Let's Go Fly a Kite

Last Sunday afternoon we braved the elements (again) and went down to the beach, where you can always find a breeze and flew kites! This was actually my first experience really flying kites. I am sure that I attempted as a kid, but really don't have any memories of going.

Anyway, I got these sweet kites at Costco and the kids were so excited to take the first trip. After finally getting them put together they took flight and it was so much fun. Seriously, I could not stop flying them (even with kids screaming in the background - I felt like a child again). Aaron had a little tougher time flying them than myself (probably because I am a natural) and was so funny to listen to - he makes me laugh all the time!

Dominick thought it was fun to fly and all, but mostly he just wanted to chase the kite around and wait for it to drop so that he could through it up agian - you can see that he ran out of gas by the end.

I can't wait to go again - and risking sounding like a broken record, when it is warmer outside!

Ward Easter Egg Hunt

We went to our ward's annual Easter Egg hunt last Saturday. It was a little warmer than laster year, and so much fun.

Dominick and Kambree look tired, because we had been there for a little over an hour by the time the hunt started - they were very tired of NOT picking up the eggs that were all over the place until the official start. They were awesome helpers and stayed happy the whole time.




This is our good friend's little boy Leyton. He is my little adopted nephew out here and the kids can't get enough of him either. He had fun, only the poor guy's eggs got stolen or trampled by all the big kids faster than he could get to them (mean bullies:).

You can see above that Dominick was unhappy with the amount of eggs collected in the hunt -he was even more upset when he saw Kambree's basket full of eggs. I had to explain to him that since I was to help clean up afterwards I was just picking up empty eggs along the way and putting them in her basket - of course he had to check each one to make sure and felt much better.

This next picture was the result of all the running down the back side of the yard at the Egg Hunt. It was all chance that Aaron found it, because he felt a little speck in his hair after the movie that afternoon and when looking closer saw the little body of a Tic hanging around. It was a little scary for us and we were too loud in the car and made his scared as well. Luckily, Aaron was able to pull out the head of the tic successfully and hopefully we won't see any symptoms down the road.

Sometimes this place makes me crazy!

The Big Cut

I can't even believe that I was brave enough cut my little girls hair - but I couldn't take the stringy locks anymore. Here is the before pictrure...
And here is the after!! It was not as bad as I expected, or as good (how's that for confusing). She is darling no matter what, and I really love it - and so does she. She loves it because we copied her little friend Olivia's new hair cut (sorry Julie).

Another view.

"I Need More Make-Up"

I might have created a monster.

With that said, I can't stop or get enough of my little princess. It all started when my sweet friend Jenn gave Kambree her a big bag of sample make-up to use. I have actually started to regularly wear make-up myself (all part of a total self makeover) and so Kambree is just following suit.

Every day after watching me get ready she climbs up on my be (she doesn't want to put it on in the bathroom) and assumes the position before telling me that "I need more make-up."

You can see from the pictures that she is particular about her color choices as well, depending on outfit/mood. You see, Snow White has red lips, therefor only bright red will do. When she is wearing a pink shirt, only pink will do (you get the point). I have a sneaky suspicion that soon she will be picking my clothes and matching make-up. Anyway, it started out innocent enough with just lipstick - but has quickly snowballed into a full face of bronzer, eye shadow, blush (which is a staple of hers now) and in her dreams mascara (I have held off on one thing).

The funniest thing lately, is that she loves to kiss paper right after we apply the lipstick to see her kiss marks - and she kinda likes the pucker lips face too - so funny!

Sunday Afternoon at the Beach

I just have to say how tired I am of seeing pictures of us in coats and hats! I want summer - seriously, I don't even really care about spring, just summer. I just want to wake up every day and put on our swimming suits for the beach or the little pool. My kids second this (mostly because they have new swim suits that are not getting any use).

Anyway, we still take the good days and get out as much as possible. This was an amazingly beautiful day that was so clear and sunny we could see Manhattan so clearly from the point. Despite the temps and zillions of dogs around the kids and us had an awesome time walking and playing at the park and beach.

