So let’s start with the obvious but HELLO neglected blog!  Im surprised I even remembered my password to get into this thing.   Now that it’s the Summer I am going to have so much more free time to get back into blogging…riiiiight!  Since I know that’s the furthest thing from the truth I wanted to at least get some photos up here to share how we’ve been kicking off the end of the school year and going full speed into Summer mode.

I’m really excited to have both my boys home with me all day.  Granted we drive each other nuts a good portion of the time, I just love the carefree spirit that comes with the next two months.  We can come and go as we please, not feel rushed to start the day, and can plan lots of fun adventures in the sand and sun!

We have already had an amazing past few days.  My eyes are heavy from the sunshine and salt water, my skin is toasty, and my hair smells like the beach.  I also still feel like I am rocking on a boat (photos to come).  Going to put some photos up, head straight to bed, and try and start our new routine bright-eyed and bushy-tailed come tomorrow morning.

If you don’t hear from me again for awhile you know where to find me…. @heylaurenrene @laurenrenefitness

Cheers to the Summer!!!

Thursday- June 18, 2015 

Nathan’s last day of school and an evening swim after lessons

Friday- June 19th, 2015

Spent the entire day at the pool, home for naps, then the boys head to Parent’s Night Out at school so Mommy and Daddy can have a date night with friends.

Saturday- June 20th, 2015

Got in an early morning workout, spent the day at the pool with my boys, home to relax and have movie night under the stars.  Nathan and Shane got to watch E.T. for the first time.

Sunday- June 21st, 2015

Celebrated FATHER’S DAY!  Ordered an amazing brunch from Cinnamon Productions, headed to Dana Point harbor, and hopped on our very own Pontoon party boat for the day with our friends.  Danced, ate, swam, saw sea lions, collected crabs and made lots of amazing memories.

Ours started on Friday morning when Greg surprised the boys with a day off from work to head to Disneyland as a family.   We had a great morning walking around, saying hello to some of the characters, hopping on a few rides and seeing all the fun Halloween decorations.  We also did a pit stop in Downtown Disney so the boys could build their own cars at RideMakerz.  Think, Build-a-Bear but with car parts.  They were in little boy heaven!  We also had lunch at Rain Forest Cafe which was a first time for them too.  Definitely a fun filled start to the day.

This was all we got for naps, so we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and playing outside until it was time for Mommy and Daddy to get ready for a date night!

Greg and I headed out a little earlier than we normally do and decided to try a few new places in San Juan Capistrano.  The first place we went was a restaurant called Guapas Tapas, and it was right up our alley.  Craft beers, awesome wine selection (with huge glasses & pours!), small plates that were delicious and a really fun outdoor patio.  After our amazing dinner we hopped across the street to a place called Five Wines.  Seriously….where have you been all my life?!  This is basically everything I love all wrapped up in one spot.  Amazing wine flights, live acoustic music, friendly staff, cool ambiance and decor.  We were smiling from the second we walked in the door and the perma grin never left our faces.  This place will definitely be a regular stop for us!

After we got home we hung out with our neighbors in the driveway for awhile until we all realized we had 8:00am soccer games the next morning so we finally called it a night.

We were a little rushed the next morning and feeling a bit sluggish from the night before, but the cool morning air got us right into soccer mode!  It finally felt like a cloudy Fall morning and the boys were ready to play!  The White Tigers had a great game and Nathan SCORED HIS FIRST GOAL!  We were so proud of him!  Shane got into the spirit of the game too and celebrated with the team!  Don’t worry little buddy it will be your turn soon enough.

After the game we went to the mall so I could pick up my new iPhone 6!  I was afraid I would have to fight off crowds but thankfully I got to bypass the 6 hour long wait line because I preordered online.  The place was a zoo but we got out in no time and were able to grab lunch then head home for naps.  After a few hours of peace and quiet, we went out to grab some Pho to go  We tried a new place called Pho King Way (hilarious right?) and brought it home so I could try out my new Miracle Noodles that I ordered online.  Have you tried these things before?  Zero calories, fat, carbs…everything really and they just take on the flavor of whatever you cook them in.  I will have to say dinner was AWESOME and totally guilt free!

