I Can't Dance

Adrian is learning a video editing program to help me with my website. He used this fun footage of the kids to assist in the process. What do you think?

Enjoying our Days Off!

Adrian's been able to be home several days this past week, so with the kids off school, we've done some fun stuff!

We went to the zoo! I know, some might think we're crazy but the zoo during the off season is so fun. The animals are out and running around and there are no crowds- perfect! Yes, it was cold, but we bundled up and had a great time.

We also braved the snow to go sledding! We found a nice little hill at a nearby park and spent about 40 minutes sliding down on the discs. Even Colin enjoyed it and he normally doesn't even last 10 minutes in the snow. Although he did want to go down the slide at the park and was a bit disappointed when it just didn't work. :)

Christmas 2010

A couple days before Christmas we decorated Gingerbread men. So fun! The kids went a little crazy, like always. Ok, so us adults may have gone a bit crazy too. There were a few anatomically correct gingerbread people on the tray afterwards that I had NOTHING to do with. LOL.

 We had a fun, relaxing Christmas this year! We had a few family members over during the day, but we stayed put, played with new toys, took naps and ate too much food. It really was a nice day- too bad we can't do that more often!  

Here are the kids before ripping into their stockings.

The kids enjoyed their gifts. Big winners for Thomas were all his new books and his iPod shuffle. Now he can listen to the Beatles on repeat all day long without driving us crazy. Wait! He sings while listening and it's totally hilarious listening to his words, so he still does drive us crazy.

Hailey got a cute little bear necklace from my mom that was a big winner! She also got two new Tinker dolls and the Little Mermaid that she loves!

Colin loved his chap stick the most. Never mind all the COOL toys and blocks he got, it's all about the new chap stick.

We had a yummy Christmas breakfast. I made cinnamon rolls from scratch, sticky buns and a delicious breakfast casserole. Just thinking about it makes me hungry.

Here Colin is showing his cousins how to not "spill the beans." What a fun game for little ones!

Lots of Snow!

Much like the past several years, we've seen a good share of snow already! Here are a few cute pics of the kids playing in it, shoveling {we totally put them to work!} and even building their own snow men!

Check out our backyard! Wow! It serves the kids right when they leave their toys out, right?! Unburying the bike was sure fun! The thing right in front is their picnic table. They probably won't need that for a while!

Birthdays!

I'm trying to catch up with everything that happened in 2010 before I move on to 2011! Bear with me...

Birthdays!

In early September, Thomas turned 7! We celebrated by having tons of friends over for a Transformers party! They painted Transformer costumes, had a relay race with Adrian and ate cake. What could be better?!

Less than a month later, Colin turned 2! We didn't have a giant party, but trust me, he didn't notice. We had a fun time opening presents with family. I'd say he finally understood the whole "blowing out the candles" thing this year, huh? Cutie!

Oh yeah, and I turned 30. Let's not talk about that though.

First Day of School!

I know we're half-way through the school years. Oh well. At any rate, Thomas started 1st grade this year at Foxboro Elementary. It was a bit of an adjustment going from a half-day to a whole day, but after a week, he was OK with it. I look forward to the time when we can start school without tears! Ah well, at least I know he enjoys staying home with me. He's doing great now! He is a fantastic reader and it took his teacher all of 10 seconds to realize that. Now he gets to be pulled out of class 3 times a week to go read with a group of kids who are also beyond their grade level. We are so proud of him!

Hailey also got to start pre-school this year! Granted the school is just next door to us, but hey, it counts! She absolutely loves it. She's doing well learning her letters and numbers and writing her name. She'll go to 1 more year of preschool next year, before starting Kindergarten in 2012.

Trips to Yellowstone & California

During the summer, we took 2 family vacations, one to California to visit family, the other to Yellowstone.

California was fun, as always! We visited Adrian's family in San Jose- saw the beach and that cool amusement park in Gilroy again. Adrian and I were able to drive south for a day to enjoy a little alone time! Heavens that was wonderful! It had been 6 years since we'd been away from the kids overnight- long overdue! We went to Avila Beach and it was beautiful! {Good food too!}

We drove to Auburn to visit my family too! My mom and Michael lived in a cute house by this amazing lake, so we spent a lot of time there. We saw my sisters, Jenn, Julie & Carol and their cute kids too.

We took a trip with just our family to Yellowstone and had an absolute blast! We didn't care for the place we stayed in, but seeing the park was just incredible. They kids did so well with all the driving, but that's not hard to understand being as we saw tons of wildlife during those drives! We saw antelope, deer, a bear, a giant herd of buffalo and more. It was a fun, exciting trip!

Rite Aid $5 off Coupon!

If you regularly shop at Rite Aid, then you know how valuable the $5/$25 coupons are. Go here to print one!

Enjoying the Zoo

We got a zoo pass this year and have already enjoyed going to the park. One of the perks of having a membership are the "Members Stay Late" nights where you can stay in the park until 9pm! It's so much cooler after 5pm and the crowds die down to almost nothing. Kory had to work late and Adrian was out of town, so Raz and I took the kids to dinner at McD's then over to the zoo to expend all their remaining energy of the evening. It was so much fun- for everyone this time!

We saw all the animals of course- some more up close than others. One funny part that I'm sure Raz and I won't ever forget is when we went to see the gorillas. It was getting a bit dark by then and the gorillas were inside their little cave. They built this U- shaped area where you can walk inside, see the gorillas, then come out the other side afterwards. We all went in and it was dark, so we had a hard time seeing them at first- then we saw them- in separate areas, both at the back of the enclosure.

Colin and Cameron were getting a bit uneasy because of the dark, so Raz and I both put them in the front of each double stroller, while we tried showing Hailey, Elise and Thomas the gorillas. At that point the gorillas decided to wake up, big time! One hurried up to the front of the enclosure and stood about 5 inches from us! Thank heavens for the dividing glass! It was still kind of scary, seeing him so close just staring at us. He stood up and then did the whole banging on his chest thing, and began running back and forth, across the front of the cave, right in front of us! At this point, both Hailey and Elise lost it, too terrified to move, they just screamed and cried! Raz and I started comforting them and about a minute later, we both realized other kids were crying. Wait- they're our kids. Colin and Cameron were both freaking out- we'd parked their strollers up against the other glass wall, where- you guessed it- the other gorilla was now sitting, looming over both of them! Colin was struggling, trying to stand up in his stroller to get the heck outta dodge, with his seat belt on! Poor kid! Raz and I just had to laugh. Actually, I'm sure we were a lovely site, exiting the other side trying to both push double strollers with our elbows while carrying 2 screaming kids each.

Thomas, on the other hand, thought the whole experience was immensely cool and didn't stop talking about it for days. This was the only pic I got...for obvious reasons.

Here are a few more shots of the kids and I riding the carousel, sliding down the snake slide at the park and of course, terrorizing the local wildlife.