Summer Came and Went...

Where were we? Charlotte's first haircut. Obviously lots has happened since then (including her second haircut...and let's just say the second haircut went even worse than the first!). 

Anyways. We took our first family vacation to Port Aransas in late July. Our little family of four was accompanied by my parents and my brother and sister-in-law...we found a great house that slept all of us comfortably. Seven hours there and seven hours back and my children slept for NOT ONE SINGLE SECOND either way! Oh well...they were actually really good in the car. We busted out the TV/DVD player for the first time...I've had my car for over two years and this was the first time we'd used it. The kids had no idea it was even there! Of course they loved watching TV in the car and have asked for it since we've been home, but so far I have been successful in not turning it on again. I kind of love our car conversations and I would much rather listen to my stinkers than Caillou or the Backyardigans!

The required stop at Buc-ee's.

A relaxing morning on the balcony of our rented house.

First time at the ocean!

"Napping" with Daddy.

Before the trip, I'd figured that Jensen would be all about the beach and ocean while Charlotte probably wouldn't care too much for it. Yet again, my kids proved me wrong. Jensen hated the seaweed and preferred to play in the sand at a safe distance from the water. Charlotte LOVED the ocean and didn't mind the seaweed...who'd have guessed??

Being tossed around by Uncle Dot.

After a trip into town in our rented golf cart. Charlotte refused to ride in the golf cart so she missed out on this little adventure (and the sno-cones!).

So, the highlight of the trip for both kids (seriously, if you ask them what they liked best about their trip, this is what they'll tell you) was sleeping in the same room. And I use the term "sleeping" very loosely. They partied late into the evening and were up EARLY every morning to party some more. I'd wake up to Charlotte instructing Jensen, "Everybody yell...MOMMY!" then both of them yelling together, "MOMMMMMY!".

And naptime?? No way. Needless to say they were exhausted and totally crabby after a few days (and, to be honest, so was I!).

Hanging out in front of our rented house on the last morning of the trip.

And on the way home...once again, no sleeping! Crazy kids.

Whew. We had a good time, but traveling with two three-year-olds? Not really a vacation. We were so lucky to have my parents there to volunteer to watch the kids so we could go out to dinner a few times, but after five days at the beach, I needed a vacation from my vacation! We do want to do the beach again next summer, but we may have to find one without so much seaweed so that Jensen will enjoy it a bit more.

Onto the next big event in our world: Big Kid Beds! I put it off as long as I could..the kids never really climbed out of their cribs, but we figured it would be a good idea to get them used to sleeping in beds since they were starting to spend the night more places and were getting way too big for pack-n-plays.

I had the kids look online with me and we picked their beds and bedding together. Charlotte wanted pink and Jensen wanted dark blue.

They were happy, happy kiddos with their new beds! We put locks on their doors so they couldn't get out of their rooms (this might seem mean to some, but we didn't want them to wander out of their rooms and come tumbling down the stairs in the dark). And although we weren't sure how the transition would go, it was very smooth! They did get out of their beds to play on occasion, but they didn't try to escape from their rooms or anything like that. That said, let's discuss the next Shelton family summer happening...

THE GREAT NIGHT-TIME FREAKOUTS OF 2013! Sounds dramatic, and it was. First a little history on C&J's sleep habits: We put them in their own rooms at about six months old because they were keeping each other awake. They have always both enjoyed bedtime and slept all night long, by themselves, without any issues to speak of. But then, for some reason, all of that changed. It started with Jensen. He was reluctant to go to bed at night and also started waking in the night crying. He was scared of monsters, he was scared of shadows, he was too hot, he was too cold, he was just PITIFUL. We read the sleep books, we talked to the pediatrician, we tried everything...and finally he started sleeping okay again.

And as soon as all was right with the world...cue Charlotte's nighttime freakouts (yes, that's the way it goes when you have twins!). She was doing the same thing as Jensen had been. We were exhausted, so we finally decided that it might be best for everyone if Charlotte and Jensen just started sharing a room. We brought it up with them and they were thrilled with the idea.

So we moved Jensen's bed into Charlotte's room and (knock on wood) all has been well. Every now and again they decide they're going to have a party at 4 in the morning, but those times are few and far between (and that is SO much better than them being awake at 4 in the morning crying because they're scared).

Oh! Another summer happening I never blogged about: Swim Lessons! We opted to have private lessons because we were pretty sure Charlotte would get us kicked out of a group setting due to the emphatic display of her displeasure with being forced to put her head under the water. You may think I'm being dramatic, but I seriously think we'd have been asked to leave. Anyhow, we can sum up swim lessons by saying Charlotte hated it (but she did it!) and Jensen loved it.

You can tell my summer event recaps are all out of order because Charlotte goes from having short hair to long hair. Also, you can tell how displeased she was with this little kickboard exercise. 

Not. Happy.

Happy.

Really happy.

Not impressed.

And now...random summertime pics...

Take it from me: If you have little ones, you need a blow-up pool regardless of whether you have a "real" pool!

Sideways pizza-making.

A singleton day with Little Dude.

Zoo fun...

...and mini-train fun. Love this boy so much.

Being silly with Uncle Dot.

Lots of trips to the lake. Wyatt even learned to swim!

I take pics of my kids while they're sleeping. Stalker-style.

This was one of the days when my house = mass chaos.

Little Dude continues to not nap. He does stuff like this instead.

"Helping" the exterminator. This was actually quite funny. He had his own little flashlight and
the exterminator was teaching him how to look for bugs. He also thought it would be appropriate to wear his construction vest and mint-green pants.

Charlotte developed a love of pumpkin muffins. If I don't have them made in the morning,
things can turn ugly really fast.

Jensen decided he liked to dress himself.

And Charlotte decided she liked to dress up like Tinkerbelle.

Whew! So that was our summer. It came and went and honestly, it kind of kicked my rear! Age three has come with many challenges for us, and if you know me in real life, you know it's not my favorite age. That said, the memories we made this summer were pretty priceless, even though I was definitely ready to welcome a change in seasons and a change in routine...but more on that later!