May I have this dance.

Stephen and Juliana headed off to their fourth annual father/daughter dance put on by the Girl Scouts on Saturday.  It was a "candyland" theme, so we made our accessories out of candy.

The wild, wild, west...

Okay, so it wasn't so wild, but it was definitely exhausting.  We flew approx. 6,000 miles, drove 500 miles, and stayed in 5 hotels (plus at a friends house).  But I must say, even though it was exhausting, it was fun and super memorable.  We went for a total of 11 days including two travel days and got to see so much.

We started off in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Our plane landed in Vegas at 11:30 pm (that's 2:30 am our time)!  The kids both slept about 2.5 hours on the plane and I was super worried they would have trouble waking up, but boy was I wrong!  They both woke right up and were so excited.  By the time we got our luggage and picked up the rental car it was about 1:30 am (Vegas time) and they were still up.  We drove down the strip a bit and enjoyed the lights and then to our hotel.  By the time we checked in and were in our room it was 2:30 am (that's 5:30 am our time) and the kids were still awake and happy!  Unfortunately we were not happy with our hotel as it was smokey and knew we'd be checking out in the morning.  Luckily we found a fantastic hotel to move to for our next three nights in Vegas.  It was a suite and had a huge pool (with a beach) and a lazy river.

Here are the kids swimming in the pool:

While in Vegas we visit many of the hotels.  There was so much to see...  we saw The Venetian, MGM Grand (with Lions), The Mirage, Mandalay Bay, Circus Circus, Luxor, The Excaliber, Bellagio (and the dancing fountains), The Flamingo (with the Flamingos), New York New York, etc...  We also visited M&M World, Coke World, and a huge arcade.

And of course no visit is complete without a visit to the Las Vegas sign:

Also while we were in Vegas we visited Red Rock Canyon, it's about 20 minutes from the Las Vegas strip and really pretty.

After our stay in Vegas we headed toward The Grand Canyon.  On the drive to the canyon we went right over the Hoover Dam.

And here's a picture on top of the dam, we put the kids in different states, they thought it was pretty cool.  Juliana was in Nevada and Ty was in Arizona.

Then it was off to the Grand Canyon.  It took about 4 hours to drive there, but it was well worth it.  We also checked into hotel number 3 in Arizona.

They had the friendliest squirrels there too!

After the Canyon we drove towards California, we drove about 5 hours to Barstow and spent the night.  The next day we continued our drive to Los Angeles and arrived in Beverly Hills around 3:00 (and stayed at Hotel number 5).

After spending the night in Beverly Hills we spent the day in Venice Beach, where we watched people at the skate park and walked the boardwalk and then played on the playscape at the beach.

Finally we were headed for our final destination of the trip.  We visited our very close friends, Rod, Susan, and Kayli.  The kids were all so excited to see each other and immediately ran upstairs to play.  Steve consumed many, many Taco's from our favorite Mexican place, Albert Taco.  We spent time at the park with them and then at a children's museum, it was the perfect end to a great (and busy) vacation.

Kayli's cousins spent the day with us as well.

Hippity... Hoppity...

Easter's on it's way.  Well it's not on it's way anymore because it's already passed.  As a child Easter was always my favorite holiday.  It was so much more relaxed than than Christmas and always what I looked forward to most.  This year was extra special because it was also my 34th birthday.  It's only the second time my birthday has fallen on Easter.

Juliana was up at 2am, coming into our room to check the clock.  At one point she climbed in bed with us for awhile, but she kept squirming around so I sent her back to her room.  A couple hours later Tyler showed up in our room too.  I was able to hold them off until 6am, and then I could hold them back no longer.  Every year since Juliana was born we always have Steve go downstairs with the video camera so we can capture their expressions when they see their baskets and all the hidden eggs.

Here they are waiting to go downstairs:

And with their baskets (we went green this year and used reusable shopping bags):

And of course after the egg hunt they had to sit and count the eggs (and loot):

Every Easter I like to get some pictures of us all, it's fun to look back on how much the kids have changed (and Steve and I too).

We headed to the Arruda's for the day and the kids got to spend time with their Aunts, Uncles, and cousins.  There was another Easter egg hunt for the kids, and this one gets quite competitive.  It was such a beautiful day and fun was had by all.

Pig pile!

My sister and her kids came over for a relaxing afternoon on Saturday.  The weather was beautiful and the adults and kids were equally happy to get outside and enjoy the sunshine.  My sister and I went in the house for a minute and this is what we came outside to see.  So cute!

Stepping up to the plate!

I can't tell you how proud I am of my kids.  You see, I woke up in immense pain two weeks ago, my back was in so much pain all I could do was scream and cry.  I tried everything to escape it, but just couldn't get away from it.  Of course this has to happen when Steve is away and it's just me and the kids home.  Juliana woke up the first morning to my screaming and tried to rub my back and everything else her 8 year old mind could think of to help me.  I told her to get her brother out of bed and I was somehow able to get clothes together and pour bowls of cereal for them before sending them to the neighbors to get taken to the bus stop.  Day two however I could not move, and Juliana stepped up to the plate in a big way.  She got her brother out of bed and made breakfast for both of them.  They both picked out their own clothes and dressed themselves (Tyler was in full camo).  She packed both of their lunch boxes and again they went to the neighbors to get taken to the bus stop.  I didn't even know what they looked like until they briefly came home from school before going to the neighbors for dinner (did I mention how lucky I am to have such fantastic neighbors)!!!  For all the complaining and dragging of their feet I get on normal mornings, I couldn't be more proud of them both for stepping up to the plate the way they did!

