Sara's Birthday Weekend

 Once again Sara had a most wonderful birthday weekend!  As it turns out, turning 36 isn't so bad ;-)  Especially when you have a son who is so excited to celebrate your birthday and answers everything with 'it's up to you...it's your special day!!'  Awwww!

We started the weekend out by having pizza at a new place called 'My Pie' - it wasn't as good as Solo's Pizza in MN but what do you do.  We were able to eat outside and that surely isn't something we could have done in year's past for Sara's birthday!  On Saturday morning we enjoyed breakfast at Sara's favorite place for pancakes.  A place she'd been waiting to go to for over a year since of course their pancakes are made with milk and that was a no no when still nursing Ashley.  One thick plate-sized pancake with ghirardelli chocolate chips....yum!!  And two kids that are good at a restaurant.  Double win!

After that we took the kids over to Brian's parents house so the big kids could hike Pinnacle Peak.  This time we made it to the end...even if we cut that part off of the picture.  :)

We may have considered going a little farther on a different trail but there was a snake up ahead so Sara quickly turned around and headed back.

 We had a lot of fun hiking and talking.  Plus it was a gorgeous day out!

 After the hike we went back and got the kids and Brian's parents then we all met Sara's parents at Greasewood Flats for Sara's birthday lunch!  She loves the hamburgers there so it was definitely on the birthday meal list!  Plus Trevor said it was her special day and she got to pick :)  Grandma Pauline and Papa John got yummy cupcakes for dessert! 

 After a wonderful lunch we headed back to our house with Sara's parents who were spending the night for her special day before heading back to MN in the morning.  Poor souls have to go back to snow...have fun with that ;-)  

We put Ashley down for nap and the rest of us hung out in the backyard, even swimming in the hot tub.  When we were done we got ready and Trevor and Nana decorated for the party.  Trevor's favorite part.  He kept wondering when the kids were coming because he had the party games all picked out!!  He cracks us up!  When Daddy explained it was just adults he didn't understand why we wouldn't want to invite kids to the party!!   One of the funniest things from that afternoon though was how our little budding photographer went around taking pics with Mommy's phone.  He would even pose us....hold this crepe paper, wait I'll get a balloon for you to hold too, oh we need a birthday present in the picture and princesses too.  Aww, he is so precious!

 Then he went around taking everyone's picture.  Mommy...

 Daddy!

 Papa Steve!

 Ashley!

 Mommy and Nana!

And the whole gang!  He certainly isn't shy to let you know what he wants.  They may not be in focus but they are pretty special!

 We had the most delicious steaks for dinner along with yummy sides.  Of course, we left room for cake!  Midnight chocolate yumminess from Coldstone!  Oh and so we don't forget... Trevor dug out the balloon decoration from the pantry 'Mommy don't forget these.  You need them on your cake just like they were on mine when I was little!'  He has a memory of steel!

 

We tried to get a pic of all of us on Sara's birthday but this is as good as it gets.  Still memories of a wonderful 36th birthday!

And before the kids were off to bed they were sure to say good-bye to Nana and Papa Steve.  When we told Ashley to say bye-bye, she walked very fast over to Papa Steve and gave him a big hug.  It was so cute!!  It sure was fun having them here this winter.  We cherish that time together and look forward to seeing them again in MN this summer.  XOXO And thank you for staying for Sara's birthday.  It meant a lot!!!!

On Sunday we went around using Sara's birthday coupons and Ashley got her first taste of shoulders.  Not sure how Daddy will manage both of them up there since clearly there will be fighting over whose turn it is!

Thank you all for making it such a wonderful birthday weekend!  Can't wait to celebrate again next year :)

Our Little Caretaker!

Trevor is such a good caretaker to his babies.  He has named Sara's old Cabbage Patch baby from her childhood 'baby Trevor' and he makes sure he is well taken care of.  At night he tucks in all of his friends and makes sure they are covered up so they don't get cold while they sleep.  (At least they are warm unlike our son who apparently sleeps on top of the covers!)

Sometimes when they wake Trevor even feeds 'baby Trevor' a bottle for breakfast.  It really is precious!

Another week of fun!

We are taking full advantage of Nana Jeanne's and Papa Steve's last few weeks in town.  This week we all went to the Children's Museum.  By all we mean, Trevor's puppets too....that he proudly buckled all in!

Trevor was very into everything at the museum but his favorite was probably the kitchen area where he pretended to bake pizzas over and over and over!

We enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading home for Ashley to nap before Trevor had soccer.  We this time includes Nana Jeanne!  She came up and spent the night so that Mommy could volunteer in Trevor's classroom the following day!  While Trevor was at soccer, Nana and Ashley enjoyed playing together in the sand at the playground.

