California Vacation

The Sunday after the 4th, the kiddos and I drove out to California for a mini vacation. This trip was my first semi-solo Arizona to California trip. I wasn't nervous about the drive itself,  but I wasn't looking forward to dealing with bathrooms breaks alone with two kiddos and our dog.  And I knew that it would be hot, possibly windy with a high chance of thunderstorms across the desert. 

The drive was uneventful, and we arrived safely. 

This trip coincided with our home church's VBS week. Prior to driving out, I did register and plan on attending VBS. My kids love attending VBS and were excited to go. VBS this year did not disappoint. I was a little worried that my kids would feel out of the loop being gone for six months, but nope...they both jumped in and loved every minute of being back at our home church. 

We've been home for about a week and the kids are still singing VBS songs and sharing what they learned with everyone. 

Tuesday we spent the morning with my parents. 

Lucas has been reading the "Billy and Blaze" books and was looking forward to riding a "pracing pony." My Mom gently suggested that maybe we should start with less pacing and more basic riding skills...not as exciting...but safer. After having a mini riding lesson Lucas did work his way up to a trot. He was smiling from ear to ear. 

I'm not sure what Alara enjoyed more...horseback riding or riding the quads. Alara loves horseback riding. I think she would have stayed on Rembrandt (the pony) all afternoon. While riding, she talked the whole time...I'm not sure if my mom could follow everything Alara said...there was a lot of happy chatter going on. 

My parents have push quads...the kind that only good when pushed or by using gravity. 

After a fun, but exhausting morning we said our good-byes and heading back to VBS. I wasn't sure if the kiddos would make it through the program, but they got a second wind.  Needless to say, after such a busy day we got home from church and both kids went right to sleep.    

happy 3rd birthday to my sweet baby Alara

My sweet baby Alara, who really isn't a baby anymore, turned three today. We celebrated over the weekend in California with family and friends. It felt amazing to be back in California. The weather was warm, but perfect compared to what we are all experiencing in Arizona. Alara asked for a purple breakfast Sky party, and between Dadi and myself I think we delivered.

After brunch, the kiddos and a few grown-ups painted some beautiful art. I think everyone did a fantastic job. I loved watching these kiddos get creative with their art. Kid art is the best.

A big thank-you to Alara's Dadi and Dada for allowing us to host this party in their backyard. And to all that came out to help us celebrate our sweet baby Alara - Thank-You! It takes a village and I'm so happy that our village is strong and full of loving people.

On our drive home, Alara slept hard blessing us with peace and quiet for most of the drive home.

Until next time.

California Trip pt.#2

Spring break is over and tomorrow we go back to our normal routine. This week we drove to California and spent time with friends and family. It's been fun, but I think we are all ready to get back on schedule.

This trip home was our first since moving, and it was a busy one.

We arrived in California around midnight Wednesday night. Thursday was packed tight with a breakfast brunch, play dates and a visit from my sister. Friday we spent the day at the Safari Park and in the evening I had a friend come over. Sabbath morning we went to church, then drove out to see my parents.  Sunday my husband had a few things to do while I enjoyed a quiet morning at Dadi and Dada's before packing up and driving home to Arizona.

It was good to be back. I think it was just what our family needed, time together, in a familiar place surrounded by loving family and friends.

On Friday, Dadi and Dada treated our family with a trip to the Safari Park. The weather was perfect and it was a fun day. I loved watching the kiddos play with their Grandparents. In this picture, Alara was soaking up the attention chatting away with her two favorite people. I think Lucas had already run ahead with his Daddy. The kiddos wore themselves out!

My mom and brothers joined us for part of the day. My kiddos had a blast playing with the boys. Lucas is right smack in the middle age-wise between my Mom's middle and youngest. It is fun watching the boys grow up together.

