Savoring Life

More Birthday Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Austin's birthday weekend couldn't have been complete without doing something on his actual birthday. His birthday was on a Monday and Daddy had to work, so we decided to go to Disneyland with some good buddies! It was so much fun!

I love this picture! Obviously the birthday boy enjoyed his little 3 year old self!

Big Boy Horses (Kinda)

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:00:00 +0000

A few months beforehand, I asked Austin what he wanted to do for his birthday and he was adamant that he wanted to ride horses for his birthday. He'd say "I'm three! I'm big! I ride horses!" I'm not sure if he was remembering riding them for his 2nd birthday or if he was remembering riding about 6 months earlier for Easter. Either way, what the birthday boy wants, the birthday boy gets!

His actual birthday was on a Monday, so we scheduled Sunday as a family celebration day with a trip out to Irvine Park and lunch out.

Irvine Park has two kinds of horses - walking ponies and trotting horses. You have to be 3 to ride the trotting horses. So when the lady asked us if he was 3, I proudly answered "Yep! Tomorrow!" Apparently, 1 day makes a difference. Since he wasn't actually 3 yet, they wouldn't let him ride. Me and my big mouth! I really didn't think a day would matter. (Back at Easter, I knew 6 months would and fibbed (okay, lied!) then) So my poor birthday boy was relegated to the walking ponies. Fortunately he was (nearly) 3 and oblivious and really didn't care about what horses he rode, as long as he got to ride something! He thoroughly enjoyed his pony rides and McKenna did too! It turned out to be a great day, despite the momma guilt that I ruined his bday!

Hello Horsey!

McKenna was so cute. She just kept petting the horse the whole ride, saying "Hi Nay!!"

Afterwards, we went to BJs for lunch. Austin was so excited about his very own pazookie. Heck, who can blame him? They're yummy!

A Kachow Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:50:00 +0000

Seriously, one of the best parts of having kids is getting to throw birthday parties! I used to love throwing birthday parties for my kids, but not that I've become addicted to Pinterest, I really really really love throwing birthday parties for my kids! So many great ideas to try!

Picking a theme was easy - Austin still loves Cars. Narrowing down all the options on cakes and games and decorations was time consuming! But the end result was so fun and Austin loved it! I was so glad that he had a wonderful day celebrating his amazing little 3 year old self!

The Yummies...

Austin loved his cake! And I loved making it! I'm still learning how to work with fondant. It's not perfect but I was pretty darn happy with it!

The fixings at Flo's V8 Cafe...

We also had Mack's Mac & Cheese, Chick (Hicks) Nuggets, Mater Tater Salad, Sheriff's String 'Em Up Cheese, Francesco's Fruit Salad & Piston Cup Pizza!

The Fun...

The car/train table was such a hit on our vacation that I decided to recreate it for the party. And sure enough, it was still a hit!

Jack gave the little boys train conducting tips

Even the smallest guests got in on the action

This pic just cracked me up!

We also had Ramone's House of Body Art - Cars coloring pages for the kids to work on.

The main event (and my pride and joy!) was a kid-powered car race. I had an absolute blast creating these cars. I, of course, got the idea from pinterest! I thought I'd make just a few, but then I got fresh supply of moving boxes from some friends and I got a little carried away! There are 19 cars. Every main character from Cars, with the exception of Lizzie cuz I just couldn't figure out how to make her, and 3 characters from Cars 2. One for each child that was potentially coming to the party. And for the smallest guests, I put shoulder straps on their tiny cars so they wouldn't have to hold them up. These cars were no small feat - I figure I (with some help from Auntie Suz & my mom) put about 3-4 hours of work into each! But the look on Austin's face when he saw them was worth all the bruises, sore hands and long nights!

Each kid got to pick their own character and had the added bonus of taking it home with them! Austin had to be McQueen, of course!

The race, itself, was a bit chaotic and just plain silliness, so it was hard to get pics of it. After the kids went, the men did their own race, which was arguably just as cute to watch!

The cousins weren't able to come until after the party, so we needed to have another race with them too!

And if that wasn't enough to keep the kiddos occupied, we also had a pinata. Isn't he cute?

After the pinata, it was time for cake & presents.

We didn't get a lot of pics of him opening presents but I had to include this one cuz it was just so cute! My little superhero!

And some miscellaneous cute pics from the day...

I Am Jesus Little Lamb

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:18:00 +0000

Plugging my way through blog posts... This video is from September still.

One of my favorite songs from growing up is "I Am Jesus Little Lamb". My Mommy would sing it to me as she scratched my back before bed. And I've continued the tradition with my kids too. And just like I would do, Austin asks for all three verses so the scratching lasts longer!

So over the course of a few months Austin learned all the verses all by himself. I was so impressed, since they're not short verses!

In case you didn't catch all that, here are the words...

I am Jesus Little Lamb
Ever glad at heart I am
For my shepherd gently guides me
Knows my needs and well provides me
Loves me every day the same
Even calls me by my name

Day by day at home, away
Jesus is my staff and stay
When I hunger Jesus feeds me
Into pleasant pastures leads me
When I thirst, he bids me go
Where the quiet waters flow.

Who so happy as I am?
Even now the shepherd's lamb
And when my short life is ended
By his angel host attended
He will fold me to his chest
There within his arms to rest.

8 is Right Out!

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:00:00 +0000

I never really knew how many kids I wanted to have but after a playdate at Suz's with all our friends' kids, I've definitely decided it is less than 8!

Actually it was an incredibly fun day and the kids really were all good, it was just a LOT of energy in one house all at one time! My good friend Brandi was in town with her little girl, Annabelle, so we decided to have a fun lunch date so everyone would get to see her for even a short time. And getting to spend time with them was worth every crazy moment and ever decibel of noise!

Big Girl Bed

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Austin was only 14 months old when we moved him to a big boy bed. Granted, that was out of necessity since McKenna was coming along in just a few months. But still, at 17 months, McKenna seemed so "old" to us to still be in her crib. We really didn't have a reason for moving her into a big girl bed, except we had a feeling she'd do okay.

I was a little nervous because McKenna tends to be even more of a free spirit than Austin in some regards. He did really good with his bed for night but for naps he would play for a bit but eventually make it to his bed.