Oh the changes...

We've had a few minor changes with our kids in the last couple of weeks.  First off Juliana got glasses!  We knew it was only a matter of time before she would need them as Steve and I are so blind.  She was really upset that she would need them, and was so unhappy at the eye doctor appointment.  As soon as we got the prescription we headed over to Lenscrafters and she started trying on frames.  She quickly found a pair that she loved and her sadness turned into excitement in the blink of an eye.  She said she never knew she would look so good in glasses.  I knew she would look great, but was still amazed at how great she looks.  She picked the perfect frames and never realized that she hadn't been seeing things as well as she could.

The other minor change was that Tyler lost two more teeth.  He worked on the first one, shaking it back and forth, and finally it fell out.  He screamed with excitement, but unfortunately dropped it on the bathroom floor.  Luckily after some searching Juliana found it and he was able to put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy.  About 3 days later he shook and basically pulled out another one that was loose and is now missing two teeth on the bottom.  He looks a bit like a jack - o - lantern.  He's adorable and very happy to be missing them both.

The forgotten memories...

I've said it before, I am using this blog as a way to capture (and share) the memories of our family and the stages of our children's lives.  I wish it was something I started 8 years ago when Juliana was born, but I am happy that I have it now.  The other night we were all sitting in the chair in our family room together.  I was sitting on Steve, Juliana was sitting on me, and Tyler kind of plopped down on top of all of us.  We were all having popsicles and it would have been just another forgotten moment in time, but Juliana said, "This is a great family memory", and she was right.  It really is the little things and the everyday, day to day things that shape our lives and I want to remember them before they are forgotten.

How I love Legos... oh and the kids do to!

No, I don't like to play Legos, although I can build a pretty nice Lego House, with doors and window's, but this week I've grown to love Legos because my kids have been playing together with them constantly and not fighting.  We've got Legos in the bedrooms, Legos in the kitchen, Legos in the bathrooms, Legos everywhere.  But you know what...  I don't care because my kids have been playing with them constantly and not fighting (did I already mention that).  They build, they pretend, they make them talk, they go on little Lego vacations, just about anything that can be done with a Lego they do.  I love to watch their expressions as they are building something, or the excitement when the car they just built drives straight.  It really is what being a kid is all about and Legos allow them to use their imaginations in ways other toys can't.

Randomness...

is randomness even a real word?  I am not sure, but there seem to be a lot of random moments in our everyday lives and if they are not captured in a photograph, video, or writing they are forever forgotten.  I've been trying to capture more of those moments so we can always have those memories.

Juliana got a gift card from my Grandmother for Christmas and she's been having a hard time spending it.  Tyler will get a penny and want to run to the store and can always find something he wants, but Juliana is more meticulous.  She never wants to waste her money on something she doesn't really, really want.  On our first trip to spend the gift card she walked up and down the aisles.  We looked at toys, clothes, crafts, and finally office supplies.  It was in the office supply aisle that we finally had success.  She bought a bunch of post it notes!  She was very happy with her purchase and didn't feel the need to continue looking at anything else, even though she wouldn't be spending her entire gift card amount.  We went back the following week and she knew exactly what she wanted, MORE POST IT NOTES!  Now she has stacks and stacks of them and they make her so happy.

Having a house with three cats and a dog never leaves you without something to take care of.  Fortunately they can also be very entertaining and are fabulous companions.  Juliana loves her kitten (although he certainly isn't small anymore) Summer.  She always wants to hold him and cuddle with him.

Miles our very old cat (he's 14) has a very close relationship with our dog Lucy, I caught him whispering sweet nothings in her ear the other day.

And finally I found Lucy rolling around the other day on the floor.  She spends so much time sleeping it's always exciting to see her up and moving around.

And lastly, for Christmas Steve got me a little TV for the kitchen.  I am constantly finding myself in there cooking or cleaning and thinking how much more enjoyable it would all be if I could watch a bit of TV while doing it.  It was hooked up this weekend and of all the tvs in the house, the kids both wanted to spend their time watching this one.

Big Top Cupcake!

That was the number one gift on Tyler's list, a Big Top Cupcake baking dish.  I tell you, those marketing people know what they are doing.  They run the infomercial types of commercials on Nickelodeon during shows like Sponge Bob and ICarly and the kids just sit mesmerized.  These commercials make you want whatever it is that they are selling.  I must say, I've fallen into the trap once or twice of having to have what is on the screen at the very moment.  I once bought this brownie pan that makes the brownies in individual sizes, it looked to fascinating on the tv, imagine, 20 little brownies at once.  Then I got the pan and $26 dollars later realized the pan really isn't that magical, I could just take out a knife and cut my own brownies and it would take all of 30 seconds.  But anyway, Tyler was dying for this cupcake pan and lucky for him Santa delivered (I love that guy).

A couple of days after Christmas we baked our first cupcake.  The kids were bored with the actual making of the cake and left me to do it so they could play wii.  But once it was time to decorate they were full of ideas.  We spent about 15 minutes coloring frosting, trying to get it to stick to the side of the giant cupcake and then sprinkling it with red hot candies.  I actually used it a second time to make a carrot cake with a cheesecake filling for New Years Eve.  Who knows, this Big Top Cupcake may become our family staple of desserts.