Parker's 4th Birthday

Per our norm, we had an extended celebration for Parker's birthday.  His birthday was on a Tuesday and the weekend prior Grammy and Reed were vacationing in San Diego.  We met up with them on Saturday at the zoo and they came over for dinner and birthday cake on Sunday.

Parker usually has preschool on Tuesdays, but on that particular Tuesday it was canceled, so for Parker's actual birthday we went to Sea World.  It was nice to go during the week when it's not so crowded.  Paul brought home Chick Fil-A for dinner, which Parker claims is his favorite meal, although he generally skips the food and goes straight for the juice box and toy.  

The following day (Wednesday) was our weekly park day with friends from the ward.  I brought cookies and told Parker it was his birthday party.

Several days later Parker got a special surprise for his fourth birthday: a trip to the doctor's office!  It had been about two years since his last doctor appointment, but he's gone to every one of Kate's so there wasn't much for him to be surprised by.  I told him beforehand that he'd have to get shots and he did surprisingly well. Also, I bribed him that if he didn't throw a fit we'd go get an ice cream cone at McDonalds.

Currently he is 3 feet 5 inches tall (70th percentile) and almost 39 pounds (75th percentile) and is equal parts adorable and aggravating.  He loves having dance parties, which we have almost on a daily basis as soon as Paul gets home from work.  He is a very good brother to Kate and holds her hand when we're out and about and keeps her safe and walking in the right direction.  He loves being with friends and having friends come to our house and play, although sharing is still difficult and the play date sometimes ends in tears.  He LOVES chocolate (didn't get that from me!) and we've had to resort to hiding (not just putting it up high or out of reach- he is a determined soul and quite resourceful)  all forms of it after we caught him eating chocolate chips by the half-bagful for breakfast on several occasions.  He has an amazing imagination and I love listening to him playing make believe with his toys.  His favorite show is Odd Squad on PBS.  It's a show about math and there must be a lot that is completely over his head, but he still loves it.  He gives the best hugs and kisses and we love him so much. 

Valentine's Day

I love when Paul and I get to spend time together with just the two of us.  Unfortunately it doesn't happen too often, but I love that Valentine's Day is an excuse to do just that.  We decided to go out in the morning and we left the kiddos with an awesome babysitter.  Parker loves her and she always tidies up our house while we're away.  We went to breakfast at a place downtown called Babycakes.  Their primary business is desserts, which in my estimation had to mean that their breakfasts were right up my alley.  Paul ordered standard breakfast fare: an omelet served with potatoes and peppers, toast and fruit.  I ordered the Chunky Monkey.  It's french toast (made out of banana bread) topped with caramelized bananas and whip cream.  Ohhhhhh my goodness.  Thank goodness we had the foresight to wear our elastic waistband pants.  

After breakfast we rented a Go Car.  It's a two seated scooter that's street legal, but only goes 30mph.  Going up hills we were wishing that we could turn on some hazard lights- I think we topped out at about 14mph.  You can drive anywhere you like, but you also have the option of following the GPS instructions through a guided tour of downtown San Diego, which is what we opted to do.   We learned lots of interesting things about different areas downtown and along the bay.  

For Grandpa Bob

Christmas in Redwood City

We had a wonderful Christmas this year in Redwood City.  I love being surrounded by family.  It's just the best thing ever and it always makes me want to live closer to our siblings/parents.  Our trip was shorter than I would have liked (only five days), but those days were packed full of fun and memory making.

The night that we arrived Parker helped Grandpa John get his sleeping bag and air mattress out of the attic.  Beginning early the next morning, Parker started asking if he could go back up in the attic because he saw lots of fun toys up there.  Being the wonderful grandpa that he is, John consented and they did indeed find some fun toys.  The boys spent several hours playing with these slot cars.

I think the kids woke up around 7:00 Christmas morning and we kept them at bay until 8:00 when we began the morning with a little Christmas program.  Grandma Trudy told the story of baby Jesus with her kid-friendly nativity, we sang a Christmas song and then it was time for presents.