Thankfully this girl is just like her momma and really likes her sleep! She amazed us by not getting out once in the first several weeks! She did so good! And she so loved her new bed! Of course, we had to get her a cute pink princess bed! We did choose to leave the canopy off, cuz I could just picture Austin doing flying leaps onto it!

Watching Daddy put the finishing touches on the bed

What goes better with a princess bed than a Mater pillowcase? (I bought material to make her a cute pink Pooh one but I wasn't done yet)

Not sure who was more excited about McKenna's new bed! Austin?

or McKenna?

It took her a little while to settle down but it wasn't long before she zonked out hard! It did take her several days to figure out her head actually goes on the pillow though.

Summer Fall Water Days

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:24:00 +0000

We had the craziest weather in 2011. We had a mild summer and a overly warm fall! But at least it gave us opportunity to play in the water a few more times.

First I let the kids out in the front yard to play with the water table. I hadn't really planned on them getting soaked, but they were having so much fun! And then they asked me to get the sprinkler out and since they were already soaked, I figured sure, what the heck?

And thankfully, a couple days later, it was still ridiculously warm and we were able to go swimming in the swimming pool at Grandma's new place! I was so proud of Austin! He's a little scared of the water and wouldn't let me or Grandma let go of him. But I fitted him up with both a floaty and arm floaties. At first, he still wouldn't let us let go, but then he eventually got brave enough that he could kick around the pool all by himself. And then by the end of our swim, I was able to convince him to go a little bit with just the arm floaties. (I didn't get any pics of that cuz I had to be right by him, cuz the moment his little legs stopped kicking he would sink like a rock!) It was a really fun day! Can't wait for a warm spring to go again!

After swimming, we had lunch at Grandma's. The kids looked so cute at the little table Brian & Sean used to eat at!

21 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:40:00 +0000

Only one week (and change) late this time. Making progress!

New this month...

McKenna is officially a weaned child! Not officially by 21 months, but by 21 months and 1 day. My pregnant body wasn't really giving either of us a choice and honestly it is nice to not have to nurse someone for a whole 5 months! She surprised me by not totally freaking out. Only the very first missed feeding was rough and all the rest have been totally fine. She still loves me to snuggle and sing to her while she drinks her sippy cup of milk, so both of us are happy. I was afraid I'd lose my snuggle time with her.

Along the same lines, she's now a food lover! The last month she's started eating like a little piggy. Twice as much as Austin does. That was my main motivation for actually weaning her - I knew she was finally getting enough calories. She LOVES pasta and will ask for it for every meal. And hot dogs are probably a close second. She even pretends to eat hot dogs on her new tea set plates. "Pips" (chips) are also requested at every meal. She's getting really good at using a fork and a spoon too. She can even feed herself yogurt. I do have to watch her cuz when she's done eating, she starts fingerpainting with her food.

Just when I thought her love of drinking any water available had waned some, she started drinking the Christmas tree water. Even used poor Baby Jesus from our Little People nativity set as a cup.

Apparently McKenna thinks Daddy drives fast cuz she insists on going "Wheeeeeee" for the majority of the time we're driving. Cracks me up!

She has perfected bouncing seat drops. Her favorite spot to bounce is daddy's tummy but when she gets tired/nutso she'll start doing seat drops just about anywhere. Even just carpet. Hurts my back to watch! Obviously I try to keep her from doing that, but when she just randomly does it!

She's been asking to go potty more and more, even though it is usually after she's already gone. But she'll try to go and then announces happily "I did it!" And then she excitedly prances out to the front you and announces "Potty! Potty! M!!!" to whoever is there. Austin so sweetly responds "Good job Kenna! I so proud of you!" I decided today to try potty training her at the same time as Austin and she did great! Two small accidents but by the end of the day she was really getting it!

Crowley Vacation 2011: Mammoth & Yosemite

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:35:00 +0000

Brian and I always struggle with trying to figure out where to vacation. There just really aren't a whole lot of options when you have little little kids. Historical stuff is out. Anywhere you have to fly to is at the bottom of the list cuz multiple hours on a plane with two kids under 3 is just asking for trouble. So that leaves the small selection of places that are within reasonable driving distance but would have things that our children & we would enjoy.

My family used to camp in Yosemite nearly every year while I was growing up. But I haven't been back since I was 16 and have been dying to go. But we don't own a trailer & tent camping with two little ones is not our idea of relaxing. So when we realized that we could rent a motorhome for a decent price for the week, we decided to go for it.

(If you know my parents, you may be asking yourself at this point why in the world did we rent a motorhome, rather than just borrowing the beohemoth one parked in their driveway?! The short answer is while it was generously offered, Brian had never driven a motorhome before and didn't really want to cut his teeth on something so huge, not to mention the added stress of driving my dad's not-so-cheap-but-oh-so-precious toy 800 miles. Insurance will repair/replace but won't make just like it was! It was much less stressful to rent. We rented a 29' class C that ended up being the perfect amount of space for us. Loved it! (Thank you coastalrvrentals.com!) )

By some miracle we got a camping spot in Yosemite too. You have to get online at 7am the day the sites go on sale and they are gone by 7:04! I missed getting a whole week but was able to get 4 nights. And we actually thought that would be plenty. It's so hard to know how much vacation your kids will be able to handle before it gets ugly!

But THEN as it turns out, we were able to get a couple extra days with the motorhome for free! And we had been trying to figure out how to break up the long drive up there anyway. So we added 2 nights in Mammoth to the itinerary. And it worked out perfectly!!

The whole week, in fact, worked out perfectly! There's always a good degree of anxiety & dread that goes along with vacationing with small kids! Are they going to have fun? Are they going to nap or be tired little grumps for the whole trip? We had plans of coming home early if it just wasn't going well. I guess I need to learn to just relax and expect to have a great time because this trip blew away all my expectations! I never thought we'd be gone for a full week and still be wanting to stay more. We could have stayed a full other week and been just fine!

So all that to say, I LOVED LOVED LOVED our vacation! It was the absolute highlight of my year. And since kidlet #3 kinda put Brian's and my plans for a 10 year anniversary cruise next year on hold, there's a solid chance Crowley Vacation 2012 will look incredibly similar to 2011, with the addition of another small person, of course!

