Trip to Cali-Day One

The beginning of August we headed to California-I know, a brave adventure with two kiddos-and after a long day of travel including a car ride, two airplanes and another car ride stuck in SF traffic we were beginning to doubt our sanity.  But the boys did great, and around midnight our time we made it to my friend Melissa's house!  Were after a few minutes of hellos we all crashed for the night.  And blessing of blessings no children woke up!  The nest morning was Saturday and Melissa and her husband were working at the temple so we headed to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to check out the aquarium.  I would have loved to take the boys to the Monterrey Aquarium but it was a bit too far of a drive away and even though the tickets were outrageous, we spent the $$ so the boys could touch some starfish!  With the recent addition of the fish tank and Peter's favorite movie being Finding Nemo the aquarium was a huge success.  They were smiles the whole time and often just set mesmerized by the very large and amazing tanks.  Here were are anxiously waiting to start!

You walk through the front doors and immediately come face to face with this huge floor to ceiling tank...after about 15min we had to pry the boys away!

We then headed through a few more tanks and on to the fun stuff.  Peter was all about putting his hands in the water and had to be reminded many times to leave the starfish in the tank!  I think he would have set there all day until his fingers turned blue!

Issac on the other hand needed a little coaxing but once he realized they weren't going to do anything to him he was all smiles.

The urchins were a different story...neither of them wanted to get near them! 

One of my favorites is the jelly fish, I love the way they look orange with the blue background.  Peter was so excited especially since we found one at the beach later that day. 

This might look like a random picture of Peter with his tongue sticking out but if you look really close under his arm you will see "Nemo"  This tank was our last one and it was a beautiful tropical tank where we actually get to see them feed the fish which was fun and colorful.  We stayed here for a while and even Isaac got all excited about Nemo....

and of course Dori...it is so cute to see them recognized things from home in a different place.  Peter sat at the glass and just talked to them for at least 10 minutes!

After the aquarium we had some lunch and then drove a few miles to the ocean.  I had been talking to the boys for weeks about the ocean and I wanted them to experience it.  We don't have any pictures though because neither Alan or I was comfortable letting go of the boys' hands since the waves are a bit unpredictable in Northern Cali not to mention freezing!  After the initial shock of the water temperature they loved it.  We took a little walk and found as mentioned a jelly fish, some sand dollars, seaweed and a few other beach rubbish and got good and sandy before heading back to Melissa's. 

The rest of July

Peter is getting so BIG I am shocked everyday to discover what new "big" things he can do!  We have been trying to introduce some quiet games into his play time especially on Sundays...he loves to play connect four and Uno is his new favorite...it took a while to explain the concept of when to say uno but he does great with his matching of colors and numbers and is getting pretty good at even holding the cards...his mommies competitive nature is starting to show though because he is all about "winning" lately!

 I had to document this day-the day Isaac finally ate watermelon...he is officially now my child and not my cousins :)  He is not a huge fan of the juice running down his arm, not that I can blame him, but he just loves feeling like a big boy holding the pieces...although we had to take the rind away since he chewed it down to the green!

 Isaac talking on daddy's phone while daddy worked on the computer!  Isn't it amazing how quickly our children learn to use our "devices", they are so smart!

 We spent a lot of time with the garden hose this summer...this day they discovered that they could drink out of it-what a thrill!

And yes, my kiddos end up running around in their underwear most days because I refuse to wash more than one set of clothes a day!  Believe it or not Isaac can wear Peter's undies...they are even a little snug!

 

Peter learned to peddle with the help of dad, although he didn't want to go too far because he did not want to run over the picture of the ties that he had drown on the patio!  Oh, my silly boy!

 Issac is also learning so many "big" things.  Here is is playing with play dough for the first time.  It is interesting to see how many things that he picks up sooner because he has someone to watch.  I think Peter was just trying to eat it at this point and throw it on the floor!

 Is this not the cutest little play dougher you have ever seen?  He sure does know how to strike a pose (something he definitely did not get from me!)