On Wednesday after a fun-filled time at Trevor's school, Mommy packed up an overnight bag for Trevor and he had a special overnight at Nana Jeanne and Papa Steve's (well Uncle Don too).  He had a blast with them!!!  Special pancakes in the morning, shopping at the Dollar Store, helping with projects, and playing...lucky boy!!

On Thursday after Ashley's morning nap, Mommy and Ashley headed down to get Trevor.  We spent time in the afternoon swimming.  Well, some of us swam and some of us (um, Ashley) just ate cookies!

Trevor was a hoot swimming.  There was another boy his age there too and the two of them had a lot of fun using their pool noodles as horses!

We enjoyed a wonderful spaghetti dinner before heading home and you guessed it.  Both kids were asleep in the car before we even left Pebble Creek's gates!  A new favorite food around here is popsicles!!  Ashley snuggles right up to Trevor whenever he is eating one and fortunately he is willing to share with her!

Bomb pops are his favorite at the moment!

Ashley is just a sponge right now.  She watches intently no matter what you are doing and then she likes to show you what she knows....like where shoes go!

On Friday after Trevor's school we headed down to our photographers house.  She is so sweet.  After learning that we lost the last eight months of photos (long story, don't ask) she wanted to do a photo session for us!!  Leslie has such a generous heart!  Ashley was her normal diva persona but we got some cute ones!  Can't wait to see them all, but the four that she texted over sure look great!

Leslie had Trevor hide the hand that had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle tattoo on it!

Ashley wore a dress that we had purchased prior to her even being born.  We bought 6-12 months thinking it would be last year's Easter dress but it was too big on her at that time.  Well, it's a good thing she's a little peanut now (and that Janie and Jack runs big) because it fit just right.  A little tight around the chest so not sure she'll be wearing it this year for Easter but it did look good for Spring portraits!

 Ashley didn't want to sit still for pics but she could be bribed with M&Ms...hence the no teeth smile :)  More pictures to be posted once we get all of them!

 On Friday night after pics, Trevor decided we were eating at the place where you get your own food (Sweet Tomatoes).  You don't have to twist Mommy and Daddy's arms to go there.  We love it too!  As does little sister!  She really loves the mac-n-cheese along with the ice cream that Trevor spoon feeds her.  It's really surprising that she allows that because with anything else she grabs the spoon/fork and wants to do it by herself!!

On Saturday we checked out our neighborhood garage sale in the morning and we were glad we decided not to do it.  It's spring break here so there weren't a lot of sellers or buyers it seemed!  Instead we decided to ship out a box of clothes to Dawn's sister and Sara's cousin both of whom have boys two years or so younger than Trevor!

On Saturday late afternoon Nana Jeanne and Papa Steve came over to finish up a house project and then babysit the kids so that we could go out with our friends Katie and Neill (parents to Jack, Claire, and Grace who live kitty-corner to our backyard).

While Papa Steve and Daddy finished up doing knock-down on part of our ceiling, Nana and crew went to CostCo to get the kids passport pictures taken.  Trevor was due for a new pic since his original passport photo was taken at 5 months and Ashley needed one to get a passport.  No plans to leave the country but we want to be prepared for if the opportunity arises.  So, Trevor was a piece of cake to get his photo (even followed instructions not to smile, apparently the Dept of State prefers no teeth being shown in the photo and a serious look.  Check!).  Ashley?  Not so much.  Screamed and screeched and cried until we decided to do some shopping and go back to it.  Even with a delay in trying, she still wasn't having it.  That is, until a nice (male) CostCo worker started playing peek a boo with her and getting her to laugh.  Thank goodness!!!!  That was not a fun experience.  Mommy is just so glad she didn't go by herself to get that done!!!  Not the best pic of Ashley but whatever!  It's done!

 Ashley is all about Papa Steve.  She reaches for him and just loves him.  Of course Mommy was slow to get out her phone but you should have just seen the way she looks at him.  Pure love!  Plus you know it's love when she lets him feed her peas.  The girl just loves pea baby food!  Whatever floats your boat Ashley :)

Ready to go out!  We went to Kona Grill for sushi and then Ocean Prime for dessert!  Yum!!!!  It was so nice to have a full conversation with complete sentences without being interrupted by kids! 

On Sunday we went to our first Spring Training game.  Rockies versus Dodgers at 1:10.  We had to wake Ashley up from her morning nap (which we rarely do) but she did great!  We got lawn seat tickets so that the kids could stretch out which was nice!  We ended up getting right in front of the fence so we felt like we were part of the field!

