'Smore Fun

Now that Adaline is old enough to pick her own friends, we have found that we have new friends, too! Thank goodness she picks good ones ;P

Jen and Denton had two girls that are the same age as our two kids, and Danelle and Jake have twins that are just younger than Adaline, but still in the same class. They play together every school day and still can't get enough of each other. Jen and Denton were kind enough to have us all over for an evening of Smores to socialize (and wear the kiddos out, I'm sure!)

We toasted with Grapefruit Mojitos, which were delicious, and then sat back and let the kids have a great time.

Even with all of the kids around, Spencer is still realllllly slow to warm, so he was attached to one of us almost the entire evening.

I'm sure I'm biased, but don't we all have such beautiful children?!

Once the kids started to slow down, Denton fired up the pit and broke out the 'smores sticks. Oozy, gooey fun was had by all…

…especially Sammy :)  We had such a good time! It's so nice to spend time with people who are in the exact same place in life as we are. It was a short and sweet visit, just long enough to tire the kids out, but not so long that they exhausted themselves to the point of breakdown. Home and in bed by 8~ a perfect night in my book!

Grandma's Birthday

Last year we were in Carpinteria for my mom's birthday, and this year we will be there for my sister's birthday. Love how that works out for us :)
But this year, Grandma's birthday fell on a Wednesday. We were all still able to get together to celebrate with a dinner and some grandchild-decorated cookies. Always a good time when we're all together!

Happy Birthday, Mom! We'll do another toast to all the April birthdays while we sit on the beach:)

Santa Cruz Weekend

We were finally able to take a weekend away in Santa Cruz. We have long wanted to get the old crew together for an updated photo. Unfortunately, it was planned last minute (our fault!!) so we were missing the Adams family and Mike who was working that weekend (but we still had his better half, Leslie! For some reason, I didn't get a picture with her in it.)

A little crazy to see us all with children :)

 Baby Darla was practicing her conversational skills with Dwight, and it was darling!

Two proud papas.

The newest addition, perfect little Cora.

 Having babies around makes these guys look HUGE!

Mama Darla with Baby Cora. She obviously takes after her beautiful mama!

 Next, we headed to Grandpa and Grandma Walsh's house for an overnight visit. We rushed down to Longs Marine Lab before closing time Saturday to experience the hands on exhibits of starfish and other marine life. The kids loved it!

Sunday started out early with the Sunday paper….

 And a walk through Natural Bridges State Park to look for butterflies.

(any time the camera comes out, he thinks it's a personal photo shoot!)

Of course we ended our walk at the beach to check the surf.

A quick surf lesson to end the trip, and we were on our way back home. A fun trip, but not long enough. Next time we'll plan our trip with more advanced notice so we can put together another gathering will ALL our friends.

Trace and Grandpa's Birthday Celebration

Six years ago Trace entered the world on Grandpa's birthday. Every year since, we've had a joint party for them and it's always so much fun. This year, Trace set it all up himself. He called all of us and asked us to go to dinner at a restaurant (that would sing to him- the one and only request he had!) and to come over to his house for cake and presents afterward. He's growing into such a neat guy :)

Dinner was a hit- the first time that Travis and I have successfully eaten dinner with both kids without having to leave the table because of crying…Travis only had to leave the table once with Spencer and it was only because of the offensive smell that he was emitting ;P

Back at Trace's house, Trace quickly organized a tractor-fixing station (with his new tools!) so that Grandpa could help him fix his broken tractor. Spencer deemed himself helper and looked on approvingly. 

I'm not sure which of the three guys had the most fun working on the tractor, they were all pretty proud of themselves at the end of it all.

Hard to believe Trace is already in Kindergarten and 6 years old!!

Adaline's 4th Birthday Party

The gym that Adaline attends offers birthday party packages, and Travis and I agreed that it was the best idea for this year's party. Adaline's classmates and all their parents could come and someone else was in charge of setting up, entertaining the kids, and cleaning up!  

Spencer is still a bit to young to partake in the fun, but he didn't seem to mind too much :)

(Thanks to my wonderful sister, Hayley, for taking pictures for me!!)

 Later that night, Adaline was so excited to open everything and play.

Later that week, on her actual birthday, we took treats to school and Adaline was the special helper of the day.

That night she opened the last of her presents, the ones from us...

 I tried my hand at making doll clothes, and they turned out okay!

I especially love this picture, the sweater I made is on the blonde doll, and the dress my great grandmother crocheted 30 years ago is on the brunette doll. 

Happy 4th birthday, Adaline! It feels like just yesterday that I was waiting for your arrival, and yet you are already in pre-school, Pretty School as you like to call it. It is so fun to watch you grow up, making friends of your own, and being a great big sister.