The Hoelting Family: Labor Day in CA

We spent Labor Day in CA and due to the massive amount of photos between Christine and I, this post is long overdue :) We decided to head out to CA for Labor Day for a couple reasons:

1) Hadley wanted to meet Aunt Christine, Uncle Jim & Ben

2) We LOVE spending summer weekends at my parents because the kids have a ball swimming all day long and it basically feels like we are staying at a resort!

3) To spend some good quality time with Grandma and Papa T, Christine, Jim, Ben & Uncle Ty

4) Visit CA friends that we only get to see like once a year

We had such a wonderful trip and the kids (and us) were sad to come home!

Can't wait to head out to CA again for Christmas!

Ready to head to the airport

The boys wore their pajamas since it was a late night flight. All 3 kids did awesome and the flight there was easy and uneventful. Hadley did amazing on her 1st flight and didn't make a peep! We have traveled with the kids so much that we don't get overwhelmed when traveling with them. I always buy some new items from the $1 section at Target that are surprises waiting in their backpacks and they get excited on the plane for snacks and apple juice. Sometimes I think parents freak out too much when traveling - you will survive and make it, and the calmer you are the calmer your kids are :)

Ben playing with Hadley our first morning there

Papa getting some Hadley time!

Ben and Brady playing guns

And a little game of battleship - lol

Christine has a nice camera now so we got some great photos of Hadley this trip...

Opening some presents from Uncle Jim & Aunt Christine

Trying out their new water guns

Aunt Christine meeting Hadley!

Pool Time!

My parents got the coolest boats that have a motor and a spray gun! The boys loved them!

Snack time

Rough life :)

Uncle Jim still hasn't learned that the slide is for the kiddos - lol :)

One of the most amazing moments for me on this trip was that Chase learned how to really swim!! He has been in lessons for a long time now and he does well but I have still never felt confident that he is pool safe. Up until now he has still always worn a floatie. Well, on the Friday we were there we started telling Chase to jump off of the side of the hot tub and into the pool and to swim to Craig. He was hesitant but finally tried it. From that moment on he kept getting more and more confident. The best moment was when he slid down the slide head first and then continued to swim across the whole pool!!!!! I have a video of it but need to figure out how to upload it! It was amazing! My parents have a really deep pool so he can't reach anywhere but the whole rest of the trip he did without a floatie (except a few times when he was tired and needed a break.) It was such a cool experience and I am so excited that he is now officially a swimmer!!!

We got some group shots of the cousins - yay! Thanks for the matching jammies Grandma!

Brady getting a horsey ride from Uncle Ty!

Saturday we spent at The Lagoon in Irvine. We went a few years ago and had such a blast so we were excited to go again! We went with Devin and her family and had such a great day. The lagoon is shallow so the kids can touch, the slides are really fun and the sand area was great for building castles and playing with trucks!

Jim and Christine taking over the pool during "adult swim time"! Lol, they thought they were on a relaxing vacation in Mexico for like 2 minutes :)

That night we relaxed at home and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset!

Sunday we had a pool party/BBQ and invited lots of friends over! It was so fun to see how much everyone's kids had grown and we had a great day playing in the pool, playing toys inside, watching the CSU/CU game and ending with some nighttime pool volleyball!

Hadley meeting her Great Great Aunt Carol (my grandma's sister)

Had to get a family photo with Dad's golf buddy Dean and his wife. They are the cutest couple and Dad, Craig and Jim have played golf with him for years.

Miss Reagan holding Hads

All decked out for the game! We lost - boo :(

They won....

Brad holding Hads

A lot more pool fun..Christine got some great shots on her camera!

Papa launching Chase like he used to do with Christine & I when we were little :)

Puzzles with Grandma!

Always lots of horsing around with Papa!

Beautiful sunsets every night

Can't wait to meet my new nephew!!!

The hammock was a good spot for catching some zzzz's :)

Spending Monday in the pool again!

Uncle Jim getting a turn with Hads

Monday while Brady was napping we took Hadley in the pool for the very 1st time! It is pretty special because now all 3 of my kids have gone in the pool their very first time at my Mom and Dad's house!

She loved it of course - she loves the water :) Thanks for all the photos C!