July - Bentonville and Preston's Birthday!

July was a highly anticipated month for the Clark family. While we looked forward to a few celebrations, we were super excited to head to Bentonville, AR to be with family. I decided to take a minute for myself and attended the Oakland temple. It was a perfect day! It was gray skies and drizzling. We don't get rain very often in the central valley, so this was a plus in my book. 

Oakland Temple

It felt so good to be in the house of the Lord for a few hours.

Fourth of July Celebration!

Our kids have never stayed awake to celebrate the fourth of July :) This year, all of our neighbors decided to shoot off their own fireworks. As I watched the sky fill with color I thought it would be a good time to introduce our littles to this special celebration. When I came into each of the bedrooms I saw little faces pressed up against the window watching the skies. They heard the booms and were curious as to what was going on. I invited them downstairs to check it out. They all cuddled up in the chair and watched from our porch. It was super loud and made them a little nervous. We stayed outside for about 30 minutes before heading back in. I think they enjoyed their first 4th of July celebration.

Even though fireworks are prohibited in the state of California (due to fire precautions) it didn't stop all of our neighbors from enjoying Independence Day. 

I decided to take these three cuties to a movie. We hadn't been to a theatre in a long time. We just prefer watching movies at home. It was a fun treat to get popcorn, drinks, and watch Minions on the big screen. The kids loved it!

They even had a funny foosball table with minions and Gru as the goalies. 

With the rising heat of July, we had to make sure to do a lot of pool time. 

Soaking up the rays ;)

We are so grateful to have this little pool to cool off in. We're even more grateful to have friends with pools :) We were able to head to their houses for pool play dates as well. It was so fun getting together. The kids loved having friends to play with. 

We had a lot of fun creating scenes with play doh. Jack told a story with his creation. It was about a snowman and his dog :) Quinn made her very own animal as well. I love when we shut off screens and use our imaginations. 

Bentonville Bound!

We had a SUPER early flight to Bentonville. We ended up getting a hotel the night before. When we woke up our kiddos at 5am, they were still tired - and understandably so. Quinn slept the entire flight from LA to Bentonville. She was so tired. The boys took advantage of their unlimited screen time, haha. 

A hike with Grandma and Pop. 

We got into Arkansas around 4pm. We enjoyed dinner and seeing family that night. We all passed out when bedtime rolled around :) The following morning we took it slow. The kids enjoyed their walk, we did pool time, and enjoyed playing with cousins.

Having a pool in the community is a sweet bonus. We spent a few days here throughout the week. Enjoying the water and the sunshine. 

We soaked up all of the cousin time we could get. 

Love Isaac in this pic!

Spending quality time with the people you love is priceless. I had a lot of over due cuddles and snuggles for baby Audrey. I took her every chance I could get :)

Day 2 - Lake House

Lake Day for the WIN!

We were so grateful to the Saumweber family for letting us use there lake house for the day. It was the perfect day to spend on a lake. The kids were fearless when it came to jumping in. I thought they would be nervous, but not at all. I think it helps that they saw their cousins jumping in no problem. 

All of the cousins boarded the raft while Pop and Uncle Brian pulled everyone around. 

My sweet boy.

Liv took to the paddle boards and rocked it, while Pops enjoyed the kayak.

Love this Beckham boy! Those goggles, that smile, I just can't :) My heart is full!

There was also a pool. These two loved swimming around in here.

Everyone practiced swimming and holding their breath under water. 

After practicing in the pool, they took their skills to the lake :)

We headed home in the late afternoon. Everyone was wiped out from the sun, the water, and loads of fun. We took it easy that night. After putting kids to bed, we headed to the back porch to relax and chat. We loved the evenings we had out on this back patio. It's so peaceful and serene. 

Pres and Dad getting in a few laughs together.

Scott and Sandy have lights that go along the top and a fan that cools you down. Comfy couch and chairs to read a book or catch up on emails/social media. It's a great place to breathe and enjoy the shift from day to night. 

Day 3 - Fayetteville 

The following day we spent in Fayetteville. 

Per Clark tradition, we found an incredible used bookstore. We could have stayed there for hours! It was massive. I even got lost at one point, haha. They had rows and rows of books. I felt like I was in a Hogwarts library. There were rooms off of isles and rooms off of rooms. It was crazy. I found Jack sitting on a stool reading a book about illusions. I had to snap this pic so we could remember this bookstore.

After that awesome bookstore, we headed to a nickel arcade. It was such a blast! I think it's safe to say that this was a major win for the cousins and adults.

We took turns playing air hockey. 

This took me way back to when I was a little girl. My Aunt Nathalie had an air hockey table set up in the basement of my grandparents house. We would all play for hours. There were tournaments, pizza, pop, and family memories made. I may have to look into getting us one of these guys :)

Claire bear and Liv hung out with me :) It was so fun playing Pac Man, air hockey, and so many other retro games with these cute girls.

This cutie  loved jumping from game to game. Love our Ella girl.

