when i put eli to sleep tonight i cupped his face in my hands and said, "i'm so thankful that God gave you to me." he smiled sheepishly and said, "i'm so thankful animals are here." what a boy.
it was like telling someone "i love you" and having them reply, "thanks!" but i know he loves me:)
we were able to go out to breakfast at konos in pacific beach with adam's dad, scott. it is such a beautiful spot with the pier, the water and the o-my-goodness good food.
this is my favorite picture from the trip...i can't get over lyla's face...
on the way back from the restaurant eli decided to show me some more of his fighting moves
after breakfast we went to see scott and ellen's new house-in-the-making. it's in la jolla not far from the beach with lots of little shops within walking distance. i can't wait to come back for Christmas to see the finished product.
as i mentioned before, we weren't planning on going down to san diego this trip. but then adam's sister had her baby, i wanted to see family, and my cousin offered for us to stay at her condo (thanks kylee!). so we made a 24 hour whirlwind trip. here is baby bailey...
since we weren't planning on making it down to san diego this trip, corrie came and spend the day with us in LA. she just called to say that as of this morning she is DONE with nursing school and is about to become an rn. all of her hard work has impressed me and i'm SO proud of her. i love you corrie!
having fun on the carousel...for a little while. my mom said about half way through eli said he was ready to get off. shane on the other hand looks like he's having a blast.
lyla whimpered the whole way. i have a feeling that if i didn't happen to have a pacifier in my pocket she would have wailed the whole way. maybe we'll wait a few more years to try that again.
once off the carousel, all was right with the world. i love this shot of her with my dad. it depicts their relationship perfectly.
this botanical garden is huge. it has an area that is well maintained and garden-like, and an area that is more "wild." of course, the wild part is always more fun for little boys. here they are building a house out of palm branches...notice their strong muscles!
lyla was running around naked while we unpacked. she came up to me, put her hand around behind her and said, "pocket!" my reply? "um, nope, that's your butt." i hope that's a lesson she only has to learn once.
we were lucky to be here to celebrate molly's birthday with a surprise party. my job was to take her shopping while they set up...it was a tough job, but i must say i rose to the occasion. jesse suggested we go to the grove in LA. it's like disneyland for shoppers and attached to it is LAs oldest farmers market. we had lunch and shopped, it was a fun time. here's us at the market...
here's the people hiding on the side of the house getting ready to surprise...
shane is in his first year of t ball. i didn't get to go to the game (i was shopping:), but loved the pictures adam took. he looks so cute in his little uniform...
what a cool place. wilderness park is 11 acres of "wilderness" in LA. the little pond had ducks, huge koi, catfish and tons of turtles . you can buy food and feed them and they all gather at the edge and gobble up the food. the catfish were interesting, and by "interesting," i mean a little gross.
suz and i took the kids to the zoo the other day. when i told eli what we were going to do he said, "lyla! lyla, do you want to go to the zoo with zoe, your best friend!?!" and under his breath as he was walking away he added, "and my best friend, too." it was so sweet.
he has had a tinder spot for baby girls since he was a very little boy. i remember him following little girls around patting them on the back when he was just one or two years old. he's going to make a fantastic daddy someday. if forgot my camera, but suz had her iphone...thanks for the pics suz!
i've noticed that both eli and lyla's wardrobes are getting a little tight, but more annoyingly, short. don't you just love high waters in the spring? pants an inch above the shoe...now that says fashion. i measured them to see if they've grown...and they have...a lot. they each grew an inch in three months. eli hasn't grown that fast since he was two.
i have measured his height on his door frame since he was 16 months old. then i started lyla on there when she was 18 months. we're selling our house and i would love to rip that frame off and take it with us. if i could only get adam on board with that...
i'm excited for the warm weather and shorts so our kids can be "cool" again.
we got a little dusting of snow this morning. eli was soooo excited. we haven't had much snow this winter, and when we did get some we were in so cal and missed it. so as soon as it got light we were out having a snowball fight, which i'm sure the neighbors appreciated greatly:) i love how lyla is laughing at eli in the picture on the right. he cracks her up.
i had them pose for this picture and counted, "one, two, three," when lyla broke in with a "FOUR!" she really likes to count things. sometimes when we're driving she sits in the back and counts her fingers. the numbers are not always in the correct order, but she gets many of them and surprises me all the time. and the one of eli...pure snow fighting bliss written all over his face.
today we drove out to celebration park in kuna. the kids had a great time romping around on the big rocks. lyla loved throwing the little rocks into the "milk" (mud puddles). eli had so much fun hiking and impressed adam with some of his rock hopping moves.
adam told eli that he had just split this rock with a strong karate chop. eli said, "really!?! for real!?!"
them at the top
this is the bridge we went out to see. it was built in 1897 and was intended to carry ore from silver city to nampa where it would be smelted. it is now only open to foot traffic. we never actually got to the bridge, the road was too muddy...maybe another day.
on our way back we stopped and got meat at vogal farms. it's so strange to go to a farm to get food. we are now (thanks to my mom) getting our milk and meat farm fresh. cool. here is lyla at the farm standing in front of their newest calf and her mama.
and by the way, spring has sprung, what a beautiful day.
we have been "projecting" the last few days. eli made a fantastic mural yesterday with popsicle sticks, buttons, tiles glue and cardboard. he worked on it for about a half hour, the whole time telling me it was for daddy. this morning we're painting and he made one of his best paintings...this was also "for daddy." i asked him if he was going to make me something. he said, "um, yeah, i'll...ummm, i'lllllll get a piece of paper and put some stickers on it or something."
we've known since eli was a baby that he does not play well by himself. but this morning was a bit over the top. we had just woken up when he said, "mom, you didn't even play with me and lyla." "when?" i asked. "at all, you didn't even play with me," he said. "we just woke up, we haven't had time to play," i told him. "no! you didn't even play with me while i wassleeping."
so now he's even having dreams where he's board. that is not really encouraging. at least it's funny.
adam and eli took a trip up to lucky peak this weekend. they went to explore a cave that is 30-40 feet underwater during the summer. notice eli has his gun in case they stumble upon some trouble.
