it has been a busy couple of weeks.

good busy.

my mom flew in to LAX on june 10th, for a 10 day visit.

that same day, my sister and her family drove to california for a 5 day visit.

and somewhere in the middle [it's all a blur now] my dad came for a long weekend.

it was so much fun to have family around.

we kept pretty busy the whole time.. kick starting it all with a couple trips to disney.
the main reason for the hughes' to mosey on out to california [other then visiting our darling little family] was to go to the disney parks.
so we joined in, of course.
my plan was to help april and ben with their 5 kids, but i turned out to be absolutely no help.
keeping my own 2 kids entertained at the busiest happiest place on earth proved to be more work then i thought.
i think i even managed to steal my mom away from helping them too.. sorry april!

we did 2 days at the parks with the hughes family - 1 at california adventure and 1 at disney.
and then, since matt couldn't miss work to join us on those days, we added a 3rd day to some 2-day passes so he could join us on the weekend.
i felt really bad taking the boys to disney for the first time without matt.
especially because he was stuck at work for like 15 hours those days.
but he was a good sport. he always is.
and i tried to convince him that my days were no walk in the park.
disneyland is seriously exhausting!
another perk to me going ahead of him was that i was that much more knowledgable when we went together.
we hadn't been to disney since i was pregnant with chet, so we were a little rusty on our disney strategy.
and the last time we went we didn't have kids. and that is a whole different ball game.
no stroller.. no diaper bag.. no lugging around 90lbs of water to mix formula and keep kids hydrated.
*sigh*
it was so easy then.
but, of course, we didn't know it was easy.
and we didn't have little munchkins who were all giddy to be there.
[technically we just had 1 giddy munchkin.. holden didn't know what was going on.]
so easy doesn't necessarily mean better.

since matt couldn't miss work, we had to go on a saturday with him. 
i was certain the park was going to be beyond busy.
the 2 weekdays that we went with my family seemed so busy already. i couldn't imagine busier.
so we got to the park as early as we could, chose california adventure rather then disneyland [disney was worse when we went with the hughes'], and went in with really low expectations of the amount of rides we would get on.
but, of all the days we went, the saturday was the least busy BY FAR.
weird, right?
that day we got on every ride in the park we wanted to.
and we never waited more then 20 minutes. most of the rides we walked right on to.
it was awesome.
our first 2 days were much less productive as far as rides go.
but we did get to spend them with family, so that made up for it.
chet loved playing with his crazy cousins.
plus, on saturdays they apparently don't do the parades, so that wins some points for the weekday trips too.
the parades are seriously so impressive.

i would say the parades were one of my favorite things we saw at the parks.
i loved the princess float in the disneyland parade.
those princesses were so good at being princessy.
i tried to do some of their moves but i do not have what it takes to be a princess.

my least favorite thing was probably cost... of everything.
admission, parking, food, souvenirs.
it's all insane.
i spent most of the day wishing i had some soon-to-be-discovered family connection to walt because the money going in to disneyland is unbelievable.
i recommend not trying to count it.. it will make you feel ill.

sometimes i also got super frustrated with the crowds.
sometimes i wished i had flaming spikes on the front of my stroller to encourage people to choose better places to stop then in the middle of the sidewalk.
other times i wished i had a machete to whip around.
it would have been handy for the lady who was trying to cut in front of me and my two little kids to get on the CAROUSEL!
some people..

but, stupid people aside, the parks were a lot of fun.
it really is a magical place for kids.
chet is convinced he has met mickey mouse, rode a flying elephant, and been to radiator springs.
i love it.
it really is so much more fun going to disneyland with kids.
so i was shocked at the amount of people who were there without any.
and how many of those people were there in disney attire!

i was most excited to take chet to california adventure because of cars land.

and i was honestly so amazed by how well it was done.

it looks JUST like the movie!

and they have a life-size lightning mcqueen and mater driving around.

it was too cute.

we tried to sneak chet on the most popluar cars land ride - radiator springs racers - but he is about 2 inches too short.

