The Pacific Ocean

I adore the ocean. The pure expanse of it amazes me. Mario and Ginita appreciate a nice warm beach, but I think even a cold one is lovely. We only spent a few minutes on the beach because it was very windy but the kids still managed to get sand in every imaginable bodily crevice.

Me and Ginita


The Fam! This is one of only a few family pictures that we have. I love it!


Angel Alex


Tyler and I are gangstas. The whole wall was pure graffiti. Classy.

Don't you want to just smoosh him?

Major Slacker

I have been so bad about my blog lately. Life is busy. Really busy. I have pictures to post and stories to tell. But instead I am going to watch "The Office" since it is Steve Carrels last episode. Then in the morning I am going to watch William and Kate's wedding. See, I am busy with very important things.

Overheard

Adam to Tyler: "When I get to 5 you are in time-out! 1......2.....3....4.......4 1/2......4 3/4......"

(Adam is looking over my shoulder and just READ what I was writing! He is learning so fast. And apparently he knows fractions. Or maybe I am too lazy to actually give a time-out, so I count forever. Regardless, I need to stop writing embarrassing things about him, because he will find out.)

Once again, Adam to Tyler: "Don't go in the garage. I'm pretty sure I heard a bomb in there."

(My kids are obsessed with the garage lately. I'm not sure what the big pull is. And in case you were wondering, we don't actually have a bomb in our garage. That I know of.)

Scenic Drive around San Fran

While in San Francisco we decided to take a scenic tour around the city. All we had to do was follow signs that led us through the touristy parts of San Francisco. Sounds easy, right? Nope! A 40 mile drive took about 3 hours. We kept losing the path and having to find it again. Mario got very good at driving and I got good at reading maps. We could totally do the "Amazing Race" now. Thankfully the drive was lovely, if not long. We found some nice gems that we never would have seen. Like this building:

I think it's a Fine Arts Museum. Gorgeous, huh?

Full House...Rice-a-roni....Golden Gate Bridge

What's a trip to San Francisco without a cheesy picture of yourself with the Golden Gate Bridge in the back ground? CHECK!

Discovery Kingdom Memories

The Rides

Poor Tyler wasn't tall enough for a lot of the rides but he had so much fun on the ones he could ride. There was a little mini-roller coaster he got to go on. I have never seen him so happy in my life. It was adorable. He kept screaming, "WEEEEEE!"

Adam was able to go on a lot of rides. He barely made the 42" cut off, and I mean BARELY. He is a little dare devil. He wanted to go on every ride. Ginita and I took him on a huge roller coaster that spins in a circle at the same time. He was by far the youngest kid in line. I was nervous about him riding but he was sure he wanted to do it. While on the ride he looked like he was going to cry. I turned and told him that whenever he got scared just scream like he was having fun. After that he kept yelling, "WOOOHOOOO, YEAH!" It was hilarious. That night at the hotel he said that he still felt like he was on a ride every time he closed his eyes. I think he was a little motion sick. He is still talking about how much fun it was to go on such big rides.

It was so fun having Ginita with us. She is an adrenaline junkie and wanted to go on all the big scary rides. I got tricked into going on "Medusa" and "Boomerang" with her. HOLY COW! I have never been so scared in my life. I seriously almost barfed, but that's the fun trying to escape, right? Mario, Ginita, and I were able to take turns going on rides with each other, watching Alex, and going on rides with the kids.

Good Times!

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

Last weekend Mario and I packed up the kids and Ginita and headed to San Francisco. Our first stop was Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. It was a blast! It is a theme park/aquarium/zoo. We watched a water show featuring a dolphin and an Orca whale. They were amazing. Watching the whale dance was our favorite part. Adam and Tyler wanted me take a picture of the birds so they could show Papa. They always think of Papa when they see birds. Tyler and Adam with Odin the tiger. We also got to see the real Odin, which was really cool. I hadn't realized how huge tigers are.

We didn't spend too much time looking at the animals. The park is just so big. Next time we go we'll spend two days for sure.

On the way to California....

having a DVD player led to....

...a very nice trip!

Thank you Monster's Inc.!