So onto the actual vacation...

Day 1: Drive from LA to Mammoth

Lemme introduce our transportation/humble abode for the week.

We are hooked on motorhomes now! The freedom of not having to pull over to go the bathroom, to make lunch, to nurse a kiddo, of allowing the kids to roam some so they didn't lose it on a 6 hour drive....heaven!! We brought their carseats because it's still safer for them to be strapped in, especially in traffic, but once we got to the middle of nowhere we set them free for a bit.

No, he's not giving a peace sign, I tried to get him to look at the camera by asking how many fingers I was holding up. He answered correctly! But it makes a funny picture!

Freedom!

I have to toot my own horn here for a bit. I was so prepared on the stuff-for-kids-to-do front, it wasn't even funny. I was so worried that they'd be stir crazy in the car and bored at camp, so I had a plethora of things for them to play with. And you know what? They played with just about everything! During the drive, I had several I Spy worksheets that Austin called his "See Things Pages." We kept our eyes out for all sorts of vehicles, different color cars and just about every different sign from here to Mammoth and whenever he saw one, he got a sticker to put on the page. Found the idea on Pinterest, of course! (The first two, I got from meandmarielearning.blogspot.com and the third I created using her idea, but with signs I was pretty sure we'd see.)

Okay, done tooting for now. I've got more later. =D

After freedom, it was naptime...back in the seats for the snoozes!

We had a gorgeous drive! Brian ended up being very comfortable driving the motorhome. (Which I figured he would! He can really drive anything!) And he did a stellar job getting us there in one piece!

Beautiful clouds out front!

Mount Whitney out the side!

Had to get a shot of Crowley Lake, of course!

And I had to throw this picture in. This splatter just fascinated me! I don't know what Brian hit, but it must have been a bird or small child or something!

We got to Mammoth Saturday night at bedtime, so after an amazing job (if I do say so myself) of helping Brian level the motorhome for the first time, we hunkered down for the night. The kids did so good in their new sleeping arrangements! Austin slept on the dinette and happily stayed in his sleeping bag. And McKenna's bed for the week was this cool little tent we borrowed from Auntie Suz. We set it up on the extra little couch. McKenna impressed me with how well she did, really. She'd have a hard time settling down for naps cuz it would get warm but did pretty good at night. I'd lay down with both kids on the back bed until they were out and then we'd move them when we went to bed.

Day 2: Downtown Mammoth

We specifically picked a campground close to downtown so we'd be able to walk to wherever we needed to go. Mammoth also has a free tram system that is wonderful. Austin is still convinced that those are some kind of train, so we got to ride around on the train all day! After a lazy morning (cuz we are seriously the slowest family to get going in the morning!), we went to the main shopping center and walked around a bit. They had this statue that was pretty realistic. The kids didn't quite know what to think.

And got some lunch at a little Kosher deli. It was not the most successful lunch. Good food, but we ended up sitting next to horribly annoying college kids who, based on the conversation we were forced to overhear, thought they were the most sophisticated bunch ever. And then I made Austin taste some of my potato salad, which he promptly threw up. So after a bath in their bathroom, we moved on quickly before we were forced to kill the previously mentioned college students out of frustration.

We then rode the tram around to see the beautiful countryside! Just gorgeous!

Austin's new thing for the trip was to stick his tongue out anytime I asked him to say cheese! But he was really loving the tram rides!

Then that night we introduced the kiddos to their first campfire!

But Austin's favorite pastime for the evening (and for much of the trip) was collecting rocks and putting them in our cup holders.

Day 3: Driving from Mammoth to Yosemite with a stop in Tuolumne Meadows

We were so happy we had chosen to stay in Mammoth and go up and around Yosemite to get in the valley. It was an amazing drive!

We made a short stop in Tuolumne Meadows. We hadn't been in the car for long, but of course the kids appreciated getting to run around in the wide open space!

McKenna had fun smelling the little flowers

I wish we could have spent more time there. It's beautiful!

But we needed to get on the road and the mosquitos were about to bust through our bug repellent. They were vicious!

On the way into Yosemite Valley, we stopped to get a picture of El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls & North Dome.

And, of course, the favorite landmark of the valley, Half Dome

And before we knew it, we arrived at our awesome camping site! (North Pines, #107) I have so many great things to say about our site, but the first thing I noticed was our amazing view of Half Dome!

Seriously, if you took 10 steps to the right or left, you couldn't see it at all, due to the trees. But that was the view stepping out of our motorhome!

After getting settled, we decided to get a feel for the shuttle system and go get some dinner. Austin and McKenna loved the shuttles and Austin happily introduced all of us ("This is Mom, Dad & 'Kenna!") to not only the bus driver but any nearby passengers who would listen.

We rode over to Curry Village and I got my first official "bad deer" picture. It's pretty bad, but it happened to be a whole family, dad, momma and not one but three babies!

(I swear they're all in there somewhere!)

And then we made our way to Degnan's Pizza at Yosemite Lodge for dinner. Don't have any pictures of the yummy pizza but we sure had fun waiting for it!

Day 4: Sightseeing in the valley

Our first full day in the valley we decided to spend exploring via bikes. We packed the kids up in their sweet ride that we borrowed from their cousins.

While driving in the day before, we stopped so quickly at El Capitan & Bridalveil Falls that Brian didn't really get to see much. So we thought we'd meander our way back that way to see it again. It was just a 5 mile ride there, which didn't seem so bad. Unfortunately, we had no idea that the bike trails ended about halfway there. After that, there are hiking trails. In other words - not paved! We figured out really quickly that pulling the bike trailer on a hiking trail wasn't going to work. The kids were loving it though. Every time Brian rode over a tree root, they bounced up in the air and I could hear "weee!" and profuse giggling. But poor Brian was working so hard to pull their extra 50lbs of little bodies plus whatever the trailer weighed! There were some serious swarms of bugs too that made the whole experience fairly miserable. It didn't take long for us to abandon our mission and head back to the camps. The trip wasn't a total bust though. We did get to see more pretty stuff!

Half Dome from Sentinel Bridge

The Cathedral Rocks & the front side of Three Brothers from Sentinel Meadow

The little chapel I fondly remember going to services at every year my family went to Yosemite.

