The courtship has started

Happy 2nd Birthday Brystal!

Brystal turned 2 on the 12th!  We celebrated with a family party on Sunday with cake and then a friend party on Monday.  We had hot dogs and chips for her favorite dinner.  Her stats from the doctor are 26.2 lbs, 50% and 33 3/4 inches, 50%.

Brystal's Favorites:
Food: Mac and Cheese, Chicken Noodle Soup, Hot Dogs, Doritos, Daddy juice aka Pepsi she doesn't get it very often but she loves it!

TV Shows: Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, anything Eriksen is watching

Color: Blue (she likes to say Bu so everything is Bu)

Best Friends: Cole

Movies: The Adventures of Milo and Otis
Books: Go Dog Go, Things that Go, Elmo's Moon book
Songs: Twinkle Twinkle, Popcorn Popping, Itsey Bitsey Spider, Loves-This little piggy went to market...she will make you do both feet and she will stick out her foot saying, "Piggies, Piggies"
What B wants to be when she gets big: She's two so she will not tell me!

Brystal's First Hair Cut!

I have the hardest time having my kids get their first hair cut.  It is sad for me because I feel like they look so grown up after it is done!  Brystal's hair was everywhere so I could procrastinate any more.  Brystal did amazing at Monkey Doos.  Getting her hair cut didn't seem to bother her at all!

Before

  During

After

First Kinder-Cub Day!

Eriksen will be starting kindergarten this fall gasp.  It doesn't seem real but he is excited, until he found out he needs to get shots before starting.  The school has two days in the spring for an hour where he gets to go to school and do some fun things so that he is ready in the fall.  This first day consisted of meeting the principal.  She read them a story and then he got to go to 3 different stations, a touch/feel station, ABC station, and a number station.  Then we got snacks.  He said, "Big school is awesome."  It is sad but also exciting to see him grow up.

Krispy Kreme Field Trip!

What better way to teach nutrition, than with a field trip to Krispy Kreme! 

 Touching the dough.

Watching the donut making process

Happy 96th Birthday, Grandma!

My fabulous grandma turned 96 on the 10th of February.  We had a party to celebrate her birthday.  My Aunt Gloria, cousin Michelle and Trish came to town to put on the party.  It was so fun to see them again.  It was a great party!  Lots of people came, John, Jaren and his family, JC and his family, Gavin and his family, Jeff, Crystal, Katie, baby Taylor, and a lot of other family and friends.  Happy Birthday Grandma.  We love you!

Coffe Filter Wreaths

I made two coffee filter wreaths.  One for my grandma's 96th birthday and then a Valentine one for me.  I used distressed ink to color the edges of the coffee filters.  They are fun to make!

Vacation Part 2

Eriksen's Favorites: (He would say all of them!) Roller Coaster Train aka Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Splash Mountain, The Little Mermaid-Ariel's Undersea Adventure

Brystal's Favorites: Mad Tea Party (Teacups), Peter Pan's Flight, Astro Orbitor, Carousel

Sunday was a relaxing day.  We went to Sacrament meeting then home to take naps.  After naps, we headed to Huntington Beach and then ate at Claim Jumpers.  My favorite place.

Monday was back to Disneyland.  (Eriksen would get mad at me because my eyes were closed in every ride picture.  He would say, "Mom, I told you to keep your eyes open.")

Tuesday we entered Disneyland early and then Hopped over to California Adventure then back to Disneyland till it closed at 6 (INTEL had rented out the whole park for the evening!!!) and back to California Adventure.

Wednesday we packed up and ate at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant at Knott's Berry Farm and then headed to the LA market till our flight home. 

It was a fantastic vacation and I can't wait to go back again.  We loved the weather, the small crowds and the kids were amazing.  They did so well and we only had a few meltdowns.  I was able to see new things at Disneyland and California Adventure and gain a new appreciation for the parks.  Till next time...

Happy Valentine's!

We had a preschool Valentine Party.  The kids had made cute monster Valentine boxes.  Ronnie and Eriksen are best friends!

We made Brystal popcorn for her Valentines.  The bags said "I don't mean to be Corny but you're the greatest! (Another Family Fun idea)

We made super hero valentine's for Eriksen's preschool.  We got mickey suckers from Disneyland.  I got the idea from the Family Fun Magazine.  They have such cute ideas.

Vacation Part 1

On Wednesday, we headed to the airport to fly to Disneyland for a week.  It is our first vacation as just a family...OK grandma tagged along also.  Our vacations are usually reunions so we were excited to head out on our own!  This was Brystal's first flight and she loved it.  We hit a lot of turbulence from our Oakland to LAX flight but she slept through it all.  Eriksen was a great flier also.

Our first stop was In N Out!  I love my hamburger animal style.  Then we headed to Santa Monica.  Myles wanted to show us where he had gone for his work trip.  It was a lot of fun.  Eriksen loved the ocean and eventually was soaked!  Brystal wasn't too excited about the water but played in the sand.  We also got to see the Dunphy family of Modern Family.  They were getting ready to shot the season finale on the Pierre but we had 2 kids that didn't think it was fun to look at celebrates so we had to leave before they actually started filming. 

Thursday, we headed to Disneyland.  Eriksen loved Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. He would run off after each ride and say, "That was awesome.  Let's do it again!"  He could careless about the characters but I am hoping we will get a picture before we leave.  Brystal liked the Carousel and would love the coasters also but she is too little.

Friday, we went to California Adventure.  Eriksen loved The Tower of Terror.  Myles and I loved the Water of Color but Eriksen didn't like the fire.  We had great seats...front and center! 

Saturday was Disney again.  We had lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe.  It has a great atmosphere but the price is not worth the food you get.  We got a 5 day Hopper pass so it has been nice because we have been able to take our time and try rides we haven't been on before.  Like Pirate Liar on Tom Sawyer's Island and the New Orleans Boat. 

So far the kids have been great troopers.  We drag them till they drop and then do it again the next day!