in all honesty, he didn't really care. he was happy to ride the smaller rides.

and was pumped about his cone-shaped cup he bought at the cozy cone motel.

we did california adventure first.

and, initially, we planned on doing disneyland the very next day.
but us adults needed a break.

so we spent the next day at the pool and at the beach.

i loved that day.

at the end of it we went back to our apartment for a bbq.

that was the only time matt got to see the hughes family [he works A LOT] so that was fun.

then the next day we got up the courage to visit disneyland.

like i said, the crowds at disneyland were insane!
but, the dinky little kid rides were easy to get on. and that was all i needed.

i'm actually a really big chicken with rides, so i'm going to enjoy it while my kids are too little to go on the big, scary ones!

my stomach gets all churny when i'm in line for basically anything that isn't a carousel.

ok. i'm not that bad. but close.

my stomach did get knotted when i was in line for the 'gadget's go coaster'!

haha really.

if you don't know what that is, just know that chet was big enough to go on it..

so i really shouldn't have been nervous!

i make matt ride roller coasters alone.

but, in all honesty, it works in his favor.

if you are a loser single rider, you get on rides way fast.

when we moved here i had full intentions of getting disney annual passes, but i've decided i'm not quite ready to commit.

maybe it's because our kids are still little and i feel like we have to pack half of our house to make disney successful.

or maybe it's because it was such a new thing that we felt this pressure to experience everything.

or it could be the fact that we live on the opposite of LA and, although it is only 50 miles away, it took us close to 2 hours to get there one morning.
[ugh.. LA traffic!]
either way, i think we will keep disney as a special occasion thing for now.

we look forward to our next visitors who give us a good excuse to go.
any takers?


CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PICTURES..
[almost all of them are from cars land]

waiting for the parade.

holden slept through the parade. it was unreal! the parade is sooo loud.

chet had a melt down on the tram ride back to the parking garage. real embarrassing.

but apparently it was because he was exhausted! and with good reason.

holden is one.

when i went to wake holden up on his birthday, i was greeted by a smiley fellow all covered in poo.

lovely.

what a nice way to ring in his new year.

needless to say, his birthday started off with a bath.

.. and it ended in the bath too.

but for a much more pleasant reason.

the second time around, he was covered in cake and frosting.

holden's birthday was really low-key.

we spent most of the day outside. went on some walks. played at the pool.

when holden napped, chet and i put up some streamers and wrapped the presents.

and when matt got home we had a little celebration.

it was fun to watch holden dig into his cupcake.

he didn't mind getting messy.

and he thought it was pretty tasty.

so did tank.

it is times like that when i am so grateful i have a dog.

70% of holden's cupcake ended up on the floor, but i didn't have to clean up one stitch.

i turned my back for 5 minutes and tank had taken care of every crumb.

sure, eating large amounts of chocolate cake isn't ideal for a small dog,

but he was happy and i was happy.

so i'm gonna say it was worth any heath risks.

i am actually thinking i should start up a business where i rent out dogs to clean up crumbs at functions. it's genius, i know.

part of me feels guilty that we didn't put together a more elaborate shindig for holden's birthday, but then i look at holden and realize that he does not care.

all he wanted to do was eat some cake and some wrapping paper.

and we let him do both.

so he was one very happy birthday boy.

[don't worry.. this is the cake bath!]

i have lots to catch up on from these past couple weeks.

my parents and the hughes family were in town. and they kept us busy.

