Santa Barbara Zoo

We met the Serrano Family at the Santa Barbara Zoo for the day. It was great to see everyone. Sofi was so fun to watch. The boys liked the animals, but Sofi is at the age where everything is so much more exciting. She kept pointing excitedly and naming the animals and telling us what sounds they make. And, she loved hanging out with Savanna. All kids and babies love her. She held Sofi and pushed her around all day long.

Cute lil' Gabby!

Cute lil' Emma!

This gorilla just sat right in front of the window and let the kids admire her (Or him? Not sure)!

There is this hill at the zoo that the kids slide down on pieces of cardboard boxes. This was their favorite thing at the zoo. It trumped all the animals. When we go back, we'll spend most of our time here and I'll bring a book. :)

Thank you, Benjamin, for illustrating so perfectly why they padded the bottom of the tree trunks!

On the train: Save your money. The train is loud and uneventful. And if that wasn't enough, Emma spit her pacifier over the side and Sofi lost her hat!

They have this "How to Train a Dinosaur" show at the zoo right now. It was...well... pretty lame if you're older than probably 4. So Sofi really like it. Bradley and Ben were unimpressed. Bradley informed me that he could see the man's legs under the dinosaur. Aww...a couple years ago he would have thought this was the coolest thing ever!

May 28, 2011

Parties and Play Dates

We met one of our home school groups at a local skate park today. It was the boys' first time riding their scooters at a skate park. They became a little brazen around other much more coordinated skaters. There were several falls, a few tears, and some blood but overall they said they had a great time and can't wait to go back!

It was hilarious watching them try to ride up these ramps. They would ride up as far as they could and then climb the rest of the way dragging their scooters. Once at the top, they would simply hang their scooters over other side and slide down the ramps on their bums!

June 2, 2011

We had a big BBQ on Memorial Day and invited all of our new neighbors, the missionaries, and some friends from church. We really have wonderful neighbors and friends. This was our first "event" in our new house. We ended up having it in our front yard/driveway and garage.

Oh, speaking of Garage- take a look at what we've done! It's not finished yet, but so much better!

Okay, back to the BBQ:

This is our neighbor, Ron, whom the boys absolutely adore. They recently have been dressing up as missionaries (suits, ties, and scriptures) and going over to his house to teach him lessons and bear their testimonies. Last Sunday they decided to teach Ron a lesson about prayer and invite him to church. Here was part of the conversation:

Brad: Would you like to go to church with us?

Ron: Nah, I don't like going to church. All they do is sing and pray.

Ben: And sometimes you have to give talks.

Brad: And then you can get baptized.

Ben: Yeah, and your dad or grandpa can baptize you!

Ron: Both my dad and grandpa are dead, so what I am supposed to do?

He got the boys on that one. They just kind of shrugged.

Brad: Well, let me ask you this: (very seriously) do you keep the commandments?

Ron: I probably don't, but that doesn't make me a bad person.

Ben: If you don't keep the commandments, you're going to live with Satan!

Ron: I don't believe in Satan. That's just kind of a fable.

The boys looked at each other in shock. They did, however, teach Ron how to pray, and he promised to pray every day for one week. They told him they'd be back to check up on him!

They have been excited about missionary work for awhile, but their excitement has grown ever since James was called to be the Ward Mission Leader. The missionaries are around our home very frequently, and the boys see dad doing missionary work. It is so cute. I love that they have no fear, no shame, and unshakable testimonies!

Okay, back to the BBQ AGAIN. This is Kathy and Michelle. Their house is connected to ours. The boys have set an appointment to teach Michelle a lesson as well. That should be just as interesting!

Here are Maggie and Steve. They live next to Michelle and Kathy. They have two children that Brad and Ben love to play with.

The boys busted out their swords and light sabers, and even took on the missionaries! Brad was going crazy, showing off doing spins and such until Michelle, our tiniest of neighbors, got up and beat him silly! It was hilarious! He sat down after that. :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day. James gave a sweet talk at our BBQ about our great country and acknowledged the bravery and efforts of the men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. There were two veterans at our BBQ and he gave them a chance to talk about their service as well. It was a wonderful afternoon. We have decided to make it an annual gathering.

May 30, 2011

Brad Vs. Dad

Yes, We Are CRAZY!

Marley has serious separation anxiety issues. Whenever he is outside alone or we leave the house without him, he freaks out. The neighbors say he cries and cries. So...we decided he needed a friend! James stopped by the pound on his way home from work last week and came home with a Chihuahua/Beagle mix who we lovingly named Frodo.

Frodo has turned out to be a great little dog. He is house broken, knows a few commands, walks great on a leash, and best of all LOVES Marley! They play and play and play. Marley has stopped whimpering when we leave and because they have each other, they spend more time outside which means less hair for me to clean up inside!

I think it was inevitable that we would get a second dog. When we rescued Marley, I purchased this dog bed from Costco. It was HUGE. I remember thinking, this could easily fit two dogs! Then we purchased a dog house on craigslist. It was also huge. Marley and Frodo fit perfectly in this house and nap together!

Frodo is only 15 pounds. He is less than half the size of Marley. The children love him because he is small. The boys can actually both walk him (Marley is too big and too strong), and Savanna finally got her lap dog. Welcome to the family, Frodo!

May 27 - June 2, 2011

Wrapping Up May

These past two weeks have flown by. I can't believe that it is June already! I will share the highlights...there are many.

Here is our angel, Emma Leigh Eve. She is officially crawling (see the video below)! Well, scooting/crawling. At any rate, she can get around! You take your eyes off her for a minute and she is across the room!

Emma is still so happy. She may not like to sleep but rarely gets fussy, so I can't complain too much. She is such a sweet girl.

We started this reward system with Bradley about 5 weeks ago. Every day he had the opportunity to earn up to two checks. When he accumulated 50 checks, we went to Toys R Us and bought this Army Man dress up kit. He has been wearing it ever since! Brad is such a great kid. He would have earned this sooner if he didn't make such a ruckus at bedtime (another child who hates sleeping!). He has started another check chart, along with his brother. Ben is earning checks to buy a Cowboy dress up kit. Who knew boys would like dress up so much!

Our little garden is doing great! We have been harvesting our cucumbers the last couple weeks!

Bradley has been very excited about sports lately. He is the only one playing soccer this Fall (Benjamin and Savanna didn't want to). He also wants to play basketball in the Winter and baseball next Spring. Apparently during the Father/Son camp out a bunch of boys were playing baseball. Brad didn't know how to play, so they told him he couldn't play with them. He was really embarrassed and informed James that it was his job to teach him how to play baseball. We are going to play baseball for family home evening several times so he feels really comfortable with it by next year!

We have been trying new ways to get the boys to play in our little yard. They are a little big for this kiddie pool now, but they played for hours making mud pies and squirting each other with water. My vision for the yard is to make half of it a garden, and put a big trampoline in the other half. Add a decent BBQ and some picket fences to keep kids/pets where they are supposed to be, and it will be perfect!

We had our last youth colloquium until we start again in the Fall. The children discussed Jungle Book. We also had an adult colloquium discussing Laddie. I think this is my new favorite book. It even trumps Pride and Prejudice which says a lot. It is just so applicable to my life right now. I could read it over and over and glean new ideas and insights about family, love, loyalty, and self-reliance.

And, I completed my first month of running! I am up to about 2 miles a training session. Today for the first time I got a glimpse at why people love running. There is something so empowering about pushing through the discomfort, and becoming stronger and faster. I think I'm going to like this after all!

Emma Crawling!

And Talking. :)

May 18 - June 1, 2011