And an awesome view on all three parts of Yosemite Falls. The falls were fairly full for the time of the year we were there. Usually you can't see all three parts in August/September.

After our misadventure, we rewarded our faithful little travelers with some fishies!

Somehow all that adventure really didn't end up taking too long and we made it back to camp for lunch and then a little free time before naps. Free time while camping translates to "dig, dig, digging". Our kids seriously could have spent the entire trip digging. By the second day there, both would wake up and ask to "Dig, dig, dig?" Yosemite dirt is really really dirty dirt. Not like gross dirty, but the kinda dirty that just cakes on you and gets up your nose and in your hair. It leaves a permanent film on all your clothes that just does not wash out. (They have the socks to prove it!) I'm fairly sure my children have never been filthier! But they were happily filthy and that's what matters!

In a feeble attempt to keep my children even remotely clean, I brought a tabletop activity for them. I made a picnic table sized roadmap for them to drive their cars & trains on. Once again, pinterest gets some credit, except that the tabletop roadmap I found there cost $40 and wasn't that much fancier than the one I made for $3! It was an absolute hit. Even the kid from the neighboring campsite (who by the way, could possibly be one of the most annoying kids we've ever met!) thought it was fantastic and spent just as much time playing with it as Austin did.

Day 4 also held another first for our kids...S'mores! I wouldn't say either one of them ended up a huge fan. Austin very enthusiastically insisted he was going to eat his but a half hour later he was a sticky mess but had only taken two little bites, so we deemed him done. McKenna liked the graham crackers but that was about it.

Day 5: The Ahwahnee & Swimming

The next day we decided to take a quick bike ride to see the Ahwahnee Hotel. Just shortly after we started our ride though, I got a crazy shock when I almost hit a deer! Well it felt like I almost hit him! I came around a corner and about fell off my bike when something big moved right next to the bike path. Not two feet off the path was a 6 point buck. Now I know that you're not supposed to get close to the deer there, but I really couldn't resist circling back to get upclose pics! Plus the kids were safely packed away in their trailer, so I knew they would be okay if he decided to get cranky.

We took a quick walk through of the Ahwanhee. It was quick because our children insisted on climbing on the furniture with their Yosemite dirt covered shoes!

And we made it quick so we would have plenty of time for swimming! In addition to having an awesome view of Half Dome, our campsite also had a little "private" beach! Someone had just recently dammed in a little wading pool too. It was awesome to know that the kids were safe and our water/digging toys couldn't even float away. If the water hadn't been near freezing it would have been an absolutely enjoyable experience. The view from our little beach surely made up for the cold though!

McKenna didn't really care for the cold water. She would not get in it but happily splashed at the edge, "surprising" herself over and over with splashes of cold water.

Austin, on the other hand, seemed completely oblivious to the cold! He had so so much fun "jumping" off a rock into the water, climbing and splashing around.

The swimming absolutely wiped them out and they took great naps that day. How cute are my sleeping babies?

And that night we attempted s'more s'mores. Moreso for my sake than for the kids. We discovered that there was a lot less anxiety about kiddos running around and falling in the fire when we strapped them into their booster seats. We did that with McKenna the first night, but Austin got the same treatment the second night!

Day 6: Yosemite Falls

Our last full day in the valley, we wanted to go on a hike. But just a little one. We biked over to Happy Isles, hoping to take the short hike to the bridge over Vernal Falls but all those hiking trails were closed for the morning while they were looking for some people who had gone over the falls the previous month. So we turned around and headed to Yosemite Falls. Not knowing how long the hike would take, we packed McKenna up in the backpack. She liked riding on Daddy!

Turns out it was a crazy short hike. But given that Austin has short legs and Daddy was carrying McKenna, it was a fairly perfect length!

The short hike gave us time to stop for a quick snack...fishies of course.

And it left time for more swimming and good naps!

After dinner, rather than torturing our children by forcefeeding them s'mores again, we went to the village and got ice cream!

Well, first we said hi to some bears...

And then it was time for ice cream!

I scream for ice cream!

Day 7: Last Morning in Camp, Bridalveil Falls, and Home Again, Home Again

Friday morning was our last morning in camp. While Daddy packed up, I kept the kiddos busy by exploring down by the water.

First we found a wood pecker. Austin named him Tapper after the Little Einsteins one.

We did some more looking for items on Austin's scavenger hunt.

Found a good log to climb on...

And dipped our tootsie toes in the ridiculously cold water!

Then we bid adieu to our beloved campsite and got on the road. We first stopped at Bridalveil Falls to finally get a good look at it. It's a short hike up a mildly steep hill and the kids of course loved that they got to walk all by theirselves.

And the walk was through a beautiful part of the forest

And of course, we had to finish off our visit to Yosemite with a family pic at the tunnel.

And all that was the 2011 Crowley Family Vacation. Can't wait to go back!!

20 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Yup! Two weeks late again! Really I have no excuse this time. Just pitifullness!

New this month...

Oh my, the clinginess!! It's gotten way worse. And I'm actually praying it's teeth, cuz that means it will hopefully end when the teeth pop through. If it's a behavioral issue only, I just don't know what to do about it. There are tantrums when I go out of the room or even look like I might think about leaving the room. Which means every time I need to go the bathroom, put an article of clothing away, grab a diaper, etc. we have tears. And these are whether Brian is in the room or not. She just wants Mommy! When she's well rested, it's not as bad, but anywhere near nap time, or just afterwards, it's fairly bad. She's also having a hard time sleeping, so I'm fairly sure it's teeth.

On the flipside - I've gotten the best snuggles in the past couple months. It's hard to get frustrated when you're so loved!!

Words have evolved into sentences. And her vocabulary continues to grow each day and completely astounds me! She knows all the (important) parts of the body and very happily and sometimes painfully (ie pokes you in the eye) points them out on whoever is nearby. She loves to name all the pieces of clothing as Daddy gets dressed in the morning and on her dolls. I think she really only needs to hear a word once or maybe twice to have a good handle on it these days. And she's really clear on most of her words too. It's nice not having to interpret!

She's just starting to get the concept of colors. She doesn't know the colors but she knows that they exist. When asked a color, she usually answers blue, with red as a backup answer.

