Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Happy Birthday to Me


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!

Cousin Weekend



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.

The Living Desert

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!

The Salton Sea


On our second day in California we headed out to the Salton Sea. We had heard about the Salton Sea before, and even though it is only about half an hour away from Shannan's house they had never actually been there before. It was a little stinky, especially by the visitors center, probably because of all the dead fish on the beach. The kids were fascinated and disgusted by all the dead fish and fish skeletons.

Even though it was stinky, it was really pretty. After we walked around the visitor's center/gift shop we found a less stinky spot to eat lunch. After lunch, my dad and Rachael ran down the beach scaring all the birds. It was fun to watch them all take off in the air.

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.

California

In February, the kids and I headed out to California to spend a week hanging out with my sister and her family and enjoying the warm desert weather. The week before we left my dad asked if he could come along with us, so the five of us made the long drive. I didn't realize that I had never made this trip before with a baby, even though this was our fourth trip in the last six years. It took us longer than we planned because every stop seemed to take at least 30 minutes, but we finally made it. I was very glad to have my dad along to help with the kids.

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.

Friday, March 18, 2011

The SPOT

Emily has been causing quite a stir at our house the last couple of weeks. She keeps sitting in Max's SPOT.

Apparently she doesn't realize that the kids have assigned seating in our house. (Assigned by Max, that is, in spite of all the times I've said, "We DO NOT have SPOTS in our house!")

Apparently she doesn't realize that Max thinks he NEEDS to sit in his SPOT when he eats his breakfast, lunch, snack, etc.

Apparently she doesn't realize how distressing it is to Mr. Routine when she changes things around.

Actually, I'm sure she does realize how distressing it is and thinks if the SPOT is so wonderful, and worth such a fuss, she wants to sit there!

Life is hard when your little sister doesn't go along with your plans all the time.

Kid's Quotes

Max: "I think I'm getting drinky."

Emily: "Mom, I'm starting to starve."

Emily: "Mom, will you unzip my coat? Um, I mean will you in-zip it?"