One tooth-less...

Owen lost his first tooth!  He noticed it was loose, and then got pretty upset about it.  He was scared it was going to bleed or that he would swallow it.  He wanted it out right away!  We jiggled it a little and pulled a bit, but it wasn't quite ready.  As we were pulling on it, he started crying for us to stop.  And then two minutes later, he said to get it out.  It was like being on a roller coaster.

He just had to wait another week or so and it finally came out when he was eating chips.  The initial reaction to the loose tooth was pretty traumatic, but he was all smiles when the tooth came out.  

Here's the proud face of a smile with one less tooth!  

On another note, Owen is looking forward to kindergarten next year.  He often asks when he gets to go to school.  His kindergarten screening was today - we met a few of the teachers, and he wrote his name and drew a picture.  I guess he's good to go!  He got the not-so-fun remaining immunizations last week.  He didn't cry at all.  Owen is such a big boy now!  He still has his moments, but for the most part he is a sweet boy. And he melts my heart when he says, "Mama, you're beautiful!"  (nearly every day and sometimes multiple times a day).  The teacher who gets this handsome little charmer will be lucky!

Spring Break: Final day

We probably could have headed home on Friday and got in after midnight, all tired and cranky... OR we could stay at a cheap motel so we could get a re-take of Weston by his sign.  :)  Alex gives me a hard time about this $75 picture ($65 motel + $10 fee for Point Lobos).  The boys did get some time to play too... 

We were actually hoping to spend a little more time at Point Lobos or another area, but we opted to head home early.  Jared had been coughing a lot all week, and we felt like we should get back in time to take him to urgent care.  It turns out he had pneumonia... he was quite the trooper with all of the week's activities.  

We found this beach back in August of 2011 and took a picture of Weston by this sign.  We hoped to return for other pictures later.  Here he is again, at "Weston Beach".  He asks, "When are we going back to my beach?"  It's actually perfect for Weston and the boys because of all the rocks.  They love throwing them in the water.

(This beach was originally called "Pebbly Beach."  It was re-named after a famous photographer, Edward Weston, who did a lot of landscape photography at Point Lobos.  His ashes were scattered at this beach.)  

We stopped for a few minutes at a beach for lunch and play.  

You can tell Jared is not feeling very well.  He opted not to climb with his brothers, but just sat here and played in the sand.  Poor guy.  

(Just about the last picture of our Spring Break - I think my smile here is knowing Spring Break is almost over... It was exhausting!  Spring Break is not a break for parents.  I was ready for the kids to go back to school...)

Nathan said it was the "best spring break ever", so I guess the kids had fun.  That's all that matters right?

Spring Break: part 3

We left Reno on Friday morning and headed to Monterey, where we spent the afternoon at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Expensive, but we enjoyed it.  We're looking forward to going back again later this year - we bought a membership since it wasn't much more than one day's admission...

The boys could have spent all day watching this tank, with the hammerhead shark.  Weston got excited every time it came by.

They second picture below is Jared's (or Nathan's?) drawing.  They loved being able to draw a picture on their little screen and then have it float on the big screen.  Savannah loved the tot area, especially the water play at just her level.

Spring Break: part 2

From Lone Pine, we had planned on driving through the Lake Tahoe area on our way to Reno.  However, the roads were closed due to the weather (or at least we didn't want to test out our snow chains).  We headed up a less scenic route to the east.  We had never been to Reno before - don't like the casino atmosphere, but the city does have a pretty setting.  

We spent 2 nights at the Circus Circus Hotel in Reno - picked because it was so cheap.  We got two adjoining rooms for $65 a night.  The rooms were really nice, but I probably wouldn't stay there again.  It was a pain dealing with the parking garage and our over-sized vehicle (with the extra storage on the top).  There was no luggage cart, and we had quite a trek to make it to our room.  We had to walk across the parking garage, up one elevator, walk to another area, go up a small set of stairs, and then up another elevator - all with 5 kids and all our stuff in tow.  Try carrying a toddler in an umbrella stroller up the stairs or hauling a pack 'n play all that way.  Whew! 

The hotel had some other fun things going on - carnival games and shows, but it was pretty disappointing.  The shows were in the middle of the games (of course) - just a 10 minute show, with everyone standing and crowding right there in front of the raised platform.  We watched one short dog show, but the kids could hardly see it - I had Owen standing on my knee so he could catch a glimpse of the show.  The games were $1 each, so we jetted on out after the show without playing any of the games.

