Catching up...

It's funny how life just kind of gets away from you sometimes.  The last 5 months or so have been fairly busy, but nothing too out of the ordinary.  

This summer, Emma found out how great corn on the cob can be.  Of course she refuses to eat corn any other way.

In August, Ezra started preschool.  He has done pretty well.  He has learned to write his name, and he is starting to get to the point of reading some small words.  Ezra has enjoyed the interaction with the other kids, and Susan has enjoyed a little bit quieter house a few times a week.

September and October brought a trip to Disneyland.  The kids talked for weeks about going on rides.  Ezra kept saying that he really wanted to go on Gadget's Go-coaster.  Both Emma and Ezra decided that they wanted to go on it.  Neither of them really cared for it, and Emma really didn't go willingly on to any other rides.  She like Autopia, but even that took some convincing the first time.

The kids really enjoyed seeing the characters

At least they had fun for parts of it.

Ezra finally got it through his head that the rides were just for fun, that they were perfectly safe, and that everything was just pretend. He finally started to enjoy himself.  His favorite ride was probably the Buzz Lightyear ride.  Overall though, the kids had the most fun being able to spend time with their grandparents.

For Halloween we all got dressed up and went to the trunk-or-treat at the church.  Ezra wanted to wear his costume from last year up until a few days before Halloween, and then decided that he needed to be a pirate instead.  Susan made Emma a "Cinderella" skirt.  The more she walked, the puffier it got.

The kids had fun at various other outings as well.  They both learned the fun on bounce houses this summer.

For Thanksgiving we made it out to Shawn's grandparents' house to spend time with family.

Emma got initiated into the ritual of making noodles with her great-grandma. 

Ezra and Shawn's cousin decided that playing games on someone's tablet was more enthralling.

It is always fun to go back out and be around family and where I grew up.  There's a beauty to it that I never really appreciated growing up.

And as always, it is always a good time to spend time with family.

The kids have enjoyed playing outside more since the heat has ended.  We've picked quite a few lemons from our tree that has grown like crazy this year.  We've also managed to pick quite a few bell peppers as well.  Not everything makes it, but it's nice to have a garden.

Summer parties

The kids have kept us a busy as always.  They both seem to have an almost endless supply of energy.

This is a pretty normal face to see ...

 

They like to run around and play and imagine things.  Emma had a bit where she would grab Ezra's beanie and pull it over one eye.  She would then declare that she was a pirate and say, "ARRRR!"

We got a new larger fish tank, and it has been neat to see the kids get excited about it.  At 30 gallons, it's the largest that I have ever had, so we'll see what it looks like when it is finally fully stocked.

The kids, like most, love bubbles.  They've both even got to where they can halfway decently blow bubbles themselves.

Over Memorial day weekend, we went to my great grandmother's 100th birthday party.  It isn't everyone that is able to say that they've had 5 generations together in the same room.

The kids even cleaned up pretty well for it too.

We also got to go up to the "camping spot" up on the mountains that we went to on a lot of summer weekend while I was growing up.

It was great to be able to share some bits of my childhood memories with Susan and the kids.

Ezra had fun making faces and playing with my cousin.

Growing up, I never really understood why everyone always talked about how beautiful it is up there.  It was just normal to me.  I think that I understand now.

Around Ezra's birthday we were able to go out and see Susan's side of the family too.  It has been great to be able to see everyone.

They sure seem to grow up fast.  It's hard to believe that he's already 4.

 

The kids both enjoyed playing with their cousins.  They're a lot more fun than just old mom and dad, that's for sure. 

 

 

Ezra got Hungry Hungry Hippos for his birthday, and had a blast playing it.

While out in California, we got to go play at the beach.  It was kind of cold and cloudy when we got there, but it cleared up and ended up being a very pretty day.  The kids really didn't want anything to do with the water, but the sand was fun.

We took the kids to the aquarium as well.  That's always a highlight for them.  They were both the most excited about the jellyfish.  They talked about that for days before going.

There were even some little tiny jellyfish. When Emma saw them she said, "They're dancing...

... in space!"

Both of the kids thoroughly enjoyed watching the fish, and playing around the little areas that they have for kids to run around.

We went to their cousin Charlotte's birthday party as well.  It had a western theme.

Ezra thought that the props were great.

Emma liked the costumes too.

She made sure that we knew that she was the "bad guy".  Not sure what she always like to play the villain.

She likes to play with her dolls too though.  She was singing and dancing with her big Raggedy Ann doll that my grandma gave to her while we were out there.

The garden has been pretty fruitful this year.  Mostly tomatoes.   This was one week's pick.

We figure that in total we've picked close to 30 pounds of tomatoes.  We've had a decent number of large zucchini as well.  The peppers actually came up this year, and one of them has a small pepper on it, so we'll see if we actually get anything worth picking.

Easter & Emma's Birthday

Where does the time go?  You would think that a simple blog would be easy to keep up with, right?

Easter has come and gone, and Emma is now 2.

Our yard had enough nicely in bloom for Easter.  The orchid tree was in full bloom, though it is pretty much done now.

The daffodils bloomed fairly nicely too.  Having planted them in December, we wondered if they were going to come up at all.

The weather has been pretty nice this past month.  We have enjoyed spending a decent amount of time playing outside.  

The kids have loved being able to run around and play.

Too bad that it won't last though.  The last couple of days we've already hit 100, so here comes summer.

Emma's 2nd birthday was fun.  We just had cake and opened presents.  Ezra was almost more excited to try and play with things than Emma.

 She's remained our good eater.  She eats a lot larger variety of things than Ezra does.

Easter was fun.  The Easter bunny left the kids a little play tent that they've thoroughly enjoyed.

Looking for eggs in the house was great with the kids.  It was fun to see them search around for them, though they still needed a few hints.

Emma was really proud of her new dress.  Both of the kids have been growing a lot so it has been interesting keeping them in clothes.

 For our traditional Easter dinner we had ribs with guava barbeque sauce.  It was great!