Camping Fiasco/Mother's Day/Tyler Wins Dad of the Year

Well, all intentions were good. Sadly, that wasn't enough to keep Lia's stomach in check. For Mother's Day weekend our ward graciously planned a father/kid campout to give the moms (well, some moms) a chance for a quiet night to themselves. Max was beyond excited. He LOVED camping last year. Lia kept whining that she didn't want to sleep in the dirt but was excited to go with Tyler and her brother anyway. I packed them up, we borrowed some stuff from the Bakers (well, ALL of the stuff from the Bakers, we have no camping gear; I think we'd camp more if we had the stuff) and I waved goodbye as I relished a night of watching "Practical Magic" and eating whatever I wanted for dinner and painting my toes and taking a warm bath and sleeping in a bed ALONE with no noise or husbands kicking.



Well, 2am rolled around and my phone rang. I was seriously confused when I picked it up and it was Tyler saying he was pulling into the parking lot of our apartment and I needed to come unlock the door. Poor Lia had woken up and thrown up ALL OVER the inside of the tent, all over herself, all over Tyler, pretty much anything she could reach. So poor Tyler had to pack the kids back up, try to get the barf out of the tent as best he could, clean Lia off, all in the pitch dark, in the woods, in the mountains, with Max screeching for Lia to get away from him and gagging and crying that she was going to get barf on him. He woke up Nate Rockwood to ask him to fold up the tent and bring it back for him in the morning, strapped the kids in the car and drove all the way back home.

 

So much for my awesome Mother's Day weekend. So much for Max's awesome camping trip, he was pretty bummed to have to come home. Sad little Lia kept asking Tyler, "why do I always throw up like that every time??" She does throw up a lot. It's because of her acid reflux. She has completely random and unpredictable episodes of throwing up. Too bad camping night had to be one of them!

Tyler has had to deal with way more Lia barf than I have though. He seriously gets Dad of the Year for that alone (remember her throwing up on a plane all over him at Christmas time??) Anyway, we may try camping again in the future. But right now, it's safer to be near a washer and dryer for times like that.

We Believe...

At church on Sundays Max attends Primary during the second and third hours. It's like a Sunday school for kids where they are taught a lesson in a small class of their age group and are then combined with the rest of the youth from 3-12 years old for singing and sharing time. Every Sunday three kids are chosen to give a short talk (no more than a few minutes; parents help the younger children), recite a scripture or give the closing prayer. Max has already given a talk (last year, we're waiting for another one soon!) and he was chosen a few weeks ago to give a scripture. The specific scripture he was given was the Fourth Article of Faith. It's a fairly long one but Max was determined to memorize and recite it in front of the whole Primary by himself (especially after Seth Rutman did it and he's a whole year younger)! It didn't take more than a day practicing with Tyler to get it down. He did AMAZING!!

He's now intent on memorizing all 13 of them! We'll see how it goes.

But, it doesn't stop there. Apparently while Tyler and Max were practicing, Lia picked up on it, too. Without us knowing she pretty much memorized it all on her own and just busted it out one night. Tyler and I just stared at her and then at each other and then back at her. What 2 1/2 year old memorizes something like that?? And we didn't even help her or prompt her. Watch the video!!



And bless Max's heart, he's so proud of her! I thought maybe he'd feel bad that she learned it, too, but he just loves to brag that she can say it like him. And apparently it's not like we could have stopped her!!

Daddy Father's Day

Lia likes to call Tyler her Daddy Father. She said her favorite thing about her Daddy Father is that he has squishy cheeks that she can give lots of kisses to. Mostly she likes her daddy to hold her. All the time. And read her books, and cut her strawberries, and get her milk, and unbuckle her car seat. She's very much a daddy's girl. She pretty much could mostly care less about me being around. When she's in trouble she cries for her daddy. When he leaves in the morning she's sad for a good 5 minutes (until I let her watch "Diego"). She says she wants to marry daddy someday. When we tell her that he's already married to me, she gets very mad and says, NO, SHE will marry daddy. Then she tells me I can just be part of her "framleeee" instead.

Max likes to say "Hey Daddy??" A LOT followed by some sort of question or request. His favorite things to do with daddy: reading chapter books for hours, watching sports on TV asking a million questions to understand the game (that Tyler patiently answers), playing sports, playing outside, doing science stuff with him, going on adventures and camping. Max loves asking Tyler all sorts of science questions and thinks that Tyler is the only one who can answer them (arguing with me that there's no way I could know the answers because I'm a girl). He also loves to learn about "doctor stuff" with Tyler, too. And Tyler always knows the answers to the superhero questions.

We sure do love our Daddy Father Tyler. He's loving, patient and kind. He always makes time for the kids in his busy schedule. And they love him tons for it!

Anniversary. Again.

Yup, eight years. Seems like it was just yesterday! Love him more everyday.

OH MY!

Yes. It's happening. I'm updating the blog. Get ready for some back-dated goodness!! I assume if you are reading this, you do in fact care that I'm actually updating and therefore will overlook the annoying back dates if you are reading via Google Reader and the like. SMILE!!