Kambree the Ballerina

I actually have to laugh and know most of you will also to see how cute Kambree is when she is trying to be a ballerina. The worst part is that I know very little or nothing about ballet and I feel really stupid in hindsight, because I tell her to do a plea (if that is even a correct word in the ballet circle) and we both have no idea what it is (which is completely my fault).

She is trying to look like Zoe the ballerina from Sesame street. She hates the show and never watches it, but loves Zoe because she has a tutu just like hers.

Not to worry everyone, Kambree and her little friend will be starting ballet classes this fall and then she will know (and hopefully me too) all of the correct terms and positions - I can't wait! Seriously.

A Camera Is a Good Distraction

I recently read on a friends blog about how a camera is a good distraction - idea! This could be an equally good distraction for bored kids on freezing cold days, stuck in a box with Mom. I am not brave enough to put up all of them, but the distraction worked for a long time - thanks for the suggestion!

Pet Owners

I can't believe how much I hate owning a pet (or 5). March is pet month at school and so Dominick came home and told me that he needed a fish. I was actually quite surprised that he only asked for a fish out of all the possibilities, so Aaron and I decided that a few goldfish would be a good learning experience for the kids.

The pet store experience was not as fun as we were expecting. This, because Dominick made a B-line for the the biggest (and obviously most expensive) fish available. We tried to explain that number one, we are only going to buy a 2 gallon fish tank which will not hold that fish. Number two, for a first pet we should start small and number three (and most importantly) we hate fish. Dominick didn't quite understand - started throwing a crazy hysterical fit about the gigantic fish and had to be taken out. Luckily, little Kambree was left to choose and was perfectly happy with 5 of the cheapest goldfish they had. And there you have it - we are pet owners.

As soon as Dominick saw the the fish in the bag, he was much more happy. For some reason though, he got the idea that it is when the fish die he gets the big fish - not if and how good he can take care of them (you know the whole responsibility thing). Anyway, he also was so funny on the way home, because he was telling Kambree about taking care of them and told her (very excitedly) that when they die then we get to eat them. After laughing, we explained to him that goldfish was not sushi - they go in the toilet. He learned that the next morning, when he ran in to our bedroom to tell us that one of his fish died (this was the highlight of the day - and he told everyone at church). A couple of days later another one died and we are down to three.

Aaron and I are wondering how much longer the little suckers are going to live, because obviously we are taking care of them and neither one of us will succumb to the task of cleaning out he disgusting tank. Anyway, we will keep you posted about the lives of the family pets. The worst part of this experience is that I find myself wanting a dog more than a fish (but all I have to do is walk outside and see all of the dog poop left by our neighbors dogs and I quickly forget).

Did I mention we hate fish?

Winter Break with Grandma and Karson!

The dreaded winter break was not so scary this year, because my awesome Mom came out to rescue my kids from a week of misery indoors with Me - and she went even further and brought my nephew Karson out too, yay!! The whole week went by so fast that I kept thinking that we had more time.

My Mom was a real angel because Aaron and I decided to get sick while she was here (she doesn't know it, but we really did plan that :). But really, I can't tell you how much fun we had. And I hate that I don't have all of the pictures on the slide from the whole week, because half of them are on my Mom's camera (so unless someone helps her post them, we won't see them!!:). I am full of them tonight - sorry Mom.

The pictures you can see were from our bowling trip with our friend the Arveseth's. We had so much fun and quickly figured out that Karson is the most competitive one in the group (including me - I am a soft Mommy now)! He was so cute and was not kidding around with the game, and because of that he won!! Unfortunately we were mean hosts and took the sleepy little Karson (because of jet lag) to dinner that night and the poor thing fell asleep on the table - sorry Karson!

