Disneyland, etc

Our Disneyland Vacation:

A month ago we went on vacation to California with Jake's sister's family, Alan, Kristin, Ashley and Sophie Aagard. We had a blast! The kids loved having sleepovers every night. And the parents loved seeing the kids have fun! It was all about them. We went swimming, beaching, riding, munching, monkeying, dancing, whale watching, digging, splashing, snacking, driving, napping, bathing, kite flying, photo taking, and junk eating. The kids did great with all the busy activity, barring the inevitable breakdown of one or all of the kids every day. IT WAS GREAT!

Cade was afraid of the ocean, but loved the sand. Zach didn't want a lot to do with the waves, but splashed a bit. He mostly acted as water transporter to and from the dig site. Jake flew a kite for the kids, but the kids didn't give a whooie about it. Poor Jake and his lonely kite. I took a lot of pictures. That's my job, right?

We were there during Zach's birthday and the lucky kid got to go to Disneyland on his fourth birthday! It was great. Zach liked the bigger rides, but the other 3 kids, stuck with the outdoor (because the indoor ones are dark and scary) kiddie rides. Zach enjoyed the Matterhorn, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Toon Town Roller Coaster. Cade's enjoyment consisted of never riding in the stroller. He just loved running around all the parks and dancing to the music. Of course we got pictures with the characters and Zach and Ashley got to skip across the square with Goofy. It was adorable!!

(Cade had a hard time with the sunscreen, don't know why, but look at his poor eyes)

We visited the beach on Coronado Island. Cute GQ guy, huh?

Sea World was our favorite, though. After 3 days at Disney, Sea World was relaxed. The kids loved the animals. Cade's favorite was the whales. He loved the Shamu show. Zach really liked the otters, they were being so cute!! Oh, and Cade got to meet Elmo and Cookie Monster. Can it get any better?

The famous San Diego Zoo was awesome as always, but we were pretty tired at the end of our trip. It's a lot of walking! But the kids did great and the adults only had a breakdown or two..:)

The whole time at the zoo, Cade asked to see the elephants. We saw them last, naturally, but he enjoyed it. Wow, my kids are growing up!!

What a fun trip!

An update...FINALLY!

So, I've been absent from blogging for a few months. Miss me? I'm sorry, I guess it takes a good kick in the butt from a couple of friends to finally post on my blog, huh? Thanks Amanda and Brittany.

So, it's spring now! I guess I should let you know what we did this winter. Yes, we went sledding and it was a blast! Cade was not so sure about his snow suit; it was hard to walk around in. But once he found out that sledding was not about walking, he was ok. What do you think? Cute, huh?I was carrying him for the first little bit and he was getting colder and colder. We just had to help him walk up the hill between rides to keep him warm. And he either knew the purpose or is just a good sport, because he didn't have a problem with it.

Zach was all over it. He wanted to go "FASTER!" And he was a trooper. He stayed warm and didn't want to leave, of course.

Dad with the boys.

Mom with the boys! Fun, fun, fun!!

Zach likes choosing Cade's clothes in the morning. One morning I was busy and hadn't changed Cade yet, so Zach took the liberty of dressing him. It was awesome. I had to help of course, but he sure tried. And what's funny is that Cade was cooperative. He doesn't usually cooperate with me, but for brother...

Zach is a great artist. He sat down one night and started drawing. We weren't paying attention at all and he didn't have anyting in front of him, he just drew the Spongebob crew on his own. I love it!

We went to the Living Planet Aquarium with Grandma Bailey. The boys got to touch a snake. That's a cool experience.

Cade riding the frog. He loves pushing the buttons on the wall behind him. They play different animal sounds. He really can only reach the frog button. He would stand in front of that all day, I think.

Cousin Asher on the frog.

Zach on the frog. Don't know what face he's making...

And I just had to include the following picture. Cade likes laying on Jake like this for books, and when one kid jumps on, they all have to. Right? The third kid is our friend Cole Fife. Cutie, huh? We love it when friends come to play!

Probably the biggest change in our lives recently has been Jake's change of schedule. He was working nights for a while and now is back on a day schedule! We are so happy! It's great. We get to see him much more, it seems. I guess it's mostly given me someone to hang out with at night when the boys are in bed and a warm body in bed with me to cuddle with.

Christmas

On Christmas Eve eve we had a Christmas Party for the kids.

There was lots of Gingerbread house decorating... They each got their own mini house and lots of candy and frosting to make them unique. They really ended up cute and the kids seemed to have fun. We watched 3D Polar Express projected on the wall. What a great movie! That was lots of fun, too. Oh, yeah, and we made it easy on ourselves this year and just picked up pizza instead of making a whole meal. Much better than last year! Well, better for me, maybe not better food.

Christmas Day

Santa came! Cade was excited to see all the presents because it's fun to stack boxes! Zach couldn't wait to open them. We had to wait just a few minutes for Jake, during which Zach about went out of his mind!

It was an Elmo Christmas for Cade. Elmo PJs, chatter Elmo, about 12 new Elmo books, and 2 new Elmo blankets. He loves Elmo (see the kiss below)

Zach got a million and one action figures: batman, robin, and villains; Spiderman; GI Joes; Ninja Turtles; and transformers. He also got the Bat Cave and a Castle to play with them all in. So, he's been busy this week following Christmas.

Oh, and Cade opened this little ball from his stocking first thing. And it was his favorite toy. He carried it around and always went back to it after each gift. The kid loves balls. It's great.

I hope you all had a WONDERful Christmas. And Happy New Year. Good luck to all in the new year. May it bring you lots of happiness and good things.

Now, time to clean up the Christmas decorations and find places for all the new toys... Uh, oh!