31 it is!

Oh man, this year was a little harder in the age group.  Last year when I turned 30 I was "woo hoo I'm in my 30's....cool!" but this year I was like "oh...31 sounds old." haha. Actually I usually only think this for a moment or so, then I remember that each year gets better and better, so having a birthday is always fun, and I'm always excited to see what I will do with this age.  This birthday was especially fun because not only was my mom here, but my cousin and her college roommate were visiting from Utah on a mini-East Coast tour as well. It was fun and a very busy day. Here is the breakdown. We started it off nice and early and headed down to our favorite local breakfast and coffee shop, Aroma's.  Adam and I arrived right at 7am as it opened, and it was very fun to be there while the town was still quiet.  The cafe is right in the middle of old Colonial Williamsburg, so as we sat outside sipping our drinks, it had a very fun European feel.  Then, we gathered everyone and headed off to the Yorktown parade. It was so neat to watch this small town classic parade and know the history of this town that helped us gain our independence. After the parade, which was next to the beach, we walked a couple of feet and set up beach camp.  The water was perfect and it was not that crowed yet, so we were able to spread out and relax.  Adam and Calyn made sand castles while Solana practiced her floating and swimming.  The rest of us just ate and tanned, which was perfect!
After the beach we all headed home for some naps, and then I went to the spa for a massage.  It was heavenly and to have a day with two of favorite things (laying in the sun, and getting a massage) was the greatest gift.  After that we ate dinner, sloppy joes, corn from the local farm we picked, and 7 layer dip, mmmmm......I love my mom's cooking! Then to close out the night we went down to CW to watch the fireworks.  We got there pretty early to get seats and apparently is was not early enough, but we squeezed our way in to a nice spot on the Palace Green.  It was so hot that you didn't really want to move at all, but once the fireworks started you forgot about all the sweatiness.  Solana LOVED the fireworks, so much that after they were over she broke down in tears and cried "more fireworks!" It was really sad. She was deeply hurt that it was over, but good thing I filmed it on my phone so she could watch it over and over. (Oh and did I mention she is getting both 2 year old molars in right now? Yeah, she is bit sensitive and emotional right now.) Anyway, it was an incredible birthday.  Thank you for all the birthday love I received—everyone was so thoughtful!

Adam was pretty impressed with his castle, which featured a central tower surrounded by walls, set on a multi-tiered foundation, protected from the water by a large (and thankfully effective) sea wall.  Yes, Adam insisted on inserting those details here.

Thanks everyone for such a fabulous birthday!

Caught on camera

Very seldom to we get to capture the moments in which you think "Where did this child come from, and why are they so hilarious?!" Well these moments were the times in which we did. These two photos display what goes on daily, but I was excited to capture it before her high energy self changed and was getting into something else within minutes.  

This girl has a SERIOUS shoe obsession. The the funny part is, is that she is really good at walking in heels (we draw the line at her attempting to wear them down the stairs) so after church and getting her ready for bed, she wants to wear daddys church socks and my shoes.  It was quit the outfit she put together, and she didn't want to change any of it.

Oh what a lovely beret you are wearing! Oh wait, no it's your underwear. While getting herself dressed she decided that she only wanted to wear her underwear on her head.  I let her wear it while we ran errands, but I just couldn't let her go any further. 

Busch Gardens and Water Country

We finally got our season passes! I decided I was going to get my money's worth and go everyday.  Well so far, I have not reached my goal, but we have gone a lot.  I was so excited to take her to her first theme park, especially one that had a Sesame Street forest!  Before I tell you my story of the taking her for the first time, let me just say this: Do you watch Modern Family? Do you remember the Disneyland episode where they are chasing Lily around? Well I re-lived that episode in all its glory minus the leash, which I wish I had at that moment.  When we first arrived she was happy to sit in her stroller and take it all in.  Then once we got to the Sesame Street forest she was a wild animal.  I took her out of the stroller to take a picture and off she goes screaming "ELMO!" like a crazed fan into the forest.  I then proceed for the next 20 minutes to run after her with stroller in hands and me screaming "Solana STOP!" and her screaming back and me "ELMO!" She was all over the place with a excitement.  I couldn't help but be excited for her, but chasing her through a theme park with the fear of loosing her, and sweating to death was not exciting.  She felt like she had arrived in paradise. And after I calmed her down and explained to her that she could meet all her Sesame friends she finally mellowed.  She had so much fun and talked about it for a while after.  The next time we went we went with her BFF Abigail, and they were able to go on lots of rides and then went to see all her Sesame friends last.  She loved all the rides and is definetly our action packed adventurer seeker. 

Dreams do come true. 

Off to Water Country! She has definitely loved coming to the water park and there is lots for her to do.  I wish I had more pictures. Just this week we finally got Adam and pass, and let me tell you he was just as excited as Solana was. Adam said he hadn't been to a water park in like 15 years, so he was loving reliving those pre-teen years of fast water rides.  It's great because both parks are only 15 minutes from our house, so it's easy to go between naps, and it's fun to cool off in this crazy heat we are having.   

The first time leaving water country, I was putting the stroller in the car, and when I hoped back in, she was already dead out! Poor thing, it was a record for falling asleep. Put her in her car seat and one minute later she is out! 

Father's Day #3

So we are a tad behind on the blog :) I'm actually embarrassed that I'm only now posting about Father's Day. It feels like it was centuries ago, which is why I need to keep up with posting, because time is flying by and if I don't write it down, it will be lost forever somewhere in my brain. The day flew by pretty quickly.  The only thing I really remember is Solana and her nap.  So since we have afternoon church, we usually leave a little early and go for drive before church.  She usually either gets in a cat nap before it starts, or occasionaly she will sleep part way through church.  Either way it is a life saver to have her a little more mellow for the first part of church.  Well on Father's Day we got a text from our sweet sister missionaries who needed a ride to church. (no problem, right!?) Well it ended not working out in Solana's favor.  She loved having company in the car so much that she didn't fall asleep, and so after church she was so exhausted (and I didn't want her falling asleep at 4:30!) that the missionaries were doing everything they could to keep her awake (lots of singing and clapping and even a little leg shaking) but nothing was working.  Once we dropped them off it was up to us to keep her awake.  We failed miserably and by the time we got home I think she had slipped into a coma-like slumber.  Adam carried her in the house and cuddled with her for some time.  He said it was the best Father's Day gift he could get. (Solana doesn't hold still for longer than 2 seconds, so getting cuddle time would be a gift)

After she finally woke up we decided she better burn some energy so she would go to bed after such a late nap. So we wandered around CW and the weather was actually perfect in the evening!

It turned out to be a great 3rd Father's Day after all.  

The happy girl after her coma nap

Headed off to church

Adam's shining moment