Dogwood Festival

Saturday morning, we went downtown for the first farmer's market of the season. We stopped at 7-11 on the way and I got a skinny salted caramel mocha. Mmm....and it was much cheaper than getting one at Starbucks.

 

I didn't get any pictures of the farmer's markets because it was so crazy. We got the boys a muffin and then went on the downtown mall and walked around. There was a half marathon and marathon going on, and the finish line was on the downtown mall. There was a dj playing music who stopped and announced who was coming across the finish line. The boys loved dancing to the music and then clapping for the runners when they finished. We went ahead and took the boys to the Discovery Museum since we were right there and it also meant that we got our parking validated. ;)

The boys rode the carousel after the museum. As soon as it started going, they started saying "yeehaw!" like Woody from Toy Story.

A little drawing on the Freedom of Speech wall.

I love the downtown mall area, it's pretty and always fun to walk around.

After the boys naps, we went to McIntire Park for the Dogwood Festival. We weren't sure what to expect, but I knew there'd be rides. There's a playground right there, so I figured if there wasn't anything to do for the boys, they could always play at the park. It turned out to basically be a fair with the typical fair rides and games. The boys were so excited about seeing all the rides.

They didn't know what to think. We went at the perfect time, the weather was great and there was hardly anybody there.

The boys saw this fun house with a slide and wanted to go on it. Greg went to go get two tickets for each of them to go on it and came back with 24 tickets so that they could ride some rides.

I cannot believe the boys are big enough for fair rides now. I wasn't sure how they'd do, I actually mentally prepared myself for them to start crying and the carnival worker having to stop the ride for them. We gave the man their tickets and he took them from the entrance and put them in the ride and buckled them in. I was so nervous, but they were so excited. They loved it! Carter started smiling and laughing and just got the biggest kick out of it. Evan had such a focused look on his face, we think he actually thought he was "driving".

We had the best time watching them, I think it was just as fun for us watching them as it was for them riding the rides. It's so fun getting to watch them go through their "firsts"

The next ride they rode was this motorcycle ride. They thought they were something!

They just looked so cute and grown up on that thing.

They had a real carousel that we let them ride. I got a picture of Greg with them and then I rode it with them. I thought it went fast and they thought it was so much fun. They loved looking for daddy every time we went around.

Carter took a little rest and watched some kids playing baseball.

We let the boys do the fun house one more time before we left.

There were several other rides I wanted to take them on like the ferris wheel and the huge slide that you ride down on a burlap sack, but they were too short.

Of course, they didn't want to leave, but they were so good, no tantrums or anything, but Evan insisted on wearing his hat like this as he walked to the car.

Then, he wanted to sit and take a quick break--much better than throwing a fit!

This was a picture (that uploaded out of order) that Greg took of me on the carousel. I used to love rides, I'd ride the fastest, scariest rides with no problems. I thought that carousel was so fast and I felt so sick afterwards, which made me feel so old. :(

We came home and the boys were worn out! The fair was a lot, it was loud and there was just so many things they haven't seen before. We had such a good time and I can't wait to take them to some county fairs this summer. While the boys played with Greg, I made Penne Rosa with shrimp for dinner and it was SO good!!! It was easy and healthy, it had fresh spinach, wheat pasta, shrimp, fresh mushrooms and tomatoes and you added Greek yogurt to make it creamy. I'll definitely post the recipe later this week.

 

Saturday was such a fun day. I love getting out and doing things and the weather was nice. I love it when the boys have such a great time like they did at the fair. Greg and I talked about all the things we're looking forward to doing with the boys, like taking them to their first fireworks, going to the zoo, going to Disneyland one day, etc. It can be a little sad when the boys are able to do something for the first time because it means they're growing up, but it's also so much fun.

Feeling Like Spring

Friday, Greg was off and it was finally sunny and warm. Greg has had allergies/cold all week, so I took the boys to the gym in the morning and he stayed home and rested. After the gym, we all met for lunch at Taco Bell and let the boys play-they had a blast. Our Taco Bell has a fresca menu that they don't have listed, you just have to know what's on it, but it's a lowfat menu and the stuff is really good!

 

The boys played so hard at Taco Bell. We were there for about an hour. They always make friends while we're there and they have the best time chasing/being chased. There were some older girls there that were so sweet to them and played along to being chased by them.

After the boys naps, we went cleaned out Evan and Carter's sandbox. We had left the lid off a couple of times when it rained and it was just a wet, disgusting mess. We (and by we, I mean, Greg) dumped it, sprayed it out and dried it. Then we headed to Lowe's to get some sand to put in it. The weather was so nice that we rode with the sun roof down and the boys loved it! They always love going to Lowe's because of their fun carts.

We got home and the boys played in their sandbox while Greg grilled steaks for our version of Chipotle burrito bowls (healthified ;) After dinner, Greg was feeling worn out, so he took it easy and I played with the boys in the yard.

You can see how much sand is out of the sandbox already. I think we may go through a couple of bags this summer.

Of course, after all that work of getting the sandbox ready, the boys decided they'd rather play in the dirt. ;)

They found rocks, big dirt piles to break up, etc.

Also, Evan picked me my first flower as a mom. Awww......

Then, Evan got an alligator sand toy and decided to chase Carter with it.

Roar!

He attacked mommy's leg.

They were just loving being outside and running around.

Then, the neighbors were outside with their kids and the boys played with their girls through the fence. They got more energy out screaming, hollering, and running back and forth with those girls!

They had so much fun. The younger one kept saying "I love Evan and Carter" Aww... It was so sweet. I should probably get used to the ladies saying how much they love Evan and Carter-because, really, look at them, what's not to love. ;)

After the boys went to bed, Greg started watching "Spartacus" Blah! So, I decided to try out some Pinterest inspired nails (after consulting with my sister-who knows much more about nail polish than me) I think these nails are so "springy" Mine don't look anything like the picture, I need to work on my polishing skills, but I was excited to have my nails polished with some spring colors.

