Smile...

Max always knows how to get a smile out of me...the trick is getting one out of him when the camera is out!


Tonight as Peter was reading to Max, Max brought me a book and pointed to a lady on it and said "Mommy." There was a man on the same page and I asked Max, "Is this daddy?" Max looked at the picture for a few seconds and said "no....lion." Below is the page we were looking at. Peter and I couldn't stop laughing!

BYU game, Disneyland, Huntington Beach Park and Santa Monica Pier=Great Time!!!

What a great weekend! Peter and I decided to take advantage of a business trip he had in LA and took Max to meet his biggest hero, Mickey Mouse.

We went to the NCAA tournament, on Thursday, in Anaheim to watch BYU play Texas A&M. It was a lot of fun despite BYU loosing. Max loved to watch Cosmo and the UCLA Bear (UCLA played after BYU) more than the games, but he did get a BOOOOO in every now and then. (Every time he sees a basketball hoop or a game on TV, Peter has trained him to yell "GO JAZZ, Niiiiicccccce..." and to also boo the opposing team.)

On Friday we went to Disneyland. Max loves watching Mickey Mouse clubhouse and every time he sees anything "Mickey" his eyes glaze over. He loves Mickey. I think Max's favorite part was seeing all the characters.

The first character he saw was Pluto. He stood behind him with Peter and observed him for a little bit while I waited in line. (Pluto would occasionally turn around and play with Max) This was great because it got Max used to the "big" animals before meeting them without a fence separating them. When he met Pluto he gave Pluto high-fives and made Pluto play dead. Max pointed to Pluto and said "bang...bang" and Pluto hit the ground with his paws up.

When Max met Mickey, his eyes were huge and he had a little smirk on his face. It looked as if he did not know what to do or how to act. I walked up to Mickey holding Max and Max grabbed Mickey's nose and just smiled. He gave Mickey high-five and I set Max down so he could give Mickey a hug. Max sat on the ground (Indian style) and just looked up at Mickey smiling. Max was so amazed with him that he just wanted to sit and stare at him. Mickey followed Max's lead and sat on the floor with him. There was a line so it was time to say goodbye to Mickey. Max gave mickey a kiss on the nose and a hug and we were on our way.

I think Max's favorite ride were the teacups. After Peter figured out how to make the teacup turn...Max smiled the whole time and tried to help his dad turn it even faster. His eyes were rolling back and his head was spinning around.

One more "highlight" of Disneyland is that we got to see Seth Rogen. Peter was the one who recognized him. I looked over and saw Pinocchio and was getting ready to show Max (Seth was riding a ride with him), and Peter said "quick get your camera, that is Seth Rogen." I aimed my camera at him and yelled "Seth," he looked up at me and smiled holding up a peace sign.

Saturday morning we took Max to an Easter egg hunt at Huntington Beach Park. He got to meet the Easter bunny and McGruff (the police dog). Max surprised me with how well he did at the Easter egg hunt. I thought he would see a piece of candy and just want to eat it, instead of filling his basket. Instead, he filled his whole basket up! He was even very selective with what kinds of candy went into his basket (mainly suckers).

After the Easter egg hunt, we took Max to Santa Monica Beach. We even got to see some wild dolphins swimming along the shore. He loved playing in the sand and loved playing ball with his daddy. It was a great way to get some energy out for the long ride home.

After writing this post, I realize how lucky we are. I am so grateful that I am able to share and create so many magical memories with my family. I am also grateful that I have a husband who is always up for an adventure and so eager to do things that he knows will put a smile on Max's face. I am also grateful that we live in such a beautiful place with so many wonderful things for us to do! :-)

Goodbye "paci"...hello Mickey Mouse!

You know before you actually have kids you see other kids at the mall, grocery store, church, etc. and they or their parents do things that you say to yourself "when I have kids, I/my kids will NEVER do that!"  Well the one thing that bothered me the most is when I would see a 4 year old sucking on a pacifier. I would always say "If they can ask for it, they DON'T need it.  Well, Max is not 4 yet but he is 20 months (and he can ask for it).  I have been telling myself for the last 8 months I am going to get rid of it, but there was always something (like a trip we were going on, Max getting sick, moving, etc)  getting in the way.  Last Thursday night we took his "paci" away.  Hopefully he will forget about it soon! 

 

On a happier note we are taking Max to Disneyland this Friday.  Max loves Mickey Mouse and I am excited to see his reaction when he meets him!  We are headed to LA tomorrow.  Peter has a business meeting on Thursday morning, then it is play, play, play.  We are also going to try to go to the BYU game on Thursday night.  I am sure we will take lots of pictures and have an update when we get back.   

 

 

Catch-up...(1 of 2)

I kept telling myself that I am going to catch up my blog for about two months now and just feel overwhelmed every time I sit down to do it. So, I have decided to just start fresh and never get behind again! (yeah right) This post is going to have lots of pictures of the last couple months and not much journaling. After enjoying reading all my friends blogs, I have decided to try to journal more about the everyday things that happen in our lives. (that will come in future blogs) :-)

so...here we go:

We are liking Walnut Creek but miss all our friends in San Mateo. Here are a few photos of our new house. (i would post more but, these were only rooms 'camera worthy') There is also a picture of my garden. :-)

About 2 weeks after our moved we went on our CRUISE! It was wonderful!! We did a lot of relaxing, dancing and eating. Went to some great shows, swam with HUGE stingrays, hiked Duns River Falls...I could go on for hours!! Thank you mom and dad for watching Max for us. Knowing Max was in great hands (the best) allowed us to enjoy ourselves to the fullest! (FYI: you guys are off probation!)