The St. Regis

We just got back two nights ago from our almost 3 week vacation to California. It was so great to be with my family again! The first week of our vacation was spent at the beautiful St. Regis resort in Dana Point in southern California. It was a Hulme family vacation, so my entire extended family on my mom's side was there (my grandparents, aunts & uncles, and cousins). There were 42 of us and the only one not there was my cousin who is on a mission in Germany. We all had a great time!

The Hotel

Dan had fun taking pictures of all the sweet cars that pulled up to the hotel.

The Beach

The St. Regis has its own private beach - Monarch Beach. It was nice to be able to go to the beach and not have to deal with the crowds. They had complimentary chairs, umbrellas, beach toys, and boogie boards. I LOVE the beach because I can just sit there for hours and talk to my family while watching the kids play a few feet away from me in the sand. Ahhh . . . . the good life!

Annie and Leah with their cousin, Scotty.

My little brother, Michael, skinboarding with a boogie board (he says he staged this fall - haha!).

My little beach babe!

Sisters!

The Pools

We also loved spending time at the pools! Annie swam around for hours on a pink noodle and Leah kept wanting to jump in off the side.

Family Pictures

I'm sad I didn't get a picture of the whole group (all 42 of us), but here are a few pictures of my family. Thanks Mom and Dad for the awesome vacation! We had the best time. We love all of you guys so much and already miss you like crazy!!

And just a cute picture of Leah to end with!!

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July here in Ohio! Typical, but fun. We started out with a lazy and relaxing morning (we had friends over the night before for a game night that lasted until 1:30 am). Then it started to rain. This is why I describe it as typical - it rained last year on the 4th of July as well. Typical Ohio. Annie was so sad when she saw the rain saying, "Oh dear, now we won't be able to watch fireworks!" We wanted to get out of the house, so we went and walked around the mall for awhile. The girls fell asleep in the car on the way home and took a much needed nap while Dan and I made some food and got ready for the real partying to start!

The rain stopped just in time. We had a fun afternoon of BBQ hopping at friends' houses (we squeezed in 3), eating great food and talking and playing with friends. Our girls were troopers. Although they were definitely partied out by the end of the night. After the first BBQ, Annie said, "Now can we go to the fireworks?" "Just two more parties, Annie."

We ended the night with almost half the ward at a park to watch the city fireworks. We did sparklers while we waited for the fireworks to start. Annie had been waiting all day for this, and she was sooo excited. But once the sparklers were lit, there was no chance I was going to get her to hold one. I didn't think she would be so scared - she did it last year just fine. But she still had fun trying to blow them out and running around with her friends. She was also afraid of the fireworks. Poor girl. I thought she was going to love them. She warmed up about half way through, and finally uncovered her ears. The thing is, we weren't even that close. Leah did great and sat on her little camping chair for almost the whole show.

Before moving to Ohio, I think I've spent almost every 4th of July with my family. I definitely thought about them a few times throughout the day and of all the fun they were having together. And most of Dan's family has gathered together in Utah to celebrate the weekend. So, although we would have loved to be with our families for the 4th, we're really enjoying this time we have in Ohio, and we feel so blessed to have so many great friends to spend it with.

Tornado Scare



This last Wednesday night we had a little bit of a tornado scare. At about 12:00 am the approaching sky started getting very active with thunder and lightning. I grabbed my camera and headed out to the back yard to see if I could get any cool lightning shots, but didn't get farther than a few feet when the tornado sirens went of. Within a minute we had grabbed the girls and headed down to take shelter in the basement. I came back upstairs and turned on the TV to hear the meteorologist report a possible tornado a few minutes outside the city. The graphic on the screen showed the area of rotation heading strait for our part of the city. Within seconds the house was shaking with thunder and lightning striking every couple seconds and hail and rain pounding the windows. Quite a rush. I love big storms (Sarah doesn't share my enthusiasm) but I have to admit, this one had my heart pounding. Here's a picture of my girls taking shelter between the couch and the wall. Cozy, eh?



