Huntington Beach

After our 4 day adventure in Disneyland, we stopped by the beach on our last day. Neither of the boys had been to the beach before, so this was a great treat. The weather was great 80ish with the cool ocean breeze. The water was cold, but we had to get our feet wet and regardless both boys were soaked by the time we left. We had awesome clear blue skies when we got there, and after a couple hours the fog rolled in so we were able to see two very different versions of the beach. The boys had a great time building sandcastles and digging in the sand. Carter and Daddy did an great job finding sand dollars! This was an awesome end to our vacation! I can't wait to go back!

Disneyland

This year we were able to spend Halloween in Disneyland! We had such a wonderful time. We spent 3 1/2 days between Disneyland and California Adventures and still we didn't do everything. Neither Scott nor I had been since we were children, and it was so fun to see all of it with our 2 little men. Carter is a crazy daredevil that nothing scares. There was only the big rollercoaster at C.A. that he couldn't ride beacuse he was 1 inch too short. We measured on our first night there and by day 3 he thought we should go back and check because maybe he had grown. Jake was quite a bit more cautious! I thought he would love the caracters, but he was very shy and only smiled and talked to Pocahontas and Princess Jasmine. It was at our character breakfast that he said to me "Why doesn't Goofy talk out his mouth?". So that was the problem, because those characters can't talk they scared him, but because the princesses could talk to him he warmed up to them quicker, and they were very pretty!! One special treat we had was an early entry to Toon Town where we were the first to arrive that day and we were chosen as the "Honorary Family". Basically, we stood on stage with special banners as everyone there is made "Honorary citizens of Toon Town", but it sounds cool! This is what you see in the first picture. A couple other pictures I wanted to point out were the two of the boys in the dark. These were taken on the monarail at nearly 1030pm on halloween. We had been waiting for the perfect time to get on and had been pushed back until this late. Because of my research before going to Disneyland I found out that if you ask you may ride in the very front with the "driver", so this is what we did. Jake called this the "Mamarail" and pointed it out EVERY time it went by. This was his favorite and long awaited ride! I love his huge grin quickly followed by his huge yawn! Scott puts it best, "Jake's favorite part of Disneyland was the transportation." He loved the train and the monorail the most! I realized that I didn't get any pictures of Carter with his favorite's, but probably because you can't take pictures on those rides, you have to HOLD ON! The picture with Jake standing next to someone with a Donald Duck jacket on is significant because Scott thought that Jake often looks like this portrayal of Donald. He purposely stood next to this person and Jake, with no cues needed, did his thing! I loved watching Scott race around with Carter so they could go on the rides multiple times when the lines were short. We trick-or-treated with the characters, watched fun shows, ate yummy junk food, saw our Disney friends, rode lots of fun rides and all had a wonderful time. I wouldn't have changed a thing!

Carter's 6

Yes, it's true, our little guy is 6. We had just a small impromptu party with some of our zoo friends. The reason being that Mommy had decided that we could probably do without a party this year because of our big Disneyland trip, but so ensued the guilt trip and the 6 year old worries of what would he tell all of his friends when they came to bring him presents, if he wasn't going to have a party? So last minute calls were made and our previously scheduled zoo date became "Carter's Birthday Party".






His actual birthday was a big day. The kids did a program at church and he had his very first speaking part. He did a fantastic job! He sang very loud :) and totally heartfelt! Grandma Carryn was here with us, so she was there to see it also, she totally cried! We are so proud of him! After church we went to the restaurant of Carter's choosing "His favorite restaurant--you know, the one with the grapes!" (Olive Garden) He proceeded to immediately tell the waiter "It's my birthday today! I'm 6!" So we got the Olive Garden birthday song and a tasty little cake! We then went home for presents. Carter was very good at rattling off a list of things he wanted- note nearly every commercial for a kids item or toy! He seems to have made out pretty well. P.S. For all you skeptics out there... the tragety came from the boomerang not the skateboard! On the bright side, he did get to play with it for about 30 minutes before it landed on old neighbor guys roof, and he can still see it every day! :)