Cleaned up after dinner and went over to our next door neighbor’s house for a dance party!  Their daughter celebrated her birthday the night before and they decided to keep the set up for another night so the neighborhood kids could enjoy it.  They were going crazy, and drawing all over themselves with yellow highlighters.  I’m pretty sure two baths later, the boys would still glow under a black light.  They had a blast though!

Sunday was just filled with a good mix of relaxation and productivity.  I got in some solo gym time in the morning and was excited to sweat out the indulgences of the weekend!

The rest of the day we hung out with the kiddos, watched some football and CLEANED like crazy.  We are talking 5 huge garbage bags full of STUFF that we eliminated from just our downstairs alone.  I’m pretty sure we are borderline hoarders!

We have a super busy week ahead of us and it feels good to start this Monday off clutter free.  We are hosting our very first AdvoCare events this week and one of them is at our house.  Not sure how we are going to fit 15+ of our awesome team members in our family room but we are going for it.  Although Wednesday night is just for some of our So Cal team members, Thursday we are doing an open event.  If you are local, and have been curious as to what this whole AdvoCare thing is all about…we would love to have you join us all.   AdvoCare corporate has seen the growth we have had in this area and is sending out their Sales Manager from Dallas, Texas to come share his knowledge with us and we feel honored to have this opportunity that we also get to share with all of you.  Free Spark for all….so we hope to see you there!

Ok Monday, I’m looking at you.  We had a great weekend, but it’s time to get serious and check off all those to-dos.  Here’s to an awesome week friends!  As always, thanks for stopping by!

However we do have one thing in common with everyone else this time of year, and that’s that our kids go back to school!  I loved our Summer, and if it were up to me I would hog my boys to myself year round if I could get away with it….but alas, it was time to let one of them go.  I originally registered Nathan for Kindergarten, but as you know, we just recently celebrated his 5th Birthday and it just seemed like it was best to wait another year.  While I think he would have done great, I think he will do better next year.

We are trying a new school out for him three days a week, and if we love it as much as I think we will, Shane will be going here next year.   It’s a Montessori school which is not what we were doing previously, so I am so curious to see if he thrives in this kind of environment.  If you don’t know, they do mixed age classrooms so Nathan is in the 3-5 year old class making him one of the oldest.  It’s an interesting dynamic and I think he will enjoy taking on the role of a leader while also learning to be patient and gentle with the younger children.  We love his teacher Ms. Lisa and I just get such a sense of nurturing, calmness, and creativity when I walk into his classroom.  I can’t put my finger on it, but I just know he’s in the right place.

We are very excited for this school year and I am looking forward to sharing some of the fun things that Nathan will be learning along the way.  I realized I didn’t do the same survey I did last year for his 5th Birthday, so we are going to call this the 5 year old Back to School Survey.  I remember doing this exact questionnaire last year and it took him so long to answer each question…this time it took 2 minutes and he was very confidant in all of his answers.  I still think he had a lot of the same responses too which I found interesting.  Like his love for corn haha.

We are so proud of you Nathan and know this year will be filled with fun, learning, adventures and new friendships.  Big giant hugs to you on your first week back to school, we love you so much!

* On a side note-with all those fun back to school germs, what do you all do to keep your kids healthy?  I have been looking into essential oils and was wondering if anyone has had any noticeable success with them?  Would love to hear your thoughts!

]]> http://heylaurenrene.com/family/bye-bye-summer-time/feed/ 1 http://heylaurenrene.com/family/fathers-day-weekend-recap/ http://heylaurenrene.com/family/fathers-day-weekend-recap/#comments Tue, 17 Jun 2014 00:53:34 +0000 http://heylaurenrene.com/?p=2658 [...] ]]> What a memorable weekend we had celebrating Father’s Day.  Greg is just the sparkle in these boys eyes and although we try our best to show him how much we love him everyday…he definitely deserved a little extra something special for Father’s Day.

We spent Saturday walking around our favorite outdoor shopping center.  We shopped, rode the train, made wishes in the fountains, went out to a nice lunch…it was beautiful outside and it felt nice to have no agenda being there.  We just wanted to stroll around and that’s exactly what we did.

photo credit-Nathan

After we got home Shane went down for a long nap, and Nathan went to the pool with Daddy to show him his new swimming skills.  When Shane woke up he spiked a fever but was totally acting fine.  We stayed home and just kept it low key playing in the yard the rest of the evening and I went to bed praying Shane wouldn’t be sick the next day for Father’s Day.