Her love of water has not ended! Thankfully she doesn't drink nearly as much bathwater these days. But her love of water has expanded to giving everyone else water. She is constantly giving her dolls & Austin's figurines something to drink. I guess she figures if she's thirsty everyone else must be too.

She is starting to love songs. She can sing along partially with me on "You are My Sunshine" and "Little Einsteins". And frequently we hear her singing but can't quite figure out what song she's singing but it resembles something on Little Einsteins or one of the other cartoons.

She's taking her job as annoying little sister very serious still. She's added hitting and pushing to her repertoire of bugging skills. So now she'll steal a toy from Austin and then when forced to give it back, she hands it back and then whacks him! Sigh...

I totally heart the way McKenna runs! So much enthusiasm! It's a combination of bouncing, running and prancing with an added wiggle in there. I need to get it on video of it so I don't forget it.

I'm fairly confident she will be potty trained before her big brother. She tells me most times before she poops and if not before, she makes sure to tell me afterwards. I've tried to get her to go on the potty when she tells me before but she's not quite ready for that. She also tells me before she has to pee a lot! She's already gone on the potty a few times. She doesn't like to sit on the potty - she tell you she needs to go, then if you ask her if she wants to go to the potty she always says "NO!" So I'm trying not to push it. But she does thoroughly enjoy her M&M reward, so that's how we get around it.

Random Cuteness

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Full Contact Sports

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:00:00 +0000

I had no idea potty training was so dangerous! But I suppose it's better to be prepared for anything, right?

Beach Day

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Yep, I'm still working on blogging August! Bear with me. I'll get there!

We had amazing weather this summer! But surprisingly we didn't make it down to the beach very often. It's just so much work! But thankfully Auntie Suz wanted to join us for a day and it's feasible with two adults. Just not by myself! And since my kids love Auntie Suz and their little cousin, it would be a fun day no matter how much sand was eaten or tracked into my car!

McKenna loved running around without a care!

McKenna insisted on joining Katelyn in her tent.

Austin was content to dig, dig dig

Neither kid was at all interested in the actual water part of the beach.

And Katelyn was perfectly content just being frickin' adorably cute!

And snuggling with her momma

Nineteen (And then some)

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:40:00 +0000

Yes, I realize that McKenna is much closer to 20 months than 19 months at this point. I simply plead pregnancy! This baby is kicking my butt! I have managed to go without a nap a whole whopping 2 days in the last 6 weeks! And have gone to bed before 10 more times than I think I have since I was 12! And when I'm awake I'm so nauseous that sitting up at the computer is the last thing I want to do. Not to mention adding the stomach flu that we battled last week to that happy situation! So for your blog reading sake, pray that the 2nd trimester is kinder!!

McKenna's new favorite pastime is being the annoying little sister! It is the job of all little sisters, after all, to bug the bejeezus out of older brothers. My brothers insist I was a little booger, but I only remember being perfectly sweet! ;) McKenna loves to swipe whatever Austin is playing with and then bolt. Her favorite targets are his puzzles. But she doesn't just run immediately. She waits until he sees she has his piece and then runs. And when forced to give it back, she get just close enough to snag another and bolt again. She's usually giggling the whole way until he catches her then insists on keeping the piece by throwing a tantrum. I've tried to convince him if he didn't freak out each time, she'd leave him alone, but he hasn't figured that out yet. Not sure brothers ever do!

Tantrums are getting worse. I caught one on camera the other day. She's developing a "dying llama" technique, complete with painful sounding bleats and writhing. She also searches out something to throw, but unfortunately for her she can't actually throw well and usually launches the toy straight up in the air and gets bonked on the head.
It's hard to pretend to ignore the behavior when you're laughing at it!

She got her other two molars this month. Eye teeth are nowhere to be seen. Those were Austin's worst teeth, so I'm not looking forward to them coming at all!

Her words are just exploding everywhere. I don't even have a handle on what words she knows and what she doesn't at this point. It just befuddles me that at this point Austin was just doing his first 2 word sentence. Granted she doesn't do very complex sentences still but it's just so funny how different kids develop.

On the flip side, Austin was doing 26 piece block puzzles at this point and McKenna still gets frustrated with the one with 6 animals. She doesn't have the attention span that he did at this point, I don't think. She gets the point of the puzzles but gives up after a few pieces now. Just not her thing I guess. Not like it is his, at least. At least I have one puzzle buddy!

A favorite game of hers is asking where everyone is. Over and over. "A Dadda?" He's at work. "A Papa?" He's prolly at work too. "A Nani?" She's at home "A Oosh (boomer)?" He's at Auntie Suz's house. "A baby (Katelyn)?" She's at Auntie Suz's house too. pause.... "A Dadda?"

The above is sometimes accompanied by her retrieving my phone and pretending to talk to all the above people. And then insisting that I call Daddy so she can say hi. She is so very enamored with Daddy!

She has gotten uber snuggly recently but also fairly clingy. If she's at all tired she will pitch a fit if I leave the room, even if Brian is still in the room. Sometimes though, she won't leave his side either. Often she'll want to go see him in the other room, but doesn't want to venture too far from me so she tries to convince me to come with her to go see him. Not sure what this is all about, but it's also accompanied but extreme whining, so we're really hoping it passes soon.

Our "Fort" game has now been replaced with "Tent". Not sure how the terminology got changed but it is sticking and probably for the best, since "tent" is a lot easier for everyone to say. It's so sweet to hear her asking to go in the tent! And while crawling around under the covers she makes sure to go to Daddy and me for some snuggles too. Then pops up and crawls some more.

Last cute thing - She loves to give Austin hugs! Sometimes whether he wants one or not. But most of the time he returns the favor and adds a kiss! Love these kiddos!

Huge Air!

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 05:00:00 +0000

My kids really aren't allowed to climb on the coffee table, but it was impossible to not make an exception when there was this much fun to be had!

These are McKenna's attempts at huge air!

Our Cozy Little House...

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:53:00 +0000

Is about to get cozier!

Despite Austin's indifferent expression, he is definitely very excited! It's just nearly impossible to get two kids to look and smile at the same time! I can't imagine how I'll get 3 to do it!

