Disneyland

September 13, 2008 was marked the day we start of our Hughes

family vacation to Disneyland. After much planning and negotiations we were able to get all the planning settled for this date. We were going to go on a trip with Rusty's whole family plus three extras. It was going to be a group of 19 people flying to California on stand by and staying in two hotel rooms. But the week before the trip Rusty's dad got sick and had to have surgery. So He and Sue were not going to make it.

The kids were so excited Carter felt as though he had been waiting for this trip forever and now we were on our way. Alexis and Jordyn got to fly in a plane for the first time. They did very well, except Alexis did get a little antsy toward the end of the flight. Hauling all our stuff and children through the airport was interesting, but we made it to our hotel without too much trouble.

The first few nights we had 13 people in out hotel room, but it was a nice sized room. It had three queen beds and two queen pull out couches. The kids thought it was so cool how they were all living together and did their usually chasing around.

Sunday was the first day that we all went to Disneyland. It was so much fun. It is so fun to watch how excited your kids get over all the characters and the rides. This was the fist ride we went to when we got into the park, The Jungle Cruise. And here are pictures of the whole group Sheay and Brady are barely in there.

Alexis loved every character she say and would run up and give them big hugs. There are many pictures we couldn't even get her to turn around in because she just wanted to hug them all. Jordyn on the other hand was not a real fan of the characters. She did give Winnie the Pooh a kiss on the nose, but for the most part she wanted nothing to do them. And as for Carter, well he decided he has gotten to big to care too much about the charaters and he was all about the rides. This was the first time he has come to Disneyland and could ride everything. He was pretty excited about that.

Jordyn and Alexis loved the main street parade they were so excited to see all the fun floats and characters and animals. Alexis liked it so much that was the last thing she wanted to do the last might we were at Disneyland.

Monday we took a break from Disney and drove down to Sea World. I was worried how the kids would do with all the shows, but they were really good and enjoyed watching the three we saw. Here is Carter Posing with a seal.

Here is Jordyn Touching a sting ray. the kids all thought that was pretty cool. They liked the way it felt

And here are Carter, Cameron and Alexis looking at eels. Those were some funky looking creatures.

Alexis found more characters to love in Sea World's Sesame land. Jordyn wasn't really loving that. But she did love the water as it pelted her in head. I pulled her out of it a few times beacause it didn't look pleasant. But once I let her go she would go right back to it. She was soaked and loving it.

We went to Goofy's kitchen for dinner one night and the kids got to meet a lot of characters and dance every few minutes and bang pots and pans. That was a lot of fun for everyone.

Here is our happy family on the Tea Cups. That was one ride everyone liked a long with six or seven others as well. Overall we had a great trip and a great time. We can't wiat to try to go back again in another few years.

Koosheram

Labor Day weekend, is the traditional Hughes family getaway. We all had a really good time. Is was pretty crapped quarters, but I think it was good for every one to be so near and dear. We had a mere 18 people living in a four bedroom "cabin". It was cozy. :) Anyway we got to play a lot of games and ride four wheelers. We were so excited, it was the first time both of our four wheelers were working since we had gone camping last year. I am so proud of Carter he has become a lot more comfortable on the four wheeler. He was a wild man out there. He tried taking it over a few hills and attempted to jump it and he became really good at doing doughnuts. I love to see that. I child after my own heart.Alexis and Brady were also big fans. We couldn't keep those two off the bikes.
And if they weren't on them they were watching other people riding them. It will be fun to watch Alexis ride when she gets a little older. We might have to start looking into finding her a four wheeler of her own for next summer.

The kids all have soooo much fun playing together and having each other around and they love their auntie Kara and Jake.
This is a tradition that has gone on as long as I have been in the family and I really hope it will conyinue for years to come. I really think it is neat how close the family is and that we do so much together.

She's a walker

She likes to use the kitchen stools as a walker.

It is now official. Jordyn can walk. She has been doing it for a week now. She really started doing it a lot when we were out of town with Rusty's family for the Labor Day weekend. She really wants to be able to run around with all the rest of those kids surrounding her. She really knows how to hold her own. She is still a little unbalanced, but she is still trying to be able to get better.

To go back to the part about her holding her own. It is fun to watch her interact with her cousins and sister. She is quite the tease and she will tease those older kids and thinks she is so funny. She will sometime bring them to tears when she takes food from them. What can I say, she is a hungry growing girl. I feed her, I promise, but the way she eats you might wonder.