Jake's First Day

Today we reached a huge milestone, Jake had his first day of Preschool. Mommy had lots of anxiety leading up to this point, but overall we had a great day! Our experience with Jake going to preschool differs from Carter I feel because Jake is the youngest in the class, where as Carter was among the oldest of his class. Perhaps it is because he is my baby, but he just seems so little! Jake has always been a little more cautious and seems to need/want mommy around more. Jakie woke up so excited to go to "his school" vs. his "brover's school". He had a smile from ear to ear from the moment he woke up. While walking into his classroom he had the most giddy little grin I have seen on him, he was so excited. Although, as soon as the teacher said "Hello" he buried his head in mommy's pants. He led me around the classroom with a death grip on my hand. I started to explain that the mommies and daddies had to leave and tried to remind him of how we leave Carter at school and then come back and pick him up. He sure was not a big fan of us leaving! Eventually the teacher came to us and said we didn't need to stay for her benefit. She would deal with him. I then peeled his little fingers away from mine and gave him kisses and left him laying on the floor crying hysterically. Yes, I am that mom! It did feel HORRIBLE! But, I know it needs to be done, and knew he would have a great time. I pretty much counted the minutes until we could go pick him up, and as predicted he had a wonderful time. Mrs. Hinton said he only cried for a little bit then he was done and jumped right in to play with the others. Jake's job for the week is to be the "line leader" and he did a great job today. He came out of class with just as big of a grin as he went in with, and told us he had lots of fun at school today and is excited to go back tomarrow, but "mommy will stay with me." I'm sure we will probably have more tears, but hopefully not as many.

The first week

What an eventful first week of Kindergarten we had. Tuesday afternoon Carter got in the car and said "I lost my lunchbox!" Seriously??????? It is only the second day! Wednesday, we picked up Karina for our carpool day and Carter says "My family was rushed today! Do you know what it means to be rushed Karina?" "Well, it means that there is a lot of arguing?" I didn't feel the need to correct him, he basically had it right. Oh, MIA lunchbox did return Wed afternoon, although apparently school lunch is cooler than mom's packed lunch. Thursday the boys went to the babysitter's house early and when Nicole arrived to take Carter to school everyone had fallen back to sleep. Another "rushed" morning! Nicole said she dropped off a grumpy sleep-walking Carter to school that morning. Today Carter got came home with his first, and hopefully last, "yellow card". Everyday each child is given a green card to start off the day. If they remain on their best behavior and follow the rules they bring the green card home to show that thet had a great day! If a rule is broken and after one warning, the green card is taken away and they have a yellow card. If the behavior continues or more rules are broken they get a red card and possibly a visit to the principal's office. Apparently Carter had a problem keeping his hands to himself today. Daddy sent Carter to his room for some quiet time after school today, then they had a little talk. Carter emerged from his room teary eyed and told me that he was sorry he got a yellow card today. I just held him while he was crying then asked if he understood why he got the yellow card and what he had done wrong. He responded "I'm crying cause daddy said I can't play video games or watch tv, not because I got a yellow card!" Needless to say, we had a little more talking to do!

Kindergarten

Today Carter started Kindergarten. So hard to believe we have come this far. Our day started bright and early. I set an alarm clock last night for Carter to get up at 6:45am. Unbelieveably, as soon as the alarm went off Carter jumped out of bed ready to go. This from the kid that takes me at least 10 minutes to wake up, I should have thought of this alarm clock thing sooner. This mornings breakfast of choice from Mr. Kindergarten was pancakes, which he ate all of. We got dressed, packed his backpack and his lunch and off we went. We met at the crowded playground with all the other kindergarten families then the bell rang and the teachers called for their students and off they went, no fear what so ever. We were able to meet Carter's teacher last Friday and see their cute little classroom and he was able to familiarize himself with the room and some of the other students, so today seemed to be no big deal at all! Mommy even did well! Although 8 hours is a long time and many times throughout the day I kept thinking "I wonder what Carter is doing right now" Kinda crazy to let go of that control, to someone you have barely even spoken to. Mrs. Guida (teacher) says he had a great day and did an excellent job reading!

Jake's 2nd Year

It sure is difficult to narrow down a year into just a couple pictures, but I thought these did a pretty good job of summing it up.
Jake at the Dinosaur museum in Utah. He was more interested in keeping the sand out from in between his toes than looking for dinosaur fossils.

Just being cute!

Tantrum!

Tantrum!
Checkin' out Mickey on his cute little hiney!!