Summer has officially begun for our family. It started early for the kids and I when we headed over to California to hang out with some friends. David was in his last week of block and it was a highly stressful one, so it was the perfect opportunity for the kids and I to leave him behind and not feel guilty.

We headed over to California where Jenny and her family are living right now and played all weekend long. When Dutch and Savvy saw each other it was like they didn't even notice that they hadn't played since November, they just picked up right where they left off. They are such good buds, I love it. Vanessa and Maylee did pretty good but you can definitely tell that they are still two and see the age difference between them and Dutch and Savvy's playing.

Saturday we headed to the beach. It was freezing cold and super windy so we didn't stay very long. But it didn't stop Dutch from loving it. I don't think he even realized that he was suppose to be cold. He just dug in the sand and ran around and had a great time. Maylee wanted to stay wrapped up in a towel and be warm, she must get that from me.

Jenny made some pretty adorable capes for the kids to wear. Dutch of course decided to be ornery and would not wear his the entire time but five minutes after we got home he put it on and now he loves it and wears it all the time. Maylee loved hers right away and she had so much fun running down the side walk with Vanessa letting the capes fly out behind them.

Jenny's parents live in a gorgeous neighborhood. One that I dream of living in one day. The front yards are all full of grass, there are sidewalks, green trees everywhere. People care about what there yards look like. I couldn't get over how much I loved the neighborhood. It was so much fun to be able to sit out front and let the kids play. One night while sitting outside Jenny let the kids water the flowers in the front yard. Maylee and Vanessa were being so silly and laughing over every little thing. It was hilarious. Dutch and Savvy enjoyed watering the flowers too. It was a great visit. We had a lot of fun. And it was the perfect escape for me. I really needed to get away and do something fun besides sit around and watch David study. Jenny and I were able to craft although not nearly as much as we would have liked but we did what we could with five crazy kids. We stayed up every night til almost one chatting, the drive home was pretty rough because of it. I finally called David about 2 hours into it and told him to talk to me and keep me wake. Poor guy had to talk to me and entertain me for about two hours but I managed to stay awake. It was a great trip and a great way to start the summer. The kids wrestling with Eric... and eating pop-tarts... Oh yeah and Talli was there too... Now David is done with his first year of Medical School and is off until August. I'm so excited. We've already starting playing. And it is SO nice to be able to have a helping hand with the kids all day long. He is probably going to be begging to go back to school by the time summer is over but for now I plan on letting him get a really good experience of what a stay at home parent job is all about. The first two days his patience with the kids was so perfect it almost made me want to vomit a little, but now after five days of being with them all day every day he is starting to go a little crazy. Oh how I love to sit back and watch him with the kids and laugh.

On Wednesday after we got home we really needed some food. So we got the kids ready to go to the grocery store and then Maylee added a few more accessories to the dress that I put on her. And yes we let her go to the store looking like this. It made her day. Those are my socks and the shoes are at least a size to small. Her feet must have been killing her. But she is a true girl and won't let a little pain get in the way of fashion. And that is her swimsuit over her dress. She loves that swimsuit.

Daddy, Dutch and Talli crashed after shopping. Maylee and Dutch are still in awe of Talli and they love to lay by her. They fight all the time about who gets to be the closest to her. She is one loved little girl. Lets just hope she can survive all the smothering.