A visit from cousins

We got a very fun visit from Mike's brother and sister-in-law and their kids last weekend. The kids played together so well and we had a great time with Josh and Katie as well! Thanks again for coming!

Sarah was so nice to play with Blake. He loved all the attention and that she would do what he wanted to do!

Carson, Dallin, and Emma played really well together and had a blast playing on the helicopter. They also made up a new trampoline game and some silly songs.

Carson and Dallin decided to share a stool during breakfast. So cute!

Catching up

I had a lot of catching up to do on the blog! Below are quite a few new posts.  Enjoy!

San Diego

We had a great trip to San Diego in May.  We did a lot of relaxing and playing.  Mike and I kept commenting how it was probably a perfect trip for our family at this stage. 

We planned the trip in January and fully intended on driving.  A few weeks before we left we decided we were crazy to drive and bought plane tickets.  Here's Carson relaxing on some of the seats. 

We spent a couple of days at the beach.  Carson was super excited for the beach.  We left our house around 6 a.m. to catch our flight and Carson was asking before we got to the airport if we were at the beach yet.  Umm. . . no!  We knew we had to get to the beach as soon as possible.  Luckily we have some friends that live at the Marine base near Oceanside who took us to the beach there.  We also went later in the week to a beach in La Jolla.   

We took some time to see the San Diego temple and then we went to the Mormon Battallion visitors' center as well.  

We stayed at Paradise Point Resort for a portion of our trip and we loved it.  The weather turned cold the first day and it was great to be at the resort because there was plenty to do.  Our kids found this white duck and named it Fluffy.  They fed Fluffy and all the other ducks quite a bit of bread and duck food before our time was over.  The resort also had fish, turtles, and sharks to look at. 

Below is a view from the front door to our room. The pond was really neat and the resort had several of them.

We found this duck and her little ducklings.  So fun to watch! 

Here are some ducks (and a seagull) coming for their food.  It got to be that when we we open our door several ducks would flock to it. 

Paradise Point also had a really fun pool with a sand area at the end of it. 

The kids were sad to say goodbye to Fluffy and their other friends at the hotel, but our next stop was SeaWorld.  Here's Blake picking up a starfish. 

We learned from our last experience at SeaWorld in Florida that our kids would need a stroller.  We got a double stroller and bribed the kids to get in it by giving them popcorn.  It worked great and we had a fabulous day. 

Carson feeding the seals. 

Blake feeding the seals too. 

Mike going on a ride with the kids. 

Carson surprised us by asking to go on Journey to Atlantis, one of the big rides there.  He was barely tall enough and he and Mike rode it together three times.  They had a lot of fun and Carson admitted he only screamed a little bit.  In the picture below they are seated in the back.

Blake loved SeaWorld and here he is with his souvenir, a cute penguin. 

Pretty much every night ended like the one below. 

At our last hotel they had a waterworks feature at the pool.  The kids really enjoyed playing in it as well. 

It was a great trip and we're glad we were able to go!

Farming

In April, I took the kids to my parents' house so they could ride on the tractors and do some "farming."  From the report I got--Carson loved every minute of it.  He got to turn the tractor around at the end of the rows and talk on the two-way radios as much as he wanted.  He rode with my dad and so I didn't get any pictures of him.  Blake and I rode with my brother Derek and so I was able to snap a few shots of the two of them. 

Derek looking slightly worried as Blake tries to steer.

Checking out the buttons.

Checking the seed levels.

Soccer

Carson started playing soccer at the end of March. Mike was the coach.  Carson had fun, but we're kind of glad it's over for now so we can have our Saturday mornings back.  He starts T-ball next week.

Blake

I thought I would showcase some of the things that Blake does that show his independence.  He started dressing himself a few months ago.  Here's one of his initial attempts:

If you can't tell his pants and shirts are on backwards.  He eventually learned how to get it all straight.

This is his attempt at opening the oatmeal box.

We also transitioned him to a more real bed.  He has done pretty well with staying on his bed unless he wakes up in the middle of the night, then he usually makes his way into our bed.

Day at Discovery

In March we headed to Salt Lake because the Discovery Children's Museum was having a free day.  We rode the train from Ogden and spent a couple hours there.  It was a lot of fun, but of course it was also incredibly busy.  It was also St. Patrick's Day and this added to some of the confusion because everybody seemed to be dressed in green.