Bathtime Fun

A random story to start...
Emma loves to take baths...what kid doesn't? But, she hates finding hair in the water-HATES it. Ever since Matthew was born my hair falls out in clumps (anyone else have this problem???) so there is always some stray hair in there. At least once every bath, she starts screaming that there is a spider in the bath and tries to get away from it until I come fish the hair out. One day I found her with her back up against the back of the tub and her legs up on the walls of the tub, today she was huddling in the corner clutching all of her rubber duckies and asking each one if they were okay. It is pretty funny.

Today the kids were taking a bath. Matthew has a little bath sling that he lays on, but he's gotten big enough that when he kicks he just slides down. I was tired of holding him up today so I got the brilliant idea to use the pool floatie for him to sit in. It worked great and they looked so cute in it. And best of all the "spiders" couldn't get Emma. She was so happy.

Parks, Wal Mart, and Potty Training!

Another fun and exciting week has come and gone and really I don't remember much aside from what we did this weekend.

I took the kids one day and we found a new park. It was a lot of fun and really beautiful. There is even a little beach and you can go swimming in the lagoon.

Matthew LOVES mirrors these days. They make him so happy. It's cute. He's also getting pretty good at sitting.

Friday night we had a last minute change of plans. Jon was going to take the train home, but someone had been hit by a train (it happens a lot here, usually when people try to hurry and cross the tracks when a train is coming, which is what happened) so all the trains were stopped and Jon was stranded. So, we went to pick him up and then stopped at a pizza place to eat. Emma had a blast playing the games and the pizza was SO good. We got home just in time to put kids to bed and then Jon and I played Rummikub and went to bed.

Saturday we got the house cleaned and then went to WalMart. This was a HUGE deal for me. I haven't been to Wal Mart since we left Utah 9 months ago and I have been having major withdrawals. Our closest Wal Mart is 20 miles (almost 40 minutes) and I just can't justify driving that far with the kids, especially when I'm passing at least 4 Targets along the way. So, we shop at Target. And I like Target. They have an awesome dollar section and great clearance sales. But for the most part everything is so much more expensive than it should be, and so much more expensive than Wal Mart. And Target doesn't sell certain things, like little girls dress socks. And Emma really needed new dress socks for church. So, we went to Wal Mart. And I felt like a little kid on Christmas. It was great. I could have stayed there all day.

We found these frames at Wal Mart and finally framed our diplomas from BYU. And now our big empty living room wall is no longer empty. I was so excited to get these up.

After WalMart, we stopped at a specialty toy store by our house to let Emma play. It is the coolest store. They have every kind of toy you could ever want and have them out so kids can play with them. We've gone a couple times and it is really fun. I definitely see us going there a lot this winter.

We started yesterday having Emma wear panties for a little while each day. She is so excited about it, but we are a long way off from being done. Today she had a few little accidents. Every time she did, she would look down and yell, "Oh Man! Disgusting!" and then run to the bathroom. Funny girl.

Super Saturdays and Other Randomness

Jon has officially finished his assignment on Madagascar 2 which means no more working on Saturdays! It has been SO nice to actually have a weekend again. The Saturday before last, after cleaning the house, we headed off to the beach. We decided to try a different beach and I think we have a new favorite. It was smaller and less crowded than the one we usually go to and had lots of places to explore. We love the beach, everything about it. We feel so lucky to live so close. After the beach we headed home but decided to go a different way. We wound our way through a redwood forest that we hadn't known existed. It was beautiful. It was fun to talk and enjoy the scenery while the kids slept soundly in the back of the car. It was such a good day.

Matthew all ready for the beach

Jon and Emma's sand creation

Emma loves water but is scared of the waves in the ocean. She is getting more and more brave though.

Last Saturday, was busy but fun. We started the morning by going to our county's emergency preparedness fair. We got lots of good information, some fun freebies and handouts, and I even won a $20 Target gift card in a raffle. I NEVER win anything so this was SO exciting. After the fair, we headed to Toys R Us for a Thomas the Train playdate. Emma has a major obsession with Thomas right now so we thought this would be fun. Naptime came fast though so we headed home.

