Almond blossom run and parade

This year Nana asked Ethan if he would like to run in the Almond Blossom race with her. They have an 8k and a 1 mile. She and Ethan ran the 1 mile. I had intentions to run the 8k until becoming preggo with two. So I was relegated to the sidelines, cheering everyone else on.

Daddy pinning Ethan's number on. Despite the look on his face, Ethan really was excited to run. He'd been talking about it for days!

My sister ran the 8k and actually got 1st place in her age group. Great job Kara!

Waiting at the starting line, all ready to run!

Morgan and Annika cheering everyone on.

Heading towards the finish line! Ethan and Nana completed the race in 16 minutes and 21 seconds. My mom said she only had to carry him a couple times and otherwise he did great. He chatted the whole time, big surprise!

Ethan had a great time and I think this has become a yearly tradition, I'm not sure how much longer Nana will be able to keep up though. There were some pretty young kids running that race quite fast!

After the race we went to watch the parade with friends. We had quite the line-up of little kids watching. Ethan only lasted by the street for a few minutes and then he was up by Daddy, it was "too noisy". The parade got a big thumbs down from Ethan, but the race is a must do next year. Thankfully he isn't aware of the carnival yet, we didn't have to brave the crowds or the weather for that this year. We'll see how long that lasts.

Almond Blossoms

About two weeks ago the almond blossoms started popping out. It is the time of year around here where it looks like all the orchards are covered in snow and there is a sweet scent that fills the air. It is so beautiful and I was finally able to take the kids out this year and capture some pictures in an orchard. I had grander visions of what the pictures would turn out like, but we got a couple pretty cute ones.

Kid pics

Here are a couple pictures Kara took of the kiddos the other day.

Big Brother

Big Sister

Baby #3........and #4

A little getaway

Last week Kevin and I were privileged to have the opportunity to go to the AT&T ProAm Golf Tournament in Pebble Beach. My parents have been going for years, I have fond memories of them getting me Mark McGuire's autograph one year and we have a picture of my parents and Jack Nicholas hanging in our house. This year they changed the tournament so that one of the courses they played was the one my parent's house is on. So the golfers walked right in their back yard. We were invited to stay with my parents and their friends for 3 nights so we asked Kevin's parents to come down and watch the kids and we headed out for a kid less few days. We were able to watch the players on all three courses. We both got to see our favorites. We followed Phil Mickelson (for Lyndsay) and Mike Weir (for Kevin) for a couple holes. We saw many more golfers and a few celebrities like Kenny G, Tony Romo, George Lopez, Vince Gill (and wife Amy Grant following him), and Bill Murray. It was fun to be a little star struck for a few days. We just had such a fabulous time enjoying the beautiful weather, talking, and doing something fun together that we both enjoy. It is a weekend we won't soon forget.

Meanwhile back at home Ethan and Morgan had the time of their lives. They were completely entertained and spoiled by Opa and Oma. Opa and Ethan took a special outing each afternoon to play mini golf and to Bass Pro Shop. Ethan was so busy that he crashed every night within 1 minute(or so the report goes:) and after Opa and Oma left he has asked to take a nap every afternoon this week! Opa and Oma also spoiled us by doing a few jobs around the house for us. That was a pleasant surprise! Thanks again Opa and Oma for helping us out.

I was planning on taking more pictures this time with Opa and Oma here, but I only got a couple again. Here they are.

The Fire House

On Monday we went to the Fire House with our MOMS club. Although Ethan loves everything about firetrucks, he was in a mood and was not happy about going to the firehouse. I still drug him down there and made him try to have fun.

Morgan of course was all about climbing in the trucks and sitting by the firefighters. Not a whole lot of fear in our little girl!

I had to include this picture to show you the mood Ethan was in most of the morning. This is no exaggeration of his face most of the time we were there.

And finally a forced smile when I told him I wanted a nice picture for Oma....Quite the kid we have on our hands:)

A Trip to the Hair Salon

Ethan has such thick hair and it grows so fast that I could honestly get it cut every 3 weeks. But we make it in every 6 weeks or so. I bring him to Jeana, the girl who cuts my hair. She loves Ethan and so he loves to go get his hair cut. The sucker at the end might have something to do with it. One of these days I'll actually remember to bring my camera to the salon. For now you'll have to enjoy the after pictures. I wanted to see if Morgan's hair was long enough to do pig tails so I asked Jeana to give it a try. It's not long enough for 2 pigtails so she had 3. I thought it was pretty cute, but it will be a while before I attempt it at home.

So hard to get a nice smiling picture of these 2 anymore.

Around the House

The weather here has been mostly cloudy and cold. We have a little sunshine every couple days to help us remain sane. As a result we've been spending a lot of time inside. We haven't been up to a whole lot, but here are a few pictures of everyday life.

Ethan had his friend Eli over a couple weeks ago. I was so impressed when they played a whole game of Candyland all by themselves!

A little train conductor time this morning. I love that Morgan is just chatting on her cell phone in the back of the train.

We decided to add more passengers to the train. This time Ethan was driving from the caboose.

More fun with empty boxes!