50's Day

50's Day at school today. We pulled ourselves together pretty well. This is about how much I can get Tyler to dress up, but he was game with a white t-shirt. However do NOT try to slick back his hair! And thanks to whoever handed us down Audrey's poodle skirt. Sure came in handy today.

This girl woke up feeling much better, thank goodness.

A couple good shots from friends. Lots of cute girls.

Also had a sweet moment with Cole this morning after we came home from dropping the big kids at school. He had to run outside and follow the trash truck for a few houses. It was so cute watching him jump up and down with each garbage can dump, and the trash guy waving to him. Tyler used to do that, too. Made me think how much I'll miss having a 3 year old one day.

Ice Skating

Right after school yesterday the girl scouts went ice skating. It was kind of a busy day, and a little tough me and three kids skating, but we had a good time. Luckily Tyler was adventurous and skated on his own, Audrey with her leader most of the time, then I could help Cole. Next time we bring Adam! Of course the skating rink always reminds us of Stephanie and Clara.

Audrey has a great troop with super nice leaders and super cute girls:

Skating lesson:

This kid was not havin' it! Let's just say it wasn't worth my $20 to pay for him and me to skate. Didn't help that I had the hardest time finding skates to fit him, trying to shove his foot in like Cinderella's stepsisters. Plus he was pretty nervous on the ice. We went around a couple times then watched from the side. Zamboni was a big hit of course.

 A tour of the rink, then cookies and hot chocolate afterward. Their leaders also passed out all the cookie sale swag - sweatshirts, t-shirts, water bottles and more. These were some happy girls.

The brothers that tagged along with the Daisies. They're a good group of boys.

Sadly after skating I could tell something was up with Audrey. Got home and she had a 101 fever, poor thing. After some advil she went to bed, cuddling her new stuffed animal and Samoa pillow from cookie sales. She's home from school today, hopefully back to herself tomorrow.

Truckin' Along

Not much going on over here. Just regular ol' life. I've been trying to keep my mornings simple, since afternoons are busy with baseball, gymnastics, scouts, and piano. Audrey's coach moved her to the next level of gymnastics so that's pretty cool - she's really loving it right now. Planned her birthday a little bit this week, too. I had the thought I should enjoy these last couple months just me and Cole, before the big kids get out of school. Can sure feel summer is right around the corner, despite the week's cool weather. I had a whole list of things I wanted to do this afternoon, but the clouds and rain are keeping me in (and lazy.) Went on a fun girls night last night for Kalli's birthday, and Adam and I tried to find a sitter for tonight with no luck - so date night in it is. Gonna watch a movie and Adam's out buying ingredients to make me dinner. I'll leave you with this super cute picture of Ivy and Cole. Seriously - the cutest smiles. I'm gonna save this one for when they're best buds graduating high school.

Bad selfie camera, but this guy was spoiled at the mall yesterday. Helped me shop for Audrey's birthday so we had to get snow cones.

And ride on the carousel.

Finally brave enough to get off the grandpa bench and ride this gorilla. Good job, Cole!

Tonight

This is why you never want to share a bed with Audrey:

Sunday Ready

I made these guys kinda sorta match today:

How Cole feels about too many family pictures:

Happy Sunday.

Play Ball!

Always nice when we can all make it to one of Tyler's Saturday baseball games. Doesn't always happen because of my Ladybug schedule, but thankfully he also has weekday games so I don't miss those. Today only four of our players showed up since it's the end of Spring Break. Adam was the only coach, and some boys from the minor league played our outfield (they were probably bored out of their minds.) Our four boys did a great job though - won the game 6-0. Lots of good hits.

Tyler on third:

Scoring a run for his team!

First time pitching. He did great.

Adam in the dugout with his four boys:

Cole talking to coach:

This kid was driving me and Audrey a little nuts. He skipped his nap for the game and he was in a mood! Threw a couple classic tantrums, and spilled his gatorade which was apparently the end of the world. Good thing he's cute in his shades.