- beach days, pool parties, disneyland, shopping, and so on - 

we were spoiled.

but i will have to catch up on that another day.

right now i want to post about holden.

because he is turning ONE today!

happy birthday holden.

continuing with tradition, i made him a little birthday movie.
it's hard to smush a whole years worth of memories into a couple minutes, but i still like to try.
you can -click here- to watch it.

it has been quite the year!

this little boy has come so far.

he started out looking like an itty bitty, wrinkly old man. and couldn't even breath on his own.

now he is a smiley little stinker, who honestly never stops moving.

it's crazy how much can change in a year!
we feel so blessed to have such a happy, healthy, stud muffin.

chet calls him ho-ee or ho-den.
other nicknames he has acquired are:
homo, hobo, ho-man...
basically anything that starts with HO.
oh, and we also call him stinker. and stinky.
... perhaps i should come up with a nicer nickname?

his collection of tacky nicknames are, in no way, a sign of the way we feel for him.
we are madly in love with stinky.
i'm pretty sure holden is as close to perfect as a baby can get. for real.

he is happy.

he thinks he is funny.

he is curious.

he waves, claps, and copies sounds.
he bounces when he is excited.
he screams when you make him mad.
he has the cutest pout when his feelings get hurt.
he is brave.

he likes to eat.
he likes to feed himself.

he likes to be outside.

he has lived in 3 different states.

he has travelled through 8 states + 1 province.

he is american.

he is a good sleeper.

he snores.

he likes kids. and loves his brother.

he likes toy cars, trains, etc.

he loves his binky.

he is a sucker for a nice, fuzzy blanket.

he hates hats.

he loves electronics.
he pulls up on everything.

he is a squirmer.

changing his diaper is a battle.. every time.

we were certain he would have brown hair, but he is 100% blonde.

he has 2 teeth.

he has a lovely tan.

and handsome blue eyes.

he's a keeper :)

we love holden emmett.

we found out that our stake was doing a father-son campout 2 weeks ago.

and chet has been asking every day since when he gets to go.

waiting is hard.

but the day of the campout finally arrived, and chet was eager to pack his backpack with the camping essentials.

what were those essentials, you ask?

a flashlight and a some chips.

duh.

nothing else.

i explained to him that he would unfortunately need a few more things to make the campout successful.

so he helped me gather the rest of the stuff.

and he joined my on a trip to the dry cleaners down the street to beg for metal hangers to make into marshmallow roasters.

[how do we not have any metal hangers?!]

chet was ready by the door when matt got home from work.

as they headed out i threatened encouraged matt to take lots of pictures.

and he did a super job.

he also gave me a re-cap of the campout..

when they arrived to the site they set up their tent and their bed.

apparently chet was so excited to sleep in it that he instantly claimed he was ready bed.

but matt convinced him to stay up a bit longer!

they had a picnic dinner, went on some hikes, hung out with liam, looked for animals, roasted marshmallows, and finished the night singing songs together in the tent.

in the morning they had a pancake breakfast, did some more exploring, and packed up camp.

it was short, but sweet.

when they got home, it was obvious that chet felt really special.

and that makes me happy.

chet doesn't get a whole lot of one-on-one time with matt.

and, as much as i hate to be left out [not from camping, but from a fun activity!], i am so happy they had this opportunity.

i know things like this will be really important as our boys grow.

our boys are lucky to have matt for their dad.

matt is a great dad.

everything i read about the campsite made it sound like the place was infested with rattlesnakes, but all they saw was some bugs, some birds, a bunny, and a coyote.

it was a foggy morning.

chet and liam. they look way too grown up!

i got called to be a young women leader in our new ward.

pretty wicked calling, huh?!

i'm not sure of my official title, but i am in charge of encouraging the girls to finish their personal progress.

i'm excited. and really nervous.

i hope they like me!

it is a really small group of young women. only 9 girls in total.

and i have never actually seen all 9 at the same time.

it's a huge change from the young womens group i grew up in.

the sundance ward had over 40 girls when i went through it.

i am excited to get to know the girls in our new ward better.

they are all so cute and talented.

and i mean seriously talented in the music/theater world.

i'm pretty sure they will all be famous one day.

i should probably get their autographs.

they aren't, however, talented with a sewing machine.