Also, there was no pool and no breakfast.

But we enjoyed watching some March madness basketball on TV - Nathan would say that was a highlight of our week.  The weather wasn't very nice for exploring the Reno area, so we found things to do inside.  

We spent most of Thursday at the children's museum in Reno.  (Our local museum pass got us 4 free tickets in - nice.)  They had a great time with all the interactive things to do.  They particularly enjoyed the ones that involved building things.  Weston loved the water area and sitting in the plane.  The climbing structure was a hit too.  Weston even got brave enough to climb all the way up to the top.     

The real reason for heading to Reno was to visit another temple - since we were already half way there anyway.  Alex was able to go on Wednesday evening and I went Thursday morning.  The temple was very similar in design to the Oklahoma City Temple.  It was really windy and cold when I went, but I had to snap a few pictures to document our visit.  I loved the popcorn-looking trees.  (I think this is our 30th temple.)

We were watching the weather and weren't sure if we would be able to make the rest of our spring break plans.  Donner Pass required snow chains on Wednesday.  We thought we wouldn't be able to make through the mountains to get to Monterey.  But by Friday morning, it was "clear" - no chains required.  We still got a bit nervous driving through the pass, especially seeing the temperature drop to 32 degrees.  It really wasn't bad though and we made it to Monterey with no problems.

Spring Break: Part 1

We had a busy spring break week.  To start off, we spent a couple days camping in Lone Pine, with a day trip to Death Valley.  It was much prettier than I expected, with the image in my mind of a barren, flat desert.  I was impressed with the mountains in the area.  We were glad to not be in Death Valley during the summer, since it was already 90+ degrees in Badwater Basin in March.  Other areas were actually a bit chilly.  Dante's View was really windy.  Savannah didn't even want to ride in the backpack - she might have been scared of the wind.    

Camping wasn't great.  There were lots of mosquitoes the first night.  It was extremely windy and chilly the second night - I thought we were going to blow away in our tent.  I'm surprised it held up because it was SO windy.  It nearly blew away while we were out for our day trip.  We also couldn't do a fire, so we couldn't do smores or hot dogs.  We ended up eating our (cold) food in the car and then just getting in the tent for the night.  And Jared was coughing the whole night (we later found out he had pneumonia...poor guy).  So camping wasn't very fun, besides our pretty mountain views.

Not much of a river... but we had to snap a picture of Owen by his sign.

We didn't have time to stop at the dunes, but they looked really cool from the road.  

Happy Easter!

The Easter bunny came on Saturday again.  Their baskets pop-corn bowls were filled with lots of candy and junk food, and they each got a toy.  Savannah loves her phone with buttons and sound.  Weston loves his light-up gun. Owen was NOT impressed with his sling shot toy that doesn't seem to work.  And Nathan and Jared got to share a game - a bounce-the-ball-into-the-hole type of game.  It got used at the Easter party later that morning - how convenient of the Easter bunny to deliver that toy...

Each of the boys also got a minion shirt in their basket.  Suits them well.

We invited all the young kids from church to our home for an Easter egg hunt and brunch.  I think there were about 20 kids here.  We had muffins, fruit, and mini egg quiche muffins.  The kids had fun searching for eggs - our yard is perfect for an egg hunt and we had perfect weather.  There was lots of sugar involved too, so everyone was happy.

Love the one with Savannah kicking Weston in the head...

Just another beautiful day...

And they said, "We don't want to go to the beach!"  

They always have a good time though.  

But the mess I have to clean up... don't like it so much.

Astronaut? or not?

Nathan had a presentation at school on Neil Armstrong.  He was supposed to be in a simple costume.  We came up with a (last minute) plastic blag costume.  

Some of his friends called him "trash bag astronaut".  Besides that, Nathan's only complaint was that he was hot.  They do make you really sweaty.  Trash bags aren't intended for wear I guess.  :)    

March madness around here

Just a few pictures from a day in the life of Savannah...

(that's chocolate cake and yogurt all over her face - hard to see the yogurt)

...and Weston.

This is Weston's favorite attire right now.  He likes to be an "army man", as he calls it.  Army men take breaks for milkshakes!