Splish Splash

This morning we headed to a local splash park for the first time with friends. I had no idea there was one around us and it's a free park. What could be better! We had a really fun time and even got to play in the sand (there was a sand volleyball court). The boys got so gross and dirty in the sand that we had to go wash off in the water again before we could get in the car to go home. I think next time we'll stick to one or the other. Wet kids + sand = yucky sand everywhere!

We took a little snack break. See the ledge that the boys are sitting on? Zachary tried walking on it and fell off the back, hitting his face on the way down. It was scary but he has a busted lip and a scrape on his chin so it could've been worse.

Playing with our friend Luke.

Anybody want to buy a house?

O.K. I'm just kidding. Sort of. About a week ago we finally started construction on our new house. It's going to be great and have a huge yard and lots of trees, neither of which we have now. Chris's job moved him and he now has a terrible commute so we're building a house closer to the new job. Our builder thinks he should have us in our new place by Christmas. That's great but the sooner, the better. At least gas prices have dropped a little bit lately! The problem now is that we still don't have our current house on the market! Yeah, I know I should be cleaning and packing right now instead of blogging........ We have so much stuff that I'm running out of places to put things. Hey, I did get a highchair out of the house today - progress!

Growing up

Today I decided to graduate Zachary from his highchair to a booster seat (still strapped in of course) and he did fine and liked it. Then we talked about how everyone now has a "big boy" chair. I just need to keep both the boys from playing with the straps when I'm not looking. He's still small enough for the highchair and I really have no idea how long kids stay in them but since I already had the booster seat (and Alex won't sit in it - he sits on his knees) and we're cleaning the house up to put on the market (another post) I thought it would be nice to get the highchair out of the kitchen. Not that I'm in a hurry for my babies to grow up but they just have so much gear!

Zachary's party

O.K., so my attempt at making a birthday cake didn't work. Boy was it a flop! I couldn't even get the cake out of the pan. It did taste good though and Chris, the boys, and I all had crumbled cake bits for a morning snack. I froze the rest to do something with later. Good thing Wal-Mart is so close to us. They made us a cupcake cake and even put a plastic monkey on it with some trees. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind but oh well. Next time I'll practice ahead of time.

The party itself was lots of fun. We had 7 kids and about 10 adults at our house. We stayed mostly outside and played in a blow up pool and slip and slide. I never saw any major tears from anybody but then again we purposely planed the party for after nap time!

Here's the birthday boy himself in his monkey mask.

....and a few more of the party.

Birthday party woes

Zachary turned two on the 19th but because we were out of town we're having his party tomorrow. I'm finding out that planning a birthday party is hard work, even for a two year old. Well, let me be clearer - planning a birthday cake is hard work. I could just make a plain old cake and he'd never know but I want his first birthday with us to be fun (I know it will be) and have to try to be creative which I am not. Our party theme is monkeys. Originally I planned to make a train cake (because I have a molded pan) and put some monkeys on it. When I did a test cake yesterday I didn't like how it turned out so now I'm going to attempt to make a monkey cake, or at least the head. If I don't like it I guess I can always get a generic cake at the grocery store!

We're baaaack

Well we all made it back in one piece, barely. The boys were both pretty good on the flight there but Zachary cried off and on for the 2nd half of the flight home. Overall, the trip was good. We stayed in a hotel with two beds so Chris and I each slept with a boy. They both wet the bed - luckily not every night. I bought diapers there from a place I don't usually and they weren't that great. The wedding was beautiful and outdoors overlooking a marina. Here's a picture of me and the boys. We lit a candle at the beginning of the ceremony.The boys were very cute and also the ONLY children there. I thought they might be. There we are sitting in the front row and Chris and I think they are being loud. Chris walked his mom down the isle and as soon as he got to the front by us the boys wanted to go to him. Then when he did sit with us they wanted to play with his ribbons (he was in military uniform). They talked and wanted up and down and I felt like they were being disturbing so I took them out. See the concrete slab we're sitting on in the picture? I took a boy in each arm and stepped on it and down the other side to get away. I didn't know what else to do! Everyone later said the boys were "so good" but I didn't think so. Zachary was the hit of the reception. He was Mr. Social and danced by himself and with anybody else on the dance floor. Meanwhile Alex sat in mine or daddies lap for most of the evening. The DJ loved Zachary and even gave him a tambourine to play with at one point. We went to the beach and the boys loved playing in the sand. Not so much the water though. It was very cold and had a strong current so that even when it came only to their calves or knees it would sometimes knock them down. They didn't mind getting dirty one bit. I'd dig a hole and one of them would sit in it and we'd cover them up.
Of course no trip to California would be complete without heading to Disneyland. Alex loved seeing all the characters and would hug every one. Zachary loved seeing Winnie the Pooh but didn't want to hug on the rest of them. We had to force some closeness to get some pictures. I thought that was a little funny because Alex is usually the shy one.

