Idaho

We went on a quick trip to Idaho over the weekend for a friend's wedding. We left Friday night and came back late Sunday. We flew there so it was such a treat for Aden. He loved watching the airplanes and was so great flying...he did not make a peep, even though his ears bothered him a bit. I was afraid that the trip to Idaho will make him start saying that all airplanes go to Idaho (instead of Fiji), but when we were reading his airplane book in the plane, he still said that the airplanes go to Fiji. I was glad for that!

The funnest part of the trip is hanging out with our good friends Kimberly & Bodie and the tater tots. Annelise & Bodie are the cutest twins and they are such good kiddos. They were troopers with getting packed around everywhere we went, it's awesome that their mommy is so great about not letting the kids stop her from doing anything! Thank you guys so much for the hospitality, we had such a great time hanging with you and just talking! Can't wait to see you all again soon!

Ocean dip?

The boy just loves the water, so much that he willingly wades in the freezing ocean water. We let him play in the little tide pool while walking on the beach. Darin had the great idea of taking his jacket off, just in case. Sure enough, 10 minutes later, Aden did a face plant into the water. He was drenched, but didn't want to leave the beach. So we just stripped him down, put on the jacket and had him play for a while until it was time for lunch. Crazy guy.

Testing the freezing water...

This shot was taken a few seconds before he fell into the water!

Mother's Day weekend at the beach

For Mother's Day weekend, I chose to spend a long weekend at the beach. It's the place we, as a family, love so much. Aden was just ecstatic to be there and be able to play at the beach and do the things he loves to do. Friday was just gorgeous, a preview of what our summer could be. Although Saturday was rainy and cold at times, we still enjoyed the day with a long stroll through the neighborhood and of course the big dune climb. Aden did climb the dune on his own, and enjoyed the slide down it. Sunday was also a beautiful day, although it did make me sad that we had to pack up and leave. Oh well, there's always next time...

I love this shot, it shows how much Aden has grown and how much he enjoys our walks on the beach.

Jumpin'

We "had to" setup our trampoline for Darin's party and it was just a hit with the kids. Lucky for Aden, since he's going through this jumping stage.

Darin's how old???

It seems like yesterday when I threw Darin a surprise party for his 22nd birthday. Now, 9 years later, I threw him a totally differnt party. Although there were still some libations involved, the party needed some G-rated entertainment due to the kids present at the party. It's amazing to look back and see how much we all have changed. It was fun to see all our kids having a good time and playing together, but my favorite part of the night was showing Darin the slideshow of pics I put together of him over the last 10 years we've been together. He loved that so much and appreciated it, it was definitely the best present I could've ever given him. Memories are just so precious!

Swingin...

Darin made Aden a pretty cool swing and finally tested the branch that I begged him not to cut off since it's a great branch for a swing. Aden was so excited and tried it out. Since Darin made a "loveseat" swing, Gizmo had to test it out too. Ofcourse it's a kick for Aden to be on the swing with his favorite dog...he liked that so much that he didn't like it when I tried to get on the swing with him. He asked me to get off the swing and put Giz back on.

Aden's Favorite Aunt

My sister just sent me some of the pictures she took of her & Aden while she was home for spring break, they were too cute, I had to share them. Aden & I miss her a lot while she's off being a college girl, we can't wait to see her more often in the summer. We got so spoiled last summer when we got to see her a few times a week! It's great to see her with Aden and knowing how much her little nephew adores her.

Bike Ride

After Darin got off work on Friday, we took advantage of the great weather and went downtown for a bike ride. We've been trying to do this for a few months now, but hasn't been able to fit it in. I just love riding the bike along the waterfront. We went from the Steel Bridge to the Eastside Esplanade and then crossed the Hawthorne Bridge and went all around the waterfront area. It was nice to be out and enjoy the sunny day. I am so looking forward to many more bike rides, I miss riding my bike especially since I used to ride my bike home after work! Aden just loved it and every time we stopped, he'll say "more bike ride". I think Gizmo enjoyed his ride too. It was fun for me to see people's reaction whenever we pass them and they see Gizmo behind Darin. He definitely got more attention than Aden!

Tulip Festival

Aden & I decided to check out the Tulip Festival in Woodburn on Friday, along with my friend Jerrianna, her cute as a pie youngest daughter, Abbigail and Aden's pal, Tristan. We thought since it's during the work week, it wouldn't be crowded. Well, we were wrong...there were a lot of people there, especially due to the nice weather. It was great to see the kids walk around the tulip fields and I was amazed at how great they cooperated with us and walked for 2 hours! It was definitely a great trip and an awesome way to spend the day.

The neglected first child...

