Gilroy Gardens

There's a little amusement park about an hour from where we live.

It's geared towards little kids and it was absolutely perfect for us.

We went there on a whim and had so. much. fun.

It was seriously a blast.

Even Jay loved it.

It's hard to take a picture of a spinning ride.

(It's garden themed so a lot of the rides were food.)

This is a very excited Leo waiting for our turn on the tram ride.

He was pumped.

Until he found out how slow the tram moved.

Then it wasn't quite so exciting.

And Jay was very sad that he wasn't tall enough to ride the tram with us.

Look, it's a Redwood tree!

Jay was so excited to be able to drive his very own car.

(Lately he's very into driving.

He thinks the Prius is his, and gets pretty darn angry when we make him ride in his car seat.)

There he is, driving like a pro.

Leo took his driving very seriously.

He didn't even lose focus when I was screaming that he was going to run into another car.

They had this awesome rock maze that the boys loved.

The walls were tall enough that you could actually get turned around in there.

And, of course, they loved the train.

We rode on it three times.

Then Leo told me that he wished he was getting a train for his birthday.

(He's not.)

These boys got pretty tired by the end of the day.

Even a ride on an artichoke wasn't enough to excite them.

Here are all three boys waiting in line for the boat ride.

(Those are the boats.)

Once Jay realized that he could take off  his Velcro seat belt he didn't see much point in keeping it on.

They even had these amazing swan paddle boats that we didn't ride on because the line was too long.

And these bushes that were shaped like animals.

(Leo kept saying, "Where is the animal mom? I still don't see it.")

And Jay slept the whole way home.

For the last week or so we've woken up to the following:

Jay in his empty bed.

No pillow/blanket/toys.

Leo's bed with 2 pillows, both blankets,

all the toys and no Leo.

Leo on the floor by our bed.

oops!

About two weeks ago Ty was in a car accident.

It was the other guy's fault,

and no one was hurt,

but our poor little Honda was totaled.

Of course this happened on the very last day before Ty switched over to his motorcycle.

I'm pretty sure he did it on purpose so that I still wouldn't have a car to drive.

The Honda was actually Ty's very first car, so he was a little bummed about getting rid of it.

But so far we've been really happy with our new (to us) Prius.

(Isn't it cute?)

Stinker

A few nights ago I was trying to get a picture of how dirty Jay's face was. (Lately every time he goes outside he comes back in with the filthiest face. It's like he drools all over himself and then rubs dirt everywhere. It's crazy!) He thought he was being so funny by not holding still for me.

And Leo is at that stage where he loves to have his picture taken. He kept saying, "You can't take a picture of me either." And then he would hold perfectly still while I took one.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my 29th birthday.
And since I believe that a girl's first 29th birthday is extra special,
this is going to be a really long post.
You have been warned.

We started out the festivities with a movie and ice cream (no kiddos allowed) on Friday.
But the real fun happened on Saturday.
Remember this party that I didn't take my camera to?
Well, they had another one.
And I took my camera this time.
Yay!

There was pony riding:

 (Jay did not want to get on.
When it was over we asked if he had fun.
His response?
"Nope.")

 (Leo liked it.)

Free Jamba Juice:

 (We might have gone back for thirds.)

A bounce house obstacle course:

 (Leo did this over and over again while Jay sat on the ground drinking Jamba Juice.)

Lunch:

A petting zoo:

 with Jay-sized rabbits

 baby goats

 and baby rabbits
(which were, by far, the favorite)

Jay could not get enough of that baby rabbit.

 He would have sat here all day if we let him.

 In fact, once we left he cried "wabeet, wabeet!"
the whole way home.

And snow cones:

(If you blow that up you can see that he's lapping it up like a little dog.
It was pretty darn cute.)

Any how, we told Leo that the party was for my birthday,
(It was a child-safety fair.)
Because he was really, super concerned that I wasn't having a party.
Now the bad thing is that he is going to be disappointed by his own birthday party regardless of what we do.

Any how,
Sunday was full of relaxing and eating good food.
I made enchiladas.

(They were delicious!)

And this cake.

 If you like cake/have taste buds you should definitely try it.
It has mandarin oranges in the cake so it's extra moist and fluffy.
And I'm pretty sure the frosting is what angels use for pillows.
It's amazing.
The girl I got the recipe from called it "Mandarin Orange Cake"
but when I put it in my recipe book I re-titled it
"Heavenly Cream Cloud of Dreamy Fluffiness."
Seriously, make it now.
You won't regret it.

These boys approved of the cake.

Easter

The Easter Bunny came to our house on Saturday this year.

Mostly because we're cool and he likes us better than you.

But also a little bit because I feel bad when the candy and games overshadow

the whole Resurrection aspect of it.

He left the boys very small baskets

that they were very excited about.

(Jay's trying to figure out if he can eat that.

He can't.)

In typical fashion Jay immediately sat down and devoured all his candy.

(That's 12 pieces of bubble gum so it actually took him all day to get through it.)

And Leo saved his.

(But he ended up sharing the rest of it with Jay on Sunday.

Mostly to keep Jay from screaming "CANDY!" all day.)

And this is the only picture I got of their "Easter outfits."

(I could have sworn we had some sort of pastel shirts, but we did not.

They ended up in red, which was pretty cute too.)

The end.