Beach Trip

We beat the wind for two days by heading to the beach. This time we were only half way experimental--we went to Venice Beach but stayed near the Marina to try out their lagoon area. This is our first trip to somewhere beachy this year. Trevor seemed to thoroughly love it. Ryan thought it was mostly okay... for a little bit and then preferred the playground or blanket.


Let the digging begin!






Trev chasing the birds


Picture of happy John with a fish and a shrimp taco--especially for his mother

After lunch we headed over to the hotel for a pretty solid nap. Trev was pretty sure he didn't nap because he doesn't do that anymore. But he 'rested' for quite a while. We checked out the lagoon across the street and then headed down to the Santa Monica Pier.


Ryan liked making castles and 'happy octopus' from the molds we had


Trev was working bringing water back to his canals and giving us updates about the tide



Trev wanted a picture with the big cannon we passed. Neither one of the boys seemed to find it worth mentioning the guy sleeping on the ground next to it (strategically not pictured).

























Ryan really wanted to ride the "choo choo train" (aka the roller coaster) and each time it passed above would point and say "Choo choo!" Unfortunately he only got to go on the gondola wheel.


I'm not sure when you have to actually start putting quarters in for entertainment... works for us though

It's quite a walk from the Pier back to the promenade area. Ryan was pretty motivated though because I told him we were going to go see dinosaurs. Then when we got to the dinosaur fountains. He stopped and looked and said "no mommy. These not dinosaurs. This water." A little less than impressed I guess. Luckily there were still escalators to go on next.























Ryan discovered the day before that our beach mat had little handles he could hold and a pocket he could fit his legs into. So this became his horsie. The second day he discovered he could turn a bucket into a hat. Lots of yee haws! at the beach.



Trev was very excited to get to play in the water and sand again. He wants to surf now. Or at least do the laying on the board and paddling part. We told him he should probably learn to swim first.

Trev's Birthday

Trev excitedly turned 5 this year. He's been waiting to do this for months now. We had a birthday at home with just us on the actual day and then had a superhero party for him that weekend. It was super fun for us this year. He's old enough to care about themes, invite more of his friends from school, and get excited about planned activities (which is exciting for his mommy).




Octopus carrot cake for actual birthday


Trev hanging out on the back porch awaiting his guests


Happy Birthday to Yoooouuuuuu


Nana nana nana nana Batman Cake!


Mmm... cake...



It was way past nap time after everyone left. We thought we'd just let Ry stay up... but he just partied too hard.

April!

It's been a while... So the most recent events are Easter, grandparents visiting, and John and I getting to go off to New York.

My parents offered to watch the boys for the week of my spring break so John and I could go on a vacation without strollers, diaper bags, pillow pets... We ended up deciding to go to New York. It was super fun--we walked around a lot, saw some shows, ate a lot, walked around more, ate more, rode a lot of subways, stayed up past ten, slept in, ate more, walked more.


Self Portrait on Brooklyn Bridge


Spiderman playing the saxophone in the subway

While we were gone my parents were adventurous and took the boys down to Disneyland. Sounds like they had a great time. I'm still impressed--we have not been brave enough to attempt this without a 2:1 adult kid ratio.


The matching shirts--Trevor explained that they could find him better with all the people if they had the same shirts. I think it was just to look cute.

The boys dancing around Downtown Disney:



We got back together just in time for Easter. The boys decorated eggs the weekend before. It was a pretty quick operation. Luckily Ryan had no interest in using the little wire stick and they didn't have to share. I was worried when I opened the box and think they really should include a few. Anyway, Ryan preferred to stick his whole hand in and multiple dips.



We went to the Easter egg hunt--more of a scramble than a hunt. They have the kids in age divisions and for each group thrown a bunch of plastic eggs out in to an open grass area. Ryan was in the 1-2 year olds. He very much understood that he needed to collect the eggs this year and already knew there was good stuff inside of them. But after picking up maybe five or six eggs stopped to plop down in the field and started trying to pry the suckers open.



Trevor was in the 3-4 year olds and was a lot more focused on collecting. He got a good sized pile.




Ryan was still suspicious of the Easter bunny


And the Bunny Cake

Red Rocks Trip

We had a really nice day hiking out at Red Rocks Canyon last weekend. The boys both did really well. Trev's main struggle was having to wear shoes that aren't his new cowboy boots. Ryan's only complaint was when he had to be packed for a while when we were walking on an area with a drop off. So it was a very happy family adventure day.


Trev remembered and found his 'chair rock again'

Click to see Trev in chair rock April last year



Looking to the future


And then he turned into a bird


Lunch stop


Ryan loved climbing on the rocks. Coming out of the canyon he kept trying to veer off the sides to climb up the hills. So for a while, every ten feet or so he'd stop, turn and point up the steep incline and say "this way?"


Awww... they're so cute when they hold hands


The boys observing fluid dynamics


Ryan was pretty excited here-- he kept popping up from behind the bushes to roar or say boo! Then giggle hysterically and do it again.


Crawling in the cave

























I didn't quite think of taking a video soon enough-- so this is just the end of Ryan's roar fest. I thought the background and subject matter gave it a very B-movie feeling

Happy Birthday to John

John turned 33 this weekend--so Trev suggested we have a surprise party. He seemed to have it all down--I was instructed that we will decorate and buy him presents and then turn off the lights and hide before daddy gets home. Then when he opens the door he will say "Huh. That's weird. I wonder where everyone is. Hmm. Usually they are home right now. How weird. Oh look--there's decorations. I wonder what they are for" and then we will say "surprise!". He definitely had ideas. And a script all ready. So we went with it.


Trevor melting chocolate for the cake


Ryan monitoring the cake


"I set table"

Ryan started to set the table in hopes of getting this whole cake business started. So we went to the park to minimize Ryan's torture of having to be in the same vicinity as the cake.


Yep. He's just that cool.


Opening presents. One of them was a small box of legos... very hard to keep a secret. "Daddy! We got you a present and it's a secret. Can I tell you that it's legos though?"


Finally cake time

Hiking and Laundry Baskets

The weather has taken a turn for the better lately. And it's about time... Trevor was complaining a week or so ago about having to wear a coat every day (because it's been over a month now...). We made it out to the hills behind the college for a little hiking and lunch last weekend. The boys did really well. Trev as usual likes the going up part and climbing on all the rockpiles. Ryan wasn't as sure about the backpack thing, but also didn't really want to walk the entire way up. So he managed to be packed. He really liked the rock piles too this time. And he made it the entire way down though on his own little two legs.


Getting ready to go


Trev liked to lead the way


Those pack straps really work!





Trev loves to climb the rocks


Lunch time





Father son resemblance


Ryan took to climbing





And as for the laundry baskets... still one of the most fun toys in the house: