Harvard Bound

My daughter's a genius.  Here's proof.

The Happiest Place on Earth...

Disneyland... in pictures

Jacob and Braydon on the new "Toy Story Mania" ride.  This ride was definitely the new favorite for my kids.

Bethany stopping for a snack.  It was 100 degrees this day!

Grandma Arnold and Bethany on the tram.  She was so excited for her first trip to Disneyland!

Jacob on the tram.

Kyle, Braydon and Jacob posing with Lightning McQueen.

Kyle wore these pirate ears the entire day (the second day there).

McKenzie, Jacob, Tylar & Kyle getting ready for Toy Story Mania.

Bethany loves Disneyland!

Jacob was being a stinker and has his head down in every picture.  Arrgh.

Beach Bums

We had the most gorgeous day for the beach last week in CA.  We went to Corona Del Mar. Since it was a Monday, it wasn't too busy.  It was Bethany's first time and she LOVED it.  Once again, I'm taking all the picture and didn't make it in any of them- typical!

Concern for Santa

Today, Jacob heard a Weight Watchers commercial on the radio.  He said "Mom, why is weight so important?"  I said, "If you have a lot of extra weight on your body, it's really unhealthy and it makes it harder to do things."  He thought for a moment, then said "Well, what about Santa?"  Hmm.  How to respond?  I told him maybe we should leave Santa something healthy this year. He's planning to leave veggies and just one cookie (yipee- my son has learned moderation!)

Hallelujah!

Today I decided that Jacob is old enough to help me clean the bathrooms. I gave him enough antibacterial wipes to clean the sinks in each of our 4 bathrooms. He did an AMAZING job. He really took his time and was really proud of the work he did. Tonight, before he brushed his teeth, he said to Jermie, "Dad, I'm going to be really careful with the toothpaste tonight because I JUST cleaned this sink." Wonderful!

Wagon

On Saturday of our CA trip, we went to the swap meet in Orange County.  We decided this time to rent a wagon.  SO worth it!  The boys sat in there almost the whole time.  We stuck Bethany in for a few minutes, but Jacob decided to jump out and look at something and just left her sitting.  Of course, she pulled herself up on the edge of the wagon and almost fell out.  I ran (with incredible speed) to rescue my child.  (This all went down just moments after I shot this picture)

Irvine Park

On the second day of our CA trip, we decided to go to Irvine Regional Park.  Jermie's parents used to take him there when he was a kid.  It was so much fun.

First, we went for a train ride around the park.

Then Bethany and Jacob went on pony rides (Kyle didn't want to)

Then Jacob went fishing in the pond.  Grandpa Arnold was very resourceful in making him a fishing pole out of a stick and string.  Too bad he didn't catch any fish!  We also fed the ducks in the pond, but they weren't too interested (they're probably way overfed).

We had a great time.  We'll have to go back because they also have paddle boats and a small zoo but we were there too late in the day to do either.

Hot Air Balloon

We've done so many blog-worthy activities on this trip to California that it's hard to know where to begin. I'll start with our hot air balloon ride, then add more later. There's a place in Orange County where you can ride in a giant orange hot air balloon for FREE. The balloon is tethered to the ground so it's not too scary. Kyle & Jacob were both a little nervous to get on, but they both ended up liking it.

These are the picnic tables we had our lunch on.


Bethany loved it!



Jacob refused to look out- He would only look down the middle. Silly boy!

Check this out

This video will teach you not to judge a book by its cover!

Click Here (sorry, I couldn't get the video to imbed on my blog)

Our Exotic Vacation to...

LEHI, UTAH

Our original plan was to go camping (after a rainy night last night, I'm really glad we didn't camp), but none of the campgrounds close by were open yet.  Instead, we stayed in the Spring Hill Suites right by Thanksgiving Point with our good friends the Pedersens.  

First, we (and about half the people in Utah County) went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point.  Bethany LOVED the pony ride and giggled the whole time.

We went to the hotel and went swimming.  The kids had a great time playing in the water and getting in the hot tub.

After swimming and dinner, we roasted marshmallows on the hotel's fire pit and made S'mores.  Jermie's patience paid off when he roasted the PERFECT marshmallow for me.  Thanks honey!

Finally, the kids settled down and watched movies, while the grown ups played games.  We all crashed until morning when we had a great breakfast at the hotel and went swimming again.  It was a really fun vacation!

Lofty Aspirations

Conversation with Kyle

Mom: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Kyle: BATMAN

Mom:  Well, what kind of job do you want to have?  A doctor?  A firefighter?

Kyle:  Umm, I think I'll be... a Kangaroo

Mom: Great- What do you have to do to be a Kangaroo?

Kyle: Well, I already know how to hop!

Mom: Excellent.

Preschool Easter Party

I was in charge of Kyle's neighborhood preschool Easter party this year, so I made the kiddies into cute little bunnies.  We also played "Bunny Tag" (pretty much the same as "Freeze Tag" except you can only hop), had an Easter Egg Hunt and ate Easter Egg Brownies.  

Jacob was a big help in hiding the Easter eggs, but there are still 2 missing and he has no idea where they are.  Maybe we'll find them by next year.

Bring a Mint to Our Easter Egg Hunt

A couple days ago, I was trying to figure out how many plastic Easter eggs we had, so I pulled them all out and had Kyle help me match them up and count them.  After we finished, he wanted to know what we could put inside.  I told him that we didn't have any candy yet, but we would get some before our Easter Egg hunt.  He suggested we put peanuts in- Uhh, no.  Then, he suggested croutons.  No, again.  While I was up taking a shower, he took it upon himself to fill about 8 eggs with croutons.  He was so angry when I took them out.  I had to wash the eggs because they smelled like garlic.  Hopefully we didn't miss any! 

Love Note

(Jacob wrote this note to a girl in his Kindergarten class)

Dear Emily,

I like you

Love, 

Jacob