We Heart San Diego

Over Spring Break, we tagged along on a biz trip with Corey and had a blast in San Diego. We happened to go last Spring too, and I would not be the least bit averse to doing it every year. That place is the best! I flew out with the boys and we met Corey at the airport when his flight arrived. The first couple of days we stayed in the Gaslamp Quarter and Corey attended a class for work, so me and the boys hit the city sans Daddy. I only got lost once while driving around. I tried to keep a calm facade, but I was FREAKING out inside, especially when I ended up on a road I couldn't get off of that was going directly to the freeway. I wanted to avoid the California freeway at all costs, because without a GPS or a good map, I was going to be in big trouble. Speaking of...maybe it's time to finally get a GPS, eh? We made it back to the hotel flustered, but alive and well. Phew!

My travel buddies(at the airport).

We went to the San Diego Zoo, and saw as much as we could possibly see in a day(next time we are totally doing the bus tour...I didn't figure that one out til after we left!) Everyone's favorite was the Panda, which we had been talking about to the kids for at least a month before the trip. A close second for me was a quail type bird that did this insane mating dance for us...coolest thing ever! I thought I had video of it, but was so caught up in watching it, I later realized I never hit the record button at all. Beckett took a nice long nap in his stroller in the afternoon while Ash and I hoofed it up and down all the steep hills and saw the animals. What a great zoo!

Yep, that's the panda's back end:)

This skyride had me panicking inside. I was so afraid one of the kids was going to fall out that I didn't enjoy it AT ALL. Ash loved every second.

Me and the boys also hit Balboa Park and went to the Science Museum. They dedicated half of the upper level to a children's area, and the kids absolutely loved it and played hard for a few hours. The park was beautiful to stroll around and I think next time we'll have to check out some more of that area. Gorgeous!

The Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center in Old Town came highly recommended by a few of our good friends, and it didn't disappoint. The tour was both entertaining and well done, and I actually learned a lot. Asher didn't want to leave his post as 'water boy'. He manned the pump as long as he could before we finally made him stop so we could go.

The remainder of our trip was spent in Carlsbad. We rented a little bungalow about a block up from the beach, making it easy for us to walk down with the kids. We went to Legoland, and the Sea Life aquarium with the boys and they had a great time. My favorite part was all the incredible things that were made of legos! Amazing! The kids loved all the rides, of course.

Lovin' me some Hagrid.

Ah, the beach...

We were a little worried we wouldn't get a good day at the beach because of a storm that passed through during our stay, but we did get one beautiful, warm-ish day at Carlsbad beach. Me and the boys played in the sand, and Corey helped the boys get really wet and sandy jumping waves. What a way to spend an afternoon.

Seriously, San Diego has fast become one of our fave destinations for our family. There's just so much to do...shop, eat, beach, zoo, theme parks...love it! And I think I've vanquished my fear of flying solo with the boys. Sitting between them, and being fully stocked with movies, treats and books, we made it without a glitch:)

Try This On....

This boy.  Loves. To try things on...shoes in particular.  It doesn't matter whose, or what type, he loves to strut his stuff in all kinds of shoes.  These are some various pictures I've taken recently, capturing him snagging someone else's shoes. Too funny.  Beckett also has a new mitt that, as you can see, he just can't part with.  Seriously, this kid has to take naps with it on.  It's SO DARN CUTE.  

 

I remember posting about Asher doing this a few years back, and low and behold, here is his little bro...following in his (dare I say it?) footsteps:)

 

 

 

 

 

P.S.  These few pictures of the boys roller skating are from a recent day out, giving it a go:)  It was...interesting!  They had fun, but only after getting some much needed help from some of the teachers (no parents allowed during kid sessions).  Even Beckett wanted to give it a try!

 

 

 

 

Partners in crime(fighting).