A ride in the back of Isaac's truck.

Once we were all back from the nickel arcade Isaac mowed the Clark's lawn. He has a pretty sweet business in lawn care. These four wanted to take a little ride in his truck once he was done with his work. 

This took me back to when I was a kid as well. I would ride in the back of my Dad's old Mitsubishi while doing yard work. We'd sit on the tail gate and pick up the branches, sticks, weeds, whatever we were working on. It's a fond memory from my childhood. Something about being back in Arkansas brings me back to my childhood, and all the fun I had from that time.

Watching the sun go down.

The evenings were spent right here, on the porch with the parents. We would catch up on life, get advice, and learn from lives being lived in a beautiful way.

Day 4 - Ella's Birthday Party

Love this girl!

My yoga buddies. 

Most mornings started with a little yoga outside. We took in our surroundings and enjoyed the company. Before getting ready for Ella's special party, we headed to check out Isaac at his job.

A trip to see Isaac at work.

Working hard 

It was so fun to see Isaac. Everyone got to pick their ice cream flavors while watching Isaac complete the orders. I'm always blown away by how much older our nieces and nephews are when we visit them. Time just goes by so quickly. Proud of this kid!

The ice cream consumers :)

My happy place.

One of my absolute favorite titles I hold in life is Aunt. I love being an Aunt and spending time with my nieces and nephews. We have such fun kids and unique personalities that surround us within both families. This little angel is Audrey, Shelb and Bri's youngest. I took every opportunity I could to hold, cuddle, and kiss on this sweet girl. She's just the cutest!

Birthday party for Ella Bean!

Little Miss Ella turned 4 while we were there. She was SO excited to have a water party with her cousins. It's moments like this that make me wish we lived closer. Everyone had such a fun time celebrating this sweet girl.

Cute cousin time. 

Make a wish sweet girl!

Day 5 - Audrey's Blessing Day & Preston's Birthday Party

We were so lucky to be apart of Audrey's baby blessing. Bri and Shelb planned to bless Audrey the Sunday we were there. We were so grateful we could witness that sweet blessing. 

The Clark and Koudelka crew with the beautiful Bentonville, AR temple.

It was a nice treat to have the Armstrong's (Shelby's family) there as well. 

Everyone got time with Audrey. I didn't get a chance to get Beckham's pic with her.

Preston's turn!

Preston's birthday was the following week, but we wanted to celebrate with family while we had the chance. It was a low key celebration for this guy. Exactly how he'd like. it :) The boys went and played golf twice while we were there. It was something Pres really wanted to do, so I'm glad they were able to make time for it.

We missed Mikale and her family. Unfortunately we weren't able to time our coming and goings this time with each other. The Williamsons were there in June while we could only make July work. We hope that next time we can align our time together. The siblings were still able to FaceTime with her and catch up on life. 

Gifts for the birthday boy!

Reading to Grandma :)

Jack thought this was so funny. It looks like Audrey is saluting so Jack wanted to take a pic doing the same. This little man held this baby girl as much as he could. It was so sweet. 

We did a movie night this night but I forgot to get a pic. All of the cousins loaded into the media room upstairs and enjoyed Lightyear. We popped loads of popcorn and enjoyed a treat. It was SO much fun!

Day 6 - DEFY 

My yoga buddy for the morning.

We had to make sure we made time for DEFY. The kids had this as their number one thing to do while visiting Grandma and Poppa Clark. They were so excited to jump, climb, and swing on all of the obstacles. Beckham was in heaven since he has been into Ninja Warrior lately. 

It was so funny watching siblings and cousins go against each other on this one. 

Let's just say that 90 minutes went by rather quickly. I think it's safe to say that we were all ready to head home at that time as well. We were jumped out. Beckham also sprained his ankle in the last five minutes. Luckily it was the last five minutes and not the first.

Enjoying cupcakes as a treat.

Day 7 - Heading home

Taking one last walk with Grandma. 

We walked over to the playground to play for a few minutes, and then came back later to enjoy the pool one last time.

Family :)

These two were inseparable the entire week we were there. Gracie and Quinn spent as much time together as they could. They LOVED every minute.

Cousin love!

Pres and I  are so grateful for Scott and Sandy. Their support and love for our family means the world to us. They are incredible human beings. We are grateful for the examples they are in our life. We could not have asked for better parents/in-laws.

One last pic with Grandma and Grandpa.

To say that July was an absolute blast for our family would be an understatement. We had such a great time celebrating the 4th, birthdays, and the end of our summer vacation. We enjoyed every minute we had while in Arkansas. Spending time with family is super important to both Preston and I. We want our kids to know their Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and of course grandparents. Even though we live away from everyone we try our best to make memories each year with the people we love. 

Once we got back from Arkansas we celebrated Preston's birthday as a family. Unfortunately, I totally spaced taking any pics from that day, haha. We surrounded him with love, presents, great food, and peanut butter brownies as his treat. Yum! July was definitely one for the books. We still talk about and look back on the fun times we had.