November in a Snapshot or Two

The first weekend in November Jordan and McKay hand-tilled our back yard and planted grass. McKay kept Jordan going by reminding him of how much he had done and Jordan appreciated his 'help' to keep going. His arms/tendons were sore for a couple of weeks afterward. We have enjoyed watching the grass grow... it LOVES all the rain we have been having.

The epitome of cheap entertainment.
My onion powder turned to rocks due to the humidity but I needed some for a recipe I was making and got enough powder to make the rub. The boys had a ball transferring the tiny and the not-so-tiny rocks from one container to the other. They would have been entertained for hours but I cut them short to hopefully limit the mess I would have to clean up!

Maxwell turned 18 months November 20th and went to nursery without a backward glance. There are a couple of 'rough' boys in there that have made it a bit harder for him to be excited to go to nursery but overall Maxwell seems to enjoy it.

McKay and his cars sat on his stool looking out the window and waiting for Nanna Anna, Grandpa and Chantelle to arrive for Thanksgiving. After about an hour we called to see where they were. Grandpa told McKay what time they would be there according to the GPS so he got the clock from the bathroom and notified me each time it got a little closer the time Grandpa told him. I knew they had arrived when I heard McKay run out the door to greet them. Excited? I think so.

I did a terrible job of taking pictures while they were here so most of what I have is what my mom took. They arrived on Wednesday and on Thursday we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner once the turkey finally got done. It was nice relaxing and visiting. McKay loved having so many people to play hide-and-seek with. Friday we went to Old Town and ate at Coyote Cafe. Then we hurried over to the Mormon Battalion for a tour.

After the tour Mom and Dad went to Lancaster for a massage and we took senior pictures of Chantelle around Old Town and then with the sunset at the beach. Jordan & I enjoyed taking pictures of someone who smiles and does what you ask!

Panning for gold.
We spent Saturday at Sea World. Jordan finally had people who could go on rides with him (at least rides that don't go in circles) and it was nice having more laps at the shows and hands to hold between! We went to a 15 minute Polar Express in 4D and hit all the major shows: dolphins, sea lions, and Shamu. The boys and I were entertained by the penguins while the others went on one of the rides. The day was just warm enough that they were able to go on the 'wet' rides and not totally freeze. It was a lovely day!

McKay was very disappointed when it was time for them to leave. I forgot to remind him they were leaving on Sunday so it was a bit of a surprise. He is already asking when they will be back again or when we will be going to Arizona.
Thanks for visiting!

The new grass at the end of the month, after 3 1/2 weeks of growth. Not bad!

Visitors

October 6th Jordan's parents came to visit us. The boys were SO excited! Jordan was able to take Friday off so we went to the zoo. We got some free passes with our membership in March and this is the first time we've had visitors to use them! We hadn't seen the panda bears yet because the line was always too long. Now they have finished the exhibit though so there isn't even a line anymore.

McKay was our official map reader. As soon as we finished with group of exhibits, he'd grab the map to see where we should go next and direct us where to go.

McKay wasn't too excited about climbing on that lion and was even less excited when his hat was taken for the picture. But they are cute anyway. We happened to see the lions when they were getting their lunch.

The polar bears were by far every one's favorite exhibit. Every time we've seen them they have been very active but this time they were especially playful with each other and with the big balls in the water. It was very cool.

Even though we had the double stroller, McKay insisted on walking the whole 3 hours or so that we were there. We were all ready to be done walking by the time we left!

Maxwell loves to play peek-a-boo. He is so much fun.

After leaving the zoo we drove to Coronado and drove around looking at the unique and beautiful homes there. Jordan's parent's had never been there before. It was a little too relaxing though and it was a bit difficult for some of us to stay awake.

McKay usually has unlimited energy for his Saturday soccer games but the zoo wore him out and we could tell he was tired as he played.

McKay REALLY wanted to go outside with Daddy and Grandpa who were out cooking a tri-tip roast on the grill. Not exactly shoes but at least his feet were covered! Uncle Todd came to McKay's game as well as Grandma and Grandpa and it was fun having them. Afterwards we had a delicious lunch of tri-tip bbq sandwiches, corn on the cob, grilled Italian squash, and fresh avocado dip and chips. Then Grandma and Grandpa went with Todd to his house to visit with them.

