Learning Lessons

I have learned when Alex disappears I need to find him quickly. I usually find him on his changing table (as seen above, which I know is way cleaner than I could have found him) or on my bed going through Erik or my shelves. He's also learning how to climb the cabinets/shelving in the kitchen. Yay!

I've also learned to look at the brighter side of things. While telling Max I was upset with the latest scratch in our hardwood floors, he doesn't miss a beat and yells "Oh YES! Mooooohhhhm! A new starting line!" and immediately lines up a couple Monster Trucks to start the "big race". (The big race happens pretty much every hour here).

Another thing I learned is when your three-year-old approaches you and says, "Hey Mom, smell my fingers!" Uh...DON'T!!!! (No picture for that one. And why are boys so gross?)

Another day, another lesson learned.

Cars 2!

Today was our first experience at the movie theater. And we survived. We saw Cars 2 and the kids really enjoyed it. Alex made it about halfway through before we had to take turns walking around. We had fun and have a better idea of what to expect now. Kids movies are a completely different experience than a grown-up movie. It's pretty much loud the whole way through. 

Can't wait to watch it on DVD so we can see all the parts we missed!

Ethan's Birthday at the Lake!

Our nephew, Ethan, celebrated his 5th birthday this weekend at Whiskeytown Lake.  It made me think about the day he was born. He was so beautiful. We stayed the night in Anderson (where Erik's sister, Nicole, lives) and hung out at the lake all day on Sunday.

Saturday night we had dinner at Nicole's house. They live on several acres where they have the most AMAZING garden, chicken, sheep, bee's, a tree house and just fun "country living" activities on their property.

Max and Alex were first attracted to their sand pit complete with trucks, shovels, and mini frogs. It took Max a few tries but he finally caught one and was a very proud boy.

I didn't get any pictures at Nicole's house but when I say she has an amazing garden, I mean it should be in a magazine. It is the most beautiful garden I have ever seen in my life. They have it perfectly set up with every possible thing you can plant. They are really talented people to come up with the layout and design. We had fun picking berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries), having a fresh-from-the-garden salad with dinner, visiting with family, playing in the water, meeting the animals and absorbed the quiet atmosphere.

The next morning we went in to Redding to see the Sundial bridge. We walked across it and I did catch a photo of Alex, Max and Roxy holding hands and chatting while walking. It was pretty hot that early in the morning so we stopped at their Farmer's Market for breakfast and lemonade.

Then it was off to the lake.

 They reserved a private beach and it was filled quickly with friends and family to celebrate this charming young boy. As we were setting up I got a quick photo of Max, Vivian and Ethan in their party hats before the water activities started. We didn't see much of Max after that. He's like a little fish.

 Alex stayed close digging and sitting on me. It wasn't until near the end that he wanted to swim. The lake was a perfect temperature for the hot day. The kids had fun making new friends and playing with their boats and water toys. The men/dad's became "sea monsters" and the giggles that came from the kids was priceless. They all had so much fun.

As long as Max had his little floaty, he was swimming like crazy, all the way to the rope a couple times. Once with Erik, another time with me. He's inside that little blue boat in the last picture. We had a really wonderful, summery day  and hope to make it up to camp there sometime soon! Happy Birthday, Ethan! Thanks for inviting us to your super fun party!

Butterflies and Building

Our caterpillars became butterflies and flew away. The boys really liked watching them grow and change. We released them on a sunny morning and they seemed a bit happy to leave Alex's house. (mini terror). The one below took a few minutes to get his air-wings.

Erik changed a coat closet into shelving yesterday (when it was close a billion degrees outside). And, of course, he had two persistent helpers on his construction crew. They made a good team and now I have a little more storage in my tiny old house.

Not a whole lot going on here right now. The flu has made it's way through (Which is why Max is in a pull-up in that picture, ugh.) and is just lingering. We must be good providers for it because it just finds another way to strike. Erik just had a shift change at work, still on nights. I think he likes it though. I still love hearing abut the crazy calls he gets (he works mainly in Vallejo, if that gives you an idea) Other than that, just trying to stay cool in the massive heat.

Hope you're enjoying your summer!

The latest

Quiet moments around here are hard to come by.  One minute there boys are playing nicely and the next minute someone is crying. Sometimes it's me. ha! (Those naughty boys!) Pretty typical of two small boys. I captured a fun moment here of them riding around in their toy box. Erik's Uncle Joe made this for him when he was a child and now we have it. It's SO cool! They emptied it out and we raced up and down the hallway.

There has been a lot of street work/construction near our house lately. Free entertainment. I'm not kidding. we've watched street sweepers, steam rollers, digger, backhoe loaders, dump trucks, pavement trucks, etc. all from our front window (they are taking weeks, it's been about 5, to replace all the perfect street corners to have those yellow bumpy things ...... yet we're closing schools...don't get me started. There must be good reason for it, right?) Anyway...the boys love construction. And it's something different, right? So I shouldn't complain.

Grandma Gail gave the boys a butterfly Garden for Easter. It's SO neat! We ordered our caterpillars and they boys have been watching them closely every day. They say good-night to them every night too. We're anxious to see them change into butterflies. Getting closer!

It seems we've had quite a bit of rain this year. I love it. This day it was hailing for a while. So, yes, I let them outside in their pajamas to collect some ice.
(click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the hail falling)

I got this idea from a friend of mine (she has three boys). Finger painting with shaving cream. Boys are in heaven, they are occupied and are not fighting. Yay! For like 20 minutes! Complete disaster but worth it every once in a while. Our house smelled like "man" for several days afterwards. I mean, "clean man". But, eh, still worth it.

Be sure to keep scrolling down to find the other two posts I did today. One on our local fair and another on DISNEYLAND!

Fiesta Days 2011

Our local fair was in town recently and we had a little time to check it our one morning before Erik had to go to work. It's like every other fair/carnival. Carnies. Creepy. We tried to look at it through the eyes of the munchkins and let them do a few trusty-looking rides. We saw part of the parade and hit up the Farmer's Market too.

Max got to go on a pony ride.

  The boys got to ride on the "super-fast-race cars". Just like Autopia, Max takes this stuff very seriously.

And the carousel. Home of the creepiest carnies. Erik held onto them pretty tightly (no belts or buckles) and we scrubbed them after they got off. ha!

We gave our last few tickets to another family walking by and we got out of there. The boys had fun, that's all that matters, right? 

Disneyland 2011

I'm finally blogging about our trip. Every single time I try and post pictures I quickly find two little Disney fans glued to my side screaming and squealing from excitement, pointing, naming, and begging to return. I completely understand it all and it turns into a fun little trip down memory lane.

We drove down in the veeeery early hours (after Erik got off work) of a Wednesday morning. We had three day passes that were starting that very day. So we were in a hurry! My younger brother, John, and his wife, Carla, and their three kids were there that day too.....and they had GRANDMA MILLS

(my Mom) with them! It was their "day three" and they were leaving town the next day. So, we were so lucky to be able to spend the day with them.

And...

We got to keep Grandma to ourselves for the next two days! Did you hear that? Grandma got to be at Disneyland for FIVE days! With Grand babies. Seriously, it's her happy place. And when you go with her, it's your happy place too.

One day when we were walking into the park there was another family close-by. We overheard the Mom say "Oh, you guys, I think I'm gonna cry." My Mom and I looked at each other and said, "Yeah, we totally get her." I know, it sounds way nerdy. But it's such a magical place!!!

All pictures are out of order.

And in 99.9% of all pictures, someone is looking the wrong way.

The boys in Toon Town, driving the fire truck.

Alex in Max's new pirate hat.

Wednesday was VERY HOT! At least 95 degrees. Here are the boys trying to cool off with cold treats.

Max posing with his personal pirate.

On Thursday we spent some time at California Adventure. It was the first time there for us (not my Mom) and we had fun exploring. Here are Max and Erik posing in the Toy Box.

Max's favorite ride was Pirates of the Caribbean. We probably went on in a hundred times. He was able to pick out his very own pirate hat. At this dinner, he asked for the map of the park and quickly turned it into his treasure map. He sang the pirates theme song the whole time. And made Erik turn his hat on backwards to be his trusty assistant, Mr. Smee.

 

Erik and Max riding Dumbo.

All of us on Alice in Wonderland. It was pretty quiet that morning so the operator offered to take a photo. Nice guy.

At California Adventure we were able to watch a Disney Junior Live! show. It was all the characters the boys love to watch on TV. They got to dance and sing and they loved every second of it. This photo sums up Alex. Really wants to have fun. But reeeealllly wants to have Mom in sight. At.All.Times.

We sort of surprised the boys with this. The line kind of goes around a little corner so we waited and then BAM! Mater and McQueen. They were SO stinking excited. Max hugged McQueen on his way out.

Erik and Max on Autopia. Notice a trend here? Max wanted to do every ride with his Daddy. Which was fine, since Alex doesn't want me out of his sight. He even puked on my Mom from crying so hard when Erik and I went on a ride together. Sorry, Mom.

I love the seriousness on Max's face here.

