BEACH!

Yay--it's warm. It's beachtime. Thank goodness for big cars--this carpooling thing is going to save me some money this summer. A few weeks ago, we piled in Chantel's car and headed for the beach. After a pitstop at McDonalds, we found a nice spot on the sand and soaked in the rays. We had a little visit from a squirrel who tried to eat our snacks but to no avail--all ziplocked. Cole was soo tired from not taking a nap on the way down that I ended up having him sleep on me while I tanned--didn't make for much of an even tan but I kinda like those times when your little one will just sleep sweetly on you.
All the kids loved it when the cool mom (Chantel) picked up her sheet to get the sand off and played parachutes with them.



After Cole had a nice cat-nap he enjoyed picking up as many rocks as he could fit in his hands and then throwing one by one, which was quite entertaining as he would let go when he wound up behind him and then had nothing to throw forward. I'm
loving having a boy. It's silly but I was like, "Aaaawe, look! He's throwing rocks!"


A couple of Sundays ago, he was playing on the floor by me in Relief Society and he got out a little car from the diaper bag and started rolling it all over the floor...no car sounds yet but I looked back at the ladies behind me with beaming smile on my face and said, "He's never done that before! Aawwe look how cute! He's such a boy!" Fun times! :)

It's finished!

I finally finished Gavin's baby blessing outfit! I've used this pattern before but I used snaps on the back. This project's lesson--->button holes. Not bad if I do say so myself. It was fun--(even if I did complain a little.)

Happy Easter!

So I thought, this year for sure I won't be late to the local community Easter egg hunt. And again Dan had to drop us off and only Allison and I got to the field in time to "hunt" for treats...and when I say treats I don't actually mean candy filled eggs...oh no, they've gotten creative--and I'm not complaining-- this year Allison made out with a basket full of 100 calorie cheez-its, granola bars, gummy bears, and rice crispy treats! The Easter bunny got a little wiser this year too and filled a lot of the eggs that were hidden at our house with stickers and money, and at my mom's house, there were eggs filled with pennies, stickers, and cute erasers....so no sugar overload over at this house.

We met wonder-woman at the Easter egg hunt satruday morning...and by wonder-woman I mean Shannon....yes, at the park BEFORE the hunt began with ALL 4 of her childres--one strapped to her front, with her video camera AND digital camera-by herself while her husband so diligently attended a youth service activity (Hello?? Don't plan a service activity the day before Easter--poor Andrew.)


Afterwards, as we were leaving, we saw a Jeep Cherokee in a strangely familiar predicament. They had parked in a field full of weeds along with the rest of us and as they were driving out, their back tire got sunk in a little pit. About an hour later and with some help from other strangers, Dan was able to pull the guys' car out with the Tahoe...that handy car! (We went driving on some dirt lots in Utah once and fell half into a pit that had started to be dug for a house foundation!-I think that's why Dan was so eager to get the guy out-he could feel his pain. Our two kids...and theirs, were great while they waited.

Next stop, Shannon's house for some delicious pancakes. Shannon and I later ditched after our kids went down for naps and hit a little boutique in Old Town (with no success) and then checked off the grocery list together.

I was a little more on top of my game this year with regards to the egg- dyeing though. Instead of dyeing eggs at 11pm the night before Easter by myself,like last year (traditions die hard), I actually had the eggs boiled and ready so we (Allison and I) did them after her nap. She was very steady and careful to begin with but then she got sloppy--my cups of dye on the cookie sheet came in handy.


This morning, Easter egg hunting....

Allison and Cole got into it.

Then when he wasn't looking, guess who stole all the eggs out of his basket.

At church, poor Diana was left almost to herself up there with 10 kids...so I informed Dan that he needed to send someone from Elder's quorum up there....he looked at his assignment list--his name was there for today--so Dan served his time :)

Then off to grandma and grandpa's for a delicious ham and twice-baked potato dinner, and birthday cake to celebrate my grandma's 87th birthday (or GG as the great grandkids call her) Allison read books to her little cousing Cameron, they looked at bugs, had an Easter egg hunt, and we took pictures. Then, we had a fantastic time as we watched an old family video together and reminisced about old times. It's a good life!

Celebrity sighting!!

I got a kiss on the cheek from Simon Cowell....yes that's right ladies...the real Simon Cowell from American Idol. I know you're jealous.

