Back to the Beach House!

Back at the beach house we just had more fun!

We got to do chocolate-dipped strawberries -- it came in a two-pack at Costco.

And I think round two was just as successful.

We also got to eat at Great Awakenings. Oh, if you're ever down there, go. And do yourself a favor and get their eggs benedict with ham and avocado. You're welcome.

Of course, a beach house trip is entirely pointless without a trip to the beach. And yes, in February, we go fully clothed.

And we also try to find as many sand crabs as possible.

We also do a whole lot of sand throwing.

Typically we spend a few hours at Dennis the Menace. Best Park Ever.

And it makes it easier to have at least one kid accounted for while you're there. It can get pretty busy there!

Someday I should count up the number of pictures I have of this red slide.

It really is one of my favorites though, and I don't see the boys complaining.

They know that a train makes them go even faster.

I love the patterning on this picture.

Lincoln is mesmerized by the maze.

Grandma helped Ethan figure out how to do the twisty pole all by himself!

We also LOVE going to the tide pools. John is very good at going really far out and finding some real sea life. 

Whee!

After observing all that sea life, it's time to get some sushi!

Here's to another fantastic trip to Monterey!

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

We went with John's mom down to the beach house and made a day trip to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It was our first time going as a family and we had so much fun!

At the boardwalk they have the best idea ever -- instead of just a regular round and round carousel (okay this one goes round and round too) it also has this place where you can grab rings from one section, and then it has a clown that you try and throw the rings into his mouth. John was amazing at this. Shocker, but I was terrible! I guess moving and throwing is less an ideal situation for me.

Young or old though, it didn't matter, we all had fun. John was even able to hand some of the rings back to the kids (they weren't tall enough to get the rings out themselves), so they got to take some shots on the clown.

Hey. How you doin'? Thanks to the random worker who offered to take our picture looking directly into the sun.

This was the highlight. Oh my goodness. I have never heard Ethan (and perhaps any one of us) giggle so hard in his life. He L-O-V-E-D the bumper cars. The idea of ramming into another person while driving couldn't have had a better appeal for this kid!

Even Grandma took some turns riding and bouncing along those little tires.

The boys got to ride on a few rides all by themselves too. 

So cute! And they felt like such big boys.

I love that Lincoln has his tongue sticking out in concentration. It's hard keeping this rig on the rad after all.

We stayed as long as we possibly could.

It started getting a little windier as the sun began to set, but we couldn't say goodbye so fast.

So, of course, we headed back to the carousel.

I think Jane is explaining here how close she was to getting into the mouth of the clown.

Lincoln and I had a good heart to heart.

And I got the perfect shot of John after he got it into the mouth of the clown for the gazillionth time.

And just moments after, I got pegged the face with one of the metal rings by someone with probably similar aim as me. Serves me right for standing so close. But I had to get the shot, right?

We got a dipped cone right before we left, because ice cream should never be turned down at the boardwalk.

John and I got to ride another roller coaster all romantic-like (a.k.a. by ourselves).

And the boys ended the night with a sunset helicopter ride. What a fun excursion!

A day of love

Valentine's Day isn't a huge holiday at our house, and I'm working on that. I decided I'd rather celebrate as a family though and avoid some of the commercialism. I made John an "I love you because ___" sign that will be up in our bedroom. The boys got some chocolates from Grammie Pammie, which I may or may not have passed off as my own -- I can't remember! 

They were super pleased to have some tattoos to try out on their arms.

We also made homemade pizzas, if you look closely you can take a gander at that heart shaped pizza. One of my many uni-taskers that John makes fun of in my kitchen. Although I'd like to argue, I can also make a heart shaped-cookie with the pan, so take that!

After pizza, we had chocolate-dipped strawberries, hand-dipped by the cutest little boys in the county.

I highly recommend doing this as a family, perhaps not with company -- unless you have your own dipping stations for each family -- my boys also decided chocolate covered fingers were practically as good as the berries.

And yes, dressing in red and gray is a requirement.

And the rest of February

Lincoln finally got his first molar! Only 23 months in the making. Yeah, he's a little behind.

 We got free frozen yogurt from Yogurtland! That's an acceptable dinner, right? And yes, Charlotte is in the back of the stroller, see the brightly colored fabric peaking out of the back?

 Lincoln also figured out how to squeeze his hands past the baby locks on the bathroom cabinets and got his hands on a tiny bottle of baby wash. He did exactly what he was supposed to do with it and started washing his hair.

 Not too much clean up with this mess, thankfully.

 Just a random Sunday morning.

 I must think every day how I can't believe how quickly these kids are growing up. There is a car commercial on right now of this dad giving his little girl the rules of driving and she's maybe 4 or 5 years old and at the very end, it shows a teenager pulling out of the driveway. It feels about that fast. Where did these big boys come from? I just had babies a couple months ago.

Ethan learns to ride...

 I have always known Ethan is a very athletic kid, but when he learned to ride his bike in one afternoon, without ever falling off, without ever scraping a knee or anything, I was amazed! He probably could have learned months ago -- had we ever tried. My only hesitancy in teaching him was simply that he wouldn't have the judgment to go along with it. He physically probably could have done it last year, but I wasn't quite sure he would know to look both ways on the street and know how to stop quickly and things like that. It was amazing though. 

It just came as an idea one morning. Ethan asked to ride his bike outside (as usual -- this is a daily occurrence). On a whim, I decided to take off the training wheels, and just see what would happen.

I literally had to hold onto the bike two times, then it was just a matter of him learning to start the bike by himself. He spent the rest of the afternoon on his bike. That night, when John got home, I had John come and sit in the backyard and told him that Ethan had a surprise for him. Ethan and I had planned that he would come out riding his bike. It worked perfectly! Ethan came around the corner and John was in awe! He couldn't believe how well Ethan was riding! It was an awesome surprise!

 The following morning Ethan got out on his bike (I think it was around 7am). He informed me that he was going to start doing tricks and taking jumps. How do they learn this stuff?! I certainly didn't give him those ideas!

 Lincoln immediately took possession of the balance bike and claimed it as his own. He can't get his bum on the seat, but he certainly walks all around the yard "riding" his bike. 

 I'm so proud of my almost 4 1/2 year old riding his bike like no big deal!

uh uh uh, I workout!

In January, I started running again, and slowly but surely have been building up a little mileage. On some days, these is our setup, and I feel like superwoman. Yes, that's Ethan on the front (he got too tired, I pushed him a little too far this day), then Charlotte in the baby seat and Lincoln hanging out in the jump seat.

 How about some awesome helmet hair?

 And some days, Lincoln decides he wants to hang out in the front. I discovered that Charlotte's entire infant seat can fit in the back of my Phil and Ted's stroller when it has the jump seat on the front. So cozy!

No excuses, right?