She will now give you a big sloppy open mouth kiss if you ask for one, but beware she does not stop at just one. She will usually give you two or three more after that. And she is so lovey and snuggly with everyone. Whenever she sees someone new she always wants that person to hold her and she will snuggle right up to them and give them a hug. It is so cute. She didi that to my cousin Alex the other day when we were at my Grandma's and he didn't quite know what to do. (He isn't around little babies much) It was pretty funny.

At this point in her life as well she has some obssesion with sippy cups. She loves them and tries to get her hands on any one that she sees. She has not mastered the art of drinking from a sippy cups, but is improving. She usually ends up drenched in whatever beverage was in the cup. SHe is such a content and chill little girl as well. She is such a fun addition to our famiy.

oh yes, and did I happen to mention she is the cleanest kid I have ever seem. (I wish)

Baby Steps

Jordyn is getting so close to walking. It is so much fun to watch her. She gets so excited when she stands up all by herself. Her new game she likes to play with Alexis is she stands up and then falls over on Alexis. They both think that is so funny. There have benn three or four different times when she has taken one step and then flops to me or Rusty, but last night she took 3 steps before she flopped onto Alexis's bed. And she thought she was pretty cool stuff especially because I was cheering for her and making such a big deal about it. So she thought she would try it again and well, she only took one step and flopped, but was not close enough to the bed and hit her head. I really hope she doesn't stop trying because of that. If she keeps this up she will be walking by next week. She is growing up so fast. I love this age when they start being able to really show their personality.

Happy Birthday Carter!

Yesterday was your Birthday and you turned 7 years old. Your birth was a long awaited event. There were many people that were excited for you to come. You were to be the first grandchild on both sides of your family and the first great grandchild on daddy's side of the family as well. It took some persuasion to get you out. After 26 hours of labor they finally broke out the vaccuum and forsepts and you finally were here, Carter Brian Hughes.

I can't believe how big you are getting. It seems like it was only two or three years ago when you and daddy came into my life and now it has been five. You were only two years old when we first met, and you were such a doll. That is such a fun age watching you learn and discover new things.

Now look at you. You are so old. :) You just started 2nd grade last week and you are still learning and discovering new things. You are such a smart little guy. You do very well in school. You are a very good big brother to your sisters and they love you so much. They are always so excited when you come home. You love to play video games as does every little boy your age.

You like Ninja Turtles, Spiderman, Batman and anything related to Star Wars. You play currently play baseball and football and have recently decided you would like to try basketball.

You are a very good swimmer and you spend as much time in Grandma's pool as you can. You are so lucky to have such a big family and so many people in this world that love you.

-Happy Birthday Carter, Love Kristen

Catch up

I quick update of the things we have done.
-24th of July we spent the time shopping for Daddy's birthday and cleaning for a BBQ at our house. That evening we had family over. We had a really good time and then once almost everyone left we lit fireworks with neighbors.
-The 24th weekend we went camping and boating with half of Rusty's family up at Strawberry Reseviour. He had a lot of fun. Carter, Seth, and Grandma all were brave and rode the tube and the rest of the adults did too. We mad enchiladas in the dutch oven for the first time and they turned out really good. I was really pleased with that.
-Last week Jordyn got her second tooth and she now say "hi". It is so cute.
-Alexis has started to talk in much more full and correct sentences lately. It is funny to hear her talk like that.
-We also bought Alexis a 2 wheel bike which she loves and hates, depending on the day.
-I just started to sell Lia Sophia. LAst Friday was my first party and it went pretty well. I am really excited to start this new adveture. And I hope it will be seccessful in the near future.
-I know there are more things I just can't think of them right now, but that is the jist of our last few weeks.

Obsession

Okay so it had been awhile since I have done a new entry on my blog. I am sorry to say I temporarily have a new obsession. It is the Twilight Saga. I have been very involved with reading the books. I have never been much of a reader due to lack of interest, I can't really ever find a book that really grabs my attention. This one had me from the very beginning. And two I just don't usually have that kind of time. But I have made an exception for these books. I have to admit my house isn't as clean as usual and I haven't done many projects with my kids lately, but I think they are surviving alright. I am currently on the 3rd book and will soon be reading the 4th I'm sure. So I may come back to blogging more regularily soon.