Over the weekend we got date shakes, played outside, went to dinner at Chuck E. Cheese's (which was CRAZY busy), and played games. Monday was our last day of vacation and we decided to go to the Living Desert, which is the local zoo. We've been there before and always really enjoy it.
One of the favorite spots is all the miniature trains they have. They have so many and it's fun to watch them run through all of the different displays.
We always have to take pictures of the kids sitting on the wart hog statues. The statues are not nearly as ugly as the real live wart hog.
Emily loved petting the goats in the petting zoo. She kept talking about how all the goats liked her.
Malia and Max had so much fun playing together and got along so well. It's fun to watch them together and remember when Shannan and I were pregnant with them.
When we got to the camels, Shannan was pointing them out to Emily who responded, "Those aren't camels." Shannan told her that they were indeed camels to which Emily replied, "No they're not. They're dragons." There was no convincing her otherwise. To her they were dragons.
The next morning we left at around 5:30 am, California time, and headed back home. This trip felt faster, but was still pretty long. It is always so fun to get together with cousins and just hang out and play for a week. It was also so nice getting to spend so much time with my dad. It was so great to see all of the kids having so much fun with Grandpa.
Thanks for letting us come out to visit, Shannan. It's always so fun to go hang out in your nice warm weather in the middle of winter!
I had a nice, quiet birthday this year. Per my request, Jeff made me a lemon cake. I could tell he couldn't understand why anyone would want a cake other than his mom's chocolate cake, but he made it for me anyway. Then he put the kids to bed while I got some alone time. Thanks for a great birthday, Jeff!
The weekend after we got back from California we had my sister's three kids for the weekend. Max and Emily had so much fun playing with Ellie, as always. I love to watch kids running around playing, playing, playing. Dress-ups, barbies, running, etc. We made funny face pancakes and personal pizzas and just had a fun time. The only times that felt kind of crazy were meal times. Three kids in high chairs is a lot of work, especially after the meal is over. One of my favorite parts of the weekend was getting to hold and snuggle Brock and Isaac. Since they came to our family only three months before Jane was born I haven't had a lot of opportunities to hold them. I think you really bond with little ones when you have the chance to take care of them.
One of the favorite spots is all the miniature trains they have. They have so many and it's fun to watch them run through all of the different displays.
We always have to take pictures of the kids sitting on the wart hog statues. The statues are not nearly as ugly as the real live wart hog.
Emily loved petting the goats in the petting zoo. She kept talking about how all the goats liked her.
Malia and Max had so much fun playing together and got along so well. It's fun to watch them together and remember when Shannan and I were pregnant with them.
When we got to the camels, Shannan was pointing them out to Emily who responded, "Those aren't camels." Shannan told her that they were indeed camels to which Emily replied, "No they're not. They're dragons." There was no convincing her otherwise. To her they were dragons.
We were hoping to hike along one of the nature trails, but as we were eating lunch we could see dark rain clouds heading our way across the water. The wind was picking up and all the kids were nervous about getting caught in the storm, so we decided to head home and play it safe. I was glad we did since it started raining before we got back to Shannan's house and rained for the rest of the day.
Our first day there we headed to a park to enjoy the nice weather. Meghan, Jay, and Jack came out from LA to join us. It was so nice to be able to play outside in the middle of February. We walked to the park and Emily started out the walk holding hands with Malia and by the time we were half way to the park Max and Kaitlyn had joined in.
Isn't Jack a cutie? Parks are the best entertainment when you have little children.