I cannot tell you how happy I am that it finally feels like spring here. It's calling for several days of sunny spring weather this week and I'm so thankful.

April Photodump

These pictures uploaded out of order, but this is just a photodump post anyways, so I'm not worried about it.

Going on the advice from my friend, Brandi, I tried spicy bok choy. It was so good! I loved it. I'll do a post soon with the recipe.

I took the boys outside in the yard the other day to play and they were hiding from me in the trees. I thought they looked so cute!

Me and Evan. He was imitating my expressions.

The boys were being so silly.

The boys using their t-ball sets we got them for Easter last year.

A couple of days in a row, after we put the boys to bed, Evan would go turn on his light and get in bed and read himself a book and then go to sleep. We would go to bed and see that his light was still on, so I snapped this picture of him sleeping. It's blurry, but I can never get pictures of them sleeping in bed because it's too dark. I also think it's so adorable that he reads to himself.

I took the boys to story time at the library for the first time ever. It's geared towards 2 year olds so there was dancing, music, a short story with participation. It was the first time we'd gone to that library (and only their second time ever going to a library at all) and they were very excited about the kids section with the bead maze. The boys did really good for about 15 minutes, but then they just got up and walked out of the room to go play with the bead maze. I actually still consider story time a success because they were so good while we were in there. I'm going to try it a couple more times and hopefully they can last the whole time.

Our story time instagram collage.

We went to the park one day to get some energy out.

We got Peter Pan on Netflix and the boys LOVE it. I had never seen it before and I'm not impressed, but the boys like it, so I can deal with it. There's flying and pirates, so they're happy. They sat still and just loved it.

I love how Evan watches movies now. He'll lay like that on the floor.

Another picture from our trip to the park. The boys were getting leaves for their pretend kitchen and acting like they were cooking them up and would offer them to me to eat.

The boys love trucks, school buses, airplanes, tractors, etc. All the typical boy things. Greg actually sped up for the boys to see a dump truck that was driving next to us. They get such a kick out of big trucks.

We had a play date at a friends house this week. Their friend had a remote control truck and the boys had so much fun playing with it. You can see they have their fleeces on still, once they're on, they don't like to take them off.

That's been the past couple of days for us. It has finally started to feel like spring, so it's weird seeing all these pictures of the boys in their fleeces when today we were outside in short sleeves playing.

Bounce-N-Play, Parks and Treats

It's been over a week since I've updated my blog and I don't even have a fun or exciting reason why. The boys were taking turns last week not napping and it's during their naps that I update my blog, catch up on emails, etc. Our gym membership expired in January and we decided to renew it last Tuesday, so I've been extra tired from working out, so I haven't been blogging at night. I'm so glad to have the gym membership back and I think the little break we had helped us realize how important it is.

Last week, I took the boys to Bounce-N-Play by myself. I haven't done that in awhile because now that they're big enough to play on everything, it's hard to keep track of both of them. But, we decided to try it out and it went fine. They had a blast!

They actually stuck together more than they ever have, which worked out nicely for me.

It doesn't matter which one wakes up first in the morning or from nap, they are always so excited to go get the other one up. I try and take the one that wakes up downstairs to play, but sometimes, they run in the other bedroom and wake up who ever is sleeping. And neither of them usually mind when they get woke up by the other one, they're always so happy to see each other. Sometimes, they still need a little time to wake up and like to hang out in their rooms and read or just play in their bed.

One day last week, Carter skipped his nap and after Evan woke up, we decided to go to the park. Carter fell asleep before we got there.

The boys had such a good time at the park that day (after we woke Carter up from his little car nap)

 

It was chilly, but Evan took his sweater off while we were there. He did not want to wear it. We insisted when we first got out of the car, but we weren't at the park long and they were running around, so when he took it off while playing, we just didn't worry about it.

 

Last Friday, I was recovering from our leg workout the day before. I was so sore! It was cold and the boys were getting antsy around the house, so I went to the gym, dropped them off at the Kidzone (which they love) and went to the café with my ipad and planner and just enjoyed a little time to myself. The boys have friends that go to the Kidzone that were there that day, so I didn't feel bad about them spending a little time in there. We actually ended up going to Chick-Fil-A afterwards with some friends we saw at the gym.

We decided to hide Easter eggs on Saturday since the weather was nice and it was calling for rain on Sunday. We invited the boys friend, Konnor, and his mom (and baby brother) over to look for eggs. The boys quickly lost interest in the eggs and started playing in the dirt. :) They are definitely all boy.

I gave the boys Peeps before the egg hunt (the pictures are out of order) and they LOVED them. I've never had a Peep and was going to try a small bite of the boys, but they liked them so much, I figured I'd try them another time.

I also made banana cookies. It's 2-3 ripe bananas, 1 cup of oats and then you can mix in anything you want. I mixed in some mini chocolate chips (I found a brand that isn't manufactured in a peanut plant-yay!) and the boys liked them, but they were messy!

That pretty much sums up last week, in pictures. I spent the boys nap yesterday looking up all the fun things we can do when the weather warms up. I got out my planner and wrote down everything- The Dogwood Festival, farmer's markets, splash parks, pools, zoos, etc. It's supposed to warm up here in a few days, it's calling for temps in the 60's and I'm so ready. We all are. I'm getting a little tired of the same ol' same ol'--bounce-n-play, chick-fil-a, playing around the house, etc. I'm excited to do some outdoor activities. Hopefully, we can switch it up a little this weekend and I can have some new things to blog about. :)