San Diego

When my wonderful parents heard about the construction we are doing on our house that included blasting holes in the wall and a lot of dust (more about that to come later), they suggested I come to San Diego for awhile to let Mark and his helpers get the big stuff done without the kids around.  I was so excited and so grateful for their generosity.  There is no way we could have lived here while that work was being done.  

So in the morning on May 11th I flew with my little boys to San Diego to stay with my parents for 10 days!  Thank you Mom and Dad for bringing us down there to be with you!  It was truly a fun and special experience for us.  I am most grateful that you were able to spend so much time with the kids and that you got to know them so well!  Thank you for taking care of me.  I was so spoiled.

I did have my hands full with the kiddos, so getting my camera out and taking fabulous pictures was rarely my first priority.  I'm glad I snapped a few pictures though, because now the vacation is over and it is only in my memory and pictures.

We went to a beach on Mission Bay.  Brian loved all of it except when he got too cold to play in the water. There was a fun alternative to playing in the water though.  Mission Bay has so many playgrounds right next to the beaches.  Brian somehow got Grandpa to push him on the swings for what seemed like forever.

We spent some time at the San Diego Zoo because we can get in with my parent's passes.  I love the San Diego Zoo.

This was one of the 4 or 5 times we went to Sea World.  Sea World is a simple 5 minute drive from my parent's house and is a fun place I can take the kids by myself if my parents are busy at The Center.  The first thing Brian wanted to do was go touch the starfish. 

Playing in the Mormon Battalion Historic Site courtyard early one morning before other visitors arrived.

Our Sunday activity was visiting the beautiful San Diego Temple.

The sleeping situation was a new experience for all of us.  The kids slept in the same room for the first time ever.  Some nights I was surprised and proud at how well they slept.  Most nights presented some difficulty in getting both boys to sleep and to stay asleep.  The diminished amount of sleep resulted in Timmy taking a lot of naps in the backpack and his carrier, and Brian being only slightly more difficult to deal with during the days and nights.  Really they were champs.  Mom and Dad were so understanding and forgiving about the middle of the night issues and the super duper early morning wake-ups.  

One afternoon we went to the beautiful beach out on Coronado Island.  We searched for crabs and enjoyed the view.  Too bad it was a little too cold to enjoy the water.

Grandma took us to the model train museum at Balboa Park.  While there, she bought Brian a conductor's hat, scarf and train whistle.  He was unbelievably happy about that hat.  He wore it everywhere for the rest of the trip.

The highlight of San Diego for Brian was riding on the train.  It was a cold windy wet day and we were thinking of something we could do that wasn't totally outdoors.  My mom decided to take us for a ride on the metro to the downtown train station.

We rode down to the main station and then rode home.  Brian was so happy to ride that train.  He was so sad when it was over that after his nap we got back on and rode downtown again where we walked to the USS Midway Museum.

This is Brian the conductor in the cockpit of an old fighter plane on the USS Midway aircraft carrier.  He loves all the buttons and switches.

The first day we were in San Diego overlapped with the last day that Alli and her kids were there.  We all went together to the sailing ships. After just getting in from the airport I was unprepared with my camera so I don't have pictures of that first day.  My mom took Brian back to the ships to get some pictures of him in his pirate hat and eye patch.  He's saying "Argh!" in the above picture.

Timmy enjoyed most of the vacation from his perch in the backpack on my back where he was very content.  Once in a while I would let him out to explore.  He's still crawling, so there weren't that many places I could set him down on the ground.  The Battalion courtyard was one of those nice sanitary places though.  He liked splashing in the water.

The last morning in San Diego Grandpa took us to Dog Beach where dogs are allowed to run and play.  Timmy fell asleep in the car so Dad stayed in the car with him while Brian and I enjoyed watching the dogs play and fetch their toys.  Brian found a nice little spot to play as well.  He loves the water and sand.

Our last afternoon in San Diego was spent enjoying the Shamu show at Sea World where my dad held Brian on his lap and my mom held Timmy on hers.  I was left with no child to hold (struggle with) and I enjoyed that show as much as anyone could enjoy a whale show.  I love my parents and I love that my kids love them and I love that they are such wonderful grandparents.

 Following Sea World we stopped at a local Chinese buffet.  Brian's favorite food is Chinese food.  The waiters and waitresses got a kick out of watching him in his conductor hat gobbling down the Chinese cuisine.  

THANK YOU MOM AND DAD FOR EVERYTHING!

Mother's Day/Mark's Birthday

Mark's Birthday was on Mother's Day this year.  It was a nice day for both of us.  My favorite moment was when I picked Brian up from Nursery at church.  He was jumping up and down saying, "Mommy, look what I have for you! Look what I have for you! Happy Mother's Day!"  I was not expecting this first experience of receiving a gift from one of my children to be so emotional.  I was totally overwhelmed to the point of tears with feelings of love, joy, and gratitude.  I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be Brian and Timmy's mother.

My favorite part about this little gift the Nursery leaders helped Brian make for me is the missing paint on the right index finger.  When they put paint on his hand he was wearing a band-aid on that finger.  He was very particular about not getting paint on the band-aid so they only painted the finger around it.  That is so Brian.

We had a small party for Mark with our own little family that evening.  Brian was excited to help blow out the candles.  Happy 29 years Mark!

Easter

We had such a fabulous Easter weekend!  On Saturday we went to Alli and Dave's for the big Easter Egg Hunt!  It was so fun, and Brian is still talking about "gathering eggs with cousins."  Thanks Alli and Mel for the delicious food, the fun times and the photos. 

 Brian was pretty good at finding the eggs and even though Jordie was much faster and they were usually going for the same egg, Brian still got more loot than I wanted to let him eat.  He was nice enough to share with me.

Sunday morning bright and early Brian went on a little treasure hunt to find his and Timmy's Easter buckets.  Alli gave me the idea to draw little pictures of places in the house and put them in the eggs.  The egg at each place led to another until he found the buckets in the end table cupboard.  Brian absolutely loved the treasure hunt!

 Timmy liked the eggs.

 I know you're probably wondering why I included the picture above.  I like it because it's the only picture that captured the best moment for me.  Brian found the buckets in the cupboard behind him.  He was so excited he just could not hold still and while he was jumping around Timmy crawled into the cupboard to check out his little bucket.  (If you look closely you can see Timmy in the cupboard.)  Timmy then decided that playing in the cupboard was more fun than anything in his basket and he threw it out the door in order to make more room to play.  I'm glad I didn't spend much time and effort thinking about what to give Timmy.

 After church and naps, we picked up my Grandma Joyce and took her to Mark's parents house for a wonderful Easter dinner.  It was such a nice end to the perfect Easter holiday.

I really enjoyed this year teaching Brian about our Savior Jesus Christ and the Resurrection.  Figuring out how to describe the events of Christ's life, the Atonement, His death, and the Resurrection in terms Brian would understand helped me to think more deeply about it all.