Dinosaurs!!!

For Trevor's birthday, Papa John and Grandma Pauline took Trevor to see the Dinosaur show in downtown Phoenix.  The morning started a bit rough because our stubborn son did not want to go after we told him he couldn't wear flip flops.  Well about 10 minutes later Mommy got him in the car (with a handful of his own dinosaurs) and he was off on his merry way all smiles.  Ah, four year olds!!  They took the train tram into the show which of course Trevor thought was fun!  Especially when he can cuddle with Papa John!

At the show he got an Icee...

...and a cotton candy!  Lucky boy!

The show looked AMAZING! 

 Of course, the triceratops was Trevor's favorite :)  That dinosaur has Mommy's name in it!

Very cool!

One successful outing!

 After the show they had lunch at Denny's - Trevor's request.  He doesn't forget a thing.  He remembered the last time they were downtown and went to Denny's so our little create of habit wanted to go back to the same place!

Mr. I'm Not Sleepy was asleep within minutes of getting in the car after the show and lunch.  After arriving home he even transferred to his bed for a 2 hour nap before Mommy had to wake him up at 4:40 so she could go to an appt! 

When he woke up boy did he talk non-stop about how cool the Dinosaur show.  Of course he let Mommy know that her favorite dinosaur (the triceratops) was there and everything else that went on.  Something about poop on the stage?  He found that hilarious!  Thanks so much Papa John and Grandma Pauline for spoiling our guy with an outing and special memories for his birthday.  Memories beat physical gifts any day! 

Caught up!

Whew!  We are all caught up on the blog!  Feels so good!  Before we know it it will be time to print 2014 memories and it's so nice when the blog is up to date so that we don't miss and forget anything.  That was pure craziness since getting back from our 10 year anniversary trip mid-October but it's always going to be that way with Halloween and the kids birthdays so we mis-well embrace it :)

A few photos that didn't make the previous posts but that we want to remember include how Toby sits at the top of the stairs.  It's like his place.  We'll even open the gate for him to come by us but sometimes he just wants to stay in his spot!

Trevor has been requesting pictures lately.  Like this when we were getting the party favors ready for his party.  He lined up all of the mini figure crayons and then wanted a picture!

Gabriella (previously known as Cinderella) wasn't able to come to his party last minute because of a death but she came over another day to give Trevor his cool Captain America gear and Trevor gave her her goodie bag!  She may have slept in her jedi robe that night and next to her light saber because she thought it was SO cool!

After pictures and her well check all Ashley wanted to do is sit and read.  She's just like Trevor at this age.  She can sit and read for a good hour before getting up!

She's also in the phase of wanting to be in a confined space.  On this particular occasion she grabbed her just arrived birthday card from Nana Jeanne and Papa Steve and ran and sat under the kitchen table to read it!

Trevor is continuing to understand the game of basketball but sure loves being with his friends and burning off some energy!  Ashley loves being with the big kids and cheering them on.  Here she is with Olivia and Claire!

And yes she makes Mommy more than a little nervous that she'll get stuck but so far so good!

Just like Dolly

Ashley never lets Mommy do anything with her hair besides her standard bow but today she brought Mommy a dolly and said something to which Mommy said 'do you want a pony like your dolly?' and she said 'yes'!!!!  Mommy was so excited!  She went quickly before she changed her mind but it worked!

She left it in all day and even wanted it put back in after nap! 

She looked so old with her pony but oh so cute!

La Casa Thanksgiving Feast

Trevor's preschool had their annual Thanksgiving feast today!  Such cuteness!  The room parent put this turkey together for his class's table!  She is so creative!

Mommy went early to help set-up their feast! 

After Kids Talk in the Sanctuary with the Pastor they came out to see their feast!  Not sure if Trevor was more excited to see Mommy or the 'party'!

Our big boy!  It was a little emotional for Mommy knowing that this is last year at La Casa.  It has been such a good school for him but luckily Ashley will start there next year in their mini-3s program...the same class that Trevor started in 3 years ago!