Gizmo's life has changed since we've had Aden...he's had to share our attention and affection. Plus he had to learn to love this creature that started out smaller than him, and now, able to step on him and bug the heck out of him. Gizmo has been such a trooper and a very patient dog to a very active toddler. Last Thursday, we took advantage of the great weather and took the boat out for a little leisurely ride downtown. I think Gizmo enjoyed the scenery as much as we did!

Here's looking at you, Dave...

Being a Dave fan, I've ordered their DMB calendar every year. A few months ago, I saw Aden standing in front of my plant. At first, I thought he's getting into trouble by touching it and maybe ripping the leaves off. Then I realized that he's just standing there, looking up at the calendar. Now, every month, I see him looking at the calendar, checking out each band member's picture. Then, he'll say hi to the picture and it's funny that every month that I flip the page over, he notices it and will check out the new month's picture. That's when I knew that I've "corrupted" my child into liking the band that I adore so much. I was finally able to take a picture of him doing this, and it just cracks me up every time he does it.

Money Pit

We found out last month that we have to drill a well. Long story short, we decided that last week would be a good time to get it done since we had good weather. It's one of those things that I was totally unprepared for, being out here in the "country". It is cool to see how they do it, how amazing it is to look out our kitchen window and see this huge truck out in our yard. What is not cool is how much it is costing us. Oh how I wish I can fast forward and just be looking back to this stage of our life. Can't wait to get rid of this money pit!

Aden & I usually eat lunch out on the back deck whenever we have good weather. He really wanted to be out there to watch them drill, so I made a deal with him that he can eat lunch outside as long as he wears his headphone. It was just so loud out there, my ears were ringing! So, after he ate his sandwich, he told me that it was too loud out there and wanted to go back inside. I think he mostly didn't want to wear the headphone!

Party with the fun chicks

We went to Papa's Pizza Parlor last week for Aden's favorite gal pal's (Jade) birthday. He had a fun time running around with his friends. He was quite timid at first, but thanks to the Mobley kids, he followed them around and was having a great time going through the tunnels and slides. Special thanks to Evan for being a great "big brother" and coaxing Aden to go through tunnels with him!

Update

I've been quiet lately, not due to lack of blogging material, but mostly due to our hectic life. We've had a crazy month, lots of commitments and work, that I haven't been able to find the time to blog. It's just amazing how fast days go by and I can't do all the things that I want/need to do. I'm sure everyone feels that way too, or maybe I'm just not good with time management. Anyway, here's some of my favorite shots from the past month...

St. Patrick's Day at the Roadhouse

Aden with Ms. Jade

And here's the beach shots:

The face of the no-nap boy

Here's Aden after 3 hours of being in his bed, wide awake the entire time. Since he turned 2, he would go through periods of not napping. He would just stay in his bed and talk and no matter how tired he is, he just refuses to give in to sleep. It always worries me that he is starting to give up his nap, but then, he'll start napping again like normal. So every day, I put him in his bed and doesn't let him out of it until either he's napped or 3 hours has gone by (he usually naps for 3 hours). Luckily, he never cries or throws a fit, he just hangs there until his time is up.

Mike's Ad?

What started out as a nice scenic picture...

Turned into a great ad for Mike's Hard Lemonade!

Then there's the bunnies...

We've also been seeing a couple of bunnies hanging around outside, but they're definitely a little more cautious than the deer. One of them did decide to show up while we were feeding the deer, and got pretty close to one of the deer. At one point, one of the deer looked at the bunny and I told Darin that I will just freak out if the deer started attacking the bunny. Fortunately, it seems like they're friends and gets along fine. It feels like we're at Disneyland every time we're at the beach house and all these animals coming out of the woods!

Deer

We have a group of deer that would walk by our house at the beach. Our neighbor started giving them apples and now, they always check out the houses to see if there's anyone that would give them a treat. It is so odd to see deer hanging around, begging for food just like dogs do. I guess the most amazing thing is that we can get at least one of the deer to grab food out of our hands. They would even take it from Aden! And of course, Aden thinks this is the coolest thing to do.

Party crashers

Darin & Aden decided to crash our party and joined us at the beach on Saturday. Everyone was cool with this especially since Darin mixed us drinks and made us meals. My friend Bernie also hasn't seen Aden since he was an infant so she was glad to spend time with him. We made Aden climb the dune on his own for the first time and we were all shocked that he walked the entire time and did not want to be carried. He was quite tired and thirsty when we reached the top!

Girls weekend

I went to the beach with a couple of friends for the weekend. The weather cooperated, it was sunny and pretty warm weather for March. It was great to catch up and go on walks on the beach. We haven't had a girls' weekend for a while, life kind of got in the way. Hopefully we'll be able to do another one of these soon, we had such a great time just talking and hanging out.

Park

Fun pictures from a couple of weeks ago when we went to the park. The boy likes to swing...