A Fountain of Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 05:00:00 +0000

I got waaaay lazy on my posting and didn't realize I still have Summer Fun posts to do! So for the sake of getting caught up, not to mention that the cuteness in the pictures really speaks for itself, I'm just gonna post the pics from our day at the PV Mall Fountain...

Sollow Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 05:00:00 +0000

About half of the time, I forget to get video of some of my favorite things Austin says and does before he stops doing them! But I did happen to remember to capture a "sollow me!", complete with arm movements. It's not nearly as enthusiastic as it often is but it's a good example anyway.

I'm Three, I'm Big, I Ride A Horse!

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 06:30:00 +0000

(I'm behind! Story of my life. I swear I have good reasons!!)

My little man is 3! So crazy to believe. He's definitely growing into a little boy and no longer my little toddler! He keeps me super busy and while I'm not happy with him every moment of the day, I sure do enjoy him!

He was so excited when he realized his birthday was coming up. If you asked him how old he was going to be, he'd answer "Three! I'm big! I ride a horse!" I don't know if he really remembered riding a horse for his 2nd birthday or if he was remembering it from Easter and just really wanted to do it again. Apparently riding a horse was something he equated with being big! Although sometimes he also added "I ride an elephant!" and I have no idea where that came from! He must have realized his birthday was coming up about 3 weeks before the date, because if you asked him when he'd be turning 3, he always answered in 3 weeks, even a few days before!

He thoroughly enjoyed his birthday - all three days of it! I have lots of posts coming, hopefully sometime soon, so I'll be posting about all 3 of his celebrations! a full weekend seemed fitting though, considering how much we love this kid!

New this quarter...

I've had several people comment that they felt the Terrible Twos were nothing compared to the 3s! And as we approached his birthday, I'm starting to believe them! While still generally a happy kid, he has become the incredibly disagreeable at times! Not grumpy necessarily, just disagreeable. He has to contradict every.single.thing.we.say! It is starting to wear. Me - "Oh look, what a pretty tree!" Austin - "No! It's NOT a pretty tree!" Doesn't matter what it is, he has to disagree! Me - "The sky is blue. Water is wet." Austin - "NO! The sky is NOT blue! Water is NOT wet!!" I'm hoping this doesn't last for the whole year. Please, please, someone tell me this doesn't last for the whole year!!

Right along with the disagreeing has come ignoring. He will flat out ignore what you say if he doesn't want to hear it. Not sure if that's a 3 year old thing or a guy thing!? The other day Brian asked him to do something and Austin didn't acknowledge him at all. Brian asked him if he was ignoring him and he responded "Yup!" :|

On the other hand, some of my favorite moments have been when he wraps his arms around my legs and says "Mommy, you're my best friend!" Absolutely can't beat that! That melts away all the crummy moments of toddlerhood!

Man, can this kid do puzzles! I think I mention it every update, cuz it amazes me everytime. He can now zip through 50+ piece ones in a few minutes. He got a 100 piece one for his birthday that he finished fairly quickly with minimal coaching on the 1st try. I love that the box says "Ages 6+"!

Potty training is in about the same spot as last time. We've been doing training in sporatic bursts - doing a few underpants days and then take a break...usually for my sanity after the underpants days don't go well! He does great staying dry a few days and other days, not so well. We even tried a pantless day and that did not go well, to say the least. (It's also know as the "Huge Pile of Poo in the Kitchen" Day. Yeah, it went that well!) In general, I feel like he's making progress though.

He definitely got his daddy's funny bone. His comedic timing is just perfect sometimes! I don't even know where he comes up with some of the stuff he says. My favorite was one day I was tucking him in for a nap and he couldn't find his blankies, that happened to be in his hand. When I pointed that out to him, he replied "Oh you're right, mom! My bad!" I couldn't keep from giggling profusely. I guess he picked that up from me, but I didn't know it. Now he knows that that line is funny and he tries to use frequently. He also has a bit of a Gaffigan-esque style of questioning something you say. Kills me! He definitely goes out of his way for a laugh.

His love of songs is exploding! He's developing such a good memory too. He's got all 3 verses of "I am Jesus Little Lamb" down and will correct you if you sing it wrong. I started him on some Christmas hymns so that by December he'll have them all down. He loves being sung to while getting his back scratched (kid after my own heart right there!) at naptime & bedtime.

He's developed a handful of odd habits. Austin-isms if you will...

He's started saying is that Daddy loves him and that I love McKenna. And he loves Dad & McKenna loves me. We usually group up that way, but he can't quite comprehend that it's possible for us to love them both! He doesn't say it as though he's sad though. Just a matter of fact. I hope that passes quick cuz it kills me to think there's even a sliver of that in his little head!

He insists on putting his socks under his pillow when he sleeps! He goes as far as to pick up dirty ones off the bedroom floor and use them if he's not currently wearing any! He insists they're lucky! I have NO idea where he got that!

If he's ever walking around outside without shoes on, he only walks on his "tippy toes!" And that's usually accompanied by a sing song voice "Tippy Toes! Tippy Toes! Tippy Toes!"

And my absolute favorite one - He greats every day with such joy! Love it! Every time he opens the door, he proclaims "It's a beautiful day, Mom!" Even a gloomy dark day does nothing to quench his joy! Love his heart!

Gosh, I feel like I'm forgetting a bunch. He certainly keeps us on our toes and keeps us smiling! Love this boy! Best 3 years of my life!!

Half Past One

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 06:00:00 +0000

I have a good excuse for being a week late on this update! I've been party planning like a crazy woman this week, getting Austin's party all ready to go! It was an awesome day! But now that I don't have 19 box cars to construct and paint anymore (wait for the pictures to come! They were so cool!) I can get back to getting caught up on my blog! I'm a full 2 months behind already and that is just not okay!

Once again, amazing month with my little girl. Love her to death! It absolutely floors me that she is the same age that Austin was when she was born! Partly because I still feel like she's my baby baby, (even though she's at the exact same milestones he was, similar size and talks way more) and partly because I feel like her first 18 months zipped by in a blur compared to his and I wish I could rewind it and watch it all again and just savor it a touch more!

New this month...

She's officially a big girl cuz she has a big girl bed! I'll post more on that at a later time with pictures. (I promise, I'm gonna get caught up soon!) But just to say, she's doing great and LOVES her bed! She loves to show people who come over her new "night night". She's only gotten out once or twice and usually just lays right down and goes to sleep. She's a girl after my own heart - she loves her sleep!