 Uncle Thomas and Aunt Angela won Parker over by giving him The Lego Movie.

Trudy really has an eye for kid clothes- she keeps Parker and Kate in high fashion.  I love this dress and if they had it in my size, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

The next day we went to Happy Hollow.  It's a small zoo that also has a little amusement park and play area for kids.  Parker wanted to be brave and feed the goats, but he still hasn't worked up the courage.  It was sort of a repeat of the last time he tried over two years ago.

Kate, on the other hand, had no problem feeding the goats and even tried to eat the goat food herself.

I think this was Parker's first roller coaster and I was surprised that he was willing to ride it.  He's kind of a timid fellow.

Not too fond of the first plummet, but he was smiling again soon enough.

On Saturday we got together with some friends from BYU who live in the Bay Area.  It was so nice to be around them.  Our lives have changed dramatically since we were all together in Provo (mostly in the form of progeny), but it was so easy to pick up right where we left off.

On Sunday (our last day there) we took some family pictures.  Or rather, John took some family pictures of us.  Thank goodness for John!!!  His love of photography (which I think to some extent is tied to his love for family history and wanting to document special moments in the lives of his family) is truly a blessing for the rest of us!  And he really has a talent for it.  Looking through these pictures (nearly all in this post were taken by John), I am just astounded at how he has captured Parker's facial expressions and at three years old, what's on his face is what's in his heart.

Halloween

Parker opted to be a dragon again this year.  What he really wanted to be was a Ninja Turtle (which I find hilarious because he doesn't even know what that is), but we couldn't find a costume his size and after searching two stores I decided that was all the effort I was willing to expend.  We have a dress up box full of Halloween attire and I thought Parker might choose a costume more fitted to his stature, but I was wrong.  We made him sag the pants, otherwise they came to about three inches above his ankles.  I was a pirate, Kate was my parrot.  Paul dressed up as Clark Kent (Superman shirt under his white dress shirt), but we don't have a picture.   

The Air Show

While my dad was here we went to an air show at the naval base here in San Diego.  There were some acrobatic plane and helicopter performances that were really fun to watch.  Parker loved watching the helicopter fly backwards.  They also had a bunch of planes and helicopters on display that you could sit in and walk through.  Even though it was hotter than Hades, both Parker and Kate kept it together pretty well and we were able to stay a long time, but not quite long enough to see the Blue Angels, which flew later in the afternoon.  We're planning on going next year though, and this time we'll plan our trip around their flying time.

This is a V-22 Osprey.  It's a helicopter/plane hybrid.  In situations where there isn't a runway for takeoff, it can takeoff as a helicopter and then in mid flight the propellers can rotate and then it flies like a plane.

Inside the Osprey:

The Osprey cockpit:

Notice Parker's appropriate shirt choice:

This is a Vought F4U Corsair.  It was flown primarily in WWII and the Korean War.  From my understanding, there aren't any other planes that have this signature wing shape.  It's also the plane Skipper, from the movie Planes, was modeled after.  

 

Chula Vista House

Our move to San Diego was a rather rushed one.  Remember how I toured and submit an application for our condo on Tuesday, we were told that it was ours on Wednesday night, then started packing on Thursday and moved on Saturday?  (And then Kate was born on Monday.)  Well, because it all happened so quickly we had talked about possibly moving again after our lease was up a year later if we could find something better/cheaper/bigger.  Our lease was up in August and we didn't find anything that would make a move worthwhile, so we decided that we'd just stay here for another two years.  We're hoping that in two years from now we'll know where we'll be permanently and then maybe we can buy a house.  Well, a few weeks ago I got an email from our property manager saying that the owner of our condo was selling and we would have to move out.  I nearly cried.  Moving is the worst!  Apparently I'm okay with it if it's on my terms, but when I get caught unaware and thrown out on my keister, I change my tune.

Before we start packing and turning our home into a disaster area, I wanted to make a movie to remember this condo.  This is Kate's first home!  I wish we would have done this for our Tustin apartment, but again, we moved like it was going out of style.