Heading to Redding

AJ and Ashten in the car on the ride down Ayden
Armand multi-tasking

Our first rest stop

The boys and "Daddy's trailer"

Mount Shasta

At the pool

Me and the kids

Ayden

AJ was scared for about 2.5 seconds then he was like a fish. He LOVED the pool!!

This weekend Armand had a trailer order to deliver to Redding, California. He wanted to drive straight there and back. It is a 9 hour drive, so this would have been horrible. I talked him into making a weekend out of it. We left at 4am and arrived at 2pm. We got quite a surprise coming from Washington, where it has snowed within the last two weeks. SUN!! It was about 80 degrees! So much for all the winter coats and sweaters that we packed. We stayed at the Travel Lodge in Redding, because it had wi-fi AND a pool, which Ayden informed us was a must because of the heat. We had a great day. When swimming Ashten asked, "Could we live here forever?"

Kindergarten Registration

Ashten when he heard the news that he would not be going to Kindergarten with Ayden. He said he would miss Ayden...Sad:(Ayden at his new school
Today we took Ayden in to register him for Kindergarten. YAY!! We are so excited. I was bummed to find out that we missed the tour and everything. But he was just excited to see what school he would be going to. This was the first time I had actually ever seen it also, so it was nice to go inside and take a tiny peak. Ayden has asked me everyday since his registration, "Mommy, do I have my new school tomorrow?" Only 5 more months! Not that I'm counting;)

Big Boys

Ayden age 5Ashten age 4 Before the wedding the sky was so clear I had to snap some pictures to replace Ayden and Ashten's photos that are on the family wall. They are both from when Ayden turned 4, so they were really outdated. I usually do them at their birthdays at the very least, but it seems that we have had a lot of bad weather or bad pictures. I love these pics, the kids look adorable.

Another Wedding

Ayden's favorite part was the ice cream bar AJ had a good time, but was so tired Wes and Kristin

Mom and Dad

Nick and Lydia

He finally crashed for a few minutes

Today we had a reception to go to for my cousin Nick and his wife Lydia. They were sealed at the Manti Temple in Utah in the end of February. Anyway, the Tahoe had broken down yesterday so I had no car. Dad came and picked up the big boys, and Wes and Kristin came to get me and AJ. I appreciated the family for helping us out. We had lots of fun visiting. The boys had fun playing in the nursery for a little while, but they stayed for only a few minutes then were back at my side. It was nice to get out of the house and listen to music with the family. Afterwards we cleaned up chairs until Wes and Kristin were ready to go. The boys got home about 30 minutes after us, I guess they were having too much fun helping

To Ggmom's House We Go

Ashten, GGmom, and AydenAnderson tried to play too

Ayden GG playing piano with the boys
Baby Anderson and Grandma Anderson
AJ just couldn't hold out for home. After visiting the museum, we called Great-Grandma Anderson to see if she was up for a visit. The boys had so much fun visiting her. They ate lots of candy and some healthy snacks. They played Don't Break the Ice and set up the fishing game (they never got around to actually playing). They got to read fun pop up books and play piano. We even took a walk around the "block" a few times to burn off some of that candy energy. We headed home around 530pm after a long and very fun day. They were sad to go but we had to get home, AJ hadn't had a nap all day and was getting really cranky.

Thanks for letting us come over and see you, we had lots of fun!:)

Hands On!

Anderson making deliveriesAshten is ringing me up for the sandwich I orderedAyden is loading up the delivery truck with fruits and veggiesMy sandwichAJ picking potatoes for his basket and cucumbers and carrots

Gavin and Ben doing deliveries
Doctor Nicolas examining X-rays.

AJ loved the vet area especially when he saw the doggies
Ayden also liked playing with the train set

Ashten and Ben spent so much time at the water table they were pretty wet by the time they were done
Valerie had a couple of free passes for the Children's Museum in Olympia. Since there was no playgroup or preschool today, we decided to go out this morning. We tried to fit us all in one van but apparently when they advertise that it holds 7 they do not consider car seats and boosters. I think the only time we have ever had 7 in our van was when I made Ayden ride without a booster, but this was too far to be driving illegally. Anyway,we met Valerie's sister-in-law (and her two kids) in Lakewood and drove to Olympia. This museum is awesome. We've only been to the Tacoma museum, and it is tiny compared to this one. The kids had a ton of fun. Ayden's favorite part was the giant boat. Ashten's favorite part was everything and pretending to be a doctor looking at X-rays. Anderson's favorite part was the farmer's market.

Mt Rainier

Ayden and Ashten at Longmire My Boys at Paradise
Checking out the snow shoers

Ayden looking through the microscope
Ashten checking out the stuffed animals
Ayden and his picture of Mount Rainier
The boys playing a matching game together
Daddy and Anderson
Ashty with his lollipop
AJ got a cold bum
Ayden crawled all the way up this snow hill, lost his his shoe, then came crawling down with only a sock.... It's Mommy to the rescue, in my sandals.

Today, Armand had some customers coming to pick up trailers, so I was going to be left alone at church. He had the bright idea to go on a drive after the customers left. So we loaded up the kids and decided to head to Mount Rainier. It was a decent day out and the kids were so excited. They always yell out "There's Mount RAYneew" and ask if we can go there whenever they see it. We haven't been there since September 2005, so they don't remember being there. We visited the new Visitor's Center, which was really neat the kids loved learning and exploring. There was a ton of snow at Paradise and the kids had a blast playing in it. Until they realized they were cold. The whole ride home all we heard was, "I'm watery!" from Ashten. Even AJ kept pulling on his wet pants. I felt bad for them since we didn't prepare well and bring them dry clothes. I have never been there in the winter and didn't really know what to expect, but snow would have been the obvious I suppose. On the way out of the visitor's center I learned that in most years, Paradise gets more snow than anywhere else in the lower 48 states! OOPS.