Connor's Birthday Dinner

We let Connor open his birthday presents from us on the night before his birthday because we were taking him on a special trip the next day. His present was too big to take with us! Connor was so excited when he came in the door and saw the huge package. Of course he was thrilled to open his presents! He was very happy to receive the "roller coaster" toy that he has been dreaming about. He has been asking everyone to get it for him for his birthday. It was always #1 when anyone asked what he wanted for his birthday. So he is very pleased. Connor and Abby had a great time playing with it!

Disneyland with Grandma

My mom and I took Connor and Abby to Disneyland for Connor's special birthday trip. Connor was so excited to wear his little Happy Birthday Disneyland badge. (In fact he was so excited he had to wear it to preschool the next day.) We had so much fun riding the trains, carousel, Alice in Wonderland, tea cups, Winnie the Pooh, and Pirates of the Carribean. Connor and Abby were excited to meet Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. Abby would not pose for the pictures because she was too busy hugging them. She was basically glued to them in a great big hug! We also went to the Mickey Mouse Clubhuose show which Connor and Abby love! It was great day!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day this year. Connor was so excited to give me the picture frame he had made for me at Daddy night at preschool. He was so proud to give me his picture frame. It was so cute! Richard took us to breakfast and later we had my mom and dad and Gary and Jessica over to our house. I made a roast and we had a great time eating, talking, and just hanging out. Then Grandpa and Grandma got in the pool with us and it was so much. Connor and Abby were so excited to get in the pool! The water was so perfect! It was such a nice Mother's Day because we got to spend such nice quality time as a family!

Make a Smilebox photobook

Untold Stories

Ok, so I often think of posts I want to write as I go through my day. I store all of these ideas in my head because I can never go post these little anecdotes immediately because my blog is never up to date. So here are a few:

Recently Connor was sick and he came into our bed in the middle of the night. As he was laying next to me cuddling, Rich snored really loudly and Connor said in a concerned voice, "Daddy just made a strange noise!"

Abby loves to get in the pool! She gets so excited when we get ready and does her happy "Yay, yay, yay!" dance. Then she says, "Yay! Bathingsoup!" (Bathingsoup means bathing suit.)

Connor has this big floaty for the pool shaped like an alligator. He asked me to blow it up the other day. After it was blown up, he was playing with it in the house while I got Abby ready. Pretty soon I heard "du, du, du, du...du, du, du, du" (Jaws music) as a big inflatable alligator headed my way. It was so funny! Connor has never seen the movie obviously but I guess I have done it enough that he caught on.

Abby LOVES the color pink. She also loves to shop. When we go to the grocery store (or any store), she walks down the aisles (she NEVER wants to be in the cart) and shops. She brings me everything that is pink. Pink lotion, pink laundry detergent, and yes that's right pink boxes of tampons. As she hands them to me she says very excitedly..."Abby's!"

Air Show

We went with Grandpa and Grandma to an Air Show. Connor was so excited! We had to go by the mall in the morning and he told everyone that he was going to the Air Show. Abby and Connor had a great time exploring all the different airplanes and helicopters. They also enjoyed frozen lemonade. Abby was adorable sharing her lemonade with Grandpa. The best part was watching the Thunderbirds fly and do all of their tricks. It was just like I was 5 again. My mom and dad took me to air shows all of the time when I was a kid (my dad organized them when we lived in Iowa). The Thunderbirds were my favorite! It was awesome that my parents got to go with my kids. Abby and Connor were so excited that they were there. It was a great day! (Except that we parked in like Siberia and had to walk forever to get to the flight line and forever to get back to the car!!!!!! But it was worth it!)

Blog Loser

Aaaaaaahhhhh! I can not keep this thing up to date! I really do try but...do you really want excuses? I will try harder. I promise. However, dear reader, you should know I have also promised to exercise regularly, eat less desserts, keep my house cleaner, keep the laundry from piling up to the point that I have to spend a whole day washing clothes, put my makeup on BEFORE I leave the house instead of really quickly in the car...etc. But I am happy to report that I am doing great at the thing that matters the most...spending wonderful, quality time with Connor and Abby (Richard too!). There will be plenty of time to be great at everything else when they are grown!

The Beach

I love the beach! Why oh why when I live so close to the beach do I rarely go? (Ok...Mealnie and I have a pact...we will go a ton this summer!) When my dear friend Melanie's parents were visiting recently, they rented a condo in Solano beach. And because Melanie is such a wonderful friend, she invited us to go down with her to spend a day at the beach. It was the best beach day ever! The beach was so beautiful! We parked ourselves in this little cove and it felt like we were on our own private beach! Makena and Connor had so much fun running and screaming through the waves. Abby was tired at first and it was so funny because she laid herself down on our mat to have a little rest. Then she played in the sand and water too. Melanie's dad met us down at the beach and we went for a little walk to some tide pools. We saw some cool sea urchins and Makena and Connor played in the waves with Melanie's dad. Abby jumped around in the waves too. It was so nice because when we were done, we were able to go back to the condo, clean up, watch a gorgeous sunset, and eat before driving home. It was a perfect day!

Oh yeah...I forgot to mention all the dolphins we saw swimming a little way out. And speaking of sea life...Solano beach is also the beach where the man was recently killed by a (cue the music) great white shark! Yes, he was killed shortly after we were there. (If you remember when this happened you will realize how terribly behind I am in posting!) So, kind of scary. But really the kids were only on the shore, safe I'm sure. However, I know this event will be running through my mind everytime we go to the beach...which as I mentioned is not often enough!

Photos of Beach wildlife:

This is a pod of dolphins.

This is the dog that Abby met and fell in love with at the beach. She loves dogs!

Two beachlovers in their natural habitat!

Easter

We went to church on Easter and then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a fabulous time! My Uncle Dale and Aunt Jo were there as well, and it was great to visit with them. The kids had a great time playing in the backyard and hunting Easter Eggs. Sorry some of the pictures are blurry. Someone touched the lens with sticky fingers!

Make a Smilebox slideshow