Henry Day

So, at some point (likely while I was neglecting this poor blog), my little man turned 5! His birthday was on Friday and he wanted to bring a treat in to his class and celebrate at school. So, we played hooky and had an early birthday celebration on Wednesday. We started out by going to a preschool skate at Oaks Park. I have fond memories of skating there as a child and the place hasn't changed a bit. Henry was pretty apprehensive about his first time skating, but was feeling much more comfortable by the end (with the wheels firmly locked, of course) even managing to dance the hokey pokey and chicken dance. Owen didn't really seem to notice the skates on his feet and was more preoccupied with chasing down the balls they threw out on to the skating floor - skating, crawling, whatever got him there the fastest! :)

































After finishing up at Oaks Park, we headed to the Spaghetti Factory for a birthday lunch. (And for the record, don't get Henry started on the Spaghetti Factory. We have had many many conversations about the name of the restaurant. He thinks it's like the Tillamook Cheese Factory where they make cheese, you know, in the factory. And we've had to explain to him many times that the Spaghetti Factory isn't actually a real factory, but just a fun name for the restaurant). :)









And what special day is complete without a super fun car wash?





After that it was time for a short "rest" at home to decorate Henry's cake while Owen napped. And let me tell you, this cake was a doozy for me to figure out. As I do every year, I asked Henry what kind of cake he wanted (thinking it would be something like last year's truck cake). He responded right away with, "a fence cake." Blinking like a deer caught in headlight, I decided I should probably ask for a clarification, "What do you mean by a fence cake, Henry?" To which he responded very matter of fact, "Like a pretend fence, Mommy, with people on the other side." Righhht. So, after much time thinking about what a fence cake would look like, perusing Pinterest and wandering through the aisles at Target and Toys R Us, I finally had an idea. I'm guessing the fences part of the cake came from all the time we spent waiting in lines at Disneyland (most of which was spent with Nate and me telling him to stop hanging on the fences), and it was apparently very memorable to him. And so, a Disneyland cake it was. Complete with fences made of Twizzlers and pretzels to wait for the Cars ride. And it seemed to satisfy him, so I feel accomplished!







With the cake decorated and ready to go, it was off to the park for some bike riding!















We finished off the day with a birthday dinner with Grandma & Grandpa.



























And the birthday celebrations continued on Friday - more pictures to come, with any luck. :)

April Leftovers

Since I'm a bit overwhelmed with current pictures, I figured it made the most sense to catch up on some old ones! So, here are the pictures from April that have yet to be posted (when did June happen? How has it been 2 months since these pictures!). . .

Heaphy Visit
Before their family left town, we made sure to squeeze in a few more visits with them. The Heaphy boys (and their mama) came over one night for dinner and we included them in our nightly picture.



And on another day, we managed to find a break in the rain and enjoy some time at the park. . .













Treats
One evening, we headed out for a frozen yogurt treat. Henry loved picking his toppings and was so proud of his creation. Owen enjoyed his "eyes keem" as he calls it. It would be one of his few words! (Although his vocabulary is growing daily these days).









Tax Season
In the weeks leading up to the April 15th deadline the boys and I did our best to support Nate and his longer hours.

On the nights he worked late, the boys and I would make it a movie night. The movies of choice were Cars and Cars 2 and Cars and Cars 2 and well, you get the idea. It was a Cars extravaganza at our house. The boys were happy which made this mama happy! We hadn't watched either movie in a long time and apparently it was all new to Owen.

As I've mentioned before, Owen is pretty into his cars. These are pretty typical scenes at our house:





And so when the movie came on, he went nuts. I was in the kitchen making dinner and heard him yelling. I couldn't figure out what was happening, until I came over and found him holding his cars up next to the TV and yelling about the matching cars on the movie. He was so excited to see his prized cars in action on the screen!




And yes, that would be the boys watching Cars 2 while Owen lines up his cars in front of the Cars 2 tent. Whatever works!





And on another evening, we brought some dinner to Nate. And of course we put the boys to work. I'm sure things were much more productive that night!










Henry is just fascinated with the typewriter!




Recognize any words/names in there?

They even helped Nate check to see if the efiles went through successfully before we headed out of town for the beach. . .



Around The House









"He-whoa!" I love how Owen answers his phones!













Phone Pics
For the times I don't have my big camera with me and Nate's camera of choice. Every once in awhile I even remember to download the pictures to post!