Asher and Beckett are partners in crime. Asher loves to come running up to me, bursting with news of Beckett getting into some sort of trouble or making some sort of mess. The most recent case and point: "Mooooom, Beckett cracked some eggs on the floor, ...and on himself!" All this is relayed to me with a HUGE grin on his face. My reply, "What happened? And wipe that grin off your face." Asher tried as hard as he could with his hands to make the smile go away, but failed miserably. Yes, there was such a mess awaiting me on the kitchen floor. Ah, well....

The times that I do happen to hear part of what is happening before Asher tells me, I hear Ash chiding Beckett on, and giggling like crazy as Beckett (for example) flings toilet paper off the roll as fast as he can, or rips out as many wipies as possible leaving the floor more white than not. Yes, they seem to 'help' each other out plenty. Sometimes(definitely NOT always) I have to try to wipe the smile off my face too, before I have to go and show some authority:)

And they are oh, so cute with their matching super hero capes on. Crime-fighters to the end...getting all the 'bad guys'. (Thanks again to Auntie Danna for her mad sewing skills and creativity!)

I love it when they do things together, or help one another out. If only those moments lasted a titch longer, but I'm not expecting a miracle. After all, what goes around comes around, right? Here are a few of those 'makin' me smile' moments I wanted to snap.

Packing for our trip to San Diego...they were tryin' out the headphones while I threw clothes into suitcases.

These two love their trains, and playing outside together.

Garbage day.

Oh, I love it when Ash wants to read to his little bro:)

No, this doesn't last long. Within the first 5 minutes there's usually a scuffle.
That, and they barely fit. But they're sure cute all squished in there together.

B is TWO!

Yeppers. Our Beckett has turned the big 2. This kiddo has proven to be full of spunk and rascal-ness just like his brother, maybe even more so! We celebrated Elmo style with all the decorations (as always, at Corey's insistence). He is a big Elmo fan, so we thought it fitting. Aaron and the girls came over to help us celebrate with noisemakers, pizza(oh, how Beckett loves pizza), and cupcakes. Fun!

Here are a few fun tidbits about our fun little guy:

• His little blue bunny,"Bubba" is still his favorite buddy, hands down. I'm not sure he could sleep without him. I smile especially big when he insists that Bubba needs hugs and kisses at night too. Of course he does!
  

• He can be a bit destructive. For example, he's torn keys off of our computer's keyboard (just try having a broken backspace key!), thrown wads and wads of toilet paper into a (recently occupied) toilet, broken a few DVD's (I finally bought a child lock good enough to keep him out), Oh, and he just loves to pump handsoap into the toilet. For each of the afforementioned offenses, he stops, tosses whatever is in his hands and runs away fast. Yeah, he knows better.
  

• If you ask him what a horsee says, his reply will be, "YEE-HAW!"
  

• He loves his naps. Most days around noon, he actually says, "mom, I want bed."(I can't really complain about that one:) He's a boy who knows what he wants.
  

• He gets mad when I push his sleeves up. In fact, he's been known to try to pull down his short sleeves too...oh, does that make him mad!

• He's such a little smartie, and is constantly surprising me with what he knows. One day I was reading him a counting book, pausing after every couple of numbers, to which he surprised me by knowing every one that came next. Who knew?!
  

• He loves to jump! Asher was always a runner, and now Beckett is my jumper. He occasionally adds a loud "ribbit" to his hop.
  

• He is such sweet snuggly boy. He always has been, and I am thrilled that it's continued!

• His favorite way to fall asleep is all tucked up, laying on his stomach with his little bum in the air.
  

• He is quite a talker and is good at letting us know exactly what he wants....both a blessing and a curse!

• He just loves his brother. I sometimes wonder if he hits Asher just so he can give him a big hug afterward and offer his very convincing, "sowwy, Ash." It is hard to resist and mostly convincing.
  

His birthday was fun, and he enjoyed every second. You could tell that he knew it was all just for him, which was really cute. He was giddy with excitement(literally) when he saw the pizza on his plate, ate the better part of four cupcakes, leaving a pile of cupcake carnage off to the side, and ran from new toy to new toy all night, saying, "mines! There was no doubt that he understood that it was HIS day.

