Railroad

For awhile I have been wanting to try and take some pics on a railroad and was happy to see my mother-in-law's house surrounded by them.  We had a little shoot one evening with all the kids.  It was hard to get a shot with them all looking good.  Don't think I really succeeded but at least we tried!

I love my mother-in-law.  It's always so fun to be with her and catch up.  She has always accepted and loved me 100% from day one.

I'm not exactly sure what possessed my hubby to accessorize like this

Little Alana had the most adorable boots on.  I'm so bummed I didn't get a close-up of them

This was supposed to be a shot of just mom and the kids but we just couldn't get Greta stable on the rail. I still think it is cute with Steve and his mom and all the kids.

Mom took the little ones back for some ice cream and we headed over to some cool old train cars

I can't believe my dear sis-in-law is so grown up.  She was 3 when Steve and I started dating and 5 as the flower girl in our wedding.  I love you, dear Ashley!

Horses

My mother-in-law's neighbor has horses and the girls were thrilled to have some time to be with them and ride them. Morgan has been especially interested in them lately.  Seeing that I'm not exactly the "animal lover" kind of mom, I haven't been able to satisfy her desires.  I am so glad when others can help me out in that area!!
Before I go into the horses, this little dog looks fairly cute and innocent, but let me tell you, I think they breed a different kind of dog in CA.  There are dogs everywhere and they come after you like they are going to kill you.  This lady had at least 5 of them in her yard and they we a bit intimidating.

Neighbor lady had all kinds of other animals.  I'm not exactly sure what Claudia is holding here.

By the time it was Claudia's turn to ride it was too dark to take any shots.

Random CA

Traveling with small children is not high on my priority of "fun things to do".  All things considered, the kids did quite well on our trip out and back.  Greta was my biggest concern, seeing that she had absolutely no idea where we were going, what we were doing, or how to anticipate things.  I thought for sure she would fall asleep easily on the trip b/c she is such a snuggler and still takes her pacifier.  On 2 of the 4 flights we had to come and go, she fell asleep about 5-10 minutes before the plane landed.  That was a bit annoying.  The big ones were very excited about the trip and it was fun to see enjoy every little part of it, from the bus ride at the airport from the long-term parking lot, to the free soda and snacks on the plane.  (Yes, thank you Southwest.  Someone still does serve free food!)
One funny moment on the way home, we were soooooo exhausted.  The 3 hour time difference was a killer, plus on top of that, Steve and I missed an entire nights sleep being the the ER with Greta.  So, coming home, it had been days since the kids were bathed and I knew we were ratty, but I really didn't care.  I was chatting with a lady as we were waiting to board home and she said, "So, were you all camping?"  I'm like, "Uh, no, do we look like we've been camping?"... thinking that we must have looked as bad as we felt.  She came back and said, uh, no, you just look tan and chilled out.  Uh-huh.

This is in the airport as we were awaiting our first flight.  Little man couldn't wait to get on that plane.

Greta and Aaron both had lots of fun with Aunt Ashley in the back seat on the way back up to their house.

The enormous Knex tower that took the brothers hours to build (this was taken early on, it was quite impressive at the end)

Some shots of the backyard.  Very different than

 Lancaster landscape

Steve's mom bought the kids big bubbles.  Little Alana adored Aaron.  It was pretty cute.

We enjoyed a number of family v-ball games.  Most impressive was 2v2 with the brothers.  As they should have, the "oldies" won.  Way to go Steve and Jer.