 He wanted to make sure we got a picture of the turkey feathers!

A feast with all of his friends!

And before leaving we went out to get a class photo.  Trevor always likes to be by his pal Stella who lives two doors down from us.  Who else thinks they could be siblings?  LOL  The funny thing is about the same time this photo was being taken Stella's Mommy was giving birth to her baby brother!  That is boy #3 for her family!

Mommy couldn't fit all the kids from his class in the shot but that's okay...not the best set-up anyway!  Squinty eyes!

And as we were leaving school Trevor INSISTED that he take a picture with Jesus because he wants to always remember him.  His faith is beyond his years.  Thankful for his little heart and the best Christian preschool!

Dentist

Luckily Trevor has never minded going to the dentist so this visit was a breeze too!  Even with xrays!

Ashley was entertained with the balloon she received!

Ashley even tracked down the person who gave it to her to ask that brother get one too!

Ashley is probably ready for her first dentist visit too and this proved it!  She laid by him almost the whole time.  Helps that there is a TV on the ceiling!

A clean bill of dental health for our boy!  Yay!  Keep up the good brushing Trevor!  You rock!

The Boys Go Camping!

Another reason for the crazy week is that after Trevor's party the boys packed up to go camping with our friends Neill, Jack and Claire!  Daddy found a cool spot in the Superstition Mountains.  Looked so pretty! 

The spot was about an hour from our house and they got there around 3:30.  Started setting up and within 30 minutes or so Neill, Jack and Claire got there after Jack's baseball game.  They set up the tent and then went on a hike!

Everyone did really well, even if the kids legs were tired!

These three are a hoot together!

Awwww!  Thankful for good friends :-)

Neill and two of his kids!  Claire wasn't having it after a while which you can see in her expression LOL

While the Daddies were grilling up burgers and hot dogs the kids enjoyed playing with Trevor's flying Dusty.  The Dads may have joined in as well :)

S'mores with the giant marshmallows!  A definite hit!

What a beautiful view and picture!

How did everyone sleep you ask?  Well Trevor actually requested to get his jammies on at 7:30 even though it meant staying in the tent because Mommy had him wear footie jammies and he didn't want to get his feet bottoms dirty.  Apparently Jack and Claire were on board because they had a long day too.  According to Trevor, Claire was a bit rambunctious and kept him and Jack up but by 8:30 the kids were asleep in their sleeping bags!  Jack woke up at 4 to go potty which woke everyone up since they were all in the same tent but then they went back to sleep until Claire was up at 6 (her normal time of rising!).  The guys had fun chatting until about 10:30 and then called it a night so it was a good time all around!  In the morning they had some donuts then headed out on another hike, came back had some bacon, packed up and then Neill and the kids headed out because they needed to get back for a birthday party.  So Brian and Trevor went to an old mining town that they heard was cool.

They took a little train around the site!

Cheese!

In the mine:

What is this Trevor is wondering!

Making Double and Great-Uncle Steve proud!

In jail you criminal!

They went panning for gold too but didn't find any :(  Instead Trevor's left some X's to mark the spot.  He's hoping they are there when they go back in the Spring :)  They also saw a Western gun fight but the noise was too loud for Trevor's sensitive ears so they headed home! 

What did the girls do during all of this fun?  Well we had our own fun!  Katie, Grace, Mommy and Ashley met some friends at our clubhouse for Music in the Park!  It was a lot of fun eating, listening to music and seeing our friends!  Ashley wasn't near the band dancing (it was super loud) but she danced around and around until Mommy needed to get her home to bed!

Not before having a leftover birthday cupcake though!

In the morning Mommy took her for her first Krispy Kreme!

She of course picked a sprinkled donut!

Yum!

She got to open some of her birthday presents from her party too!  Nobody listened to Mommy's request of no gifts...

Ashley is very into books and shoes so this Shoe La La book was just perfect.  It even has her name in the story!

So another busy day but worth every second.  Trevor is already super excited for the spring when they can go camping again!!  The boys think the girls should join too but we'll see.  The girls might still be too young ;-)