Disneyland Adventures

Let me preface this Post with this: I've had my moments of "mommy guilt" when I feel like I'm a horrible mother for working part time. But then there are moments when my hard work pays off. This past April my branch won a trip to Disneyland. They put us up at the California Adventure Hotel and spoiled us on Friday-Sunday. This is the time when I really love my job.

I love making memories with my little family. Nothing warms my heart more than spending time with people I love. And my two boys have my whole heart.
We decided to head down to California on Thursday so we could spend some time with my childhood friends. I love them like my sisters. And their two girls... Well they had my heart at hello. We're trying to work out an arranged marriage for Sawyer;). We just needed Kylee and Baby B there and our twin posse would have been complete. (picture credit goes to my hubby, how did he get all the chillers to look at the camera? He's a Baby whisperer I tell you)


Sawyer had so much fun there, he fell asleep like this. I couldn't resist taking a picture, I haven't seen him sleep like this side he was a baby.


The next day was Disneyland. And oh behold the magic of Cars Land. My favorite thing on this trip was watching Dixon and Sawyer together. They are such buddies.


The carousel was my little's favorite ride. He's a simplistic kind of guy, he needs spinning around and around, not such big crowds or lines, and he likes to have his own horsie. I was lucky enough to get to ride on the back of the horse after promising him an ice cream cone.


I was so impressed with his patience in lines. The Toy Story Mania ride was the longest line we waited in. 50 minutes. But he knew we were waiting to play a video game, so that somehow made it ok? Boys and their video games.





And oh his face when he saw Lightening and Mater. Forget the rides, forget the popcorn, and music, and parades. This boy was all about his friends.


Again with the horsies. How can you resist a face that looks like that? Why yes son, we can go on that ride again and again and again.


Don't even get me started with the fireworks show. That show and the world of color get me teary. Something about the music and the lights. It just gets me thinking how wonderful that Walt's dreams really came true. He has truly created a place where everyone can connect with the child within. Jeepers, I'm embarrassing when I ramble.


Back to my boys. Sawyer was beyond excited to ride the tea cups. What is it that makes those cups so appealing? I mean, I loved them too as a kid. And then I got old and suddenly I feel a little green in the face when the ride is slowly spinning to a stop. For the love of your kids.





We ran into Donald at Toon Town. Sawyer ate that place up. We spent a good hour and a half doing absolutely nothing other than walk around and look at all the houses.


I love this picture. He just wanted some time to play with his guys. He made sure they had breakfast and took naps, and even took a few on the rides. Cracks me up how much he loves them.


See, he has Sarge in his hands... Couldn't let Sarge miss out on the ride, this is us at 8:30 pm. As in, the boy that didn't take a nap. He was that happy all day long. Where did he come from, and how on earth can I bottle up some of that cuteness?





Oh and you should have seen his face when he saw his name on the sign. He was positive it was because he is that awesome. I told his to stand there and say cheese. He stood there and said "cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese". Longest cheese ever. I've trained him well.


So that was that. I have soaked in some California sea breeze, had my share of laughs, connected with the child within, and am grateful as all get out that those boys are mine. I mean really, how am I so lucky?

Sawyer loved Disneyland. But his happiness there, had nothing on when he got home and saw Lyla. The boy went to high heaven. Took his pants off, and ran straight outside to play soccer with his puppy. Or as I say, he was so happy it knocked his pants off.


Favorite memories from our trip in no specific order:
- on our way to CA we took a potty break. 5 minutes later comes a voice from the back seat, "daddy, I gotta poop." oh geez.
- Sonic Diet Coke run and catching up with my dear friend
- getting out of the car after the long drive and Sawyer saying, "good job Daddy, I'm proud of you."
- Racing down the hall to our room in the hotel. I've never seen Dixon run so fast
- while waiting in line Sawyer would quote his favorite books. His favorite quote was from "Are you My Mother?" it says, "down down down its a long way down."
-making his car dance to Captain EO
- making sure to tell me after a ride that was a little scary, "it's not scary!"
-seeing Donald, "hi Donald, what doin today?"
- telling me to "take a picture"

Bonding with Dad

I love watching Dixon be a dad. It's like he was born to be a dad. It comes so natural to him, and Sawyer is his little buddy. I especially love that he is constantly finding fun things to do with Sawyer while I work on Saturdays. They are always on some adventure. Last week Dixon took him to an exhibition game and my boy was on cloud nine.