Nathan and I woke up extra early Sunday morning and snuck out to get bagels and coffee for Greg.  We made it home before they were awake and to Daddy’s surprise he has breakfast and presents waiting for him, and to our surprise Shane was feeling 100% when he woke up.  Must have just been fighting off something.  Father’s Day…game on!!

We headed out early to the sporting goods store to get some fishing gear for the boys, and off to the lake we went.  Lake Mission Viejo is 10 minutes from our house but we have never been!  You have to know someone who has access to it and lucky for us my sister and her boyfriend were able to get us all in.  I can’t even tell you how much we loved this place.  You can rent all different kinds of boats, paddle boards, kayaks, water bikes and just head out on your own for an afternoon on the water.  We got a little electric fishing boat and off we went.  Greg couldn’t stop saying how awesome everything was.  Fishing was something that was always very special to him and his father growing up, so I know this was a dream come true for him.

Although Shane wasn’t thrilled at first, by the end of the day he was crying when it was time to leave because he wanted “more boat, more boat!!”  And the highlight of our little trip was when Nathan caught his first fish that he reeled in all by himself!  Such an awesome moment that we will remember forever.

While the boys kept fishing I wanted to try out the stand up paddle board my sister was using…loved it!  It was so fun to try out all their different water toys they had.  Everything was between $5-12 an hour so it was so reasonable to try out everything.  As you can see my sister and her boyfriend made a switch from paddle boards to a mini sailboat.  Greg and I can’t wait to go back for a date night on one of those!

Fishing is a patient sport…and patient isn’t a word you would use to describe a 2 and 4 year old boy.  It was so fun while it lasted but we called it a day after a couple of hours on the water.  I think Greg definitely got a taste of what it will be like when the boys are older and is looking forward to days out on the water together.

Daddy….you are our world and the boys and I are so thankful for all that you do for us.  Our favorite time of the day is when you get home from work and the three of us come barreling down the driveway yelling DADDY!!  I am happy because I know you will step right in and take over for the night and the boys are happy because their hero is home.  You wear many hats….business man, husband, friend, brother, son but the one that looks the best on you is Dad!  We love you and hope you know that Father’s Day is just one of the 365 days of the year that we celebrate you!

Nathan was great though and slept both flights.  I was jealous since my “sleep” was on par with Shane’s.  Despite the lack of sleep the flights went surprisingly quick and these two jet setters were so excited to see their Grandparents!

We got in to Vermont around 8:30am Saturday morning, and before we could even unpack our suitcases and get settled in Nathan was already outside with Mima building his first ever snowman that he named Sunny.

And made his first snow angel too…

I’m sure it’s no surprise that Shane was missing out on all the fun because he decided to nap the rest of the day away, but as soon as we were up on Sunday we headed out so Shane could play in snow for his very first time.  He had no idea what to make of all that cold white stuff at first, but once he started to get the hang of walking around in it, he couldn’t get enough.  We hung out with Sunny, we built a snow fort, the boys got pulled on sleds, we had snowball fights, and finished off the winter traditions with having sugar on snow (of course with Pure Vermont Maple Syrup and a pickle on the side).

After all the fun in the snow, Mama and Dada got to have a little fun of their own and headed to Magic Hat Brewery for a tour and some beer tasting.  We may even get to sneak away for a date night in Burlington while we are here, which would be so fun since that is where we got married.

Speaking of weddings, the big day for my Sister-in-law Stephanie and her fiancé Steve is coming up this Saturday.  All the rest of our family is coming into town starting Thursday so there will be lots more fun and photos from our trip coming up soon.   Just wanted to check in and say we made it, we are freezing our butts off, we are relaxing at my parents house, and we are loving every minute of it!  It sure feels good to be home!

Really though, it’s been a great year.  I’m not even sure where it went!  If you would literally like to see it flash before your eyes too, click the little “play” button below.  2013 you were so good to us….come on in 2014, we are ready for ya!

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Wishing you all the VERY best for the new year!!  CHEERS!!