Monday we went down to the Museum of Natural History, and even though we go several times a year it never gets boring or old for the kids (which is nice for me). Karson was so funny and cute - I just have to tell you the conversation we had in the Ocean Life room:
*note Dominick was not present
K - Dominick is really smart about fish (with a defeated look on his face)
M - Well, he does get to come here a lot and loves ocean animals
K - Yea, but I don't go here sometimes like Dominick (still defeated look)
M - Hey buddy, Dominick knows a lot about oceans and trains, because he lives by them. But you know a lot about 4-wheelers and mountains and Dominick doesn't know a lot about those.
K - Oh yea, I am really smart and we ride 4-wheelers (totally redeemed confidence look).

He was so cute and I really think I made his day!!

I think Tuesday was our trip to the local mall and Barnes and Noble (probably a let down for most). But, it was really fun and the kids especially enjoyed the books! The next day was an unseasonably warm day, where if you don't go to the beach and take advantage you are crazy. So, we did! And the kids were happy to be there and run races, throw rocks, splash in tide pools, climb rocks and anything else they did - oh and collect sea shells. Even though it was a little warm, it was not warm enough to for Kambree to get completely soaked, but I figured she could warm up later (and she did).

Oh, and the picture of the bird was such a funny part. That seagull only had one leg - or so we thought. When my Mom and I saw it we were kinda thrilled to witness a crippled animal in the wild. Then, to make sure we had the kids start to chase him (we don't actually support torturing poor crippled animals, but we had to make sure). So, after chasing him for a good 30-40 seconds the bird flew and hobbled away with only that one little leg. As we called the kids to stop chasing him all of the sudden another leg comes out of nowhere (not literally of course) and he reveals that he is a totally normal bird - so, he totally faked us out and there was nothing left to do but sick the kids on him again!

The next big adventure was a trip to the New York Hall of Science. We were really excited about going down there because there was a special appearance from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus to show the kids how science is used in the circus. I was laughing so hard at Dominick and Karson, because they are the perfect age for those clowns. They got all of the funny jokes and were laughing hysterically the entire time (that is until the actual science act came out - boring)! No, I didn't think it was boring, just the kids who really don't care about the science and only want the clowns ot perform. Anyway, we will be hitting the circus again this year for sure! We met up with our friends the Meier's there and the kids all had so much fun together.

Now, you have to understand that every time my Sister or her kids come out I assure them of the weather and what to pack - for instance the August trip was a rediculous time to even think about bringing a jacket, long pant or long sleeves. That is all that they wanted though, on the crazy day that temps plummeted into the mid 50's and rained like crazy. This trip, after looking at the weather for the entire week, there was no sign of snow and so I said no boots, snow clothes, hat or such - WRONG AGAIN! Seriously, for the first time this entire season we got a real snow storm and were totally unprepared for our guests. We did make the most of it by layering like crazy and just having fun! From now on, anyone who comes here any time of year - pack for every season!

After playing in the snow for a long time, we braved the unplowed roads (thanks to our non-existent snow removal system in the city). After barely making it out of our neighborhood, we decided the train was the smartest mode of transport into the city. The kids loved it and the only bad part was leaving my umbrella on the train (which would have been useful considering the snow). But, we were able to take the subway down the the museum and only needed to walk a couple blocks in the weather. This Children's Art Museum was a new find for me and I am so glad that gave it a try, because it is so much fun. It is literally a mini art studio. The kids have free reign with paints, crayons, chalk, crafts and more. They have themes to get their creativity flowing, and it is so fun to watch your kids create and be so excited to bring them all home (which they encourage with everything). In the basement or the museum, was a ball pit filled with the big exercise balls to play in and then a really fun green screen with a video camera so that you can watch yourself real time with different backgrounds - the kids thought this was awesome!

Saturday was a play in the snow day and relax at home and the mall. It is always fun when Dad is home and they especially had fun playing with him in the snow. At the mall we decided to take the kids to see the new movie The Spiderwick Cronicles. It was so much fun to relax with everyone here and get ready to say goodby to our family. This was the hardest time for Dominick and he and my Mom had their predictable but sad meltdowns. We love having our family's come so much and we all can't wait to come out in the summer to see everyone else! Thank you, thank you, thank you for coming - we miss you!