Grandma Holly and Papa Mike Visit

It's always fun when Grandma Holly and Papa Mike come to visit... This trip was nothing different. We were able to spend time together of course but we did a few extra special things too.

We took a trip to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay... and Blake was in heaven. He loved to see all of the fish and tried to scare them all.



He tried to get the sting rays...but he is still a little bit too short... Maybe next time.

No visit from Grandma Holly is complete without story time. Blake loved to have Grandma read book, after book, after book. Papa Mike even got in on the action every once in the while.

Saturday morning we headed down to the lake so we could enjoy the jet skis and the great weather. We all had a great time. Blake enjoyed the water and throwing rocks into the water!



It was a great weekend....that once again went by too fast!

Step Right Up

Ringling Bros. Circus came to town... so we decided to take Blake (and his cousins, Morgan and McKenna) to see the Circus. It's not like our house isn't a circus everyday but this one has a few more animals!

We weren't totally sure what to expect and weren't sure what Blake was going to think of the whole thing but he did a great job and really enjoyed the experience. He paid attention, pretty much stayed in a seat the whole time and loved watching all of the excitement going on. Couldn't ask for much more from an 18 month old at his first circus!

Tickets in hand and ready for the show to start!!!

Opening session... all the performers, animals and lots to see.

The big group of us at the show... Aranne, Blake, Papa, Morgan, Uncle Robert and McKenna. This was also Blake's favorite part about the circus... getting to sit and eat popcorn the whole time! He LOVES popcorn.

The elephants doing their thing.

Having some of dad's juice. (I swear it is juice. It looks like soda but it is NOT!)

After the show... we were lucky and found this crazy hat on our way out... too fun!

Everyone again... Uncle Robert, McKenna, Blake, Morgan, Papa and Aranne

The Great Outdoors

We decided to be brave and head out on our very first family camping trip. We weren't sure how things were going to go and how Blake would respond so we kept it simple and close. We packed up a few things and headed down to Boulder Beach at Lake Mead. The weather is already getting a little bit warm but we thought it would be okay, especially for just one night.

Blake was very excited to be there. I don't think had had any idea what was really going on but he was excited to just be outside and run around. He was also excited to try and "help" daddy with whatever he was doing. It didn't take Blake very long to get really, really dirty. It looked like he had been camping for a week and we had only been there an hour!

After setting up camp it was time for lunch and boy did he eat good. Being outside and playing definitely works up the appetite, and somehow food always seems to taste better when you are camping anyways.

He loved to just play in the dirt, pick up rocks and then dump it out and do it all over again. Lots of time was spent doing this. He also enjoyed feeding the birds with the popcorn we brought along. Some went to the birds and some went in his mouth!

When it was time to get the fire going Blake was there to give his dad a hand.

And then the two boys sat back and looked at what they had accomplished. This was one of our biggest worries but Blake did really well with the fire. He stayed far away and we didn't end up with any injuries!

He and I cooked our hot dog dinner on the fire he had made.... and later

We made Smore's too. He was pretty excited about that treat.

After keeping him up WAAAY past his bedtime (hoping this would help him fall asleep in the tent and stay asleep - which worked) he was up early in the morning with the birds. Here he is with his "oh so happy daddy".

This is the face of a successful first camping trip.

And this is the face of one too... and very tired face... We were ready to head home! But we will do it again soon for sure.

Learning to swim

After a few weeks of crazy weather summer has finally gotten here and looks like it is going to stay. With that being said it means Blake got to start his swim lessons today.

We talked with a few people and heard that Ella was a great swim teacher. She also happens to be the aunt of a good friend of ours... so we decided it was a good choice!

We are not sure what we are really expecting Blake to learn being that he is only 18 months old...and can't really talk to us and tell us what he is understanding...but we want to just get him a little more sure of himself in the water and mostly teach him some safety things.





After his first lesson (which Papa got to be at since he didn't have to work today) Ella thinks he will be able to swim across the pool by the end of the summer. I am not sure that I believe her or not but we will see how he does. He definitely loves the water and is not afraid of it but he is still so little.

He did well listening to her today but he still needs to get to know her a little better and understand what she is wanting him to do. I am sure it will get better (fingers crossed).