The Safari Park's annual butterfly exhibit was in full swing during our visit. I love this exhibit. Lucas was so happy that a butterfly landed on his shoulder. He stood very still for as long as possible until the butterfly flew off. Alara on the other hand did not like having butterflies land on her. When one finally did she shirked and shook it off. Ice cream seemed to help her recover from the experience. 

I loved watching these two play. After a busy day, we drove home with two tired but happy kiddos and four tired but happy adults. 

And the week isn't even over yet...

From Our Family To Yours - Merry Christmas + recap

Merry Christmas from our family to yours..

This Christmas season has flown by quickly. We have been busy packing, saying good-bye to friends and family and making the best of our last days here in our current home. Even with the chaos of packing, the kiddos and I set up our Christmas tree and decorated the house. It was harder than I thought decorating this house knowing that this would be our last Christmas here. I didn't realize how attached I had grown to our "Starter home." 

For Christmas Eve we spent the morning with my parents, then went to my husband's parents in the evening. Christmas morning was spent at home enjoying the company of close family. We ended our Christmas festivities at my Grandparents home. 

I'm grateful that we got to spend so much time with family and friends before our big move. Everything from simple coffee dates with friends to having Dadi and Dada watch the kiddos so my husband and I could sneak away for a quick dinner (then back to packing) and movie. I'm so thankful and blessed to have such wonderful and caring people in my life and honestly that makes this move so much harder. It is my hope and prayer to never lose what I have gained during my time in the La Sierra community. 

Love you all, and Merry Christmas

Next time I post here on Little House of Harrison it will be from our new home in Arizona. 

Wish us luck and send lots of prayers our way as we travel. 

Pumpkin Patch

This weekend, in an attempt to continue the fall spirit, we took the kiddos to the pumpkin patch. My parents and sister, along with their families joined as as well. Overall, the kiddos had fun. Alara was definitely more into the pumpkin patch than Lucas...but in his defense he had already been to a pumpkin patch this year with his kindergarten class and he was hungry. 

The kiddos played on a tractor in the pumpkin patch, panned for "gold" and enjoyed riding on the train around the corn field. My Dad was such a  great sport riding the train with all five kiddos.

We did get some good family pictures.

I'm surprised because by then everyone was hungry and getting cranky.

The hype of the pumpkin patche is wearing off. Might skip it next year...or maybe just take Alara.

Apple Picking Time

I love fall activities! 

This weekend, our family took a short trip to Oak Glen for apple picking and pie eating. It felt good to get outside and spend time together. Octobers in Southern California are warm. I didn't even bother dressing the kiddos in their cute fall clothes because I knew that it would be too warm. We did see some families all dressed up in boots, flannel and scarves, and they did look cute...and hot...especially after hiking around an apple orchard. 

For apple picking, we choose to go to Riley's Farm for their delicious Winesap apples. The kiddos enjoyed wandering around the apple orchard looking for the perfect apples. Most of the good apples were too high to reach. However, my husband found a way around that. 

Doing fall activities makes me excited for the cooler weather. Next weekend we are heading out to Temecula's wine country for a pumpkin patch and hopefully the weather will be cooler. 

a day away

With the hustle and bustle of the daily grind, our family needed to get away for the afternoon.  I couldn't think of a better place than the San Deigo Safari Park. It's far enough away to be out of town,  but close enough for a day trip. It is familiar, the weather is cooler and its outdoors. Turned out that it was a good day to go, not too crowded and the animals were active. 

Our day didn't start out well. In fact, we almost turned around and stayed home. The kiddos were fussy, I didn't pack ahead of time so we were all running behind and on top of it Lucas had a long week at school. Nevertheless, we pushed forward and went to the park. And although it was a good day, I was exhausted by the end of it. 

One of the highlights of our day was watching the elephants. Two elephant brothers were splashing and swimming in their pool. The kiddos were enthralled. It was cute watching the two brothers roughhouse in the water clearly enjoying themselves. 

We stayed until the late afternoon before heading home. Glad we went and oh so thankful or a full rest on Sunday before Monday morning.