California

At the beginning of August, the kids and I drove to California to see the newest Parnell.  Before the trip started, Levi decided he wanted to be toothless.  He pulled out his second top front tooth about an hour before we left.

 I didn't want to drive the entire trip in one shot, so we stayed with friends in Medford.  I grew up across the street from them and their daughter was my best childhood friend.  We moved away from each other when I was 6 and didn't keep in contact.  Fast forward 16 years when I started to date Matt.....I went to dinner with his best friend Casey and his girlfriend Allyson.  Turns out Allyson is the same Allyson who was my childhood best friend!  We have since rekindled our relationship and have had a lot of fun together with Casey and Allyson.  And I appreciate her parents hosting us on our travels.  The kids absolutely adored our hosts and their house....they wanted to stay and vacation there as well!  The morning we left to finish our drive to California, Laurel decided she should pull out her tooth as well.

After another day of driving, we made it to Jacob's house where Erika immediately found the baby and held her whenever she wasn't eating.  We had a great time with the California Parnells playing at the house and the park and enjoying little Leah.

The older girls spent the night with us in the hotel.  The following morning, we had Fun From a Hat Day where we went to the park, went to Target, went to lunch, and made a fort and went swimming.

Because there were so many feet in the house and I was terrified one of my children was going to step on the baby, Levi and Molly made a sign for her saying "watch your step"

On Thursday, Jacob and I took the big kids into San Francisco for a day.  Erika had been looking forward to the Ghiradelli factory for a long time!  And Levi found his dream job.....a hot dog seller.

We jammed a lot of fun in just a few days.  We all loved this trip and can't wait to go back!