P.S. I'm updating while watching "The Cosby Show" so as to put me in a loving family type mood :)

Reading With Daddy

One of Max's favorite things to do with daddy is reading. Recently, Tyler has started reading chapter books to Max and has started with the Chronicles of Narnia series. They are on the third book, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, already and they haven't been reading for all that long! Tyler and were sort of surprised that Max enjoyed sitting and listening to books without pictures. But he LOVES it and can't get enough of it. He listens and comprehends every detail, too. It's pretty amazing for a boy who's not quite five!!





Plus, it brings back great memories of when my mom used to read us books. We'd lay on her bed and she'd do all the voices! It's still one of my most favorite things we used to do with her!

Once 3rd year starts I may have to take over reading duties. Hopefully Max won't mind! I'm just glad this kid has a love for books like his parents.

Videos

Some videos we've taken of the kids. Mostly grandparents will think these are cute!

Lia singing a Primary song in Spanish. And being her sassy self at the end.





A few of Max learning to ride his bike without training wheels. We're still working on it. He'd have gotten it by now, but we just haven't had time to be out there with him. These videos were taken about 5 minutes after we first took them off. Not bad for literally just starting!! One thing we're going to master this summer!








Kids being silly in the bath!

Grandparents

One of the frequent conversations in our house usually consists of naming all known relatives and their relationships to the kids (Mattie is our aunt, Grandma With the White Hair is our great grandma, Papa is our Grandpa). This conversation always gets me thinking about my own grandparents. Two of my four grandparents I hardly knew. My dad's parents moved back to Italy when I was just a baby. I knew pictures of them, and saw them again later when I was older, but sadly I had very little contact with them over the years. My mom's dad died when my mom was only two so I never knew him. My mom's mom (or as my kids call her, Grandma With the White Hair) was like a second mom to me. My mom was a single mom who worked hard so my grandma took on most of the after-school duties for us. Anyway... I have a point! I promise! Since the kids are so interested in their relatives I have been wanting to get photos of my grandparents and Tyler's grandparents up around the house. I have a photo of my great aunt Rose (who Lia is named after) hanging in the house, and a photo of Tyler's grandpa on the bookshelf. It's been slow going, but I finally got a picture of my grandfather (my mom's dad, who I never got a chance to know). I've always loved this photo! Anyway, I'm slowly making my way to getting all the photos printed and framed. There are surprisingly few photos (okay, not that surprising I guess) of my grandparents and aunts and uncles, especially compared to the thousands of photos I have of Max and Lia already, and Max isn't even 5 yet! But hopefully seeing some of the older photos will help mold the stories of the family that Lia and Max belong to. That's my hope anyway!

Presidio Park

One Sunday afternoon we decided to head out to Presidio Park in Old Town. I'd only been there for the first time a few weeks earlier for a photo shoot and I knew the kids would just love it! It was so nice spending an afternoon running, playing, relaxing and enjoying the cool San Diego ocean breezes. Presidio Park is up on a big hill overlooking the city below. It's gorgeous.











The kids loved rolling down the hills and searching for Squirrel Nutkin. We walked up to the top of the hill and saw some Mormon Battalion monuments at the top (the kids thought that was pretty cool).










(Feet off the ground! He always could get to impressive heights mid-stride!)

I feel like there is so much in San Diego that we never take advantage of! And that our time here is slowly dwindling down and now I feel rushed to take it all in. I'm glad we decided to spend some time. The kids love when they are able to run around as much as they want in the fresh air.

Snapshots!

Here are a few snapshots from our daily life. I really love the fun apps for the iphone. I use those more than I use my big camera! Makes it pretty easy to snap fun photos of the day-to-day fun stuff.

Max LOVES to draw! And he's really great at it, too.






Lia enjoying some miso soup. She loves Japanese food!


I'm asked at least twice a week if they are twins. With the way Lia talks and acts and with how small Max is I can't really blame them! Max IS taller than Lia, but it's hard to tell when they are next to each other or when one is riding in a cart and the other is walking.


We spent a day at the Escondido Children's Museum and loved it! We got passes to go for the year so if anyone is up for it let us know! (Thanks for the find Grammie!)




Just some cute kids.






Me.


Dinner at Five Guys with our favorite family!


Pretty much how it is most days around here. He made me get rid of all his pirate stuff because he's into superheroes now.


Found this at World Market and had to try. Spotted Dick. It was actually really good!!


More bees!


Having fun at Moonlight Beach with Mattie Rose!


We met some of Tyler's family one Saturday morning for brunch at the Coronado Golf Course. It was so yummy! Thanks guys! The kids were fascinated by the golfing. Especially Max.


Pretty sky.


Mother's Day breakfast! Delicious! Thanks honey!


A day at Birch Aquarium with mom and they got to pick a treat. I was thinking candy, they were thinking toys. Max got his favorite Giant Pacific Octopus.


I think he's got my lashes.


As an early birthday present we picked up a pair of these kicks for Max. He thinks they make him run SOO much faster. For all we know they probably do!


Things that make me happy.


This just cracks me up! On the window of a Mexican restaurant.


Max loves "The Donald" and every time we have to go to Children's Hospital for whatever reason we have to stop and take his picture with him.




Fun with FatBooth!


Having some fun at Sea World.


My new faves: peonies!


Kids with the kitties when we first got them.