[at least they weren't until i came along!]

last week i was at an activity where we were sewing pillow cases for the girls to take to camp.

the activity made me feel so old.

because, of the 7 girls at the activity, only 1 had ever even touched a sewing machine!

how is that possible?

i have always been under the impression that sewing is a life skill that everyone learns.

but apparently they don't even offer sewing classes in school around here!

i felt outdated.

especially when i was saying things like 'well, back when i went to school...'

haha gross!

i was kind of embarrassed that i showed up to the activity with my very own sewing machine... that i use quite often.

hopefully i didn't ruin my chances of the girls liking me!

matt got a calling too.

the ward has divided the youth sunday school classes into a junior high class and a high school class.

matt now teaches the high school class.

i think he will do a great job.

the new curriculum for the youth sunday school is very discussion oriented.

and matt is good at going with the flow and approaching tricky questions.

plus, he is funny.

we are thrilled to get to spend so much time with the youth in our ward. wish us luck!

last week, this sign was at the park we play at the most.
it was inside a ridiculously small square of caution tape.
[maybe 30ft x 30ft?]
someone must have told the rattlesnakes to stay inside the tape..?
because there were tons of people still playing at the playground not too far from them.
we were dumb and chose to stay and play too.
[it was way too much work getting the kids to the park to not enjoy it!]
we never saw anyone get bit by a snake. or a snake, for that matter.
but it was creepy to think they were so close.

we usually have playgroup at that park on wednesdays.
but yesterday we decided to switch things up. [not because of the snakes].

we went and played at a park on the beach instead.

the park was up in oxnard. it was about a 40 minute drive.
the boys and i hitched a ride up there with jade.
between jade and i, we had 4 kids in the back of her car.
it looked funny having so many car seats.
and it made me nervous to have so much potential for breakdowns in the back of one vehicle.
but the kids were all so good.
and on the way home we were lucky enough to have them all pass out!
we were pretty pleased with ourselves.

what i saw of oxnard was really neat.

lots of homes back on to canals that lead to the harbor.

and the canals are packed with all sorts of boats.

very picturesque.

the park was right beside the beach.

and the breeze from the ocean made for perfect kite flying conditions.

a couple weeks ago, matt came home with 3 dozen lemons that a guy he works with gave him.

the guy has a lemon tree and is always looking for people to pawn lemons off on.

i'm pretty sure i have never had a lemon in my possession up until that day.

i'm actually not a huge lemon fan.

i hate when i'm at a restaurant and my server puts a lemon in my drink without asking.

did i ask for you to taint my perfectly good beverage with that lemon slice?

no.

but i was instantly determined to use the lemons. all 36 of them.

i started with lemon bread - 4 loaves of it.

it was tasty.

but i was really disheartened when i discovered that my 4 loaves of lemon bread only used 2 lemons.

at that rate, i would need to make 68 more loaves to use up the lemons!

so i looked up lots of lemon recipes online.

i quickly learned that - with the exception of lemonade - most recipes call for very little lemon.

so...

needless to say, we have been drinking loads of homemade lemonade these days!
and it's really growing on me.

i think it is so neat to see all the fruit trees around our neighborhood.

- oranges, graperfruits, lemons -

the orange trees are my favorite.

i want one.

we like to 'collect' oranges from the neighborhood when we go on family bike rides.
shhhh don't tell!

we went to the beach yesterday.

and guess what we saw?

dolphins!

there was a big group of them doing jumps and tricks.

it was really neat!

i have never seen dolphins out of captivity before.

i tried so hard to snap a picture of them doing something fun, but i failed horribly.

my appreciation for dolphin photographers has greatly increased.

matt was brave enough to get in the chilly water for a bit.

but most of our day was just spent playing on the beach.

on another note, chet is getting much braver in the pool.

the boys and i play at the pool a lot.

we were there every day this week.

and it's totally paying off.

a couple weeks ago chet just wanted to play at the very edge of the pool,

and now he is doing this:

now it's hard to convince this boy to get out!

holden is loving the water too.

and i love it.

i love watching them improve each day.

and i really love that i get to do that while i'm sitting in the sun by the pool!

it's a hard life :)