 We got our fish tank set up this month as well and I don't know who was more excited, Alan or the boys, to finally get some fish after weeks of cycling the tank!  (well, really I think it was Alan!)  Although, they loved the tank even without the fish.  I was amazed at how much they would get excited over water and bubbles!  It has been a fun hobby for everyone!

I think Isaac saying fish is so cute!  He was hard to catch on video because he was just so excited he wouldn't hold still!

Can you believe it?

This post is dedicated to Isaac who turned one and a half years old this week!  It is amazing how time flies with two active boys!  I just can't believe that my little monkey is getting so big! 

What a joy he is in our life!  He is such a happy little guy, who rarely cries without a cause and loves to laugh and make others laugh (I think he will be the one to run streaking naked when company is over just to get a laugh!) He has the cutest little dimpled smile and such smoochable little cheeks.  He has become quite the little talker and learns so many new words everyday!  His most recent ones were "Look" and "airplane" due to our most recent trip.  My favorite is the way he says grape...he leaves out the "r" and really annunciates the ape part  so it sounds like gAPE and gets louder each time he says it!  He loves to play with stickers and for one with such chubby little fingers he does quite well, his favorite books are "Moo, Baa, La La La" and "I love you through and through"  he still uses his pacifier which he calls his "Fie" for sleeping but I am hoping to wean him of that by the end of the year.  He is a very high energy little man but in a different way than Peter.  He loves to climb, jump, dance, bounce anything with motion and he will even "shimmy shake" on command!  He loves to dance to music with a good beat still gives the best squeezy hugs ever.  He has loved having our garden to pick flowers and tomatoes to eat until he is practically a tomatoe himself.  He loves to watch baby einstein and his favorite toys are blocks and cars.  He will turn anything resembling a car into a car and zoom it around.  He is as sweet as he is rough and tumble with a little bit of imp thrown in....you have to definitely keep your eye on this one.  Some things he has learned quickly due to having a big brother around to watch are eating with a spoon and fork, saying prayers, walking down stairs, climbing the bunk bed ladder, swinging by himself, and a few other not so admirable traits that I won't mention. :)  We sure do love this sweet little monkey that brings a smile to our face even when we should be frowning and can't wait to see how he changes as he grows bigger.  Just as a side note, he is still in the 97th percentile for hight and weight...NFL here we come;)

Fourth of July

Alan had the fourth of July off which was an unexpected surprise so we were able to pack in some fun. On Tuesday we went to one of his co-workers house in Lee's Summit with a few other families to have a dinner, do some swimming and watch their fireworks that were displayed on the 3rd.  The kiddos had so much fun playing with all the other kids!  I wondered how they would do with the fireworks but they did great!  They were far enough away that they weren't too loud but they could still see them.  Even Isaac who was super tired by then even sat and watched most of them.  Peter did get a little scared by the neighbors who were letting off some pretty big fireworks but once he got over his initial startlement and as long as he was holding my hand he was ok.  I have never seen a neighborhood let off so many huge fireworks...they don't mess around!

On the actual day of the 4th we kept it low key, because we were so tired from the night before and it was way too hot to do anything outside.  I had bought some kiddo friendly fireworks, we turned on the slip and slide and invited some friends over to do some fireworks.

Peter was not sure about the sparklers, we tried to get him to hold one but he refused.  He did like the smoke bombs, the little snap things you throw on the ground and watching our little fireworks. 

 I had bought some little tanks that are supposed to roll forward when you lite them but they were a little disappointing since they went like two inches and then flipped over.  But the kids liked playing with them afterwards.

 Here was Isaac's turn at the sparklers...unfortunately he was not as cautious as Peter because he reached right out and grabbed one...on the lit end of course and gave himself a pretty severe burn.

 This is how he spent the rest of his evening....with his little hand in a cup of cold water.  Thankfully we had them close so his hand went in right away.    Poor little guy-I don't think he will like sparklers for a few years. 

 And here is my organizer...his favorite part of the evening was arranging all the burnt out fireworks according to size and shape!  lol

It is so fun to celebrate holidays with the boys and to see their wonder and excitement and to teach them about why we celebrate them.  God bless all those who have and who continue to sacrifice so much for our freedom!