I can't believe he's 4!

We had Crash's birthday party the weekend before because that's when my family could attend. The big excitement was his first bicycle. He has been trying to ride the test pilot's and you can imagine that. He was so excited and did great riding it.


As exciting as the bicycle was (and it was exciting) this big monkey balloon came in a close second. I knew he would love it the minute I saw it. We had an animal themed party so it went great.



Here he is with the cupcakes. I found this idea at www.wilton.com. He is so into animals right now. The kids all got to pick which animal they wanted. I did not realize how much they would all like it.

Here's a close up of one of the cupcakes.

Here's our magnificent father working at the grill. Not only did he grill but managed to fog the whole backyard so the mosquitoes would die. I get eaten alive in my own backyard after like 2 seconds out there so this was an urgent request of the wife. It worked great. Thank you husband.

This birthday was extra special because this one was the first one that he really got. He knew it was his birthday and was very excited about it. In the past, big groups overwhelmed him plus some communication problems led to parties that were not always something he enjoyed. It just warmed my heart to see him smile and have fun and run around telling everyone that he was 4! He's such a sweet boy!

The love of brothers

Happy Birthday Crash! Today my little boy is 4 years old. I will post more about the festivities later. A couple of months ago the test pilot wanted to work on Crash's birthday. He's a planner like his mother. Here's his creation.

Not sure why that color change on the computer- it's all the same yellow IRL. He did all his own spelling.

In case you need a translation:

Dear Crash,

May the force

be with you

on your birthday

and I hope you

enjoy your present.

Love,

The test pilot

I will treasure this card.

Travelling with boys

Now that only one kid is in diapers travelling has gotten a little more interesting. The test pilot states in the middle of no where that he has to go to the bathroom. The Captain pulls off the interstate and they hike away to find a bush.

It's times like these that I am glad we have all boys and the hubby takes care of these issues.

About 30 minutes later (still in the middle of no where) Crash announces that he needs to go potty. Once again we pull off the interstate and the Captain takes this child on a wilderness hike in search of a bush.

When Crash jumps back in the car he says, "Mom, I peed on the potty grass!" We all had a good chuckle.

More beach

There was a really nice swimming pool at our hotel where we went to "rest" from the beach.

Crash is doing really well with his swimming although he is still not crazy about his face getting wet.

Here's the test pilot showing off his jumping skills. It took me several tries to time this photo. Apparently, my camera is slow.

Our basic schedule was:

Get up and eat breakfast.

Go to the beach.

Eat lunch.

Nap for the little ones/adult recovery time.

Swim at the pool.

Eat dinner.

Back to the beach.

Bedtime at dark.

I don't have pictures but we did some boogeyboarding this year. That was so much fun. That would have to be my favorite part of the trip. Surfing will probably never be something I master due to my poor balance so this is close as I get.

Everyone was exhausted at the end-although the children won't admit it. Already looking forward to next year.

Not an ordinary sand castle

When your dad is an engineer little things like sand castle building are just not like other people's sand castles. We start here with our tent and start piling the sand in front. This takes them hours over many days so we have to have shade.


This is truly the test pilot's favorite part of the beach- building sand castles with dad.

Crash loves helping with his construction toys and fetching water from the ocean to keep the sand moist.

Day one started out like this. It involved a lot of sand hauling, shaping, wetting, decorating, etc.

Day 3 ended with this. They called it their dragon. The test pilot still wonders if their dragon is still there. They always draw a crowd at the beach of people coming to watch and see their creations.

Wow!

Wow! Whoa! These were the first two words out of Wingman's mouth as he hit the beach. He thought the beach was awesome! Here he is with my mom. It really is helpful when you have small children to have a 1:1 adult/child ratio while at the beach.

He loved the water.

He liked chasing the seagulls. He liked chasing dogs on the beach.

It was just amazing to get to see his expressions at his first "real" exposure to the beach. (He was 6 months old last year.)

It was funny watching him examine the bottoms of his feet after walking in the sand. He was trying to figure out what was all over his feet. It was priceless.

We're home!

There have not been any posts because we have been at the beach. We had a great time!

This is the first family picture at the beach in the 4 years we have gone. It was my mission. We had lots of fun and brought home lots of sand. I will post more when I get time to edit the pictures.

So much fun but so few pictures

We have had a busy week that involved a lot of wet activities so I didn't have the camera with me. Sorry! They would have been great pictures.

The highlight was visiting some good friends at Lake LBJ to go water skiing. My mother water skied. I am so proud of her. Not many people my age can say that about their mothers. I actually got up on the first try. That has never happened with me. I did not have any major falls this year so I escaped any injuries. Although I am starting to feel a little old. My back started limiting my ability to ski and tube. Oh well!