My brother and his wife were sweet to invite us to join them for a taping of American Idol last night. After a failed attempt last week, we were given VIP treatment with priority "seating" for this week's elimination night. We ended up standing on the floor in front of the stage, but we were in the back of the crowd (due to 3 out of 4 in our group being too tall for the front.) But we didn't mind being in back because not only were we able to meet Brooke's husband, mom, and two friends sitting in the seats right behind us, (who are super nice by the way), and Ricky Miner (the band leader), but we stood right along the path that the three celebrity judges passed by during each break! Which is how I was able to ask Simon for a little smoochie smooch on the cheek. My sister-in-law, Leah, thought I was so gutsy, and when my brother then asked him to kiss his wifey too, it left Leah blushing. Dan didn't let Paula get by without giving him a hug, and getting knuckles from Randy.

It was a really fun experience to see how the show worked and to see how small that place really is. It's just a bummer we have no pictures to prove it! They pretty much confiscate any cameras OR cell phones when you go in so no proof. We came home and tried to see if we were on camera but our little corner got the least coverage. There was a camera over or heads practically the whole time, so I guess I should have reached up and waved! We did see the back of Dan and James when we paused but us ladies were pretty much hidden. Either way, it was cool to do something that kind of breaks up the monotony of regular everyday life. -Thanks James and Leah!

BEWARE of Wild Animals!

On Monday Allison had a chance to hang with the boys at the Wild Animal Park. We crammed everyone in my Tahoe and drove down to see the wild animals..we should have realized that to see wild animals, all we have to do is get a bunch of boys together...and Allison...and let them do as they will. :) It was a great time!Here are the pics to prove it...
Cole liked running around and carrying a big stick.

He wasn't sure how he felt about the whole getting wet thing...but I think he liked it.


MY personal favorite exhibit at the Zoo or Wild Animal Park is the Gorillas. They were being quite lazy that day which left a gorilla eating leaves off a branch as the most exciting part of our viewing.


Of course we had to eat lunch which had little to do with eating and a lot to do with playing on a playground and in this cool jeep.


I was really glad we got to see the elephant show before we left, although Cole had pretty much had it by then and the jokes were painfully lame...but other than that, I'd say it was a pretty perfect day at the Wild Animal Park!

(Picture courtesy of Allison Dobron--pretty good if I do say so myself...watch out Wendy!)

The haps

We've had a couple of fun weeks so here's what we've been up to... the kids were getting over colds and it was finally warm out so we decided to have a little picnic at the park with just the three of us. We had lots of food and soaked in the vitamin D.



Then later that week, we went to this music class for kids down in San Diego with my mom's ward, and afterward, we stopped to see Grandpa. It was such a windy day and Dan and I had just bought a kite for Allison so Grandpa decided we should break it in. We had a really fun time--it was a perfect kite-flying day.








Then on the weekend, we decided to head over to the beach! I'm excited for Cole to be mobile this summer at the beach. He doesn't stray far--I just prefer a walking toddler at the beach over the infant that doesn't like the wind. I love his little Hawaiian shirt he has on.



Dan tried to pretend he didn't fall asleep at the beach but I have the picture of his mouth gaping open to prove it. Just admit it!



Last week Cole perfected some signs so we can hear a little less --"eh?? eh??"
Here are his best two..."more" and "finished"...we're working on some more



Then, this weekend, after our ward temple night, we went to dinner and had way too much fun and laughing for being non-drinkers. We stayed the night at my parents' since they watched the kids for us and after being treated to breakfast at Denny's we took a walk to Lake Hodges behind my parents' house. We parked down the street and walked over someone's now empty lot and down their surviving deck and saw all the beautiful regrowth since the fire. There are bright orange, yellow and purple flowers on the surrounding hills. It was nice to see how green and beautiful everything is instead of being black and burned.





And that's the haps with the Dobrons.

A day in the life of a mom...

I'm a cook...(tasty Kung-pao chicken)


...a potty trainer...(Allison is eating her reward for going poop on the potty--she had a little plumbing problem and needed an incentive..so I told her I'd take her to McD's for a 25 cent cone if she did it.)


...a referee...


..a health care provider...(see balloon)


...a maid...(Cole dumped his "staple food" all over the newly vacuumed carpet... at least he helped clean it up.)


...a monkey watcher...

...all...

...day...

...long...


but most of all...I'm a mom...

...and...


...I love it.