Sunday, April 27

Staycation 2014!

M's birthday was this week and we wanted to do something extra fun because he had some time off work to use. We thought about vacation options... but realized that having a 1-year-old who is finicky about sleeping anywhere but his own bed and still takes two naps each day would make any vacation plans more challenging than this whiny pregnant lady was up for attempting! So we decided to pretend we were on vacation here in our own city. And we had a great time!!

On our first day, we went to explore the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. Of all the things we did, it was my absolute favorite because watching A was fantastic. He kept running from exhibit to exhibit and saying, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" He was holding M's hand through a lot of the museum and was pulling him along to see everything. I loved seeing both boys so thrilled!







We had such a great time that we decided to get season passes! With our passes, we headed over to the farm at Thanksgiving Point as well. A loves animals and has learned how to make almost all of the farm animal sounds, so he was enthralled seeing the "moo's" and "neigh's" and "baa's" and "quack quack's." He even got to ride a pony! It was so cute to see a tiny boy on a tiny horse!



The next day, we went to the Hogle Zoo. A loved this too because it was more animals plus tons of space to run! He recently loves running on inclined surfaces and says "Up! Up!" or "Down, down, down!" depending on which direction he is going. And the paths at our zoo are lots of inclines, so he was in heaven!










Lately, A loves counting things... but he only knows the number "two." Sometimes as we walk with him, we hold his hands and say "one, two, three, JUMP!" and swing him. He loves it. And now he likes to encourage us to do this while holding our hands by saying "two, two, two, GO!" It is ridiculously adorable... even though he wanted to do it over and over again throughout the zoo!



Finally, our third adventure was to the recently opened Living Planet Aquarium. This was a lot of fun too but I think A's legs were sore from running all around the zoo the day before, because he was whiny and wanted to be carried almost the entire time! His favorite exhibits were the ones with sharks, big fish, and/or ducks. Although every other kid seemed fascinated by the penguins, he couldn't be bothered by them and looks annoyed in any pictures I could get of him! He can be such a funny, opinionated kid!







Thursday, April 24

Happy Birthday M!

This handsome guy doesn't look a day over 29!!




Happy birthday M!! Cheesecake and presents, dancing and partying, a staycation... we hope you had the greatest birthday yet because we think you're the greatest dad and husband ever!

Sunday, April 20

Easter Weekend

We had such a fun Easter weekend! I think holidays are so much more fun when you have kids to share them with. The weekend started out with an egg hunt put on by our city at a local park. I was really impressed by all the work that went into it because A absolutely loved it. It was perfect for his first egg hunt ever!

Because he has never done an egg hunt before, I tried practicing with him at home first but he just looked at me like I was crazy with all the talk about eggs and baskets.


But then once we got close to the park, he started to get excited!


We got to the park about 15 minutes before the hunt began and I was very impressed with how well A waited outside of the circle like he was supposed to until it was time to start.


But once they sounded the firetruck horn to signal that the kids could begin hunting for eggs, A was off! Apparently the concept of putting the eggs in his basket made a lot more sense to him once he actually saw the eggs because he did an excellent job!




Once the eggs were gone, he was thrilled to sit down and check out what he had collected. But this cute kid just wanted to crack open all of the eggs and organize his treats into matching piles rather than eat any of it!


All in all, I think his first egg hunt was a success.

That afternoon, we went to a lunch with M's family. And they had set up another egg hunt for A and his cousin, Oliver. By now, A was a pro at this egg collecting thing! He tends to take things pretty seriously when he's focused... and he definitely didn't appreciate his mom and dad trying to make him actually smile while he was busy collecting. This was the closest to a smile we could get!




Once again, his favorite part was just seeing what was inside of the eggs and he hardly ate any of the fruit snacks!

Then Easter Sunday morning rolled around and A found some surprises from the Easter Bunny.


One of the traditions I grew up with is that the Easter Bunny leaves a trail of candy from your bedroom door to your basket full of goodies. I think A liked the trail more than anything else from the Easter Bunny!




The Easter Bunny also hid eggs in our backyard so he had his third egg hunt!





Then we got ready for church and A got to wear his new Sunday outfit from Meema! I don't really understand how he looks like he suddenly turned twice his age... but he is so handsome and grown up!




Oh gosh, I just love him!

Church was really great and it was such a good reminder to why we really have the Easter holiday. As much fun as the chocolate and eggs and Easter Bunny are, I'm so grateful for our Savior. It was a perfect day to connect together as a little family with fun for a kid as well as a powerful reminder for the grownups.