It was hard to narrow it down to just a few top posts, as it is every year. Because I always love our trips so much, I had to kind of exclude trip posts or every single top post from me would just be a travelogue.
I loved our Florida trip in May. It was a long trip and we did a lot. We drove down to Birmingham and spent some fun time with Michelle and Sam (and some worrying time. I had tornado warnings). Then we drove down to Florida in what remains the most harrowing drive of my life. But after that, we had a great time and it was special to be at my mom's 60th birthday. Then we moved to the beach and spent a week with Jason's family and that was a fun time. I love the beach so much, I could probably spend the whole summer there and we just had a great time.
I also loved our Great American Road Trip in November. We had so much fun on this trip. We drove to Denver and saw Garden of the Gods. We drove to Vegas (including a not-so-great drive through a Blizzard in the Rockies, but not as bad as the drive from Birmingham to Florida earlier this year) to spend Thanksgiving at my sister's house. That was super special because my whole family has never been together all at once. We got to spend time on the strip and at Valley of Fire, which is our favorite place in Vegas. After Vegas, we drove into Utah and saw Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon, which were awesome. And then we drove home. This was an awesome trip and we had so much fun.
Beyond that there were a few key posts that really stood out to me, in chronological order:
1) Hannah's Boot Scootin Boogie (1/22/14) - It really seemed like Hannah would never walk. And then she just did and now it seems weird that she ever was reluctant. I love this post because it captures a very specific phase in her life and also a part of her personality that is very Hannah.
2) Bad Dog (3/12/14) - This year is the first year in a long time that I wouldn't say is better than the last and that's mainly because Terrence died. He was really special to me and I feel like, though I doubt we will ever not have a dog, I am not sure I will ever have a dog like him again. I love this post because in many ways he was such a trouble-making jerk and this really captures that very well, which also showing how lovable he was.
3) A Day at the Park with my Future Tailgaters (8/8/14) - Though I do love all seasons except winter, I love our summers the best. The kids aren't in school and the days are long and it just feels so relaxing and fun. We went to the park (actually we went to many parks) and Deanna Rose so many times and had such fun that this post just reminds me of that and I love it.
4) Date Day in Topeka (8/23/14) - I love this post because I had a super fun day with Joshua and also the Children's museum was such a nice surprise. I really don't expect anything that fun to be in Topeka, or Kansas at all really. So we had a great day, but also it turned in to multiple great days because then I knew about that place. It's always fun to make an unexpected discovery like that.
5) My Little Dare Devil Part II (9/11/14) - This post is just so Joshua. Generally three was not a very fun year for us. This isn't uncommon, especially for boys, and I am not sad to leave that behind. He had mostly gotten over his major attitude by the time of this post, but some things that can be frustrating about Joshua aren't a phase. They are just him and breaking things is kind of like that. He'll always break things because he likes testing and seeing what will happen and he climbs and jumps and hangs. Even though I would prefer my light fixtures to stay intact, that's part of what makes him Joshua, so I kind of love that about him.
6) A Pumpkin Patch Fourth Birthday for Joshua (10/12/14) - I love the fall and we had such a fun time as a family going to the Pumpkin Patch and it was also Joshua's birthday so it was just a super fun day that makes me happy to remember it.
7) A Super Halloween (10/31/14) - I love Halloween. Though I would have liked to dress up every year, in previous years I have just felt too tired to figure out a costume. In many ways I have less free time than ever now, but in other ways my life has calmed down a lot now that we don't have babies. This year, I felt like I could do it and I am glad I did. We had a super fun Halloween dressing up as a family and it makes me happy to remember it.
8) Bike Day (10/2/14) - I love this post not necessarily because of that specific day, but because it shows what huge progress Clara made in bike-riding this year. She is really my most enthusiastic and accomplished rider at this point and she just loves riding up and down the street with her big wheel and she goes really fast. At the beginning of the year, she couldn't even pedal and now she just goes and is so proud of it. It's been great to watch her build that skill.
9) Thanksgiving Tree (11/11/14) - Holiday traditions are important to me and I really love Thanksgiving, which is a holiday that often gets short shrift, being between Halloween and Thanksgiving. But gratitude is very important and something I want to cultivate in my own life and that of my children. So I love this tradition we have of doing the Thanksgiving tree and it got even better this year since the kids are a little bit older.
