Lil' Rascals

Because of my busted foot (reference my previous post), I haven't been able to get the boys out much the last couple of days. So I've been trying to keep them entertained at home. It starts out pretty good while they play with their toys, puzzles, etc...











...and then the lil' rascals start entertaining themselves...





Connor walkin' around in Dave's sandals...


...and then on to headbonking Dylan. :)







Yep, that's one of our pans Connor is holding. :)

Our Latest Adventure...

We went to Disneyland last night for Family Home Evening. We had quite the adventure, it was one of those occasions that will be remembered for both the good times and the unfortunate incidences that are more funny when you joke about them later. :)

First, the good times...Dylan rode his first rollercoaster! Yay! He rode the 'Gadgets Go Coaster', had a blast and can't wait to ride it again! It was so fun to go on with him, he definitely had his happy jumps goin' on afterwards. :)

As you can imagine, Dylan was both anxious and excited - remember your first coaster? I sure do, my Mom took me on the 'Matterhorn' when I was 5. I'm still emotionally traumatized from this...Thanks, Mom! :)

Hopefully, we didn't do the same thing to Dylan. After success with the first coaster, Dave took him on 'Thunder Mountain'. Did he like it? Not so much. He liked that it was a "train coaster", but beyond that he was scared, the tunnels didn't help. Ah well. I think it's a childhood rite of passage to experience your first scary coaster. :)

The good times continued when we saw the 'Disneyland Fireworks Spectacular' for the first time. Dylan was very excited to see them (we've been talking about it a lot this past week) and it was awesome! We were impressed with the effects, but it shouldn't be surprising since it's Disneyland. Our fave part was when they kicked in the Star Wars music, shot out green laser beams all over and Dylan said they were from the light sabers! He also thought it was really cool that Tinkerbell was flying all around the castle. Connor just chilled and took it all in. :)

Now for the not so good times...We kicked it off right by forgetting our stroller. We thought this would be a major issue, but as it turned out we found it nice that we didn't have to schlep the thing around all night. It may have been a good thing, though , due to my injury... which segues into the next not so good event of the evening. As we were walking across the parking garage, I hit a wet patch and in one "graceful" motion I was sitting on the ground. Nice, huh? In the process, my right foot got slammed. It hurt a little after Dave and another nice gentleman helped me up, but nothing too bad. I could walk pretty well and so we were off. Well, about an hour later it started hurting really bad and I was officially limping. I took some aspirin which helped A LOT and we kept going. The boys had fun so it was of course worth limping around Disneyland for a few hours. Oh, what I won't do in the name of fun! :) And lastly (you mean there's more?), yup...there's more. Although this one was entertaining, at least to us. As we were driving out of our parking spot to go home, Dave unknowingly (or so he says) ran over one of those orange construction cones. He had to stop and try to pull it out from underneath the truck, but it was stuck. So naturally, what did he have to do to get it out from underneath the truck safely? That's right, he had to slam on the gas...the cone did indeed disengage. Dylan informed us that Dad had to use "his horses" - that's what he calls the truck's horsepower. Of course people were looking, and we couldn't help but laugh at the hideousness of the situation. Good times, good times. :)

AND...as if we hadn't had enough, Dave really wanted to hit the Sonic that's up near D-land in Anaheim (o.k., I wanted to go, too). It's the only Sonic in Orange County, so when we're up near there, we always try to go. Dave missed the exit to take the right freeway to get there, so we had to get off at another exit and backtrack. When we did finally make it, they were out of peanut butter flavor so I couldn't enjoy the goodness of my beloved Peanut Butter Chocolate Shake and had to settle for a Peanut Butter Cup Blast. In all fairness, though, it does take a close second. Dave enjoyed a refreshing Lemon Slush. :)

We finally headed home with plenty of great memories to enjoy for years to come...

Double the Celebration

Dylan had a big week and gave us 2 reasons to celebrate:

The first was that he completed his last swim lesson on Wednesday and is now deemed our lil' swimmer. We are so proud of him; he has worked very hard to overcome his fears and gain confidence in the water. It's been an eight-week journey and he has come a long way in such a short amount of time. We are so happy for him and look forward to a summer with him able to have more fun in the pool!

At the very end of his last lesson, they had the kids jump off the little diving board. Mom got an awesome action shot! :) We asked Dylan where he wanted to go for dinner to celebrate and he said he wanted "chicken nuggets at Wendy's". A kids meal it was for our little stud. :)

Our second celebration came the very next day when Dylan had his preschool graduation on Thursday. Once again, he was excited to walk down the aisle with "diploma" in hand and party it up with his friends. It's been great to watch his social skills develop this past year and to see him so pleased to have something of his own. In fact, when I dropped him off for his first day back a couple of months ago, I went to hug him good-bye and he said, "Go, Mom, go" without a glance my way as he busily put together a puzzle. Great to see the independence, Dylan, but you could've been a little easier on me, man. Sheesh. :)

Happy "Daddy's Day"

When I talked with Dylan to get him ready for Father's Day, I could tell he wasn't quite getting it. So I started calling it "Daddy's Day" and the lightbulb went off. Now he was on board and ready to help me make Father's Day, I mean "Daddy's Day", a great day for Dave. The most notable part of the day was that I had both Dylan and Connor draw a picture for Dave. Dylan drew his classic fave, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Connor drew a couple of random lines and lots and lots of dots all over - quite appropriate for a 1-year-old. They both loved making drawings to surprise Dad! Dave of course loved their pictures. We hope all the fathers we know had a great "Daddy's Day". :)

All The Best...

Matthew (my bro) and Jenni got married this past Saturday, May 24, 2008, in the Las Vegas Temple. My bro looked quite dashing, I must say, and Jenni was beautiful in her wedding dress. We are so happy to welcome her into our family. Dylan attended the event in a tuxedo, how cute is that?! And Connor represented in a shirt and tie...

Me and Dave couldn't help taking a trip down memory lane as we were married in the same temple 9 years ago on May 8, 1999. So much has happened since then, yet those early feelings for each other remain solid and carry us through it all. We are so grateful for our eternal marriage, and are so happy for Matthew and Jenni in their new endeavor and wish them all the best...

Connor's 1st Birthday

We celebrated Connor's "Mickey" birthday first at home with a birthday cupcake and some presents, and then we were off to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Park for his birthday dinner (Goofy's Kitchen) and some rides (of course!). We think he had a great birthday since he "bum danced" often all throughout the day. Dylan had fun reliving his birthday while we were there - we took him to Disneyland for the first time last month as part of his 4th birthday celebration. As for me and Dave, it has been so enjoyable to go back and relive the magic not only from our own childhood memories but also now through our children's eyes...here's to "The Happiest Place on Earth".