Just warms my heart to see my two boys having fun together doing manly man stuff.

Baby Boyhood Happenings

It finally happened. He ran through the sprinklers.

I've been trying to teach him to be a boy and that boys run through the sprinklers. Well, that would probably be easier to teach him if I ran through sprinklers too. But I don't. I don't ever. As in, I never ran through sprinklers as a child because I hated to be wet in my clothes. Cue crocodile tears at Sea World because I got a drop of water on me.

Ya. Glad he learns how to be boy from his dad.




Also, boys take off their shirts when they run though the sprinklers. Once again, glad he learned that one from his dad!

Big Boy Beds

For the past week, Sawyer has been asking to sleep in the guest room. He's been asking to sleep there because there is a big boy bed in there. I was hoping it was just a phase, because I sure wasn't ready to give up that crib. The crib: the last part of his babyhood. But against my wishes, he loved that big boy bed and slept so soundly in it, I knew it was time to get one of his own.

I thought planning for his room would ease my mind on the whole "taking the crib down" thing. You see, I never envisioned unscrewing all those screws and storing the crib away under a bed or in a closet out of sight, out of mind. My vision was to just switch beds... Bring the guest bed into sawyer's room, and move the crib in the guest room for another baby that would be soon arriving. In my head, I still had a baby as long as I had a crib. The crib was the last part of his babyhood and I was holding on to it with all my might. I wasn't ready for that big boy bed.

I tried to busy my mind while decorating for his room. I'm not usually a decisive person when it comes to decorating. I like a lot of styles, I like a lot of designs, but I do not like to decide how to decorate a room. I knew my boy loves fire trucks. I knew he loved his UNLV rebels. I knew he loved superman. And I knew he loved the SF Giants. I wanted to incorporate all his favorite things and make it his own. And I really like how it turned out. I spent maybe $50 on the whole thing. The banner is made from comics cut out from his comic book to include his love for superman, the rebel license plate for his rebels, his giants hat, and his most favorite part: the fireman sheets.

I tucked him in that night. He was so excited to show me he could sleep in that big boy bed, no problem. And sleep he did. I just wasn't ready.

Such a daunting task looking back at pictures and trying to figure out where I should start. Blogging just hasn't been what I've needed the past few months. I used to find it theraputive and fun to think of quirky things I wanted to share. But lately, I have been doing some soul searching and some reflecting, that includes so many thoughts I haven't wanted to share. I've been trying to decide what I want this space to be. I want it to be a scrapbook of sorts that documents our adventures as a family.
We've had quite a few adventures lately. Mostly travels, but adventures at home too. We have a new swimmer on our hands, he loves the pool and we have been spending a lot of time there.

Dixon and I had the opportunity to go to San Francisco and see our Giants play. I loved it there. That city had such a heartbeat to it, it felt so alive. I had visions of living there and walking to the bakery down the street for breakfast and walking everywhere I needed to get to. I definitely need my wide open spaces, but there is a part of me that would love to live in the city for a few years, just to experience it.
The golden gate bridge was breathtaking, the field was exquisite, I almost cried when we saw the Full House house(I know those episodes so well, I feel like I am a part of their family). Mostly though, I loved traveling with Dixon. He is so good at finding his way around, and willing to try new things and push me outside my comfort zone.












A week later we ventured up to Utah for a week. I love fourth of July up there. Small town parades, and such a sense of community. This is the first trip I really just let myself soak in everything and enjoy every moment. We had such a great time making new memories and enjoying the company of our loved ones.
























And my cute twin sister is having a baby boy in November. I am ecstatic, I am already scheming on how I'm going to get up there for his big debut.





Life is good. We are blessed. I love summer. I hope to share more thoughts and adventures of our little family.

Grandpa Silcox

Thursday afternoon I was taking my lunch and noticed I had a missed call from my sister. I knew my mom was out of town and that she was taking care of the kiddos, so I quickly called her back assuming she was informing me of a funny something or other that was going on at home. I wasn't ready to hear the news that my Grandpa Silcox had passed away. It took me off guard. He was a rock, I was quite certain he was going to live forever.

