Fun Discovery

A friend of mine told me a while back that there was an outdoor mini-golf course in Las Vegas. Of course, the last one that I knew of had been torn down years ago- Scandia - right on the strip. This excited me since my kids really haven't done much mini golf, and I know they would love it.

Today, the weather was beckoning for us to be outside, but I was ready to do something other than the playgrounds, so we headed to the other side of town to play some golf. Both boys loved it. They even gave Aaron a little plastic club just his size. I had my little camera with me, but the battery died, so all I have is a picture from their website. They basically turned a parking lot into a golf course.

Aaron kept racing ahead of us, but the nice thing was that there was only one other group on the course, and they were behind us. Also, the entire area was fenced in, which put my mind at ease.

After we finished, Connor said, "It's time to go, I'm sweating too much!" It's only January Connor - wait until this summer! Guess we've gotta get back before the weather gets any hotter!!

Little Pig Little Pig let me come in!

Night time is a time for reading and cuddling. Most of the time after brushing our teeth Daddy will put one to bed and I will take the other. We will read books, sing songs, Connor will have a reading lesson, and say our prayers. I tuck them both in, and ask how their day was. A couple times a week though, we will all gather in one room for a story. Lately both boys have requested "The Three Little Pigs". As a kid, I remember this being one of my favorite stories too, since the kids built houses. I wanted to build a little house of my own. So I thought - my kids would probably enjoy building their own houses too!

So yesterday we set out for our building materials. After a quick stop at Lowes we picked up enough boxes to make three little pig houses. I realized quickly after cutting a box, that if we put two together, it would make one large house, which is MUCH more fun than three small houses that you can't even move around in! And who needs a stick and straw house anyway, the big bad wolf will just blow it down!

So Connor and I started taping and decorating his brick house. We even put the kitchen inside! Connor really wanted flowers, and he made his own sign that tells the wolf to go away.

When Aaron woke up from his nap, he was excited to help decorate the outside. I don't think he understood that it was a house that he could go inside. I opened the door and let him in, and I can't even describe the look of excitement that was on his face. It was one of those looks that I will never forget, and made the whole project worth it.

Aaron loved drawing all over the walls of the house. Connor begged to sleep inside. So I setup a sleeping bag, and left the door open. He slept all night his house.

Today we will work on some small decorating projects, including framing some pictures of the little pigs (Connor and Aaron are going to dress up today!).

It's fun to be a kid again!

Naptime Project

There is a point in a child's life where even if they were good nappers, they begin to fight the naptime routine. At least this has happened to both of my children. For me, it becomes a "cost vs benefit" where if it takes 45 minutes to get your child to sleep, but they only take a 45 minute nap - and on top of that have a hard time going to sleep at a normal time at night - maybe the nap isn't worth it anymore. Especially when it means bedtime is moved up to 7pm for EVERYONE!

Aaron has always been a better sleeper than Connor. He is only 2, so a nap is still a necessity. He would have no problem laying down in his crib to go to sleep at all times of the day, and usually have a decent stretch of nap. Once we moved to a "big boy bed" if you leave the door open, he WILL leave. Oftentimes we would find him downstairs around 11 at night peaking into the room where we were watching TV.

So we decided to shut the door, since he still can't open it, and leave the baby monitor in the room so we could make sure he wasn't causing any trouble. This worked like a charm, and 6 months later, he was still sleeping well.

Lately though, he has wanted me to stay in the room with him while he goes to sleep. I try to sneak out, but he knows, and he creates his own little quiet playtime. He knows that I can hear him, so he does things that don't make a lot of noise. Oftentimes he will be asleep on the chair with a book, or toys will be spread on the ground, but nothing would prepare me for the biggest naptime project to date.

I'm surprised I didn't hear this unfolding, but I had a very short window of time for Aaron to take his nap this day because Connor's piano lessons start at 3:30pm. When I rushed into the room to get him for the lesson all I saw was a floor full of clothes. Astonished, I opened his dresser drawers and EVERY piece of clothing was removed and thrown onto the floor. There is a huggies box next to his dresser where I put clothes that no longer fit him, and it was completely empty and on the floor. His hamper of dirty clothes was also emptied and on the floor. I could not believe it. The other thing I couldn't believe is that I couldn't see Aaron anywhere in this big mess. After quickly finding his favorite blankie, I lifted it up and there he was fast asleep. He had spent so much energy on this project he didn't even wake up after changing his diaper and putting him in the car




So needless to say, the kids, dad and I spent the evening on a new project - Project: Clean Aaron's room. It was fun though since Connor discovered Santa hats and they had fun messing around with those!

A New Year of Goals

This year I have set a few goals for myself. Besides cleaning out some of those junk drawers, and keeping them clean, there a few other loftier goals that I have set for myself this year.

First, you already heard of my picture problem. I'd like to print out and keep my pictures more organized.

I would like to keep track of our travels in a travel journal a little more diligantly. I have a travel scrapbook, which I would like to update with our last few trips.

I'd like to be better about Birthdays of my friends and family this year.

I am going to finish my Grandpa's Life story this year. I have to edit and scan all the pictures for it.

I'd like to continue to run so that I can run another 1/2 marathon this year.

I'm so happy that Connor started piano lessons this year, and he already learned his first song! I'm so happy he loves his teacher, and loves piano lessons.

California Trip

We took a trip to California last week, and had such a great time, with little meltdowns, and pretty much happiness for the most part. It's a good thing since we started the trip off at the happiest place on earth!

I saw things that I had never before since I have never been there during the wintertime. For example, the snow "melting" on the castle, and the characters in its a small world singing Jingle bells!



Aaron missed it's a small world since he conked out for a 3 hour nap!!!!



We ate at the Blue Bayou where Brian's cousin works (at the entrance of Pirates of the Caribbean). Connor even dared to try Splash mountain!! In his own words, "I love the characters in this ride, especially the bunny that laughed at us at the scary part!" He wasn't a fan of drops in the dark.



We went on a couple rides I had never gone on before, including the Little Nemo ride, but the winner -by far- was the buzz lightyear ride.

We topped the 13 hour day at Disneyland with Fantasmic and Fireworks. Connor was extremely angry when he woke up after the show and realized he missed it. That was the biggest meltdown of the day - so not too bad. On our last trip to Disneyland Connor was completely freaked out of the whole place by the end of the day, but I think we kept the scares to a minimum this time. No Pinocchio, so that was a plus. We did go on Pirates of the Caribbean again, but Connor already had convinced himself that the pirates were funny, so he enjoyed it besides the drop. Aaron, on the other hand, LOVED the "whee!" part of the ride.

13 hours is a lot to take for a kid, so I think they did well.

We then went to Grandma's 90th birthday party. Connor and Aaron sang "You are my sunshine" and it was a hit. I will post that as soon as I edit it for the blog.



The next day we headed towards Burbank up the coast and ended up stopping in Burbank at an aquarium, which the boys enjoyed.




The last day Daddy had to work, so I took the boys to a playground nearby that I stumbled upon near the Los Angeles Zoo! It was GORGEOUS!







Overall, the boys were very good on the trip, and we're looking forward to more family vacations!!