Cutest Birthday Girl Ever

Lily officially turned 7 on April 29th! What a fun birthday she had. Started with a breakfast of bacon (her favorite food on the planet) and pancakes. Daddy and Mommy came into her classroom and brough Pat & Oscar's breadsticks for her class. She had a Girl Scout meeting and got all of her heard-earned cookie rewards. She had a few friends over for cupcakes, movies, games, dancing, pizza, and a sleepover. Then on Sunday, we had a subdued family birthday dinner with Devyn, Michael and the girls. In true Lily fashion, she loved every second of it and was so excited for every gift she got. She's such a darling girl, full of love and compassion and our family would be miserable without her. Happy Birthday Lily-Bug!!

Lily's and her friend at school were "birthday twins". They thought it was the coolest thing!

Lily, Sydney, Kailin and Malia. Having fun and making SO MUCH NOISE!!

Cupcake with purple (her current fave color) icing!

Yay!! New books from Grandma.

My kids just don't like to do traditional birthday cakes. Lily's choice this year was an ice cream pie, with chocolate rice krispie crust. It was delicious!!!

Spring Photo Shoot 2011

Just a preview of some gorgeous pics Vanessa took of the kiddos at Carlsbad Flower fields. Can I just say again that my kids are really really ridiculously good looking.

Spring Break 2011

We had such a great Spring Break this year!! We kicked it off with a bang---Disneyland! And not just an ordinary visit. We were lucky enough to meet Uncle Cory, Aunt Amanda and their brood AND Grandma Lori for a fun-filled day. It was hotter than heck and super crowded (duh...Spring Break, what did we expect?), but we still had such a wonderful time. The kids and I and Devyn and Jane drove down early in the morning so we could meet them right at opening, and we stayed for 14 hours. It is always so so fun to see all the cousins together. I wish we could make this an annual tradition!

Con and Lily then got to have a two-day sleepover at Auntie and Uncle Michael's house. They don't generally do anything crazy or out of the ordinary, but it's still my kids' favorite thing to do. Apparently Auntie and Michael make EVERYTHING fun. And Jane is always in hog heaven to have her peeps around. She would pretty much hold Connor's hand all the time if he was down.

When Andrew and Jen were here, they had some leftover tickets to the San Diego Zoo that they left for us to use. So Devyn and I and the kids spent a fun day at the Zoo. It had been awhile since we'd gone, so it was really fun and there were a couple new habitats that were amazing. Jane was less than impressed (but still such a good girl), but Avery absolutely loved seeing all the animals. It kind of took us off guard. She would point and smile and just stare and stare. It was so darling.

All in all, such a fun Spring Break. Connor was definetely ready to have a break from school, and I was definetely ready to have a break from school schedule. Although I have to say, I am always glad when they go back to school too!! :-)

Connor, Logan and Caden on the Rocket Ships at Disneyland! Caden was the pilot and they spent the entire ride up as high as they could get!

Lily, Jane and Maddi waiting for the Princess Coronation show at Disneyland. They learn to wave and curtsy and dance like princesses. Not that they needed any lessons on being princesses, look how adorable they are!!

At the entrance to the Sun Bear Forrest. Avery's so happy to be there! Notice Jane clinging to Connor's hand...so funny.

On the guided tour bus, waiting to take off. Again, notice Jane attached to Connor like life itself depends upon it. She sure loves her some Con and vice-versa.

Darling kids who I love more than life itself!!

Best. Field Trip. Ever.

One of the many perks of living in Souther California? Field trips to awesome places. Last week Lily's class took a field trip to Legoland!! Can you believe that? How lucky is she? Anyways, I was fortunate enough to go as a chaperone and we had such a great time. They started things off with a group educational presentation where they talked about different kinds of structures and what makes structures strong. It was super cool. They they divided into their groups and the kids built their own structures (no adult help allowed). When they were done, they attached the structrues to this little platform that vibrated and created a 5.5 earthquake to see if their structure would stay intact. So fun!! Then we had a few hours to explore the park and ride rides and have fun. What a great day. Here are some highlights:

Master builders...Lily and her friends Raiden and Gavin

Almost done. After I took this picture, they added another smaller tower at the top.

Earthquake!!! I'm delighted to say that their building didn't buckle under the pressure. They were so proud.

Vegas Baby!

New York skyline.

Golden Boy!

I was told by my friend Lori that this year was Connor's "golden birthday". I had no idea what that meant, but I guess it's when you turn the same age as the day of your birthday. Make sense? Example--on March 11th, my baby boy turned 11!! See? What a great birthday it was for Connor! Dad took the day off work, we brought treats to his classroom, he had a great little party with a few of his best pals, then for an extra special treat Aunt Jen, Uncle Andrew, Abby and Aubri arrived the night of his birthday for a long visit! Honestly he couldn't have been more happy. And since one of our favorite things is to see our kids happy, it was a great day for everybody! I didn't get tons of pictures cause we were too busy having fun, but here's a couple highlight:

Group shot of his birthday bash! They went to the park and played "Super Bunt" for an hour, ate pizza and TONS of junkfood, cupcakes and video games galore. At one point, we had a few on the PS3, a few on the Wii and a few playing Uno Attacks at the table. They had a blast!

Watching the boys play "Little Big Planet 2". It was a huge hit, they were laughing hysterically the entire time. They weren't really trying to pass levels, but instead shooting cake at each other with the dreaded "Cakenator" helmet. It was awesome.

Our family loves ice cream sandwiches, we make them all the time. So Connor asked me if instead of a cake he could have a huge ice cream sandwich for his birthday. So...here you have a giant cake-sized Chocolate and Mint-Chip cookie sandwich. It was delicious!!

It's baaaccckkkk.....

That's right, it's baseball season again! Con's playin with the big boys now. He got drafted up to the Majors division and he's playing for the Phillies!! Finally a team I can be proud to cheer for. Connor's in heaven...loves his team, loves his coach, can't wait to play. He's the low man on the totem pole but he's working hard and having a blast. So everybody should come for a weekend between now and June and catch a game!!

Princess Lucy

Snoozing on her throne in front of the fire...it's rough being a dog!