sports

Will just finished great seasons of soccer and basketball!  He really got into both sports, and this is the first year that we were on teams made up mostly of kids who will be in his kindergarten class next year.  So he had a blast playing with his friends, and we loved getting to know the families that we'll be starting the elementary school journey with in just a few short months.  And of course, Will especially loved getting trophies at the end of the season! 

I didn't get many good pictures of the games, because I never brought the good camera and always had 2 wiggly ladies with me, but here are a few shots of the mighty Tornadoes.

Will is #99.  {he got to choose his number}

trophy!

Soccer overlapped with Will's very first season of basketball, so we had a few weeks of double games on the weekends.  It gave us a little taste of how busy life will be when the girls get involved in sports or dance and start having more on their calendars.  Whew!  The basketball team was so fun.  They were the Mustangs {because they are all Bowie kids} and although we only had maybe 2 kids who were even physically able to shoot a basket, we had great team spirit!  

What a fun group of boys!

 Much like soccer, I didn't get many action shots.

We had a fun team party after the season ended.  This is when Coach Stewart asked the boys who wanted a trophy.  You KNOW Will was the first to raise his hand.  ;)

Coach said that his favorite part of playing with Will was hearing what Will had to say during team huddles.  He was constantly talking to his coaches and sharing his opinions.  ;)

Go Mustangs!

california

Matt took a quick work trip to California in January, and I got to tag along!  Ahhh...after weeks of sick kiddos and cold weather, we were so excited about a get-away!

One the plane!

We spent the first day/night in Temecula, where Matt had work meetings.  So I got to shop and wander around the town.  Temecula has a winery area right outside of town, so I drove through the vineyards and looked at the wineries.  Beautiful!

I noticed the pretty sunset as I was about to go pick up Matt from work.  Almost missed it, but I got one picture across the parking lot! 

We booked our second night in Huntington Beach, so we drove through LA on our way there, just to check it out.  Honestly?  LA is not beautiful.  We had fun walking through Hollywood, and I think we would have enjoyed Beverly Hills, but we decided to get back on the road so we could make it to the beach before sunset.

We walked to the Chinese theater and looked at the hand/footprints and the gold stars on the sidewalk.

Capitol Records

.

Hollywood sign waaaaaaay back there.

And then we arrived at the beach.  AAAHHHH...

We stayed in a beautiful hotel with an ocean view.  We were sad it was only for one night!

 The problem with a vacation for 2?  All the pictures are awkward selfies with one giant arm holding the phone.  ;)

Take me back to California!!

2015

Welcome 2015!!  We had a bit of a bumpy start to the year...climbing out of beds, failed potty training, flu for everyone, and ear infections for the girls.  Argh.  Thankfully we all recovered and are back on track now, although still with 2 kids in diapers.  *sigh*

We see this on the monitor a lot these days:

{Yes, one of them is naked here.  I did not put them to bed naked.}

And sometimes they just fall asleep together.

With ALL their stuff, and always in these same 2 princess dresses.  Every day, every night.

Notice the other bed....100% empty.

Before the flu hit, we did have some fun family meals out.  We've finally gotten to the point where the kids are old enough to go out to eat at restaurants without it being a huge fiasco.  It's nice to be able to take them out every once in awhile!  {It's also still really nice to leave them at home and enjoy an adult dinner out, ha!}

I had to take a few pictures of the girls in real clothes!  They have drawers full of adorable outfits that they're growing out of while they wear only princess dresses.

 And then we decided to start potty training.

They were super excited!

Except they never, ever, went in the potty.  {OK, to be fair, they each went ONE time in 3 days.}

 They would sit forever.  And never go.  They can hold it for an impressive amount of time to avoid actually going in the potty.

Will even made them a potty chart...but those are fake numbers, because let's not kid ourselves.  No one had 5 {or 3} successes.

Aaaaaand, after 3 days of failed potty training, I was just considering giving up, and Emily came down with the flu. {adios potty training!}  Matt had actually had it a few days before, but his case was pretty mild, so we didn't realize it was the flu.  So potty training ended and survival mode began.  Emily was sick for a few days, and then Caroline, Will and I all got it within 24 hours of each other....right before Emily developed an ear infection, which gave us the opportunity to spend a Sunday morning at the pediatric after hours clinic.  This was not a fun week for the Hawkins family!  And then by the NEXT Sunday morning, Caroline had developed an ear infection and we were back at the clinic.  Why always on the weekends?!  Quite an expensive and not-so-fun way to start the year.  We ready for cold and flu season to end!

And then the weather got nice {temporarily}, and everyone got well, and we got back to the fun stuff!

Bring it on, 2015!