Happy Birthday to Me...

I had a great birthday. One of the best in a while...

Here is what we did:

We started the day by heading to Disneyland.



It is free on your birthday and all kids under 3 are free, so it didn't cost us a thing! Unfortunately, Cory wasn't able to join us b/c he had to work, but I met my friend Nicki there (who also has twins...they are 3 mo younger than the boys). Her Mom also came with us, so we had three adults and 5 kids....pretty good odds! Much better than 3 to 1! Plus, Nicki has an annual pass and goes often so we were able to hit just the right rides and just the right time.

There was a rain in the forecast so I was a little nervous about that, but it ended up just being a really nice cool day. In fact, the whole day went better than I could have hoped for. No major meltdowns...just a few minor ones! Micah would freak out every time we were about to get on a ride, but once on it he was fine. They never got crazy excited about anything, they pretty much just had this face the entire time:



Complete and utter amazement and awe.

This was by far the favorite ride:



Noah screamed in terror the entire time and as you can tell from the picture he jumped up and out as soon as it was over. But since then, anytime I mention the Mickey park, he talks about how he was spinning "big high" with a big old grin on his face.

It was really fun to just spend the whole day with them and watch their reactions to the magical kingdom. (-: I think they are still a bit young for me to invest in a yearly pass, especially since there are so many great things right here in San Diego, but it was worth the free trip and I'm sure we'll get a pass in a couple years.

The rest of the day's pictures:
Sitting at Nicki's house before we left:


What cute kids:!

On our way in:


More reactions to the rides:


On our way to Mickey's House:


In the House: (I was trying to feed Samantha, and poor Nicki was going crazy tending to all four 2 yr olds)


The boys were so excited to see Mickey until we actually got there. They freaked out as soon as I picked them up and headed toward Mickey. Noah calmed down a bit, but poor Micah has the breastfeeding cover in his face, so he was going crazy...


Micah loved this little tube. He would crawl through it, and jump up and go "ta-da" with his arms. I took this picture just a bit too early.


Noah decided to take a little break:


All done...they were sure wiped out!



When I got home I had a wonderful Happy Birthday email waiting from my husband that made me cry. He wasn't able to be home all day b/c of work/school, but he still made sure to make it a nice day for me.

I also got lots of phone calls and cards. Thanks everyone!

I got this great new dinnerware set from my mom


and this fun dinosaur muffin tin from Cory's mom.



And it didn't end there. I was out shopping with the boys Wednesday afternoon when Cory calls...."When are you going to be home?" he asks. Soon, I say. "By 5:45?" he says....

He had gotten a babysitter and arranged for us to be able to go to Red Lobster for dinner. It was SO SO wonderful to be able to spend 1 1/2 hours with my husband without any interruptions. Thanks so much Cory!

Oh, and he also got me a cheesecake instead of a regular birthday cake (I don't like cake). I sure am lucky!

Thanks everyone for such a great day!

Another Tradition

(1). I eat WAY TOO MUCH sugar, so I am setting a goal to only eat it once a week from now on.
(2). We don't get to spend much time with Daddy lately
(3). The boys have started to show interest in helping me cook, which I LOVE, since I really enjoy it (at least I do when I don't have three kids hanging on me begging for attention).

=

A new family tradition!!!! We are going to make some sort of special, yummy, easy to make (so the boys can help) dessert every Sunday as a family. We started with Rice Krispie Treats today. I really thought the boys would just love the sticky mess, but it actually took quite a bit of convincing to even get them to touch it, much less eat it. They did warm up eventually though, and it was a bunch of fun.

Traditions...

My mom sent me a wonderful book on motherhood for mother's day this year. I've read it twice already. I'm trying to implement some of the things taught. One is to create traditions in your family other than just holidays.

So, we've decided to have a monthly family date night. The kids will get to stay up late once a night with Mom and Dad and do something fun. For now, it will be a movie night. So, this last Wednesday (the only day Cory is available before 10 or 9 at night), we started the tradition. Cory is actually the one who remembered it. I had forgotten all about it. So, Cory got the boys together after dinner and built them a fort:



Then we added blankets and popcorn:



Then we all got in and enjoyed Aladin (well about half of it). The boys loved it. It was awesome.



The only thing is, we don't have any other movies except Baby Einstein, and I don't want to watch Aladin EVERY month....so maybe we'll have to invest in a few more Disney movies b/c this tradition is here to stay.

Our 4th

Yesterday was a fun day. We had a great time all day. We started by taking the boys to the pool a little before lunch time. Last year, they really liked the pool, but this was our first trip to the pool this year, so we weren't sure how they would react.


So each of us grabbed a boy and took them right in. They both just started saying "All done." again and again. They did not like it at all. Granted, it was a bit cold, but still...So, I just took them both out and went and sat on the towel. Cory was still swimming. Noah was very interested to see what Daddy was doing, but Micah was still scared. Anytime Cory went underwater, he just started screaming "DADEEE!!! NO!!!" He was so concerned about Cory. Even when we stood right by the pool and he could see him under the water, he would still lose it.