Wednesday night we went to dinner at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. We snapped this picture of Riley, Max and John while walking there. Super cute.

Payten, Max and Riley on the Jungle Cruise. See their red faces? So HOT!

Okay, so this ride is boring, yes. But the kids love it and it had A/C.

The first ride we (and by we, I mean Erik and Max) went on was The Matterhorn. I really don't think Max had any idea what he was getting himself into. But he did it again. And he did Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain too.

Here they are on a jellyfish ride (I think?). I loved that you can see Max's little head peeking out.

At the end of the day, you find this. Pure exhaustion.

We had the most amazing trip. It was quick and busy.

And we can't wait to go back!

Teaser

Here is a little teaser of what we've been up to.

1. Took the kids to the Happiest Place on Earth. (it really is and Max has been asking/dreaming about it since we got home. Alex too, but is more like a muted scream when he see's anything Disney). Best trip ever!
2. Max is three. I'm not sure if I have enough "Mom" in me to handle a three year old. Learning new tricks.
3. Erik still works UHLOT! He's transitioning from the hospital to the ambulance (full time) so we are getting used to new hours, etc.
4. I have a leach. You call him Alex. I call him annoyingly cute. I just want to walk three feet without a hitch hiker (Oh, I'm so not joking about that either)
5. Erik also got hired on with the County Fire District. It's volunteer and he has all that sexy fireman gear. Makes my heart go pitter patter. It's still new so more on that as we learn.
6. Breathing Treatments. Back to those again. After our trip, the boys got hit with illness. Fever, coughs, etc. They sound horrible and we're watching them closely. There might not be anything worse than watching/listening to your babies struggle to breathe.
7. Running. I'm learning how. My niece, Kirra. is going off to college in the fall (BYU!) and wants to run a 5k with all the girls in the family before she goes. We'll see if I can. I love Kirra way more than I HATE running. No promises.
8. We have all been diagnosed with something called PDD. It's very serious and can only be resolved on one way. I'm sure you have all had it at one time, it's very common in my family. It's called.............................................Post Disneyland Depression. It's totally real. We're totally suffering. We miss you, Mickey!
9.Words With Friends. Yes, I'm blogging about it. (It's scrabble on the phone) My sister, Kristen, is a gamer. Like, a big fat nerd when it comes to games (not video game nerd, just so dang good at them! So is her husband. We're talking GOOOOOOOD!). She kicks my booty every time. Now on my Bucket List (cause it will take that long): BEAT HER!
10. Sleep. Please come back to my house!!! PLLLEEEEEEEAAAAAASSSEEEE??? With sugar on top???

Gotta go, the leach is trying to pull my arm off the boys are calling...more pictures later...

Easter 2011

Coloring eggs the night before Easter.

Waiting...waiting....waiting...

It took Alex about 2.5 seconds to figure this out.

Easter morning came and we had to wake the boys up.

They were happy to report they heard noises all over the house during the night. Like hopping noises! Sure enough, the Easter Bunny came for a visit and was happy to find the carrots and jelly beans we left for him.

He left all sorts of surprises for the boys in their own special Easter Bag-sket.

Max and Alex coloring in their new coloring books....by the light of their new lantern. (And THAT is Alex's new smile. Lovely, eh?)

 

After a busy morning of bag-skets, church, lunch-ish/brunch-ish, coloring, playing and a little resting time it was finally time to start the Easter Egg hunt.

Inside one of the eggs was a clue to the SPECIAL TREAT for both boys. Max was not thrilled with the idea of putting down candy and coins to read something. But, he quickly got into it. 

CLUE #1: Find the truck that says "BURBABA BURBABA...."

That led them to a book of truck sounds. On the garbage truck page, there was another clue.

CLUE #2: Maybe Obi will know where to find the next clue!

 After asking the dog where the next clue was...uh...she suggested we read the pink clue on her crate.

CLUE #3: Where do you watch the Megasaurus videos?

They ran over to the computer where they can spend a loooong time watching Monster Truck videos on you tube. The favorite one this week is of Megasaurus.

CLUE #4: For your next clue, go to where big boys go potty.

 "Oh...giggle...da twoi-let!" (We had a feeling this one would get a little laughter).

CLUE #5: Go to where you sleep tight and have sweet dreams!

That led them to their bedroom and their final clue.

CLUE #6: Last Clue! Almost there! When daddy packs his lunch for work he puts it in this big green box.

 They ran (like full speed ahead!!) to the kitchen to find Erik's lunch box. Inside was the new Chuck & Friends movie...the one we've been searching for...and just couldn't find...anywhere! That Easter bunny. So smart!

Having a great Easter!

Happy Easter to you too!