*A little side note:  Things are busy, busy, busy over here kicking off our 24 Day GROUP CHALLENGE.  I am blown away by the motivation of the now 250+ group members.  The Facebook group is still growing, and I am feeling so inspired by each and every person that has decided to make some big changes in the new year!  An exciting announcement for some of you out there who are still waiting on buying your challenge bundles….Advocare is putting them on sale tomorrow for a limited time.  They only go on sale ONCE a year!  If you are a distributor you get your discount on top of this price which is even more exciting!  The group challenge officially starts on January 6th but many are waiting to purchase at the sale price, so it’s totally not too late to join us since others will be starting a little later as well.  I will be quiet here for awhile as I’m responding to e-mails, posting recipes, answering questions, chugging fiber drinks and meal prepping for the weeks ahead!  Can’t wait to get started!  And for all of you that are jumping in with both feet…I am so proud of you for making such a great commitment to yourselves, you definitely deserve this!

Care free and dancing at Greg’s company Holiday party.  Wearing ugly Christmas sweaters at a party at our house (see that photo on the right….I got my first positive pregnancy test that morning and drank mocktails all night trying to hide it from our guests)

Announcing on Christmas morning to our families, via Skype, that we had an extra present under the tree that we forgot to send their way.  I still remember their reactions and excitement like it was yesterday.

Celebrating our first Christmas with the best gift we could have ever asked for.  The holiday took on a whole new meaning when we discovered the true definition of family, love and selflessness.  

Spending our first Christmas back East in Maryland with Greg’s family.  Nathan discovered the magic of Christmas this year when his very own Santa showed up to Nana and Grandpa’s house (and made a second appearance at Uncle Eric’s and Aunt Sarah’s house).

Soaking in the love of precious 1 month old Baby Brother Shane, writing letters and baking cookies for Santa, making memories with Mima and Auntie Marissa, and feeling complete with our newest and cuddliest addition to our family. 

Back on the East Coast again for a wedding and an early Christmas in Maryland.  We got to meet my darling Niece Ella for the very first time and Santa showed up that year as well (and looked a little different from 2010 haha).  Nathan was so excited.  Shane was clearly traumatized and as you can see his love for Santa continues on.  

On this Christmas Eve I want to wish all of you a very special day with your families and loved ones.  Enjoy creating those magical moments and traditions of the holiday season with those that you care about most.  The years they pass by quickly but the memories of the holidays are ones that are forever engraved in our children and in us.  Merry Christmas to you, my friends….and of course I hope Santa was nice to each and every one of you!

We did have a chance to get some fun in this past week with Nana visiting.  She surprised us with annual passes to Disneyland and we of course had to go straight there and spend some time at the happiest place on earth!  The last time we went Shane was a baby, so it was so much fun to see how overwhelmed with happiness he was now that he is older.  He loved the rides, but wasn’t too impressed with the life sized characters and ran away from them all.  Nathan on the other hand, attacked them all with the biggest hugs and threw a total fit when we had to leave.  He said he wanted to stay there “forever, forever, forever, forever and forever”.  Lucky for him we can go back a whole bunch this year….we can’t thank Nana enough for her generosity!  

We are definitely in the full swing of Halloween around here and can’t wait for a few parties next week and of course the big day of trick-or-treating!  Nathan picked all of our costumes this year so he is really excited about seeing us all dressed up.  Stay tuned to see what he came up with  Looking forward to seeing photos of all of your adorable kiddos too!

Have a great rest of the week!! xo

**For those of you who read my previous post about accomplishing my first half marathon I truly appreciate all your kind words.  I got suckered into paying for the overpriced professional photos they took of the race so please do me a favor and check out THIS post with some updated photos I have added.  It was my first race…I just had to get them right?

Speaking of Shane, I think if he could have told me himself, he would have said this was one of his very favorite of days spent with his brother.  They really stuck together and anything Nathan did he was right behind him ready to do just the same.  Except the petting zoo.  Nathan gets pretty timid of all the animals and stood by my side, while Shane ran right up to the sheep and goats poking and prodding at their faces with his chubby little fingers.  He is definitely my little animal lover and they seem to love him right back.

These pictures make me smile.  While the memories of the day are always in my head and in my heart, I know having these photos of their childhood will bring me right back to this feeling years from now.  I’m just so proud of who they are becoming and cherish these quiet traditions we have together.  I hope one day they look back as fondly as I do of these adventures..and know how very much their Mommy loved spending time with them.