Playing with Thomas

Right before we got to our exit we decided to go into San Francisco. I had seen that one of the children's museums was free that day and thought it was the Exploratorium so we went there only to find out that I was wrong. We decided to walk around the grounds and take some pictures because it is so beautiful. There are huge pillars...lots of really cool architecture. While we were there I called my dad who was kind enough to look up the directions to the children's museum in Sausalito, which really was free, and we went on our way. The Children's Museum was a lot of fun and I wish I could show pictures but we left the camera in the car and didn't realize it until we were already in. Big bummer! It was a really cool place and we all had a lot of fun. It really was another perfect Saturday.

Emma at the Exploratorium. This gives you an idea of how big the columns are.

I know this isn't the greatest picture, but I LOVE this city

We found our street

Crossing the Golden Gate

And here are a couple random things from the last couple weeks...

I found this ride on toy the other day. Someone had put it out with their garbage but it was too nice to let it go to waste so I rescued it. We brought it home, cleaned it up, and it looks brand new. The kids love it.

I love this picture! Everyone tells me Matthew looks like a little old man. I'm definitely seeing it here.

So You Think You Can Dance?

Emma does. And here is the footage to prove it. Maybe you have to be her mom to appreciate it, but she was really getting into it. It was hilarious!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Sunday was my birthday. I turned the big 25! We had a nice quiet day at home and I really enjoyed it.

Jon cooked a nice beef and broccoli dinner and set the kitchen up like a restaurant. It was really nice. Emma LOVED all the candles and talked about the fire all night.

After dinner we had my traditional birthday cheesecake

Then went on a nice walk. The weather was perfect and it was nice to get outside and spend some time together.

My cute boys

I love this picture. Our little guy is adorable!

Emma was so happy to be able to go on a walk

After our walk we got the kids in bed and Jon gave me a nice foot treatment and massage and we got to go to bed early. Thank you Jon for making the day so special and thank you to everyone who called. It really was a perfect day.

Ohio!

We got home from the reunion Saturday night and then spent most of the day Sunday with Jon's family, so Monday was our first real day home after the reunion. I spent the day doing lots of laundry and packing so we could go to the airport first thing Tuesday morning to go to Ohio. We spent Tuesday through Saturday with my sister and her family and had a blast. The week went way too fast, but I am glad we were able to go. Here are a few highlights...

Emma at the airport watching a movie. This was right after her first major meltdown. The flight was long, the layover was long...it was just a long day. But overall the kids did great-better than I expected. I was also impressed by and grateful for all the people who offered to help me getting on and off the plane, carrying kids and bags, playing with Emma. It definitely made the trip easier.

Matthew trying out the bumbo seat. I might just have to get one of these now.

Thursday (I think, the days all blend together) we went to the Cleveland Children's Museum. It was so fun. We spent several hours there and wore the kids out.

I thought this was a cute picture of Spencer and Emma

Spencer and Matthew hanging out

The girls and Kaden playing in the water

Kaden had fun pulling Emma in the wagon

And all the kids had a blast playing in the water. They spent several hours out there.

During the week we also went to the park, did a little shopping, went to some garage sales and got some awesome deals, and went to the market to get some fresh and dried fruit. The dried strawberries are SO good and we had to get some to bring home.

It was so fun to visit and to see the kids play together. Thank you guys for letting us come!

I don't have many pictures and I can't get the cd of Rachel's pictures to work right now, but if you want to see more pictures from the week, you can see them here.

Catching up on the Last Couple of Weeks- Part 1

The week before last we had a family reunion with Jon's immediate family...the very first one. We went to a beach house in Monterey and it was SO much fun. I'm trying to get caught up on everything from the last couple weeks so I will try to keep this short. Here is a little bit of what we did-

Visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Jon and I took Emma, Jenny, and Melinda. It is huge and there is a lot to do and see. We had a blast!

Spent lots of time at the beach.
Did the blanket toss.

Played lots of pool

Took family pictures....I can't wait to see how they turned out!

Had a yummy dinner at Bubba Gumps

Played at Dennis the Menace Park

Rode the paddle boats (well, everyone except me and Matthew)

Enjoyed nature...check out this spider web!!!

And the sunsets were gorgeous

And last but not least, we had a talent show. It was a really fun night.

It was such a fun, relaxing week. I can't wait for the next one!