First Pear Blossom

After 4 years of living in the Valley we finally made it out to the Pear Blossom Parade this past Saturday. It's just a small local parade but the boys had a great time waving and collecting candy. Their favorite part was the little cars that the Shriner's drive. I was glad to have Ginita there to help out. Plus it exhausted the kids so they slept better in the car that evening while driving to California. Win, Win, Win! Except for my butt...it lost! Two hours of sitting on the street was no bueno! ;)

Excited Much?!

This was Mario greeting Ginita when she got home from school last week. Crazy kid picked her up and ran in circles. Can you tell that we are so excited to have her home for a week? Jasper shook and wiggled his tail for hours, while Rosie licked her. The boys climbed all over her and showered her in kisses and hugs. She has to leave again this Sunday but we have had so much fun with her here.

*Sorry the picture is so blurry!*

Happy Birthday Mario!

On April 6th we celebrated 31 years of Mario! His day off of work coincided so it was a fantastic birthday. The boys and I woke up early to make crepes for breakfast. They highlighted Mario's all time favorite thing ever: nutella! He opened his gifts, which were a soccer ball from Tyler and Hawaiian swimsuit from Adam. The boys had put lots of thought into the gifts so it was very sweet. Alex and I got him clothes. Then we did a little more clothes shopping, went for a swim at the Y, and then out to dinner. I made Mario a Tres Leches Cake, which was delicious. Then we were in bed by 9:30pm (crazy party animals that we are). Fabulous and relaxing day!

Family Fun Center

A couple weekends ago we celebrated our friend Monica's birthday. They had a party for the kids at the Family Fun Center. Mario and I are the world's meanest parents (i.e. we don't allow video games in our home) so Adam and Tyler were thrilled to play all the games. Look at that skill! I think we have a rock star, motorcycle driver, and truck driver on our hands.

Alf

Rosie and Jasper are my heroes. I am terrified/hate/loathe Alf. Adam think it is funny and picked out this book a while back at a book exchange we did. The other day Jasper and Rosie tore it to bits. Lately Rosie has been chewing up my shoes (grrrrr!) so this was a nice change. Tyler was very concerned about his book. SO LONG ALF!

Toti

Mario has deemed Alex as Toti. It cracks me up every time he says it. Does he look like a Toti to you?

Daddy's Boys

A couple weeks ago on Mario's day off work we went to the Mexican restaurant by our house. All three boys wanted to sit as close to Daddy as they could. Poor me! But look at those handsome boys I got to go on a date with.

Taking After Mommy

Adam has become a fabulous reader. He brings home little books from school with riveting titles, such as "Pat Sat", to read to us nightly. Tyler loves to have Adam read to him. Adam isn't quite to the Dr. Seuss reading level yet, but the other night he was explaining the pictures to Tyler. I hope they form a strong love of reading.

Finally

This kid HATES to sleep. Tyler hasn't taken a nap in months. Then last week I saw this lovely sight. Beautiful, huh?

Lucky Number 13

You know those people that research for months, weigh their options, and then buy a car? For years they care for and fix said car, until finally it dies with 200,000 miles on it. Yup, that's not us. I blame it on Mario working in the car industry. This past week we bought car number 13. Here's a recap: Nissan Altima (First date. Where we got engaged. The car Adam was brought home from the hospital in.) Ford Festiva ($400 in Rexburg. Mario delivered Domino's pizza in it. Then Daniel and Jennie drove it.) Jeep Grand Cherokee (Our first new car; it was lovely!) BMW 330i (I LOVED this car! My old supervisor from Neilson Research drives it now. I dream of buying it from him.) Buick Lasabre (Archie! Jennie and Justin drive him now. He's sick. So sad!) Ford Escort (I don't remember this one at all, but Mario swears we had it and that it was blue.) BMW 745iL (Looked like a mobster's car. I hated it, Mario loved it. Tyler came home from the hospital in it.) Toyota Highlander (We loved it, but we needed a bigger car for kiddo numero tres AKA Alex.) Subaru Legacy (Very nice car! Ginita got to drive it last.) Mazda Protege (My awesome parents let us borrow it for a few months.) Dodge Grand Caravan (The car we brought Alex home from the hospital in.) BMW 320i (Mario's current car.) and now we just got a 2006 Honda Odyssey. So far it is my favorite. The kids are obsessed with the DVD player and I'm obsessed with how nice it is to drive. I think we're going to hang on to this one for a while!