10) Merry Christmas (12/25/14) - Though this year was not the best ever because of Terrence, this Christmas season was perhaps the best Christmas ever and I like this post because it reminds me of that. I am really happy with the way Advent went and we did everything I had hoped to do except I didn't watch It's A Wonderful Life, which would have been nice, but is a small thing. Also, Christmas Day was a really fun day and very slow and relaxing. We don't get very many days where we don't have to go somewhere or do something and this was just a nice day where we stayed at home and the kids played with their new toys happily and it was just super enjoyable.
From Jason:
I followed the same rule as Meghan: no posts from either of our vacations. So here are my top ten, in chronological order:
1) Davids and Goliath (4/15/14) - While this specific time and game was fun and funny, it represents something that’s really become much more common in the past year: imagination-based playing with the kids. Joshua’s old enough to really want to do it, Clara’s old enough to be excited to play along, and Hannah is old enough to take part at least to some extent. It’s really fun to me as well to work with them to come up with a random game with random rules and then to play it out.
2) G&G’s Arrival and a Culver’s/Park DateDay (4/19/14) - This post could have made my Top 10 even without the date day component, as it represents one of the biggest events of the year for me, which was my grandparents completing their move to the Kansas City area by moving into their new house in Olathe. On top of that, the post also had a really fun date day with Clara, making it an easy choice to make my list.
3) Fun, Family, and Fireworks (7/4/14) - This post reminds me so much of the fun summer that we had, and how great this particular day was. The 4th of July is always a fun and relaxing day, and this particular one was better than most. From the kids’ cute outfits, to the party/celebrations we had at Mom and Ron’s, to meeting Elle, to the drone, to the fireworks, and everything else in between, it was one of my favorite days of the year.
4) You and Me and Baby Makes Three (8/2/14) - This year is the first year that we've integrated Hannah into the date day schedule, as we decided at the beginning of the year that she was old enough to really enjoy them. This post reminds me of the date days I've had with her as well as her general development. A year ago she seemed like such a baby, and now she’s a little girl. It’s been really fun this year to watch her grown and develop so rapidly.
5) Family Dinner with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Deb (8/3/14) - Similar to the Fourth of July post, this was just an all-around great day that was fun, relaxing, and involved a lot of my family. One of my favorite pictures of the year is the one of Hannah with the dirt all over her (Thanks, Joshua). We don’t get to see Dad and Deb all that often, so it was also a special day for that reason.
6) Take Her Out to the Ballgame (8/30/14) - I had a few date days with Clara this year, but this one was the best. Clara and I had such a great time. It was extra fun for me that it involved baseball, and she did so well, and pretty much every part of the date was really fun. On top of that, we got some great pictures from it, and I’m not sure Clara has ever looked cuter.
7) Oki: Clara’s First Boyfriend (10/7/14) - This post doesn't have any deeper meaning, but it really just cracks me up every time. Clara’s unexpected enthusiasm and unbridled glee about her Oki was great. I also like it because it reminds me of the month of childlike fun and excitement that was the Royals run to the World Series.
8) Going to Game 6 (10/28/14) - Attending a World Series game is really something I never thought would never happen, so in some ways it was beyond a dream come true, because it didn't really even make it to dream status. But it’s something I’ll never forget, both because of the day itself, and also because it was the culmination of the surreal October that the Royals and all their fans, including me, experienced.
9) A Smash-Free Date Day at the Zoo (11/1/14) - This was a really fun date day I had with Joshua. He’s such a big boy now. Going places with him is so fun because he asks so many questions (some people are annoyed by kids’ incessant questions, but I enjoy trying to answer them all), so I get to explain so many things to him and help him learn. He understands logic, for the most part, so we can have reasonable conversations, and if I need to explain about why we can’t do something, for example, he’s generally very accepting. We had a super fun day, despite the misleading marketing campaign.
10) Sibling Reading Time (11/18/14) - A part of parenting that I didn't really expect to be so great (I guess because I never really thought about it) is the interaction between the kids, probably especially at such young ages. They are hilarious in their interactions with each other, both in their discussions and how they play sometimes. But the sweet things that they do for each other is such a heart-warming aspect of being a parent.
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