I really wanted the boys to get Mickey ears. We all knew they wouldn't wear them and they didn't but I got one or two pictures before they ripped them off.We had a good day and the boys were well behaved considering they didn't get naps. As we were leaving the park the fireworks started and Alex got a little upset - he doesn't like the loud noise. He also didn't like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride - it was also dark with some loud booms. He loved driving the race cars and would still be there if we let him. I think Zachary could have ridden any ride there and been happy.

Oh and of course we had a little birthday party for our big TWO YEAR OLD ZACHARY! This was his first birthday with us. We had to borrow another suitcase just to bring home presents.

California or bust

On Thursday we will be taking our first big trip with the boys - on a plane and everything. I'm a little worried about how they will act being cooped up for three hours. I don't know if it's good or bad that it's a direct flight. I bought them each little tiny backpacks and a few new small toys for the plane. We will have lots of snacks. Hopefully that will hold them over. Our trip won't be very long, just Thursday - Monday but it will be packed. The whole reason for the trip is to visit Grandma (my mil) and attend her wedding. However; the boys will also meet their aunt and uncle (on daddy's side) for the first time, go to the beach, go to Disneyland, and have a birthday party for Zachary. I'm tired just thinking about it! Actually I think the boys will be fine as long as they get over their colds. Yup, that's right....the boys are both sick with runny noses and coughs.

Did I mention that I'm not ready for this trip? Although I've known about it for weeks I'm now stressing. This morning I had to take the dog to the groomers (I forgot our appt. last week - oops) and drop off Chris's shirts at the cleaners. I tried on the boys dress pants and of course Zachary has outgrown his (he was flooding!) so we made it to one store to look for more but the boys started melting down so that was it. The boys and I need haircuts but I'm not sure how to handle that on my own. If Chris gets home from work a little early today like I think he will then we might be able to get them done late this afternoon. I'm crossing my fingers. We will still need pants for Zachary and oh yeah, something for me to wear. Yikes! Tomorrow Zachary has a doctor appt. about 45 minutes away. Luckily my mom will meet me there if I need her and help me shop and get haircuts. I think everything will be fine in the end but I'll still be stressed until it's all done. Maybe next time I should start planning earlier?

Zachary's new baby

O.K. so I realize that this blog is becomming more of a photo album than an actual blog. Too bad! Alex and Zachary are so cute that I can't help but take pictures of them sometimes daily. You are lucky that I don't post all of them.

Yesterday Zachary got a baby doll so that he and Alex don't have to fight over Alex's. (Daddy said I should have waited until his birthday in a little over a week but I couldn't.) What I didn't think about is that the new baby comes with a cute teddy bear shapped bottle that is now being fought over. Oh well, I tried.

Zachary is hugging his baby and saying "oooohhhh".

The little daddies feeding their babies.

The roaming gnome

We spent the long July 4th weekend at my parents house (known as Mimi and PaPa to the boys). Every time we went to play outside Zachary wanted to get the garden gnome that he called "ho ho". That gnome had a busy weekend too!

I found you ho ho!

Where should we go first?

No, not in the flower pot.....

Let's take a walk in the corn field.

How about a quick dip in the pool?
Deep in conversation.

The gnome finally had to rest up in a tree to keep away from Zachary.

Little daddies

This morning Alex announced to me that his baby was hungry. (Yes, we have a baby doll for our boys but he is blue!) So after we finished our breakfast we got out a bottle that Zachary had used for only about a week after coming home and also a plastic bowl and spoon. Then Alex fed the baby his breakfast. Zachary was really upset that Alex wouldn't let him touch the baby so we found "baby" Mickey Mouse for him to feed. The boys were so cute. They haven't played with the baby much in the last few months so I put him "away" upstairs with most of the stuffed animals. A few days ago Alex wanted to bring him back downstairs with the rest of the toys and he and Zachary fight over him almost every day. Maybe we need a second baby?