Naked

Recently Jace likes to strip down to nothing and run around. Levi thinks it's part of a superhero game.

Levi: "I am Pajama Boy and you are my sidekick Naked Boy" (picture not included for obvious reasons)

Opening Day

Yesterday was opening day at the local amusement park, Lagoon. Originally we were going to go to Disneyland this May but the thought of 10 hours in a car each way with Jace deterred us. Instead we decided to do a "Stay-cation" (later this spring) which includes season passes to Lagoon. After a day at Lagoon, we made the right decision. Boy are we glad!!! The day started off great! Our first ride was the bumper cars, the boys loved them. Then we headed over to the Dragonfly...and that pretty much was Jace's last ride... They had to stop the ride so that he could get off. Can you see the look of terror? Then we tried the little cars, no go... The day continued on about like that. Levi on the other hand went on about 20 rides, big and little and LOVED it.

The weather was perfect, overcast but warm enough for short sleeves and jeans. That is until you go on the slide that you sit in a raft and go down a tube with water. Rick and Levi fared okay but Jace and I had a wave go over us and were both soaked. Brrrrr. Jace at least had a dry jacket so we stripped off his wet shirt at least. Luckily shortly after he fell asleep and I was able to bundle him up with Levi's jacket. Myself, I think I get mommy points for tuff-ing it out until we decided to go home 4 hours later. It took a 20 min HOT shower to not be chilled. Overall we had a great time and look forward to going again, hopefully Jace will warm up to the rides and get more brave. Pretty glad we didn't find out that Jace doesn't like the rides after spending the $$$ to go to Disneyland.

Spring

We've had some terrific weather the past few days, so we pulled out the sidewalk chalk and let the boys play for awhile. It was so nice to sit outside and enjoy the warmth.

A Much Needed Break

Rick and I decided to celebrate our anniversary a little early this year. We are anticipating big changes in the next 3-6 months or so and decided now was the time to spend some good ole one-on-one time with each other.

Saturday Feb 26th we flew to Los Angeles and boarded the Norwegian Star on a 7-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera. My brother & sister-in-law were brave enough to take our 2 little guys for us. It was nice knowing that they were being well taken care of and in good hands. Not to mention Levi would spend every waking moment if he could with his cousin Evie. The itinerary was to leave L.A., a day at sea, then a day in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerta Vallerta. Due to violence in the region and a unexpected medical emergency for another passenger, we ended up with a lot of days at sea and 1 day in Cabo and 1 in Puerta Vallerta.

We saw a lot of beautiful sunsets at sea, unfortunately didn't see any sunrises as we slept in every chance we got.

In Cabo San Lucas we went snorkeling at Santa Maria Bay (haven't taken the waterproof camera to get developed yet).

After snorkeling we had a few hours to grab some lunch at the Gigglin' Marlin, shop for a few souvenirs and hold an Iguana.

Next we were off to Puerta Vallerta, we got in early and took a taxi to town and walked around on the beach for a few minutes before we boarded a bus for our zip line adventure.

We had such a fun time. There was a total of 14 zip lines that spanned approximately 2 miles of the tropical forests there.

It was crazy fun speeding along the zip line over ravines. Some of the rides were tandem with one of the guides in which they spun us around and had us hang upside down.

A little dangerous but totally worth the ride. We had lunch, super yummy fajitas and guacamole, salsa and chips.

It would have been nice to do a little swimming in the river but we didn't think that we shad enough time. Then headed back to the ship.

While on the ship we enjoyed shows every night, ate way too much food and just relaxed. Most of the time it was really nice weather. I laid out on the pool deck and got a little sun while reading a book. We took naps every day (a rarity at home) and just enjoyed spending time with one another. When we landed back in L.A. Rick's sister and brother-in-law Chris and Jurgen came to pick us up and we were able to spend a few hours visiting them and seeing their new home before heading to the airport. We got home yesterday night and it was really good to see the boys again, we missed them a lot, even though we did need the break. They had SO much fun at their cousins but were excited to see us also. Jace wanted us to hold him the first 10 minutes and just kept stroking Rick's shoulder and saying "Daddy". Levi had just woken up from his nap and was a little groggy but said "do we get to go home now?"

A much needed break but good to get home.

My favorite picture of the trip...

From the mouth of Levi

The other day Levi came up and asked me if my belly was big. I replied "no, does it look big?" He simply said "yes" and walked away. Ouch, I know I've got a few pounds to lose but really???
The next day he came up and said, "Mom, Erin's belly is big because she has a baby in there, right?" Me "Yep", Levi "Mom, maybe we can get a baby and then go to the doctor and he can cut open your belly and put the baby in so your belly will be big too" Me "buddy, it doesn't quite work that way"
He put a lot of thought into that though. Can you tell there are 17 women in are ward that are pregnant? Some thing in the water...

"RC"

Levi has been going through a stage (I hope it's only a stage) where he has major tantrums. He'll run up the stairs, slam the door and stay in his room over the smallest things. We've tried many different methods and hopefully we've landed on one that works. We have a chart for each boy numbered 1-10. Each day that there are no major meltdowns and that he behaves, he gets a sticker. When he gets to the end, he gets a prize.
Well today was the day. He got the 10th sticker today (it only took about 3 weeks, and over 1/2 the stickers have been in the past week, he has finally caught the concept)!!! He was pretty excited. His first prize was a transformer "RC" which is a motorcycle one that he's been wanting.
He was so excited when that was what I gave him. He said "Mom, this is the very best present that I've ever got!" I asked "better than Optimus Prime, or spiderman?" Levi "oh yeah, it's the best, I'm going to sleep with it tonight."
He's up in bed asleep now, "RC" is resting on his tummy.

Barking Spider

In our home there are 3 boys and 1 girl. Needless to say crude humor is a given. Last week our home teachers were over and Jace was snuggling on my lap after his nap. David (who's 14) was sharing a scripture when Jace ripped the biggest, longest toot ever. His eyes got big and he looked around and said "Barking spider?". It was all we could do not to bust up laughing. I have to give David credit, although he had to suppress a giggle, he kept on going and share his lesson that he prepared.