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!

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!

June

Slowly but surely I am catching up on all the things I let go of during tax season. It seems like it is taking me longer every year to get back on top of things! It could also be that THIS YEAR I want to do some of the things that have been on my 'list' for a long time. Hopefully I'll be able to blog more so I don't end up doing these forever long posts! Anyway, here are a few things we did in June.

We started off the month by going to the San Diego Zoo. This time it was a much better experience since we avoided the Tiger Trail and didn't get lost! We saw the elephants first and one even did a dance for us. We also saw the polar bears and several reindeer. None of them had red-noses though.

There are a couple of different areas for the flamingos so we saw them again this time. Those mounds of dirt they are sitting on are nests. One stood up for a second and we saw the egg it was sitting on. Very interesting.
While we were watching the flamingos a couple of peacocks were in the trees around us. One was behind us and the other was in a tree in front of us and they were 'yelping' back and forth. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to hear that at night... it is quite a sound.

These ducklings slipped through the fence but (of course) the mother duck couldn't fit. One by one they went back through the fence to the mama duck.

Max helped himself and finished the rest of McKay's lunch he had 'saved for later'. Didn't bother McKay one bit.

McKay finished off the rest of his grow capsules and made a bunch of little foam animals that he and Max had fun playing with. Max was being so silly.

Here he is entertaining his brother (while he eats his lunch) by putting the animals on his head and saying 'uh-oh' when they fell off as he bent over to get more.

I love that smile.

And that hair!

I love that smile too.

We have a weekly park playgroup I organized when we moved here. Sometimes we are the only family there and other weeks more join us. But either way we love going to the park. Here Max is trying out a scooter and lovin' it!

McKay has been itching to ride his bike again so we took advantage of an overcast cool morning and went to the church parking lot. I didn't have to help him at all; he remembered everything.

Max had fun chasing McKay.

He also enjoyed kicking and throwing a ball around the parking lot. He is really coordinated and loves balls. He is the first one to see a ball no matter where we go.

He also enjoyed playing on the rocks, which made his momma a bit nervous. He thinks he can climb on anything...
It really was a lovely morning.

I did a few sewing projects this month including several hooded bath towels and a few burp cloths for friends having babies and for myself. I bought material to make burp cloths before Maxwell was born but didn't have time to make them. And I definitely could have used more with Max! SO I made a few now so that if (or more realistically speaking: when) I don't have time the next time I am expecting a baby I already have a few new cloths ready to go. Good idea eh? McKay loves to watch me sew and entertains himself by playing with my pin cushion and 'making things' with ribbon and pins. I hadn't noticed what he had done to my pin cushion until I picked it up to get a pin. Ouch!

The boys have enjoyed playing in the water on the patio on some of these hot days we've had so far this summer. After the first time I set it up I realized I needed to be prepared with towels for the boys and a chair for me to sit on BEFORE I let them play with the water. When I left them the first time Max was drenched when I got back, thanks to his brother.

This was taken at Mast Park, which is my favorite because there are lots of trees shading the playground. Max likes hats but I haven't found one he will keep on for very long, unlike McKay who will keep his on the whole time. We were the only people there from our playgroup but McKay made friends with some other boys there and had so much fun playing with them while Max enjoyed having free reign over the sand toys. He enjoyed it so much I had to give him a bath when we got home!

This is how Maxwell eats: mouth full, fist full, and tray empty. Usually both fists are full. Once one hand is free he starts asking for more. Funny boy!

It is not unusual for Jordan to fall asleep on the floor after dinner in the evening. His commute is usually about 45 minutes. He gets to work and has to walk 15 minutes from where he parks to the office. He has to be to work by 6 am and doesn't usually get home until about 6 pm on good nights, which makes for very LONG days. This is how I found him one evening.

We went to La Jolla Shores Beach to help our friends celebrate their baby's first birthday and the boys had fun flying McKay's Buzz Lightyear kite. Notice how Maxwell is all tangled up in the kite's tail.

McKay busy trying out the new sand toys.

Max is in the phase where he wants to play with whatever McKay has. At least I hope it is a phase cause it is sure making life interesting.

McKay loves to chase birds.

Our friends had an un-birthday party for their little girl whose birthday is in December. A pool party isn't too much fun in December! Both boys had so.much.fun. I didn't grab my camera when the boys first got in and I didn't want to leave Maxwell alone so this is the only picture I got, which was toward the end. They loved playing in the pools, running through the sprinklers, playing with toys and having a nice little lunch. Seriously, it was great. In this picture McKay's friend Melody Jacobson had this great idea that if McKay took off his hat they could both fit on the spinning toy, in the pool, inside the ring. Once they got in there they giggled and giggled and called for Melody's mommy (Tasha) to see.

Maxwell loves strawberries. He saw them at Costco and couldn't figure out why I didn't give him some right then. So we had some for lunch, and for a snack after his nap and after dinner... pretty much every time he saw them! :)