Kaitlyn's New Pet

Kaitlyn had been asking for a pet so one Sunday we took her to the pet store to get a Beta fish. She was so excited and couldn't wait to get it home and set the tank up. She named her fish Raina (one of the characters from the Barbie Pegasus movie). Kaitlyn couldn't wait to take care of her fish. We designated bedtime as feeding time and the first 2 nights Kaitlyn went to bed a whole hour early just so she could feed her fish. The first morning after we got Raina, Kaitlyn asked me "do you think she wants to watch Nemo or Shark Tale?" She decided Raina would like Nemo, so she set up the portable DVD player on her dresser and watched the movie with her.

Easter 2008

Kaitlyn has been very concerned how the Easter Bunny would hide eggs in the snow, but he did it! The kids loved decorating eggs on Saturday. And Sunday morning they had fun exploring their Easter baskets, then going outside to search for eggs. Kaitlyn ran all over the yard picking up eggs. By the end of it she was having more fun running that finding the eggs! Tyler of course didn't get the concept, though he did put a few eggs in his basket most of the time he just enjoyed wandering around outside. Inside, Kaitlyn emptied all the eggs to discover what was in them. And Tyler stuffed his mouth with chocolate!

It was such a nice afternoon that we pulled out our rollerblades (for the first time in at least 7 years - scary!) so we could keep up with Kaitlyn as she tried out her new scooter.

Tyler Eats With A Spoon!

One more milestone for Tyler - he has learned how to use a spoon to feed himself. I just can't believe how big he is getting. He's a toddler now, not our little baby.

A Day at the Children's Museum

We took the kids to the Discovery Gateway for the first time. All I can say is wow, that place is designed for kids to play, play, play. Kaitlyn's favorites were the grocery store cash register and the water table. I think Tyler liked the cars/motorcycle the best. The only drawback is that the kids want to play much longer than the adults are interested in it. So next time we'll go on a day that isn't very busy and I'll just sit down somewhere with my book and let the kids have at it!

Our First Family Vacation

We wanted to go somewhere fun when Sam got home and what's the obvious choice? Disneyland!

We decided to drive there, which I think was a good idea since we had to work around kids' nap schedules, it was nice to have our own car to drive to restaurants and the beach, and we packed a TON of stuff. The kids were really good on the trip. The size of our new Yukon and it's handy built in DVD player really helped!

We spent 4 days hopping back and forth from Disneyland to California Adventure. By the end of it, I think we saw all the characters we had really wanted to see, and rode most of the rides. The weather wasn't all that great because it was rainy/overcast 4 1/2 of the 6 days we were in California. That was kind of sad because it cut our pool and beach time short - and Kaitlyn was really loving the beach! But even though we had to wear jackets most of the time it was still better than all the snow and cold we had waiting for us at home. And on at least one of the days it worked to our advantage because most of the people stayed home and we didn't have to wait in long lines for the ride. We all had so a great time riding the rides, meeting the characters (Ariel was Kaitlyn's favorite), and enjoying everything else the parks had to offer. We had so much fun and can't wait to go again. Though next time I'd like to take a larger group so the kids have other kids to play with and maybe the adults could get a bit of time to themselves. Anyone want to go with us? :)

Too much snow!

Is anyone else sick of winter? It seems like we have just been pounded with snow storms lately. And for those of you that aren't experiencing this, check out these photos for a little taste of what you are missing. I know you're jealous!

Daddy's Home!

Sam's home! He flew in on January 30. For those of you that weren't aware, Sam was activated in July and spent a little over 6 months in Iraq quarding an air base.

The kids and I got to go to the airport to meet him. They let us through airport security all the way down to the terminal to wait for the plane to arrive. And they made sure we knew exactly which one the guys were on by giving it a huge firetruck escort. Kaitlyn was SOOOOO excited. Tyler did know what was going on, but Katy's enthusiasm was catching and both of them ended up jumping up and down at the window as the plane rolled in. The whole rest of the day Kaitlyn was Sam's little shadow - holding onto his hand or hugging him, wanting him to play with her...Even in the car on the ride home every few minutes we would hear from the back seat "Daddy, I love you!"

Thanks everyone for all your support while he was gone. We're very happy to have him home. And no, we don't expect him to have to go back anytime soon.