We spent the majority of Friday at the beach.  We blew bubbles, fed seagulls, built sand castles, had treasure hunts, chased waves, and smiled as we listened to our boys laughing louder than the sound of the waves crashing.  Greg and I always say we really aren’t big beach people but I’m starting to think we may be lying when we say that.  We came home, washed the coconut lotion scent and sand off ourselves and settled in for family naps and quiet time.   Heavenly.

Saturday morning I woke up early to try to get in a long run with friends before the sweltering heat kicked in.  I don’t think we went early enough because I was about 1 more mile away from having a heat stroke.  We made it to just over 9 miles, but I’m not going to lie when I say it was torture.  I didn’t feel too great after so we took it easy the rest of the day.  After getting some energy back we headed over to our friend’s house for a BBQ.  We were all friends before having kids and even before they got married, and now to see us all with 2 kids each all the same age it’s so awesome to see the next generation of best buds growing up together.  School starts for half the crew next week so it was fun to have this end of the Summer BBQ with everyone.

Sunday morning we packed up the family and headed out for a little overnight Staycation to celebrate our wedding Anniversary.  Greg got us a room at the Ritz Carlton 15 minutes away, so we decided to take advantage of it as much as we could and get there as early as they would let us (even though we couldn’t even check-in yet…you bet we were getting our money’s worth haha).  I know you’re all thinking why were the boys with you on your romantic getaway but haven’t you seen the theme by now….we do EVERYTHING with them, they are our little shadows!  In all honesty I would miss not having them with us, and they added so much to our day by the pool.  The hotel even gave them their own sand buckets with lollipops, sunglasses and a treasure hunt they could go on.  They got to splash around, enjoy a delicious lunch by the pool, took naps on the cozy pool chairs and the best part…got to see an elephant right under our room’s balcony!!! The most elaborate Indian wedding was taking place just as we checked into our room, it was incredibly cool to feel like we were part of it.  We were all dancing on our balcony with them…such an awesome experience!

Ok so our little shadows did go home after a long day at the pool.  Auntie came over for a slumber party so we could get back to the hotel and enjoy some wine, ocean views, the sunset and of course each other’s company.  Not going to lie though we called our friend who lives close by and he hooked us up with a wine delivery and some good conversation until it was time for our dinner reservation.  Thanks Matty for photographing our romantic evening for us haha.

Dinner was insanely good and they went over the top and surprised us with two beautiful desserts for our Anniversary.  When we got back to our room we were again surprised by a bottle of champagne, robes laid out, chocolate covered strawberries, toffee covered almonds, and a sweet card congratulating on us 28 years of marriage lol.
We slept in the next day until 7:00am (this really was a treat) and then headed to breakfast before checking out and getting back to our boys.  Nathan thought we ate too much dinner and was mad that we didn’t come home from the restaurant until  the morning.  My sister said he was in our bedroom staring out the window waiting for us.  He’s obsessed lol.  It’s ok, the feeling is mutual kiddo.  Our neighborhood was throwing a big Labor Day bash so we headed there for a bit and closed down the evening with drinks in our friends’ yard.

Tuesday was our actual Anniversary but we were pretty tired from all the activities of the long weekend that we wanted to just do something mellow with the kids.  Our plan was to take them on a train ride down the coast about 30 minutes but we totally misread the schedule!  It  turns out just sitting and watching the trains would prove to be all the entertainment they needed.  We walked around, went to a cute coffee shop with them, and then ate lunch outside right next to the train tracks.  

I look back on these past 8 years of marriage and can’t believe how far we have come, yet how quickly the years have passed.  We have grown as individuals, as a couple and most importantly as a FAMILY.  Greg does so incredibly much for us and is the most selfless person I have ever met.  We are his entire world and he lets us know this everyday through his words and his actions.  Life sure has changed for us since the boys joined our world, but we are more of a team now than we have ever been. This past weekend was a celebration of us and of them and will definitely go down in the books as one of the most memorable anniversaries to date.  I look forward to going back to The Ritz 20 years from now and seeing that “Happy 28th Anniversary” card….for the second time.

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