Noah eventually warmed up to sitting on the edge of the pool between mine/Cory's legs splashing with his feet in the water, but Micah never did.



After the pool, we came back home and had a BBQ for lunch and put the boys down for a late nap. We also had some fun 4th of July cupcakes.



They slept until a little after 4:00 which was nice. Cory went to work at 4:00. I took the boys grocery shopping and we had dinner. Then we got all packed up and ready to go see the fireworks. I really wasn't looking forward to it since Cory was working and the boys were going to be up past their bedtime. Two grumpy boys with one very pregnant Mamma in a busy, public, unfamiliar setting = a stressful situation. We got lucky though. The boys were in a great mood and Cory got off work early. He got home just as we were leaving.

We watched the fireworks from a parking lot about a mile away, but were just too far for them to be anything real spectacular. It was so worth it though b/c the boys had a great time. They loved being up after their bedtime, playing with other kids, throwing the ball around and just hanging out. They couldn't stop giggling and laughing. It was so gratifying to see them so happy.

Beach Bums

We have been spending quite a bit of time at the beach lately. We are SO LUCKY to have it so close (2 miles or so). Our ward playgroup is meeting there once a week during the summer and Cory loves taking the boys there as well. So here are some pictures from our last couple of trips.

Ward Playgroup:



Micah has loved the water for a long time. Whenever we go, he wants to run down and put his feet in. He doesn't even seem to mind/notice how cold it is. He poor little feet will turn bright red and I eventually have to drag him back up to the blanket kicking and screaming b/c I am so afraid he is going to freeze to death. That is exactly what happened last week...I took him down and held his hand each time a wave came in to make sure he didn't fall. I was down there with a friend and started talking...no waves had come to where we were for a while. I was still standing right next to him, but no longer had his hand. A big (well, big for Micah...above his waist) wave came in and knocked him right over. I immediately picked him up, but he just signed "more, more." I, however, was sure he was going to get hypothermia, so I took him back up to the blanket. Unfortunately, I had forgotten towels, so we borrowed one, and got him as dried off as I could. He then continued to play around in the sand for the next hour. His shorts dried fine, but his shirt didn't (it was a regular shirt, not a rash guard), so he ended up pretty dirty.



The really sad part is that we have been back to the beach three times since then and he won't go anywhere near the water anymore. It really makes me sad. I feel so guilty. I keep trying, but anytime we get close (even with me carrying him), he just signs/says "all done, all done" over and over again while he wimpers....so sad!

I few days after that incident, we went to the beach with Daddy. The boys had a lot of fun trying to bury his legs. Now they just think that is what you do at the beach...they try to bury my legs, each others legs, their friends...

Bates Nut Farm

There is a fun little farm out here...well about 30 min away. It is called Bates Nut Farm. During the Holiday season you can pick pumpkins, go on hay rides etc. During the off season, you can just go see all the animals for free. They are all caged, but it is still really fun. Micah is crazy about animals, so he had a great time. Noah looked for a while, but then jsut wanted to play with the ball and cars our friends had brought. Micah kept putting his hand through the fence. I was so afraid he was going to get a finger bit off by some chicken, duck or turkey. It was a fun trip. Micah has asked every day to go back in the car to see the animals...I'm not sure if he means the zoo or the farm...maybe both, but he asks multiple times a day "car...animals?" It's cute.

Another Zoo Trip

The Del Mar San Diego County Fair is going on right now, and they had a $2 Tuesday last week. Tuesdays are my busiest days with the business b/c I have to get three ads entered and posted in one day and I have YW at night. So, I got up early and worked super hard so that we could take the boys to the fair for $4 total. I should have known that everyone else in the entire county would have the same idea. The free parking lot was about 3 miles from the fair and it would have taken us 1-2 hours on the shuttle just to get to fair.

So, once realizing that, we decided to just go to the zoo instead. The boys are obsessed with animals lately, so we figured they would have a good time. In addition, the zoo just opened a new HUGE elephant exibit. We thought we would go check it out. It was by far our best trip to the zoo ever. The boys loved all the animals. They were in good moods the whole time. They were happy in or out of their stroller. We had a fun little family dinner. It was awesome. The only thing that was tough was that I realized that I am 8 months pregnant. I was EXHAUSTED! The zoo is huge and involves a LOT of walking. Lifting the boys in and out of the stroller was very tiring after a while. I was SO GLAD I had Cory there with me. I had been planning to take the boys to Sea World one last time before my pass ran out, but I don't think that is going to happen b/c Cory's pass already ran out and there is no way I could do that by myself!

I think this was at the giraffes:



A Snack Break. This is what happens when you ask the boys to show their happy faces:



Dinner:


Elephant Odyssey: