Summer is Here...

I love summer. I've always loved summer and not just because it means a break from school. I love the smell of sunscreen, the late nights, playing outside, the pool, shorts, the 4th of July, watermelon, food on the grill, playing with friends, splash parks, and so much more. Living in Arizona we get an early jump on summer and as you can see from Rowan's tan face, blonder hair and big smile, we've been loving it! 

Brothers 22/52

This is not the best photo but they were so cute in their sunglasses lounging around together that I decided to use this one this week. :)

Sunglasses & Doggy

While Aunt Amanda was here visiting she bought Rowan some fabulous new sunglasses in his very favorite color. He was showing them off today before we left for the splash pad. Cruz is becoming quite the chatter box adding "thank you" to his growing list of words. In the video he gets so excited to hear our neighbor's dog barking. 

Last Day of School

Oh, how he's grown!

Rowan has grown so much this past school year. He can count to 20 in English and 15 in Spanish. He knows his colors and his shapes. He can sing his ABC's and identify his letters. He's learned countless new nursery rhymes and songs. 

Rowan looks so much more like a kid rather than a toddler. He has grown at least an inch and a half since the beginning of school and has gained three pounds. His arms, legs and face have slimmed out too!

Rowan's backpack still looks big on him but not nearly as big as it did at the beginning of the school year.

Rowan has learned some fundamental truths about God and the Bible this year at school. When I asked him, he told me these: "God made the whole world," "God loves me no matter what," "Saul was a mad king," "Jesus is alive after he died!"

Thankful Thursday

.... on time!!!

Day 246: Rowan's sweet buddy had his tonsils out but is all back to normal!
Day 250: I love the libraries on hold system. When we go, I barely have time to grab some books for the kids let alone browse the shelves for myself. The night before we go I make a list, put them on hold, and they're all waiting for me at the front of the library when I go. It makes it so much easier!
Day 252: I know I've been thankful for Rowan getting wet before but he took it to a new level tonight. He was soaked when we got done at the Splash Pad. He's had an extreme dislike for spraying water since he was a baby. He's finally getting brave and having a good time! 

School is Ending!

Tomorrow is Rowan's last day of Pre-School 2's. He is not happy about that. He truly loves going to school and seeing his friends and his teachers. As we were talking about the end of the year at lunch, I asked Rowan what he was going to miss most about school and he said:

-playing trains with my friends

-doing the Bear Hunt song

-painting my hands

-giving Mrs. Elowson high fives

-my cubby... do I get the same one back next year?

This photo was taken as he was telling me these things. I love our little talks. :)

Crazy Cruzy

Cruz's personality is coming out so much these days. He absolutely loves getting wet and dirty. He loves bubbles, balls and dancing. Cruz won the beads he's wearing by playing a game at our church carnival today. He thought he was so cool playing with the big kids.

Cruz's face is distorted because I was shooting with a wider angle lens and it tends to distort faces when they are close up. I love it though because Cruz constantly sticks his adorable face right in my camera lens and giggles!

C is a playground daredevil already going down slides by himself. He will also hang from the monkey bars unassisted if we let him. Cruz points at what he wants. He also nods his head yes or no. Cruz pretty much considers himself one of the kids... definitely not one of the babies.

Brothers 21/52

Brother hugs are a very regular occurrence around here and I love it.

Thankful Thursday Catch Up- Update

I don't know if its a boy thing or what but my children can be entertained by a simple ball for hours... especially Cruz. :)

NVCA did a fundraiser that included eating pizza. Rowan, Cruz and I were on top of that. :)

I know that all blankets can be folded but if you don't have one that folds up and zips up into a nice little square then you're missing out! They're perfect for picnics, the park and other outdoor events. They wipe off super nicely as well, which is fabulous when you have kids. I've seen them recently at Kohls and Bed Bath and Beyond.

Aunt Amanda

We had a fabulous weekend. Mom, Dad and Amanda came and spent some time with Rowan and Cruz while Rog & I flew to Minnesota to be a part of my dear high school friend's wedding. If you've known me any length of time, I'm sure the name 'Mary' has come up in conversation at least once. Mary and I have known each other since we were 13 and it was so much fun to celebrate her marriage to Justin. I am so thankful to my parents and sister for taking such good care of the boys. 

Rowan and Cruz have a special bond with my sister, their only aunt. Aunt Amanda always comes bearing treats and is ready for lots of fun. She even bought Rowan some new sunglasses, in his favorite color of course. :) I got a bunch of cute photos from the visit but these two made me smile. I love the boys have such close and special relationships with each of their family members even though we live far away. We miss you, Aunt Amanda (and Grammy & Grampy too!)!!!!

Brothers Catch Up

Saturday May 7

Saturday May 14

I just can't seem to get ahead!! :) Here are the caught up Brothers photos and believe it or not, I have my two missing Thankful Thursday posts ready to go, I just failed to upload them on time so you'll be getting THREE posts this Thursday.... hopefully. I'm going to blog more about our wonderful weekend later!

Writing His Name: A

Over time there will be 4 more installments of this post (hopefully), as Rowan masters each letter in his name. Right now he is fabulous at A and O. W is recognizable. R and N have a ways to go. :) He loves practicing though.

Full Time Walker

Cruz has been walking all over the place for a couple weeks or so now and I realized that I hadn't posted any video of it so without further ado, here's the big boy!

Happy Mother's Day!

Rowan with the Mother's Day card he made me at school.

Happy Mother's Day to all! Happy Birthday to the most wonderful husband and father that we could ever ask for. We love you, Rog! :)

Music in May

Each Friday night in May, the community park holds a free concert. Everyone gathers with blankets and snacks to listen and dance the evening away. We went to the first one of the month tonight and it is safe to say that the kids had an absolute blast. Rowan was dancing and running around like a crazy kid and Cruz was clapping his hands and bobbing to the music. Rowan did mention that he missed having his Brayden there tonight though. Brayden just had his tonsils and adenoids removed so he's at home recovering. Another highlight of Rowan's day was getting to visit his buddy. Anyway, here are some pictures from the park tonight. :)

Rowan and Monty waiting for the music to start.

Dancing with Daddy

Rowan and Monty dancing up front! We sat behind the band since it was less crowded and was easier to keep an eye on the kids!

The Difference of a Year...

Here is Cruz, sitting in a booster, eating with a spoon in early May 2011.

Here was Cruz, swinging in his baby swing, snoozing peacefully in early May 2010.

Thankful Thursday

Here is last week's.... I will get this week's post up tonight. :)

**Day 224: Cruz had to do some breathing treatments last week. He was at the doctor for something else and she heard wheezing and gunk in his lungs. I felt bad because I had no idea. I mean, he coughed the occasional cough but he seemed to completely fine to me. Anyway, the breathing treatment we did in the doctor's office was a nightmare. Cruz screamed and wouldn't stay still. I was dreading doing it 3 times a day. Cruz proved to be a champ though and sat so quietly in my lap, looking at books and even helping to hold the mask onto his face. It was precious. (he wasn't actually doing a treatment in this photo, just playing with the mask.)

Brothers 18/52

Here's last weekend's brothers photo...I will catch up on my Thankful Thursday posts tomorrow:

In other news, Cruz is 13 months old today. He still rides rear facing in his car seat and is walking all over and loves playing in the water. He likes to mimic anything Rowan does and will now say "daddy" and "no." This photo is not the best but I didn't get many good ones at the splash pad today. Cruz was taking a quick snack break before getting back in the water.

Rowan the Gardener

Rowan and his fellow pre-schoolers have been anxiously awaiting the sprouting of their seeds. It finally happened and Rowan was beyond excited to bring his plant home.

Me: Rowan, what is that?

R: Its my plant. It growed, Mommy!"

Me: How did it grow?

R: Cause I put water into it and then it said, "thank you for the drink!"

"Wegowand"

***Long post and lots of pictures! :)

The way that Rowan pronounces Legoland as 'Wegowand' was beyond adorable. For much of the drive up he was telling us about how excited he was to get there. Both boys were angels in the car spending much of the 6.5 hour drive watching movies, eating snacks and snuggling their toys.

When we arrived on Friday we headed straight for the park. Rowan went on his first roller coaster and we rode several other rides. The lines were fairly short. Legoland has a neat feature called Parent Swap. How it works was that Rowan and Roger would go on a ride and I would wait with Cruz by the exit. When the ride was over, Rowan could stay on and I could take Roger's spot and we could ride it again together. This was great for parents with one child too small to go on rides. We only did this a couple times though.

Waiting in line was not Rowan's favorite. He kept going ahead of me and standing next to people he didn't know. He didn't seem concerned though as he told me that they could just "go around him." Legoland did have lego tables at some of the rides with longer lines. The kids could play and then jump in line when the parent got to the front.

We made a quick stop at the ocean on Saturday morning before Legoland. Cruz loved the sand and Rowan loved getting to the edge of the water and running as the waves came at him. He had a great time until he was knocked over by a giant wave and covered in sand and water. He wasn't too fazed by it, only concerned that they wouldn't let him into Legoland if he was dirty. :) We stopped at the hotel and changed him into new clothes. I changed Cruz too so their shirts would be matching. :)

There was so much to do at Legoland on our full day (Saturday) there. It really is a great theme park for young kids. Even though Cruz could only ride on a few rides there were so many playgrounds, lego exhibits, water attractions and things to see that he wasn't bored at all. Roger and Rowan would wait in line for a ride and Cruz and I would find something fun to do in that area. We rode the little train about 8 times. I did go on a few rides with Rowan too. For lunch we had hot dogs, which both boys love. We were planning on doing the Sea Life aquarium on Sunday morning but Rowan and Roger wanted to hit up some rides that they didn't get to go on so we went back to Legoland instead. :)

**Sunday

Sleeping was not the best part of our trip. It was tough being in one little hotel room so close together. Rowan actually slept really well but Cruz did not. He went to sleep just fine but had a couple hours of being upset in the middle of the night. He did better the second night though. While sleeping may not have been a favorite activity both boys loved playing in the hotel room, taking extra splashy baths and jumping on the bed.

Even though traveling with the little ones is plenty of work it was all worth it. As I was tucking Rowan into bed last night he gave me a hug and said, "I had a great time at Wegowand, Mommy. I loved it!"