Boys Being Boys

One of the best joys as a parent is being able to watch my boys play together. I really try to instill in Justin and Dylan that as brothers they should genuinely love each other and take care of each other. It's natural for siblings to argue, but at the end of the day they should be there for each other even when they are mad at each. It's really funny how even at age 1 Dylan already knows how to push Justin's buttons. Justin gets soooo frustrated with Dylan, but like I said at the end of day he is always looking out for Dylan and loves him dearly. Likewise, even though Dylan cries all the time because he cannot get his way with Justin you can sense that he really loves Justin and looks up to him as a brother. Here are the boys just playing around the home with the laundry basket. Enjoy.

A Day At The Park

Now that Kid's Space is closed on Mondays I have started taking the kids to Griffith Park instead. Sometimes we start off with a ride on the train and then move over to the playground near the Merry Go Round. Here we are posing for a picture on the train. The boys love the train ride. I try to limit it to 2 rides. So far the kids seem to enjoy the weekly event. I also try to pack a lunch for everybody so we can spend a little extra time there. The playground is good for older kids and toddlers. They have a pretty good set up as far as the playground and the place is completely covered with that safe foam material. Here are the boys riding together on a rocker. It's always a joy to watch Justin and Dylan play together. They also have a good sand box area where the kids can bring their sand buckets and play. Here is Justin playing with one of sand shovel apparatus they have around the sand box area. The bathrooms are pretty clean and within an easy walking distance. I definitely recommend the park if it is within driving distance for any parents out there wondering where a good playground is to occupy their kids with. I think the best is if multiple parents come so that you can do a zone defense to watch the kids. So bring a blanket, drinks, lunch, and have a good old fashioned time at the park.

100th Blog Posting

Wow...I can't believe it, but this will be my 100th posting. One thing for sure. I'm sure God is glad that I am not in charge of his blog...otherwise his blog would be backed up quite a bit. I'm saying this because the 100th posting is about Easter. It is now April 8th...I have fallen behind once again. At least I'm consistent. On Easter weekend we took the kids to the Pan Pacific Park next to the Grove for an Easter Egg Hunt with our church small group. Here are Nancy and the kids waiting at the starting line of the Easter Egg Hunt. If you ever want to see really competitive Moms pretending to be cordial and polite...come to an Easter Egg Hunt. It's kind of like those after holiday shopping sales (i.e. Day After Thanksgiving Sale)...it can get scary and nasty seeing 2 women fighting over a 75% off name brand sweater at Nieman Marcus. Forget about Ultimate Fighting Champion...they should make a reality show where women are allowed to fight over really great deals on high end items. Like a cage fight where the winner can have a shopping spree at the Gucci or Channel store. I think this kind of show would be even more competitive than the Bridezilla show. You can see the nervous anticipation on Justin's face in this picture. Actually the eggs are just strewn across a giant grass field and the kids are to run at the blaring of the horn to fend for themselves and grab as many eggs as they can carry in their decorated baskets. It is kind of like "Lord of the Flies", but a G version. Here is Christine, Mike, and their son Jeremiah. As you can tell in the picture he was ready to go, go, go! Mike had to hold him back like a rottweiler. Maybe it's just a boy thing because the girls seemed a bit more laid back. Here is Jenny with her daughters Amy and Kaitlyn. The girls look like they are waiting for Christmas...innocent anticipation. Here is Justin running the field looking for eggs. This is his 4th egg hunt and he has got this down pat. He stays low to the ground and picks up eggs like a vacuum cleaner. I have to be honest...I was just trying to get a cute picture of him in the action of picking up an egg, but as I was running the field with him trying to capture this picture I could not help notice how good he was at it...almost like an athletic machine...I was filled with pride. I don't know what God has planned for him concerning athletics, but Justin is a bad ass egg picker upper...hahaha. Who knows maybe he will be a good short stop in baseball. Maybe a potential Golden Glove?Here are the boys and Nancy showing off the spoils from the hunt. Justin could have grabbed more, but I actually restricted him so that some of the other kids could get some eggs. He also voluntarily gave some of his eggs to Dylan. It turned out all the eggs are empty with a few of them containing a piece of paper with 1st, 2nd, or 3rd written on them...also 1 egg is colored golden...the golden egg is like bonus egg. You would then turn in that piece of paper for a large Easter Egg basket full of goodies. The experienced parents who had attended this egg hunt from prior years knew what they were doing. The 1st timers like us blindly grabbed every egg. Next years my kids will come out victorious!!! Here is Kaitlyn posing for a picture with her eggs. Pictures like this make me realize how much sweeter and how different girls are to boys. The great thing about this particular egg hunt is that no one walked away a loser. Even if you found no eggs with a piece of paper the organizers had free goody bags for all the kids who participated. Here is Justin checking out his goody bag. After the egg hunt was done we all decided to walk over to the Grove for some lunch. Finding food and trying to feed hungry kids was another adventure in itself, but at least at the Grove and Farmer's Market it's a pretty family friendly place. Once we started eating I stopped taking pictures because either I was trying to jam food in my face or busy grabbing Dylan off the table, but here are a few more pics of the kids enjoying the fountain at the Grove. I just want to finish off by saying thank you to all of you who have been following this blog over the past year. I appreciate the comments and find encouragement through them. At least I know that I am not just writing these blogs to hear myself talk. I hope all of you feel closer to us and for the other parents who read this I hope you feel encouraged that we are all going through similar journeys and that you are not alone. Stay tuned in for the 101th blog posting...coming soon.