The real reason we had visitors was that Erin & Domingo blessed their sweet baby Brooklyn Sunday afternoon at Todd & Lisa's home. We were happy we were able to attend. McKay enjoyed playing with everyone, as usual, and it was great to visit and to meet Domingo's sweet sisters.

Max ate almost the whole ice cream sandwich and really didn't make too big of a mess. That doesn't mean I wasn't concerned he'd make a huge mess though.

Come again soon Grandma & Grandpa Moser!

Sea World

We bought passes to Sea World yesterday and all of us enjoyed ourselves. Max quickly caught on to watching the animals through the glass and loved standing up close. He got especially excited about the Beluga Whales, the walrus, and the penguins. It was fun to watch him point to the animals; McKay was ready to move on well before Maxwell was!

We went to the dolphin show first, then to the sea lion show and then to Shamu Rocks. The Sea Lion show was very entertaining, especially the pre-show! McKay saw the vendors walking up and down the stairs and noticed the fist-fulls of money they had. He suggested we ask them for some of it. :) He was teasing me. Maxwell decided he wanted to 'give knuckles' to a lady sitting behind us. He wouldn't give up until she figured it out and 'punched' his fist. Of course she loved it!

Shamu Rocks started at 8pm and was awesome. We are glad we thought to get passes before the summer night shows are over! We got to the stadium early and cautiously sat on the second to last row of the soak zone. The boys had fun dancing to the music before the show, entertaining them and those around us!

Both boys tasted cotton candy for the first time too. How I wish I could have had their reactions on video! After he knew what to expect, Maxwell loved it and helped himself to handfuls at a time. McKay liked it after a minute but was too busy watching the show to eat much.

We also splurged and got McKay a 'light stick' as he called it. He was one happy little boy! Max thought it was pretty neat too until the cotton candy arrived.

Both boys fell asleep after Shamu Rocks. We went later on in the day purposely so we could see the fireworks that night. We had time before the fireworks at 9:50 we wandered tiredly through aquariums and stroller-friendly exhibits until it was time for the show.

We woke McKay up so he could see the fireworks he had been so looking forward to seeing. Poor kid was tired and the show was just a few minutes long. When it ended he said 'I wanted long fireworks!' Our house was super hot when we got home (AC broke this HOT weekend) so McKay just slept in his underwear... until 8:45 am. Yes, we successfully wore him out!

Swimming Lessons

This year we signed McKay up for swimming lessons at the high school about 1/2 mile from our home. I didn't know about them until they had already started so he missed the first two days of the first 8 day session. I watched him improve each day so we signed him up for another session even though he would miss the last 3 days for our vacation. It was well worth the extra 5 lessons though because his confidence and skills improved immensely. And he loved swimming lessons!

The first 'challenge' I gave him was to go under the water with the other kids in the shallow end when they did ring-around-the rosies and motor boat. He said he would and he did! I told him I would be watching and that if he looked at me afterward I would give him a thumbs up. My friend took this picture on her phone. I was pretty proud of him!

The goggles helped him a lot since he really doesn't like getting water in his eyes. It has made Jordan and I want goggles too. They look fun...

Maxwell was my little buddy watching McKay each week. The parents watch from outside the fence until the last day of the lessons and there is no shade or place to sit. SO each week I brought my huge umbrella and a chair along with my bag of 'tricks' to keep Maxwell entertained. The two days Jordan was able to come he wondered how I did it all by myself every day. I let McKay carry his own towel. :)

A couple of days I even brought Max his own chair. He loved it.

Along with eating his snacks Max entertained himself by copying sounds the other kids were making, such as coughing.
I love his little crossed ankles. :)

The last day of lessons they let the parents come over next to the pool to get better pictures, etc. I wanted a progress report after his second session so I told them we would be leaving early and they let me be over next to the pool for his last lesson. Jordan was able to get off work early that day so he sat outside with Maxwell so I was able to take pictures and video of the whole thing. His teacher was kind enough to say 'now it's McKay's turn' giving me enough time to get the video camera started.

Wake up!

McKay on his last day of swimming lessons... freezing while I take his picture. :)

I took video his second to last day when there were only 3 instead of 5 children in his class. They got to do a lot of extra things. It was great.

Next year maybe we'll get to do at least one complete session!

Happy Birthday McKay!

We started celebrating McKay's birthday by going to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park the day before (Saturday). It is very different from the zoo but we really enjoyed it. Here Maxwell is pointing to animals just like Daddy.

We went on the African Safari Tram which takes you on a 25 minute tour of the park and allows you to see animals you can't otherwise see due to the way the park is set up. The exhibits are set up the way the natural habitats of the animals are. We wanted to see the cheetah run (click on the link and you'll have a better view than we did!) at 5 pm so we waited until a little later in the day to go to the park. Maxwell slept about 20 minutes the entire day so he was on the move the.entire.time!

McKay was so excited to go on the ride and see more 'amimals'!

Our tour guide was very entertaining. Flamingos!

It was very interesting to see the different terrain based on what habitat the animals needed. We learned that Grevy's Zebras have to be alone because they are mean to other animals. They bite & kick!

Looks like Africa doesn't it?!

Lions napping in the sun.

We went to a show where some acrobats from Africa performed for us. This guy doing the limbo has knives pointing down and nails pointing up from the ground. They were incredible!

This guy is doing a hand stand on 4 chairs placed on 4 glasses, arranged on the coffee table. He did all sorts of tricks getting to this point, one chair at a a time.

When Jordan went to park the stroller before the show, he looked at the elephants that were nearby and then started coming to join us. Small problem: he forgot to get Maxwell out of the stroller! He was a bit confused at my waving arms until he remembered. Max was patiently waiting in the stroller, looking back to see where everybody was!

Wow, they were impressive!

They offered to let people take pictures with them. I had to bribe McKay to sit with me for the picture and Max strongly objected when one of them tried to hold him for the picture. As you can see, he isn't too sure about that stuff hanging in front of the acrobats face!

Max thought it was so fun going down the steps with Jordan. He hasn't quite figured out how to do it yet so he just steps off the step rather than stepping down.

The elephants were my favorite. You can see them on a web cam here. There are several baby elephants at the safari park.

The boys had fun looking at the elephants too. McKay loves that he is big enough to climb up on the fence by himself!

McKay's birthday was on a Sunday this year. Here he is having his favorite cold cereal, Lucky Charms, for breakfast. It was a real treat because we haven't had Lucky Charms for quite a while. What a lucky boy!

McKay got to open his presents before church at 11 am. Maxwell couldn't understand why he didn't get to open any this time but kept himself busy by pulling the wrapping paper McKay had put in the trash bag OUT and attempting to reach gifts McKay hadn't opened yet.
McKay loved opening his presents and was excited to see what was in each one.

McKay was happy to be sung to in Primary and was very excited to get a special red scripture marking pencil.

After church, McKay talked with Nanna, Papa & Chantelle on the web cam and one-by-one showed them each gift he had received. Jordan had taken his gifts to McKay's bedroom so he had to make several trips back to the computer.

We invited some friends from our ward over to have cake and ice cream for McKay's birthday. McKay and Melody Jacobson have become good little friends so it was like a birthday party for him playing with Melody. They enjoyed the toys and all the balloons we had blown up. Maxwell is about 6 months younger than Violet but they still play around each other. The great part about it is that they have awesome parents too so it was a lot of fun.

McKay wanted a Toy Story cake so I did Andy's bedroom. Jordan frosted the 'wood floor'. I warned him he better not do too good of a job or he'd be the official birthday-cake-maker. :) It turned out great and McKay loved it!

Jordan carefully put the candles in the bed, we sang happy birthday and McKay blew them out. That is when I noticed he'd only put two candles in the cake! OOpS! So McKay got to blow candles out again with four the second time!

Happy Happy birthday to my big 4 year old boy!

We finished the night off with a movie night. We watched Wall-E, a movie McKay got for his birthday. It was a fun day.

The following Tuesday at McKay's swimming lesson I heard him telling them that he will be 5 on his next birthday! Let the countdown begin!