Cousins' Weekend

Dear Kate and Riley,
We had been talking about doing a trip with the girl Hansen cousins for a while but just hadn't made it happen. I decided it needed to happen before this baby came and Megan had the great idea that we should escape over Mother's Day weekend. I mean what better gift to the moms than a weekend off? Since I was the only non-Arizonian who could make the trip I decided to fly out to Phoenix and we spent the weekend in Scottsdale.

It was a super fun weekend full of eating awesome food, getting an amazing prenatal massage and spending an entire day at the spa, talking, talking and more talking, more eating and plenty of sleeping. Everything a mom needs for a weekend off. I only wish it had been a day or two longer. I love that all of us girls can laugh and have so much fun together and different as our lives have turned out we still have so much in common. Hopefully we'll make it a tradition and hopefully the missing cousins can come next year.

The flight to Phoenix was my first flight without kids in at least 3 years. Even with delays it was great.

Our best Amanda impersonations since she wasn't there

Fanciest movie theater ever.

Dessert

Ami and I enjoying our virgin drinks by the pool

Love,
Mom

Zoomars Field Trip

Dear Kate and Riley,
As Zach's final preschool field trip of the year we visited Zoomar's Petting zoo. I'm going to admit that this is one of my least favorite places to visit. The kids love it but the petting zoo consists of guinea pigs, rabbits and goats, all animals that I despise. Luckily, neither of the boys are that in to the animals so I don't have to spend much time touching them. This trip was touted as a trip to the "farm" which is pretty sad if this is the closest we get to a farm around here! But everyone had fun and Brady is in heaven whenever he gets to tag along with the big boys.

Love,
Mom

Dear Kate and Riley,
I take too many pictures lately with just my phone and then they never make it to the blog. I am going to post some random phone pics just to catch up a little on life...

The boys are so hit and miss lately but when they are buddies it is my favorite thing in the world.

The boys started swim lessons. Zach just needed to brush up a little. They are both loving it.

Dad had to get his tooth extracted. It's a long story but it's been a pain and is costing us a lot of money. I'll be happy when it's all taken care of.

Brady is my car sleeper. He rarely makes it anywhere in the car after about 11am without falling asleep.

Fun at the Spectrum. Brady LOVES the splash pad. I have had to learn to bring a swimsuit any time we go or we end up looking like this.

We said goodbye to the Sentra. I was a little sad but Dad was happy to finally get a better car. I am hoping the Accord we got will still be around in 12 years to pass down to Zachary.

Jenny, Chris and Claire came in to town for a wedding. We got to see them a few times but definitely not enough.

I love cuddling with Claire. I can't wait to spend a whole week with her this summer.

Silly boys on the way to the park.

We've been at Disneyland almost weekly in an attempt to get some more use out of our pass before we're blocked for the summer. By the time we're unblocked in the fall, it will be time for the baby to come!

Brady and some buddies playing a spontaneous ring-a-round the rosies. So cute.

This kid has finally been healthy for almost a month (knock on wood) but by coddling him while he was sick I have made him in to a terrible sleeper. It doesn't help that I am a sucker and cuddle with him at 11:30 instead of making him cry. But I've decided to get mean before he learns to climb out of the crib.

Dad got free Angels tickets a couple of times from work. Since I'm working every night he's taken the boys alone twice which I think is really brave. The boys love it and this time they stayed for almost the whole game! They loved that last time was free hat night. 

And that's what we've been up to lately.

Love,
Mom

Easter Sunday

Dear Kate and Riley,
Easter Sunday was another fun day. The boys woke up really early to see if the Easter Bunny had come. In fact, Zach snuck downstairs before we even woke up and checked out his loot. He was upstairs telling Brady what the Easter Bunny had brought them when we woke up. I guess I needed to be a little more clear about the rules!

We did baskets and had breakfast and headed off to church. We had such a nice Sacrament meeting with great music. Then after church we all took naps which is always my favorite part of having early church again this year.

We headed over to our friends' house that evening for dinner. It was fun because we decided to forgo tradition and we had a bbq'd tri tip with twice baked potatoes, salad and rolls. I'm not the biggest ham fan so it was nice. Plus the kids all played really nice so we actually got to sit and talk.

We did a fun new thing after dinner which was Easter egg bowling. You take the hard boiled eggs and roll them towards each other on the floor. The one that doesn't crack is the winner. Of the kids Brady won and of the adults Dad won. It was a fun new Easter tradition. We are blessed to have friends since we don't have any family around. I feel lucky that we don't have to be alone on the holidays and that there always seems to be someone to share the day with.

The loot-- sand toys, a game, a book and for Brady, a kitty cat (he's obsessed)

Checking out new hot wheels

wasting no time finding candy-- the Easter bunny was smart and gave each kid only ONE egg with candy

Definitely my favorite picture, "BEWY BEANS!"

Easter Egg Bowling

Love,
Mom

Easter Saturday

Dear Kate and Riley,

The Saturday before Easter was a fun day. We had an egg hunt with the ward at a local park. I was so happy since last year our ward dropped the ball big time and we did nothing. This year we had a big breakfast and a fun egg hunt (minus the parents who didn't understand that if they brought 12 eggs their kids should only take 12 eggs) luckily Zach didn't care too much that he didn't get his 12 eggs. It was a fun morning.

After that we headed to the cemetery since we knew we wouldn't have time on Sunday. It is hard to keep the boys in line at the cemetery but it was good to talk about resurrection and to have Zach seem to understand more and more every year.

Then, since it was a crazy hot day we headed to the beach with a few other families. The kids had a blast and played so hard. They both cried when it was time to leave even though we had been there for hours.

We had such a fun family day.

Love,
Mom

Easter Train

Dear Kate and Riley,
Easter caught me off guard this year. I realized a few days before that we hadn't done much. Plus with Brady sick we hadn't left the house for a week. We decided to head to the Irvine Easter Train (much like Santa Train) with some buddies. Well, it turns out the Friday before Easter is NOT the day to go! It was a madhouse, it took us over a half hour just to find a parking spot. I have never seen so many people there. The kids still had fun but I was stressed because I had to get out of there in time to go to work but the kids weren't about to let me skip any of the fun things we had planned. It still turned out to be a fun day but it was a little crazy.

Love,
Mom

Preschool Easter Program

Dear Kate and Riley,

The preschool program was adorable as usual, cute little bunny songs and shockingly, for the first time in his life, Zach let someone paint his face. He's always been super weird about it and freaked out if we even suggested it at a party or carnival or anything. So I was surprised to see his little bunny face pained on.

 I almost missed the program because Brady came down with some strange mystery virus which that morning turned in to a strange rash. I was stuck at the doctor's office with him while they ran tests and had to call Aaron to leave work (no small feat in early April). Luckily he got home and we got out of the doctor's office just in time for me to rush over to the program.

The program was followed by an egg hunt which was the most exciting event of the week and of course a yummy lunch, all the preschool moms do such a cute job on the potlucks.

I can't believe his first year of preschool will be over in just a few months!

Love,
Mom