After about a half hour the tornado warning was lifted (there weren't any that touched down) and I went out to the garage to try to capture some of the still active sky. The pictures below show a flash of lighting that lit up the sky right as I took the picture. It was the loudest and closest lightning I think I've ever experienced, and pretty much blinded my camera.

Camping

We went camping this past weekend up at Alum Creek Reservoir. It's only a half hour away from us, so it was perfect for an over nighter. We went with the Johnsons, Williams, and Hagbergs. We had awesome weather, which we were happy about since we were going to go the weekend before, but we had to postpone the trip due to severe thunderstorms. Another thing that was perfect about this trip was the food! I love eating outside around a campfire, and let's face it, everything tastes sooo good when you're camping!

Our girls eating breakfast with the Johnson boys.

We slept great in our brand new tent. It was Dan's Father's Day gift. Well, I basically told him that he could buy a tent for Father's Day. I really don't know anything about tents, so he picked it out. But he picked a good one! I like how big it is. We had tons of space for our queen sized mattress, Annie's twin, Leah's port-a-crib, and plenty of room to spare! Dan took this picture right after we woke up. Notice Leah's face. She's saying, "Cheeeeeese!"

So this is Cornhole. We had never even heard of this game until we moved to Ohio, but it is HUGE here. Everyone plays it. It is similar to horseshoes, except you have to toss beanbags into the holes. So, of course, no camping trip in Ohio is complete without a few games of Cornhole!

Saturday afternoon, after we had packed up camp, we headed over to the beach at the reservoir. It was actually pretty nice. Who knew?! A beach in Ohio! Leah wasn't sharing my same enthusiasm. In fact, she was quite the little chicken. The only way she would finally get off the beach blanket to walk on the sand is if she had her shoes on. And this is how she acted if I tried to dip her feet in the water:

She also didn't like it when I held her and waded out knee-deep into the water. She kept pointing for me to go back onto shore!

The kids had a great time trying to build their own little lake in the sand. Oh, and don't worry, Mom. That's my IBC bottle Leah's sucking on, not some old beer bottle she found on the beach!

It was a great weekend. It definitely got us excited for two things: more camping trips, and our trip to California for some real beaches!!

Annie's New Ride

Annie LOVES her "new" bike. It's pink, has training wheels, and princess decals are plastered all over it. What 3 year old girl wouldn't love it?

A few Saturdays ago, we decided to go out garage sale-ing in search of a bike for Annie. I was a little skeptical that we would find a good bike since we were getting kind of a late start in the day. We hit up a neighborhood garage sale in a nice area of town, and we hit the jack pot! We found this perfect bike for Annie for a killer price, along with a few other great items. It was our very first time going to garage sales, and I have to say, it was actually really fun!

Annie is getting pretty good on her bike. She goes pretty fast and is getting better at using the brakes, but still isn't great at turning sharp corners. She's catching on quick though, and asks to ride several times each day. She's getting to be such a big girl!

Father's Day

"Fathers, draw close to your children. . . . This means giving a father's most valuable commodity - Time." ~Elder A. Theodore Tuttle

Every evening the girls anxiously wait for Daddy to come home. The second they hear the rumble of the garage door opening, they both run to the door, frantically open it, and then yell, "Daddy!!" as he gets out of his car. As he comes into the house, they greet him with arms up and open, begging for him to hold them. He kneels down, scoops both of them up in his arms and gives them hugs and kisses. I watch this happen day after day, with a big smile on my face.

A father's influence in the lives of his daughters is of utmost importance in their young lives. I am so grateful for the righteous example Dan is to our girls. He is a wonderful father, so caring and patient with them, and loves to spend time with them. These girls love their daddy, and I know they will grow up knowing that he loves them and the gospel. And nothing could make me happier.

Happy Father's Day, Dan. We love you.

A Little Relief