Since I happened to go to the dr's already, some stats - 32.25" tall (70%) & 21 lbs (8%). Dropped a few % on height and is holding steady on weight. She is generally in 18m tops but will still fit in the occasional 12m. Now that we're entering pants weather it will be interesting. She's too tall for most 12m but too skinny for 18m. The summer was great for shorts and capris! I found a few that fit okay. Hopefully I can find a few more!

Her first two molars came in finally! I'm actually not sure about her other ones, she hardly lets me get a look in there or put in a finger to check. I think they are fairly close if not through in tiny spots.

And with teeth came better eating. Finally! It was more like 6 weeks bad and 2 weeks good this last time. Just in the last couple weeks, she's really picked up how much she eats and a bit more variety, which is great! Just in time for a dr's appt Tuesday, so I was able to report she's eating good.

She had her first night away from Mommy two weekends ago. I was at a Women's retreat for two days and one night. She did pretty good. Daddy reported she cried a bit when I wasn't there to feed her in the morning but promptly got over it and chose to go back to sleep rather than drink a sippy cup. That gives me tons of comfort since Brian and I are taking our first weekend away from the kids this weekend.

Man, is she a defiant little girl! She will do exactly what you just asked her not to, especially if it involves putting things in her mouth! She also thinks "McKenna, come here" is the starting words for racing in the opposit direction. She always stops, gives you the coyest smile, and then bolts! Sometimes she's defiant cuz she thinks it's funny, but if you make her mad then she really gets defiant! Tantrums were somewhat better this month but she definitely has a temper!

She loves "jumping" - Bouncing while taking one foot off the floor. She watches Austin closely and is determined to figure it out. While I was out of town, Daddy took the kids to Kids Concepts and she discovered a love for the bouncer. Now she bounces on the couch & her bed even more than before.

Oh my goodness, so many words! She just floors me! She will attempt to repeat just about anything you tell her and can do a fairly good job. One day I got a really clear "alligator" out of her! One word she NEVER says, though, is "Yes". She answers "please" if you ask her if she wants something. If "please" isn't an appropriate answer (ex Do you like...) she doesn't answer usually. If you ask her if she can say "yes", she simply answers "no". Just the last couple days she's started saying "yeah" occasionally if you ask her to say yes. This is just so funny to me!

My favorite "word" of the month has been "oosh". That's what she calls dogs. Apparently in our house, dogs go "oosh". Anytime she sees anything that even remotely resembles a dog, she calls it this. When she enters my parents' house, she will often immediately start asking for the "oosh" which means she wants to carry around the picture of Boomer. She LOVES animals and gets so excited whenever she sees a dog or cat, to the point of tantrum if she can't go pet them.

She knows "herself" now. If you ask who McKenna is, she sweetly points to herself.

One of my favorite new things this month is her love of waking Austin up. She generally gets up before he does and when it's time to get him up, she gets so excited! At first she gently pokes him and gets down in his face and says "hi!", over and over. Then if he needs more prodding, she gets a little firmer. It cracks me up! She so loves her brother!

BBQ & Pool Party

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 05:00:00 +0000

We ended July with one last family gathering. This time is was Brian's side of the family. All the Crowley Clan (minus just a couple) spent the day at Brian's cousin's awesome new house in Santa Clarita. There were some cousins in from Texas that we only get to see every few years, including a new little one, so the whole day was a treat!

The newest Crowley descendant, James

It was really hot and the pool felt so good! The kids had so fun splashing around with Daddy & Grandpa & cousins.

Everyone else had a good time too!

Keegan's friend Brian & Mike Quigley

Keegan & Eric (the host. I never got a picture of our sweet hostess Gabi! She was too busy cooking, I guess!)

Nancy, Tim, Timmy, Grandma, Kathleen, Jim & baby James

Aunt Kathleen & Grandma

Fisher

Grandma Crowley and her great grandkiddos

The whole clan. I think we're only missing 5 members here.

Let's Go Fly A Kite

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 05:00:00 +0000

(Sorry for my bit of a blog break! We've been busy this summer and it was nice to rest to my blogging fingers a bit! But McKenna's update has got me rolling again.)

Our 2nd family get-together of July started out a little rough. First of all, we had to go without Daddy. I wasn't kidding when I said in my last post before McKenna's update, that July was full of family events! We were double booked. So Brian spent the day with his extended family at a volleyball tournament in honor of his cousin that passed away a few years ago and the kids spent the day with my extended family on my mom's side.

And then my little girl went and burned the dessert I was taking! I suppose she did me a favor cuz I didn't need the calories. I had all the best intentions of making some simple cookies and then I found pinterest.com. And became addicted. Thanks Becca! It's a great site for sharing all sorts of ideas - crafts, recipes, decorations, etc. And I found this...

That would be a dessert consisting of layer of cookie, a layer of oreos and a layer of extra fudgey brownies, all baked together into one yummy gooey goodness! I couldn't NOT make it!

Unfortunately it came out like this...

Yeah, not nearly as appetizing!

While I was busy gathering stuff to take to the picnic, my naughty little girl decided to play with the oven knobs. Turns out that while the child-safety knob covers keep a kid from turning on the oven, it doesn't keep them from turning it UP. So for some unknown amount of time, my cake cooked at 500 degrees instead of 350. And burnt my poor little cookie-oreo-brownie goodness to a crisp! The edges were hard as a rock, but the center was still pretty gooey, so it sunk. That's why it looks like someone stepped on it!

But despite it looking so darn pitiful and despite the top layer having the consistency of cement (seriously, it hurt your hand to knock on it), it was stinkin' delicious! The center part that is. Once you chiseled a piece out. I swear! Other family members can attest to the yumminess!

Thankfully that was the worst of our day, (as well as having to explain why the poor dessert looked that way and why the heck I still brought it despite looking that way!) cuz the rest of the day was a ball!

Austin LOVES his cousins! His good buddy, Monkey, was there. He gets to see a few of his second cousins once a month when we go a'quilting and he was so excited to get to spend the day with them! All I heard about was Eric & Nick for days beforehand!

You can just see the exuberance!