The highlight was the test pilot decided he was ready to try to water ski. Our dear friends got in the water and coached him through the process. We really stressed holding on to the rope when the boat takes off. We later realized we forgot one step. As the test pilot attempts and falls he never lets go of the rope so he was dragged around the lake a bit like a submarine. It really freaked him out. We then highlighted a very important rule: When you fall, let go of the rope. He was willing to try a second time. He never got up but I was so proud of him for trying. It's no easy task. He said he will try next year.

Crash LOVED the jet ski. He frequently asked to go "fast." We rode jet skis, water skied, rode in the inner tube and swam in the lake. We had so much fun. We were just too busy for pictures and I was trying to keep my 3 children safe at all times.

We had so much fun visiting with old friends, catching up with our "China" friends, and making new acquaintances. Looking forward to next year!

Bug party

Let me explain a little. We have been potty training Crash. His reward for going to the potty was these little animals. He received some for Christmas from his Aunt Carol so we thought we would add to the collection.

The other evening Crash wanted a little snack so I gave him some raisins on a napkin. After a few minutes I hear him asking the cockroach, the dolphin, the caterpillar, and various other animal/bug friends if they were hungry. I came over and this is what I saw. It was too cute!


He was so proud of his little picnic. Did you know that millipedes hang out with dolphins? Oh the things you can learn from a three year old.

Happy Birthday Captain!

Today is the Captain's Birthday! We did the dinner/cake yesterday because Saturdays are just a little easier for such things. He requested a chocolate sheet cake, as usual. We grilled out steaks. It was a great day!

Here he is opening the card from the boys. The test pilot had picked this card out in March so I have been hiding in my sock drawer since then. It's one of those musical cards that plays the Star Wars theme music when you open it. They thought it was the coolest card ever! (I am a little tired of hearing it already.)


Here's the cheesy grin showing off the watch I gave him. He's kind of hard on watches so I seem to be getting him a new one most birthdays. At least I don't have to wonder what to get him.



Everybody loved the chocolate cake. The two younger and decidedly picky eaters wouldn't eat much of the dinner but they can sure put away chocolate cake.

Here's all the boys with dad on the birthday morning. All my sweet boys! I am one lucky lady!

No rays of sunshine here

At Mother's Day Out, Wingman is affectionately called their ray of sunshine because he is so happy with them all the time. However, this week there's a cloud hanging over him.

He has been sick all week, running pretty high fevers, and generally not feeling well. This translates into: he wants to be held all day long and even this doesn't always make him happy. I can't wait until he is old enough to just watch movies all day when he is sick.

The Captain has been out of town on business all week so you could say I am a little frazzled this week. The big boys have been eating fish sticks and cereal for most meals this week because Wingman won't free me up to cook. Luckily, they don't really care.

Here's looking for a sunny forecast next week with lots of rays of sunshine.

This summer we have been trying to concentrate on having lots of family time. In particular, I have been trying to make sure there is lots of brother time. The brothers miss the test pilot at school so very, very much. We have been trying to make the most of everyday doing things together.

The other night while I was doing dishes I looked out the window and this is what I found. I am not quite sure what they are doing here, but I love watching them play together.


Then things started to get funny!

It must have been a really funny story! Or I found out this summer from my 3 boys that hitting yourself on the head is sooooo funny. I have to admit I do not see the humor in that. The Wingman starts a belly laugh when the "bonks" start. I am just trying not to think about it too much.

In case, you are wondering where is Wingman. He had found some mud. So he is off in the corner of the yard covered in mud. You don't need a picture of that.

Happy Almost 4th of July

Hope you all have a Happy 4th of July. We are celebrating the food part a day early because I am working tomorrow. The Captain will take all the children to the parades and festivities and I will join them later.

I just wanted to share this dessert with you all. I found the recipe on Pioneer Woman's website who had borrowed it from The Barefoot Contessa. Look at the internet bringing the world together.

Anyhow, it is delicious. I had to substitute strawberries for the raspberries because there were none in my town the day I shopped. A heat wave in California has affected the berries I was told.

Half way through the recipe, Pioneer Woman says you can half the recipe because it makes a lot of servings. She wasn't kidding and I will definitely do that next time.

Hope you all have a happy 4th!

My new favorite

I am a novice garden person and by garden I mean flowers. I have had hydrangeas and geraniums for a few years. I do best by getting the flowers and learning about them as I strive not to kill them. It has worked out pretty well.

Each year I try to buy something new. This year I found these Gerber Lollipop Daisies. I have always loved Gerber daisies so I thought we would give them a try.





They do need full sun and watering everyday (much to my chagrin) but they are beautiful. I love flowers with lots of color. They bloom frequently which is really good when your children like to "pick" the flowers.





I just love looking at these outside my window.