It was a beautiful day but did get a tad warm when the sun came out so after a while Mommy pushed Ashley around in the stroller.  That worked out just fine because Neill and Jack were also at the game so they all had boys time!

Shoulders all around!

At the end of the game, the boys ran the bases.  Jack (age 5, will be 6 this summer) is on a t-ball team so he knew just what to do.  Trevor followed behind in his flip-flops and did pretty good!

It almost seemed like Trevor was trying to catch up to Jack!   Both boys did awesome and thought that was the coolest thing to do!  We see more baseball games in their future :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Our little Irish eyes are smiling in their green gear!

(close enough for Ashley....it's kinda green ;-))

After Disney...back to normal

After such fun trips to Vegas and Disneyland we settled back into our routine at home.  Including making smoothies for breakfast time.  We've been doing them so that Ashley gets some healthy fat and calcium without having actual milk.  She is intolerant to straight milk (up all night with gas pains) and won't even touch a glass of water that has only a drop of almond milk in it.  She does however like oatmeal with almond milk and coconut milk yogurt so between those and a daily smoothie, she is right on track for what she needs per the doctor!  Trevor thinks they are yummy to so it's nice that they share!

Trevor has decided on our daily walks to the mailbox that he doesn't need Mommy.  He pulls Ashley in the wagon and loves being the big helper!  Surprisingly, he can pull her in the wagon but if he tries pushing her in the stroller or in a shopping cart, forget it.  She screeches in protest!!

That day in particular it was super nice out (read, not too hot!!  It's been super hot here which will make for an interesting summer!!).  Anyhoo, we decided to continue our walk to the park!  Ashley was happy about that!

The funny part though was that she didn't want to get out of the wagon.  The girl loves her wagon.  She is perfectly content just hanging out in it!

Trevor loves showing off his fire fighting skills by sliding down the pole.

Soon Ashley decided to join in Trevor's fun and they chased each other around the playground equipment!

What seems to becoming a Thursday tradition we head down to Nana Jeanne's and Papa Steve's house for a day of fun...but not before stopping at our favorite doughnut place...

...and the outdoor mall as Trevor calls it!

Trevor picked up a cool pair of shades for $3!

And Ashley just liked driving the truck!

At the pool we got to take in quite the sight as the fighter jets were practicing for their upcoming air show!!  It felt like you could just reach out and touch the jets!  So cool....and so loud!

Back at the house Trevor found a spot he liked to hang out!  Boys!

For dinner we headed to a nearby community called Verrado.  At their golf clubhouse they have a wonderful view and a great happy hour so we checked it out.  Trevor thought he was pretty cool wearing Uncle Don's hat!

Just practicing for when he's old enough for tequila shots ;-)

Ashley was conked out on Mommy's shoulder!

But boy did she wake up with an appetite.  She had no problem chomping into chicken wings!  Just like everyone else in her family!

After dinner we grabbed some ice cream and ate it in the park!  Kinda reminded us of good old Minnesota with the leaves on the park ground!

But the palm trees reminded us quickly we are indeed still in AZ!  We'll miss visiting Nana, Papa Steve and Uncle Don when they head back to MN soon :-(

It never fails that on our way home from visiting Pebble Creek both kids fall asleep in the car!  But lately, Trevor is getting good at falling asleep in the car if we are out and about from 4-5pm.  He refuses to nap at home but does do quiet time so he is used to slowing down unless we are out and about.  Zzzzzzzzzz!

Ashley eats right handed but throws left handed.  And she has quite the arm. Proper form too!

We had quite the busy weekend too!  On Saturday it started with bagels and brew at our clubhouse where Trevor had a blast playing with his buddies Jack and Claire there and at the park!

After Ashley's nap we biked over to the Desert Ridge picnic in the park and Trevor had his fill of bouncy houses!  So did Daddy actually!!  They would race to the top...

...and then slide down to see who made it down first!

Ashley really enjoyed 'pushing' her brother to start bouncing!

It was a beautiful (although hot) day at the park!

After leaving that picnic we rode our bikes over to Mommy's favorite fro-yo place.  Ashley is a big fan of Mojo too!

We didn't know that someone's mouth could open so wide :)

Then to finish up our weekend of fun, we had our neighbor Annastyn's 4th birthday party on Sunday morning.  Her Mommy Becky made the most amazing birthday cake - Sophia the first!!  And it was just as delicious as it looked!  The girls dressed up in princess gear so Ashley got another use out of her Rapunzel dress she wore at Disney!