2011 was a wonderful year! We welcomed Laney on Jan. 25, and keeping up with two little ones became the focus of our days. Nights were for recharging, and each season brought new fun and adventures. We spent a lot of time getting to know our newest little one, as well as watching the interactions grow between brother and sister. This was a lot of fun for us since we are both "onlys" with no siblings of our own.
In May we celebrated my parents' 40th anniversary with some cousins on the Queen Mary in Long Beach and visited the Long Beach Aquarium.
Over the summer we traveled to Costa Rica to visit Derek's dad Joe, and had a grand Central American adventure for ten days!
During the trip we spent several nights at a beachfront hotel, and Owen really enjoyed his beach experience!
We spent the Fourth of July at home, bringing the kids to our hometown parade in our very own little red wagon, both dressed in their red, white, and blue (yet another dream come true for this momma).
We enjoyed local parks, libraries, our pool and of course My Gym classes all summer too.
On July 30, we celebrated our 5th family birthday with a visit to Castaic Lake and a yummy Thai dinner at Mom Can Cook in Canyon Country.
We had a visit from Uncle Dallas and Aunt Susie at the end of the summer, and were able to go to San Diego (without daddy, sadly) for two days to celebrate Dallas' birthday and also to visit Sea World for the first time with Owen, Alice, Oqwe and of course Grandma and Grandpa.
Spring and Fall we were pretty much in survival mode around here, with momma and daddy both working we really depended on Grandma and Grandpa to keep things in motion on the homefront, and boy did they ever! Busy happy blossoming kids is what we are enjoying this month.
We did all go to Circus Vargas on momma and daddy's birthday in October, and both kids had a blast.
We also took a big family trip with Grandma and Grandpa to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving week, had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast with lots of family and then an anniversary fete for my parents the next day.
The holiday season this year has been pure magic since Owen understood more about what was going on this year. Little Miss Laney had her share of fun as well, enjoying her first ice hockey game and foray onto Candy Cane Lane. We stayed home this year, and have been relishing some down time and time to dig deeper than survival level (eat, sleep, bathe) with our family of four.
We have so many dreams and hopes for 2012, and wish a blessed year to all.
