San Diego

Our nephew Josh got married in March in the San Diego Temple. So Mark and I took off and left Braeden and Elli behind. Elli went to her cousin, Blayke's house and had a lot of girl time! Braeden had a Pinewood Derby that weekend and he stayed with my sister Lisa and my mom. I think they enjoyed having time away from Mom and Dad.

Right when we got to San Diego, Mark's brothers and parents were meeting up for dinner. It was really yummy Mexican food! Of course the balloon guy came to our table and Caleb requested a tiger. And it was a really detailed tiger. I couldn't believe that guy made it out of a balloon! 

The next morning we got ready for the temple and waited for Tiff and Greg to come because they were the sweet ones to watch Caleb for us..... amongst some more cousins.

Here is the group at the temple. There are many you can't even see.

After, we headed to lunch and then to Sprinkles. I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but even Sprinkles cupcakes don't cut it for me. Not worth the calories. I'd rather be eating some frozen yogurt or chocolate. Mark had never had one, so he bought one and doesn't think they are worth the money either. Kind of glad I don't have an obsession for them. But you could see the temple from outside Sprinkles, so we took a picture of Mark and Caleb with it in the background!

We had time to kill so we went with Greg & Holly and Dianna & Bob to this cool aquarium in San Diego. Caleb thought it was pretty cool!!

Here are some sharks in a tank that obviously needs some cleaning!! Nice!

This tank was pretty cool! It was HUGE!!! And SOOOO many different kinds of fish. They had seats for people to sit down and watch it. Everyone's feet were hurting because no one had brought any clothes to change into and we were still wearing our church shoes. So we sat there for a while watching Caleb run around looking at the fish!

This was outside... can't remember what was in that water.... oh well. 

Mark posing for me, this was like the 5th picture I took of him because my settings were wrong on all the other pictures.

At the reception, we enjoyed the entertainment! Our nephew Nikolaus is quite the little talker. Him and Caleb hit it off from the beginning. Nikolaus was making Caleb laugh so hard and Caleb tried to act like him and it was quite funny watching them together. They don't see enough of each other.

It was fun just having Caleb with us! He loved being the only child with all the attention on him. He was super cheesy most of the time. We had been diving around A LOT this day and Caleb had only gotten a tiny nap. He was super tired by the end of the night (which was about 10 by now) and just as we were driving away from the reception, Caleb threw up everything he had eaten that day. Including his hot dogs from lunch. I could tell he was acting a little weird at the reception, but didn't know what it was. But luckily, it only got all over him and his car seat. But Mark and I were so very tired and now we had to clean up throw up. There was a park nearby that had a water fountain on the ground and we hosed everything off. It took a good 45 to get it all clean. I couldn't stand the smell. Pretty annoying, but whacha gonna do.

Anyway.... Congrats Josh & Caitlyn! So happy for you guys!!

The Phoenix Zoo

The Monday after Spring Break, I let the kids miss school since we attempted to go to the zoo and it didn't work out during Spring Break. I took the 3 kids and it was great!! All Braeden wanted to see was the Rhinos. He's into that animal right now. But it was a gorgeous day. It sprinkled almost the whole time we were there and by the time we left, we were glad to get in the car and warm up. I didn't bring Braeden a jacket on accident, he was freezing. 

But anyway, don't remember what animal this was, just needed a picture of the kids!!

The tiger was soo cool!! (To the left of the tree in the background) This is Mark's favorite animal and Elli said when she saw it, "Dad is going to be so jealous when he finds out we saw a tiger!" 

This little guy was so stinking cute. He kept his hand on the glass like this for a while and Caleb loved being so close to it. He thought it was the coolest thing to sit next to him!

We had a lot of fun! I'm not much of a zoo person. If you've been once, you don't need to go all the time. But it had been 4 years since Braeden had gone so it was time for him to go. We picked the perfect day to go. It was perfect weather and the parking lot was almost empty!

One Annoying Crazy Day

My sister in law, Camille, and I attempted to keep the kids busy during Spring Break and go to the Phoenix Zoo.  We got there about 11 and the parking lot was ridiculous.  I had to park in a parking I didn't even know existed that was kind far, but walking distance wasn't bad. The line to even get tickets was over the bridge and it was a hot day and I wasn't in the mood to deal with ALL those people. It was pathetic how many people were there.

So we decided that since we had lunches packed, we would drive to the McCormick Train Park in Scottsdale and eat our lunch there. It was busy there too. But we got our lunches ate and we headed to the little playground they had.

