heads

When life gets a little crazy sometimes the best thing to do is put a bucket on your head.  

Give it a try.  It helps.

You can even use a bucket like a drum.  But don't use it like a drum when it is on your 

sisters head, she won't be happy.

 Emily finds us only mildly amusing.

Tough crowd.