Happy Memorial Day & More Portugal...

Happy Memorial Day!

Since Marc works with NATO he didn't get the day off but it is still a day to reflect and be thankful for our great country and remember all the people that have given the ultimate sacrifice for it! 

(Yesterday (Sunday) Marc did attend the Memorial Day Ceremony held at the American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands again this year...click the embedded link to see...)

Portugal was such a great trip and a much needed WARM break!  It has been a cold winter and spring so it felt great to be in short selves again (without a sweater!). It felt so much like Southern California and Marc was right at home. 

We found some great play areas for the kids and Ava was loving this car.

This is one of the many fun places that we went out to eat.  This place was on the beach and it was great...the view alone was worth it!

Isabella is always up for giving a good hug...although I think her grip around Ava's neck was a little tight! :)

It is always a good day when you can pull out the sunglasses.

Isabella can be quite the ham and she loves to giggle.

After dinner we headed onto the beach.  This is the only place that Isabella would be anytime we were on the beach...right next to me on the towel...she STILL doesn't like the sand! (notice that she kept her crocks on...pretty funny, right?)

Isaac has no problem with the sand.

Ava couldn't wait to get her swimsuit on and had a blast with Daddy in the waves.

All done with beach time.  This is right before heading back to our hotel for the night.  Great day in Portugal!
Check back to see Isaac's FAVORITE PART EVER (like in his whole life!)

London..Girl's Trip!

To capture all that we have done in the last few weeks I have to back up to the weekend before we left for Portugal.  My friend, Jenny and I were searching trips online (which seems to be a favorite past-time for both of us) and we came across these 12 Euro (15 dollars) flight tickets to London! Well, we couldn't pass up a deal like that and although we didn't have much time to squeeze in a trip, we decided that a 24 hour (Sat. morning- Sun. morning) girls trip would do the trick. There were 6 of us that decided to go and we had the BEST time!  We had the 24 hours packed of fun and it was perfect!

It was the best day because the weather was PERFECT!  Seriously, London is known for it's cloudy weather.  We took a city bus tour and had so much fun seeing the sights.  Marc & I went to London with my sister & her husband years ago (when we lived in Italy) and went in the London Eye then (that HUGE ferris wheel you see in the pic).  Remember the trip, Brenda!? :)

Love this pic my friend captured.  That is Big Ben.

We took the hop on/ hop off city tour so one of the stops we got off at was Buckingham Palace.  These are all the girls that went... (from left) Kim, me, Jenny, Jocelynn, Jennie, & Kari (in front).  Such a great group of girls!

We had to take this picture with the tour guide.  By this time we had been on 3 different buses and he was by far our favorite guide!

London is such a cool city!

After the day of touring the city we had a couple more stops that we took the tube too...first, Harrods (where we could only look...wowsers, the prices were high) and then to dinner and then too....

This is how we ended our night.  I have been wanting to see Wicked for years so it was SO MUCH FUN to go see it!

It was such a GREAT time and I am so thankful to all our husbands who watched the kids so we could have a girls trip...we are all so blessed!

It's all about the snacks...

When traveling with kids it's all about the snacks!  :)  Here is right before our Portugal flight...Isabella's favorite thing is plain croissants...she was happy!

Can't decide between the chocolate muffin and the waffle...let's get it all!  Kids with full tummies = happy travelers & leftovers= happy Daddy!  We all know that Marc is the ultimate snacker! :)

Chocolate milk makes happy campers while waiting in a crazy long rental car line! :)
More to come...

From Portugal to Seattle...

Man, what a whirlwind the last few weeks have been.  I (kelly) have been on 12 flights in 3 weeks!!  Lots of great times and good memories!  I have LOADS to catch up on. I got back last Tuesday from flying solo with 3 young kiddos across the ocean and I am JUST feeling back to normal!  Isaac is such a GREAT traveler and adjusted so well to the 9 hour time change each direction...the girls did great out in Seattle but we had a tough couple of nights being back in the Netherlands....I thought we were back in the newborn days and they would never sleep good again...all is well and they are sleeping ALL night again!! :)

Well, here's a little sneak peak at THE CREW plus their cousins- Josiah and Cash!  What fun this group had!

I hope to have a "catch-up" week full of posts so check back! :)

Portugal: What a sweet blessing!

We truly enjoyed every moment we spent in Portugal...God provided so much sun & special memories....

POOL PARTY...

chillin' out

yes! we like our sunglasses...

iMan & his twin sisters...kinda looks like a mission impossible or Charlie's Angels' pose...maybe...

not only do they say "cheese" for the camera, they scream it out!!!

pose 1 at pool with glasses

pose 2 at pool with glasses

pose 3 at pool with sunglasses...iGirl has been doing this hand up to her eyes...very cute!

PLAYGROUND OPS...

who is looking...and where...Is this a professional modeling set of kids?

the sun is out...oh wow!

whose hands are on iMan's body?

PAPA + MAMA + THE CREW DO DINNER... 

PIRATE OPS...?

Ahoy, Matey! Check back for our pirate adventures on the high seas :)