We sure do love our Beckett, and can't believe how much he's grown and learned! Especially considering his coming into our lives at only 33 weeks...what a little trooper. This kid's got energy, volume and love to share and are so grateful for our adorable, smart lil' boy!

Ash-man turns 5!

Holy schmokes! My Asher is a five-year-old. How did this happen so fast? He's such a fun, happy, smart and peppy kid. Looking back over his first five years, I can say, hands down, that this kid has been a joy to have around. Sure, he's getting plenty of his own opinions about things, and can dish out his fair share of naughtiness when it comes to his brother, but the rest of the time, he keeps us laughing, and his brother entertained. Already, I have seen some special talents in him, one being that he is a friend to all. Really. He started out early on calling any kid he'd see a friend, which I thought was cute then, but it has since turned out to be a really cool thing. He plays with kids of all ages, anywhere he goes, and is always quick to make new friends. Asher can be the best brother in the world too(when he wants to be). He's loved his Brother from day 1, helping him and including him, and now playing with him every day. I just love that. Asher also loves to learn, from books(he's reading a bit already), to drawing, to numbers(counts to 100 and beyond), he just seems to pick things up. He loves preschool, and he's been talking about Kindergarten recently and seems really excited to go...we even had to do a drive-by last week. I wish I could take the credit, but really, it's just him, and he still surprises me with the things he comes up with. He's diplomatic, a charmer, very funny and has a great smile. Love my Ash!

His birthday request this year was all about dinosaurs. He'd never taken to them much until he started watching the PBS show, Dinosaur Train. Now he loves them, and it made for a fun b-day theme for a family party and for his first ever friend party, which we delayed for a couple of weeks until we were done with the holidays.

Party #1 was on his actual birthday and G-ma and pa Reitz were there, as well as my sister Jen and her cute family. There are always a few extra family members around to help make his day special, which I think is really a bonus!

Party #2 was a few weeks later. Again, the theme was Dinosaur Train. Including Asher, there were 9 little boys running around! It all went smoothly and I think the kids had a good time, mostly thanks to my mom and her super ability to get kids to listen to her. I was SO glad my parents were in town to help! My dad ended up taking Beckett upstairs to play for almost the whole party. A house full of 5 year olds was a little overwhelming for Beck, but as an added bonus, he had Grandpa all to himself, so really he had a little party of his own! I was just glad the party went well, since it was our first endeavor, I wasn't really sure what would work or what wouldn't. The boys painted dinosaur suncatchers, hunted for dinosaur eggs, played pin the tail on the T-Rex, and dug for dinosaur bones(the big favorite). Then we had cupcakes, and food. My one faux pas was in trying to buy dry ice for the punch, which I thought would add a fun 'volcanic' flare to the food table. I bought it the day before, brought it home, and then googled how to store it. Whoops...dry ice 'subliminates', meaning you buy it as close to the time you need it as possible. Mine was gone before the day was through, and I wasn't going out to buy more. Lesson learned! Overall though, fun times! I loved how happy Asher was having all his buddies there, and there wasn't one argument or fight from anyone. Later that day, after the party was over, I asked what his favorite part was, to which he answered, "having all my friends over." Cute boy:)

And so, we are wishing a BIG Happy Birthday to our own Ash-a-saurus. A wonderful little boy that we can't possibly imagine living our lives without. Love you buddy!

P.S. Grandma and Grandpa Pettit, we all loved our visit with you guys! Thanks for making Asher's day perfect and for spending your time with us! We love you and miss you already! Especially the boys...who else spoils them rotten and happily plays with them, entertaining them with authentic animal sounds (Grandpa...also pulled these sounds out at the party and to my amazement had the bigger boys laughing in seconds), and books and songs(Grandma...that alligator song has become a beloved classic). Come again soon:)