The kids of course had to go on the carousel. I was just gonna get Caleb buckled in and have Braeden hold him, but the girl started the ride before I could get off. So I had to stick it out for the whole ride. Almost made me sick.  I'm not sure why I ever loved that ride as a kid.

Then we got in line for the train ride. I was standing in line with everyone and all of a sudden, Caleb disappeared. (Which isn't unusual) So I look around and kind of got nervous because I couldn't find him.  Then all of a sudden, I see him on the train already.  He had gone through the exit and when the people before us were getting off, he hopped on.  So he was the first to board the train.  Such a Caleb thing to do. 

But our adventures didn't end there. We decided to hurry and run to the Dollar Theatre and see TANGLED.  Well, that was a super busy place too. The theatre not playing in 3D was sold out, so we had to see the 3D showing and we had to sit in the front row. I had only seen Tangled twice and each time we had to see it in 3D and in the front row because it was so crowded. Annoying!!  But Braeden and Bradley went to see Gulliver's Travels. Then after the movies, we went to get yogurt. 

Braeden was pretty bummed about not going to the Zoo, but I promised him I would let him miss school on Monday and I would take them to the zoo that day. It was supposed to cool down over the weekend and not be as hot.  He was stoked about that idea..... MISSING SCHOOL!!!

The Fort

This is about as fun as it got for us during Spring Break. Braeden and Elli made a fort in the family room and slept in it all week long. They thought it was the coolest thing ever to do that.

They decked it out with a DVD player which was hooked up to the ipod and they watched movies until they fell asleep.  Braeden spent a long time trying to figure how to get it to work. He had to get extension cords, ipod chargers, and it was cute watching him be all smart about it.

Braeden even slept with his gun at night.

Way funny!!  I was excited to get it cleaned up. It was a mess the whole week of Spring Break!!

Lemonade

So we decided to have a Lemonade Stand when the kids had a half day at school.

The kids had fun, I sat and played solitaire outside while they waited for customers.  We didn't have real lemons, and we got called out by our first customer that what we had wasn't real lemonade. Kind of an awkward moment for us. That sign was from another time when we did have real lemonade and I didn't think anything about it when they were holding the sign up. Weird lady though.....

Braeden with his "Ok mom, why are you taking a picture of me" look!!

They took it very serious whenever a car drove by.  It was serious business for them. 

Grandma and Grandpa Harper stopped by and bought some lemonade from us.  They made a whopping $16, which then was divided by 8. So each kid made $2.  They seemed pretty OK with it!!

Jambo

There's a little indoor amusement park in Mesa and since we were really bored on President's Day when the kids were off from school, we decided to take a trip there. The kids had a lot of fun!

Funny story behind this picture. Braeden and Elli were 1st in line to get on this ride. B & E decided they wanted to sit up front for this turn.  Well, this girl sitting next to Braeden pushed her way to the front and  didn't let Elli sit there. I could tell Braeden was a little annoyed, he didn't show any expression or excitement the whole ride. I was kind of mad at this girl for a little bit... shoving my Elli out of the way, but Elli was sweet about it and sat in the caboose.

This was the last ride of the day. Every ride there goes in circles. I love Elli in the background, YAWNING!! They were done at this point because I think they were feeling sick from going in circles all day. Elli fell asleep in the car because she wasn't feeling good. Caleb went to bed early that night since he didn't get a nap that day. Braeden was fine though, he wants to go back. 

The Talent Show

Braeden and Elli BEGGED me to be in the talent show in their school this year. I finally caved in 2 days before the try-outs and taught them a quick dance. Braeden took this very serious and had many ideas for moves and what to wear. It was funny. Well, here is the their dance on the night of the show. They LOVED every minute of this and will be asking me again to be the talent show... I can sense it!!

Valentine's Day

The annual Valentine treat from Grandma and Grandpa. Rice Krispie faces. Each of them fit each of the kids' personalities. My mom made them and I helped her decorate them.  Too cute. The kids loved getting them.

It was my 31st birthday that day too. Mark came home with some flowers. He told Elli he got her that big bouquet and me the single rose.  Well, Elli was on cloud 9 with those flowers. 

It was a great birthday. I am felling a bit old right now, but what's new. 

The swing set

This swing set has lasted many years in my parents backyard..... MANY YEARS!!! One Sunday, all the grandkids were playing on it this is what happened. It fell over. No major injuries.... just kids excited to play on it like this. They had a blast jumping on it!!

FINALLY....

I have gotten my self back to blogging. My picture situation has been very annoying lately, but we got it figured out.

Caleb and I took a trip to Walmart back in February and this what outside the store. Caleb thought it was pretty cool to see a giant hot dog. Love his cheesy smile!!