This cutie was fun to hang with, though.

After the game we grabbed Menchie's which was a great end to our fun Spring Break week.

It's Friday!

Kids were way happy to stay home and play today. Adam and I snuck out for a temple date.

Audrey's game of Jenga with babysitter, Bridget. Kids had fun with her a couple times this week - nice to have teenagers around during Spring Break.

This afternoon we had Presley over, ordered pizza, and played a bunch. Beautiful weather to have the windows and patio door open.

Love these cute friends:

Tyler and Adam had baseball practice.

And Cole was cute.

Back to Ladybug tomorrow.

Bowling

Today we slept in, hung around the house, then bowled. There was a bowling groupon so I grabbed it - it was actually really fun. I don't think we'd gone since Studio City.

Of course Cole had his own style, but no thanks to the bumpers I consistently had the lowest score.

Hit the arcade after, where my kids just about lost their minds when they didn't win stuffed animals out of those grab machines. Sigh...

The afternoon was really nice - I ended up with some one-on-one time with Audrey. Took her to gymnastics class:

Then to get a hair trim and a lovely walk to Target for new sandals and some clothes. Loved hanging out just the girls. She was really talkative, and we did some birthday planning. Boys made us dinner - good end to the day.

Fish Hatchery

Today's outing was inspired by Amber who told me she likes to take her kids to the fish hatchery in Fillmore during Spring Break, then stop at the fruit stands on the way home. Since we'd never been we decided to check it out. Such a nice, peaceful drive out in the country, past the orange groves and farms. California is a beautiful state.

All you need at the fish hatchery is a roll of dimes and cups or bags to hold the fish food. Simple outing, and especially right up Cole's alley - he loved feeding the fish.

So many trout!

On the way back we stopped at the fruit stand. Got a bunch of oranges and strawberries, a mango and grapefruit. Kids already ate two cartons of strawberries, they're so sweet. Adam got avocados and made fresh guacamole when we got home - yum!

Later Audrey was invited to Jump 5150 with her buddy Kailey. Cole napped and Tyler seemed to loooove being the only kid in the house. I snuck in a pedicure, so I'd say a pretty good day.

A Couple Days of Spring Break

Spring Break so far - yesterday we laid low, played at home a bunch. Took a nice walk to Target to pick up new sidewalk chalk and bubbles - stuff for the kids to play with outside. Just enjoyed being home and lazy. Adam took Tyler to the batting cages. We ate Easter leftovers, and watched Ramona and Beezus (a super cute movie) with lots of popcorn. There was also quite a bit of bickering and an epic Tyler tantrum (definitely one of his all-time best, full of "EVERYBODY HATES ME!!!!" and slamming doors.) Later when he apologized he said, "I'm just not used to being home all day" which I thought was pretty smart because whether it's Spring Break or summer, there's always an "entry period" that pretty much kicks your butt.

Today we hit the California Science Center. Our first time. It was a really nice day, and happy to have Adam with us since big outings are always more fun with extra adults.

We saw the Endeavor! Our second space shuttle. I love this stuff - something so majestic about seeing the space shuttles in person and learning about all their missions. So cool to see how Endeavor made its way through the streets of Los Angeles to the museum. Always gives me chills remembering the Challenger, too.

 

 Had to get astronaut ice-cream to share.

Waiting for the boys to be done in the bathroom. We always beat them.

Got to touch all sorts of sea life. Cole would rather look, and kept telling us he didn't want to put his head under.

 Museum has all sorts of interactive exhibits. Kids had fun putting themselves in a video game.

Solar powered cars:

We saw so much, but there was tons more - maybe we'll go back this summer. Grabbed Chick fil A on the way home, now a nice night at home and Adam and I are sneaking out to see a movie. It's been a chilly Spring Break so far, so not sure about a beach day, but hopefully lots more fun.