Happy 4th Birthday Ethan!!

This past weekend we celebrated Ethan's 4th Birthday at Bounce U. It was a great time complete with 25 preschool kids running and bouncing with endless energy. I cannot even begin to wrap my brain around him turning four. He is growing and changing so very fast that it is dizzying at times to keep up with him. Happy 4th Birthday Ethan! We love you so much!

If you a regular blog follower, then you already know about last year's cake disaster. I think we redeemed ourselves with Spider man this year. Note to self: never plan a children's birthday party again! Paying Bounce U to take care of it was most definitely the way to go!

So excited! Did I mention he was up at 4:30 a.m. ready to go to his party?

Ethan picked Chili's for his family birthday dinner. Yum!

Just had to include a newborn pic of E in this post. So sweet! This seems like another lifetime because it has all gone way too fast. We are so excited to see what this year will bring! Love you E!

San Diego Summer Fun

I know I know, I have been a lazy blogger. It's not that I don't love to do it, but the lazy days of summer have set in and it's so hard to do anything but sit with a good book in hand and soak up the sun. After a month of posting nothing, my guilt got the best of me and I'm making up for it with a VERY long post.

We took our 4th annual summer trip to San Diego and had a ton of fun. We did everything from the beach and Old Town to the zoo and the Wild Animal Park. As always, it was good to get away but always nice to come home to our own beds.

Mason found a friend in the petting zoo.

Cheese!

We headed to the beach after dinner on our first night in San Diego. The swimsuits were still buried in the suitcase but Mason didn't mind. He loved the massive sandbox and preferred to stay on the blanket with me and dig dig dig.

Superstar! (think SNL skit with Mary the Catholic school girl)

Twins experiencing the water for the first time on our trip.

Ready to start the day at the fabulous zoo!

We spent a day at the Wild Animal Park and had a blast! It had a totally different feel than the zoo with many different opportunities to see the animals up close. We started off the day at the carousel.

They even had deer in their petting zoo! After practicing walking up to them instead of sprinting, the boys were really gentle with them.

We bought nectar cups to feed the birds in the aviary. It was such a neat experience if you didn't mind them landing on you. Mason was not a fan of this but Carson and Ethan were loving it.

I love the look on Mason's face here. I think he was a little frightened of being that close to the lion!

Although it was overcast and a bit chilly, it didn't stop Ethan from having a blast. He ran into the freezing water with no hesitation and was just fine spending several hours playing.

Hmmm....I thought it was supposed to be sunny at the beach!

We spent the first half of the morning burying our feet. It was a great way to stay warm until the sun finally came out!

The twins ended their day with a sand fight. The party was definitely over when they got sand in their eyes. Meltdown time!

Tequila anyone? The boys thought this statue was just about the greatest thing in Old Town.

Mason couldn't decide if he liked this lime or not.

Ethan and Mommy in Old Town. This was our last night in San Diego and we celebrated a wonderful trip with a trip to Fred's Mexican Restaurant. Nevermind that this was our second visit to Fred's in two days. Yum!

Awesome playground at the beach in Del Mar.

Disneyland!!

We decided to finally take the plunge and take the kids to Disneyland. This is something we have been wanting to do for a long time, but up until now, it seemed like way too much to handle. I'm so glad we waited until the twins turned 2! All three did an amazing job of waiting in lines and being out way past their bedtime. They definitely proved that they could handle it. It's safe to say we'll be heading back very soon.

We celebrated the twins 2nd birthday while we were there. It was a wonderful family bonding time for us and we were sad to come back. We'll see you again soon Mickey!!

One very sleepy mouse!

Heading out for another fun day at Disneyland!

The infamous meeting of the mouse!

Christmas Card 2009??

There is a story behind this picture. We forgot our camera at home and Eric didn't want to buy another camera. He wanted to use those crappy disposable cameras instead. I wouldn't hear of it, so Eric told me if we were going to buy another camera, then he was going to sport a fanny pack. He actually held true to his word and made the purchase. I'm not a fanny pack hater, but I just feel like it's similar to purchasing a minivan...kind of like a dog being neutered. Well, I will have to say it came in handy. No, this doesn't mean I'm buying one. I'll just let my husband parade around in his....and maybe ask him to store a couple of my essentials in there as well.

The family before a ride

Carson looks way confused here. You mean they're really going to let me drive?

Ethan was loving his new found freedom!

This picture says it all! Ethan loved Disneyland more than I could have predicted! His energy was endless and he didn't have a single meltdown. Considering he stayed up way past his bedtime every night and ate way too much junk food, this was an incredible accomplishment for him!

You can't get the mouse ears without the name!

This picture just cracks me up. The twins were so confused. Yes they have seen Goofy on t.v., but they didn't understand why he was standing right next to them. Ethan, however, was at a loss for words. He reacted to seeing the Disney characters like I would if I just met Brad Pitt. It was awesome.

The jungle cruise was by far one of the favorite rides for the whole family. When I was 6 and went to Disneyworld, I could have sworn these were real animals. Ethan caught on pretty quickly though. He called them "puppets".

Happy 2nd Birthday Twins!

It's hard to believe that the twins are two! They are growing and changing so fast that sometimes I don't know how we're able to keep up. They have brought us more joy than we could have imagined. It is so fun to watch them grown into little people with their own personalities. They have an incredible bond with each other and with Ethan. It has been really heartwarming to see them interact.

This year we decided to have a Mickey Mouse themed party since we would be leaving for Disneyland the next morning. We invited a handful of their friends from playgroup and held it at the new park near our house.

Fun facts about Mason:
-28 pounds/ 33 inches (feels as light as a feather!)
-still the "thinker" of the two
-quiet but sneaky at times
-loves to cuddle with mommy and daddy
-likes: books, Cars (the movie), Ethan, all kinds of food, his blanket, sucking his fingers before he falls asleep, driving his car around the house
-dislikes: staying up past his bedtime, brothers taking his cars, ???? (he's really easygoing!)

Fun facts about Carson:
-29 pounds/33 inches
-still the more vocal of the two
-never quiet!!
-likes: singing, dancing, all foods, following Ethan around, doing things himself (especially brushing his teeth), hanging and swinging from bars at the playground
-dislikes: being licked by our dogs, sitting on mommy and daddy's lap (unless it's his idea), ?????? (pretty easygoing as well)

Carson scoping out Elie and her cupcake!

Instead of a cake, I found these adorable cupcake toppers on etsy.com and had them personalized for the twins. It was a lot less messy and cuter too!



I channeled my inner Martha Stewart and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter for the kids. I couldn't resist!

Ethan sporting the mouse ears party hat.

Carson decided to carry the balloons with him...even onto the splash pad!