Lunch Buffet

I don't know about other moms out there but sometimes I just don't know what to give Blake for lunch... or I feel like I am giving him the same thing over and over and over again. I know that I get sick of eating the same thing everyday so I feel like he must too.

Well... I was "blog surfing" which I occasionally do and I ran across a page where I saw this!


Introducing the LUNCH BUFFET...

I just put a little bit of a lot of different things into the cupcake pan and he LOVED it! I was so excited. It was a little tricky to try to come up with all of the different items but it worked out.

This has become a fun lunch that we have every once in a while. We shared it with Papa out in the yard once and he thought it was fun too. It is just a fun way to enjoy lunch and something different than just the same peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or bologna and cheese that fills up the rest of our week!

Big shoes to fill

So Blake has had an obsession with shoes lately... ALL SHOES! It doesn't matter if they are his, moms or dads he wants to try to put them on. He also doesn't ever want to take his off. And this is hard for me as the person who hardly ever wears shoes and when I say shoes I am speaking of flip-flops!

One night he found Dan's shoes and was determined to get them on his little feet. Well.... he was successful.






He looked so cute standing there is size 12 shoes with his tiny body.... It is strange to think that one day he will probably end up wearing shoes that big. My little baby, my little boy is going to grow into the shoes. Hopefully he will take his time and not let it happen too soon.

Our Nursery Boy

He technically missed his first official day in nursery because we were in CA (not a very good record so far...ooops!) but he was all ready to go on Sunday, May 15th. We had waited and waited for him to turn 18 months and be able to go into nursery and not have to be bored to death with us in our classes....or all of us just wander the halls during church... but as the day approach he became more and more attached and we weren't sure how it was going to go.

But he had his frog name tag in hand... and we were ready to give it a try!


This is his "after" shot showing off his necklace that he had made during class!!!

He did a great job! We were so proud of him. He went right in... and had no problems. We don't know if the leaders are telling us the truth or not but for now we will take it. They said he did great. I was able to sneak a peak and it was pretty darn cute if I do say so myself... He was sitting at the tiny table eating his fruit snacks and just looking up at Sister Virden give her lesson... So precious...

For now we will just keep our fingers crossed that the weeks to follow go just as smooth. Yeah for nursery!

Disney Date

WARNING: Photo Overload...

We went to Disneyland and there were a TON of us. I thought it was going to be a disaster... with kid and adult meltdowns... long lines... arguments over what rides we were going on... and just pretty much the "happiest place on earth" coming to life... but we had a great time. The kids were awesome. We had a few issues with diapers, and needing new clothes for a certain little boy, and it was super HOT but overall it was a great day and we did a bunch of stuff and made it onto a ton of rides. SUCCESS!

Blake, mommy and Minnie

Lori, Jordyn, Minnie, Brad and Kaitlyn

Blake and Jordyn....two peas in a pod. They were so fun to watch during the day and became such great friends.

Blake and mommy on the "merry-go-round" at California Adventure

Auntie Laura and Jordyn on the "merry-go-round"

One tired little boy....one of those kids who falls asleep at Disneyland...you always wonder how that can happen!!!

Blake hitchin' a ride with Al

Blake in his Mickey Mouse shirt.... ready for a full day at Disney

Blake doing some coloring while some other are waiting in a line

Auntie Boo (Carey) on Dumbo with Jordyn

Time spent with family

For the first week of May Blake and I had the opportunity to spend a week with Auntie Laura and get to know some of our relatives just a bit better and hang out with them in CA. It was so much fun and we loved getting away for a bit and I think it was fun for Auntie Laura to have us there so she could get a chance to hang out with Blake too!

Our family from Canada were coming into town so they could go to Disney (and who would want to miss that chance) and we thought it would be fun to see them especially since we hadn't met their little girls and they hadn't met Blake either... It seemed like a win-win situation.

It was so much fun. The kids had so much fun hanging out together. Disney was a blast (HOT, but fun...photos to follow)...and we had a great BBQ, and just a wonderful week thanks to a great hostess.

Lori and baby Kaitlyn (who started walking for real at Auntie Laura's house)

Blake getting some love from Auntie Laura

Jordyn trying to stay cool....but her red cheeks say otherwise!

Blake watering up

Jeri (with her crutches), Al and Kaitlyn

Grandma Jeri and Kaitlyn