Monterey, CA

We took a trip to Monterey for Christopher's 4th Birthday and spent almost the whole day at the aquarium. I think were were there until it closed! Christopher LOVED the aquarium and loved looking at all the different fish and especially loved the touch pool (which he was too scared to do the last time we went a couple years ago). We spent his birthday on the beach in Monterey where Christopher and Gregory fished and played in the sand. We headed back home with a stop at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Christopher got embarrassed when all the waiters & waitresses came out to sing "Happy Birthday" to him and he hid under his napkin- it was so cute!

The Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Birthday breakfast in Monterey.

Fishing on the beach.

Gregory fishing and Christopher looking for crabs in the sand.

Ahhhh! Don't bury me in the sand pit!


Christopher's birthday cheesecake- plain cheesecake with strawberries!

"Happy Birthday" cheesecake.

Easter Eggs.

Christopher had so much fun dying Easter eggs this year and I was so glad that I was here to do it with him (I was out out town last year). He really enjoyed doing the different colors and pulling the eggs out to see how dark or light the color was. He also had a lot of fun putting his Easter basket out and leaving some carrots and pastries for the Easter Bunny :) Easter pictures to follow soon...

Mather Air Force Base

One weekend last month we wanted to go somewhere different, so we met a few friends out at Mather Air Force Base to try and fly kites and try out the neat playground. The coolest thing was that as we were leaving we saw some jets taking off so we went to see what was going on and we discovered that they were only doing practice runs or something, because they kept taking off and coming back down. It was a pretty cool thing for Christopher to get to see!

Christopher

Here's a little update of Christopher being, well... Christopher.

Christopher's Preschool.

Christopher finished the end of his semester of preschool in January, but I just wanted to share a few pictures of all the fun.

Playing Red Light, Green Light.


A reindeer sandwich he made for snack. He said the orange is the reindeer's "mustache."

Here he is making the sandwich.

Enjoying his thoughtful snack.

Sharing his favorite stuffed animal at share time.



A special box he got from Santa when he visited preschool

February in a nutshell.

Christopher insisted on helping with the candles.


This is his "enjoying the cake" face.


Bath time fun.


Visit to the San Francisco Zoo- one of Christopher's favorite places!


Valentine's Day cookies.


The beautiful Valentine's flowers from my wonderful husband!


Christopher helping with the cake "clean up."


Not his birthday, but can you guess who blew out the candle?


Gregory's cousin Kellie, me and Gregory at a concert in Folsom :) So fun hanging out with Kellie!

My Perfect Morning.

Getting so big.

I can't believe how big Christopher is getting! Or the things that are coming out of his mouth! Yes, that is my almost-4-year-old up a tree- by himself! I'm so proud of him and every day he just amazes me. He loves to tell stories about his 5 blue horses and the huge barn that he has next to the house he owns that is so big it can hold a tractor, a trailer and his animal train with horses, cows, sheep, mice, cats, dogs and a long-necked dinosaur. He is so opinionated that he has to comment on everything from what he's eating (tonight he didn't like chicken) to what song he's listening to ("this is my favorite song!") as well as chattering non-stop in between. It seems like he has something to say about everything. It's especially cute to hear what words he has in his vocabulary, like today he went on a "vacation" to the park with his Daddy. He is just the sweet little almost-4-year-old I know and I hope his imagination never stops!

Naptime.

Christopher has been taking less and less naps lately. It's hard because if he gets up early and doesn't nap he's super cranky by the time the evening rolls around. Luckily, he'll usually stay in his room during the time he's supposed to be napping, and read books or play quietly by himself. Except for the day he got out his markers and decided to color on EVERYTHING. I think I counted at least 20 different things that he'd drawn a tiny purple scribble on including the door, the walls, both light switches, his toy boxes, his stereo and speaker, his chair, a wooden truck, the Fisher Price castle, his new toy shelf, his easel (both on and off the paper), his blanket, his special Giraffe stuffed animal, one of his stuffed dogs, his bed and... himself. Luckily crayola washable markers come off most surfaces easily!

Snow Day.

We've been trying to take it easy since the holidays but we did manage to make it up to the snow for a day of fun with some friends. The boys enjoyed sledding and making a snowman while us parents enjoyed running after them and trying to keep them from eating the snow! Here are some pictures...

All bundled up for the snow!


Christopher and Jake took turns pulling each other on the sled.


The cute little snowman we built. The boys had fun collecting things to decorate him with.



Christopher was exhausted!