I have had the good fortune of not having had to deal with a lot of death in my years. I didn't really know how to handle the news that my grandfather had passed away. So many emotions. Gratitude that he went fast and mostly painless, heartbroken over the fact I won't get to see him again in this earth life, blessed to be a part of his posterity, and that is just the start. The thing about death is it causes you to search your innermost person. It makes you pause to think about life and the things that really matter.

My grandpa taught me a lot of things about life:
1. Enjoy learning. He was always current on the goings on of the world. He was a teacher and had a passion for teaching. He was always wanting to learn, and always curious about the world
2. Support your family. Grandpa always supported his family. Grandpa and grandma came together to all my plays, my soccer games, dance recitals, piano recitals, t ball games, baptism, baby blessing...he was there for everything, and always seemed pleased to be there. He didn't say much, but I knew he was glad to be there
3. Want for little and you will have a lot. Grandpa didn't care too much about fashion, or style. He lived within his means, gave his children a roof over their heads and food on the table, and he provided them the opportunity to go to college. Grandpa spent his weekends with his family, and made it a point to make relationships the most important thing in his life.
4. Persistence. Grandpa taught me to keep trying, and not give up. In his later years, he had a lot of mental challenges, but he persevered, and didn't give up on himself or those around him
5. Gratitude. Grandpa always thanked my mom for dinner, "that was a beautiful meal Beck," he would say. And if he had been invited over or to an event, before leaving he would always say "thank you" for having him.
I was so gratefu to both of our employers for allowing us the time off to be with family. Sawyer was a gem. Honestly, I didn't hear a peep out of him the whole way there and the whole way home. I think he's got it figured out that Grandma Beck's house is a fun place to be!

I got to meet up briefly with my friend and her little guy. He is one week older than Sawyer and cute as ever.
Notice uncle Landon and his braceless smile. Such a stud. All three of them.
Oh my heart. My twin sister. I love her so much. That girl is something else. She has a way of making you feel so loved. She has such a talent of talking to people. We saw so many people at the funeral, I was a little overwhelmed, but not ky. She knows how to make people feel so welcome and right at home, even the people she doesn't know, she'll walk right up to them and start a conversation. Such an amazing person that one is.
Got to visit with my dad's mom. I learned a lot through this whole funeral thing. Mostly I learned that it's so important to support each other in these hard times.
My grandpa served in the navy, it was so neat to have the military service at the graveside. I loved the flag on his coffin too! So neat.
My sisters. A sad day made a lot brighter in their presence.
And my sweet husband. What a strength he has been to me. He has given me unwavering support and took such good care of Sawyer at the viewing and funeral. My heart could burst, I love him so much.

I love this picture of my mom, my moms sister, my grandma, and my great grandma. Sawyer was dying to be with Grandma Beck (and tired of wearing his cowboy boots...I ran out of skittles).
He slept for 2 1/2 hours on our way home. He seriously is the most amazing traveler. I was so proud of him. He was so patient this weekend with all the driving and having to sit still so long at the viewing and the funeral. He is such a joy to have around. I love him so much it hurts.

The funeral was such a beautiful tribute to my grandpa. I love him. I miss him. I'm so grateful to be part of his Silcox heritage. I treasure up the memories I have with him. I always knew my grandpa loved me. Till we meet again. I love you grandpa.

This past week was a good week. Not extremely memorable by any means. But a good week. I had a little more patience, I enjoyed the monotony of the every day. I felt fulfilled in my role as mother, wife, employee, and friend. I laughed a lot, and there have been a lot of "did you see that" glances to my husband as we are constantly amazed at all that our son is learning. And tonight as my boys are asleep my heart swells with gratitude!

Some happies to share with you this week:

Sawyer discovered bubble bath. We blow bubbles all the time. He loves them. We have bubbles in the bath all the time. He hasn't really done anything with them. But this week, the light bulb went on and he figured out that bubbles are so much fun to play with in the tub! And so our bath times have been extended from 15 minutes to roughly 30 minutes as my boy cracks himself up with the bubbles. His favorite thing... Put bubbles all over, ask mom to take a picture, and then look at the picture. So funny.





And cowboy boots. We discovered cowboy boots this week. Mom loves them. Sawyer does not. It took me two skittles to get him to wear them, and two skittles to convince him to keep them on. Worth it.






Don't even get me started about his suit. With that suit on, he can get me to do just about anything he says. So Handsome. It's gonna be a good week!