The cousins had brought simple little kites with them and wonderfully there was an extra one for Austin to play with too. He had never flown a kite before and he was in heaven.

After getting good and tired from running and running, we did some good eating! For a change, my kids ate!

Of course, McKenna has never been known to turn down sweets!

Then there was time for more playing. The kids (big and small) wanted to climb trees.

Austin wanted to...until he got up there! (this branch is approximately 3 feet off the ground, by the way)

After come coaxing, I got a kinda smile out of him

And Uncle Scott got a good one

And some miscellaneous cuteness...

My sweet Katelyn and her momma

My cousin's little guy, Gavin. How cute is he?!

My peanut sporting the dress I made her!

It's so good to have good family!

17 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 05:00:00 +0000

I have a good excuse for being late on this one! Vacation!! Blog post on that to come soon, I hope! I know I'm behind on lots of posts, but I really want to do my vacation post, so I have aspirations of getting all caught up this week so that I can get to that one!

Even with the extra week since my peanut actually turned 17 months, it feels like my last update was ages ago! Full and fun month!

New this month...

With the exception of how much Austin was talking at 17 months, I think I can just copy his 17 month update! Seems like almost every paragraph could be written this month about McKenna.

She is turning into quite the naughty little thing! Right on cue she found the loose door pin that Austin found at 17 months. And just like him, she makes sure you see her being naughty! Actually she goes a step further and will come and show you what she's doing wrong, rather than just catch your eye. She will bring the pin to us. She will put just about anything in her mouth and come and show you the choking hazard she has in there. Which, I guess, is better than just choking on it! And just like Austin, spankings on the hands have so little impact!

We kept with the pattern of good-month/bad-month with regards to food again. Sure enough, just when I was thinking she was getting good at this big girl food stuff, she goes and stops eating just about everything! At least it feels that way. She will have a few bites of whatever I've given her and then refused to eat more. And by refuses, I mean she will either spit her food out or refuse to swallow it by holding it in her cheek or under her tongue. She can even hold liquids under her tongue for forever! Her only constants are yogurt & the Gerber jarred meats. It's incredibly frustrating! I was hoping it was molars coming in, but they have yet to make their appearance, so who knows. The upside is she has started drinking more milk from her sippy cup or camelback bottle. So I can feel a little more comfortable missing a nursing session with her.

Enough negatives though - she really is too much fun to focus on the hard stuff!

She has started giving very silly shy smiles. If someone says hi to her she does this funny should shrug with her arms together either in front of her or behind her.

She LOVES to tell people hi. She still constantly tells Brian "Hi Dadda", over and over. But now she'll say hi to everyone she sees, over and over, until they return the favor. This is always accompanied by the sweetest little princess wave! Although as soon as they say hi back, she gets all shy again!

Looking back at Austin's 17m update, I'm amazed at how much more McKenna says. And clearly! Her word of the month was "water" and she's probably the only person I know that pronounces it with a "t" rather than a "d"! I love how high pitched she says it. She has a ton of two word sentences. Her other favorite word of the month is "out". She uses is for everything though. It means "out", "up", "off", "open", "close" and probably about 5 other things.

She loves to "wink" (blink) at us.

She's becoming quite the little snuggler. She loves to run up to my legs and hug them. And after naps she loves to just sit on my lap and let me scratch her back. Some of the best moments of my day!

We have reached a new level of tantrums with this kid. I guess I should have seen it coming. Austin didn't have his first tantrum until 18 months. McKenna started at like 8 months! So it makes sense it would escalate by now. She almost always refuses to hold your hand while walking, instead sitting down and flailing herself back on the ground. She only sometimes walks in the direction you need her to. And she will always throw a tantrum if you pick her up instead. Good times! We've had several during mealtimes too, when she insists she's done eating after 2 whole bites. I worry about what the terrible twos will look like!

I love watching her play! She's getting really good with her shape sorters and is starting to take a little interest in puzzles. I'm hoping to have to puzzle lovers! She gets down on the floor and pushes cars around making vroom noises. Austin didn't do this for another month or so, but I think that's the difference between a 1st kid & a second kid. She sees him doing it and mimics him. But she's always done more "pretend" type playing than he ever did. Drinking tea is a favorite! And she LOVES to draw on her magnet drawing thingy. If you give her crayons she draws a little and then eats them, so we use the magnet drawing thingy mostly!

And I love watching my kids play together. They make each other laugh all the time. And while Austin still isn't incredibly gentle and often makes her cry, McKenna really has a lot of fun with him. He loves to tickle her and she likes to poke him and chase after him. They can make the most annoying sounds together to. I think Austin usually starts it but she is good at hitting his exact pitch. We've started putting them to bed at the same time in their room (rather than staggered or Austin in ours) and they laugh and laugh for a good 10 minutes or so before settling down. I love love love that they enjoy each other! I hope it always continues!

Now How Many Cousins Can You Fit in a Pool?

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 05:00:00 +0000

July was the month of family get-togethers! First up was the Wiley clan shindig. I missed it last year, so I was very happy we were able to make it this year. With so many kids in the family though, we knew it would be a little too much energy all wrapped up in my grandparents' house. So we planned a water day in the backyard for the majority of the afternoon to allow the adults to visit in quiet inside. Of course all the kids loved the idea!

And if 3 cousins in one pool was fun, you can bet 5 is even more!

Everyone got in on some good ol' fashion dunking...

whether they wanted to or not!

Then it was time to dry up...

and get some Great Grandma snuggles

If 5 cousins was fun, 6 would have been even better! But sadly my cousin's little girl was feeling crummy and they had to leave early.

(I swear there were other adults there too, but they didn't feel like donning their suits!)

How Does Your Garden Grow - Part 5: Look What's for Lunch!

noreply@blogger.com (Ang) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 05:11:00 +0000

While Nani was at harp camp, we stopped by one day and watered the garden for her. We also picked a few veggies to take home for lunch!

We got some bigger veggies this time. And really really really spiky cucumbers! I had no idea cucumbers were so violent!

They may be pokey, but once you cut the skin off, they sure are yummy!

I honestly haven't tasted a cucumber as yummy as once right out of the garden!

We also discovered that day that both my children love sugar peas! Yay for veggies!