San Diego

After our Disneyland sojourn we packed up the car and ventured down to San Diego! We have lots of family and friends in San Diego, and it was nice to spend quality time with all of them. Our hotel was definitely a huge step up from our Disneyland Dive, my brother in law scored us a room at the La Jolla Marriot for a super cheap rate. There was an indoor AND outdoor pool AND Bath and Body Works toiletries in the bathroom. The parking lot was the worst in the world, just ask my sister's brand new minivan. People have no conscience. The highlights of the trip included visiting with college friends, checking out the beautiful grounds of the Mormon temple, and walking around La Jolla.

Disneyland

Disneyland was awesome. I totally misunderestimated (thanks GW for that gem) the twins. I thought they'd be overwhelmed and not have fun, or they'd be bored. HA! In hindsight we should have planned on going to the park for two days rather than just one. Our hotel was a dive but the location was awesome, right across the street from the Happiest Place on Earth. We checked in on Wednesday, hit the park on Thursday, then drove down to San Diego for more family fun on Friday! Ruthie loved the princesses, specifically Tinkerbell. Well, I guess she isn't a princess.....whatever. She loves her! I had to stalk some new pajamas on Ebay so now she has two pair of Tink jammies. We didn't take our camera in so I only have a few pics that my sister took. Enjoy. The first one is Ruthie with her cousins and uncle Tyler, and Cinderella.

My baby sister and my nieces, and Ariel.

Pollock Pines

We had a super fun visit with Grandpa and Nana and my sisters and brother in law and sweet nieces. I loved holding my newest niece Madeline Kate, she is so sweet and cuddly! Makes me want another baby. Shhhhh don't tell the hubster, he'll have me send up the river. Our visit marked the first time I went to the lake part of Lake Tahoe. I've been skiing up there several times but never actually ventured into the lake. It is very nice, lovely sandy beach, decent parking, not too crowded....we brought plenty of drinks and snacks and had a ball playing in the sand, splashing in the freezing water, and spending time with family we don't get to see often enough.

Travel plans

We are gearing up for a fun week+ of traveling throughout the state. On Friday we head up to my dad's house for Father's Day festivities, and Nana's birthday. Nick has to come back for work on Monday/Tuesday, but the kids and I are staying up there until we all leave for Disneyland on Wednesday. We'll drive through Merced for a potty break and to pick up Nick. We head down to LA and go to the park on Thursday, then Friday we drive down to San Diego to visit some dear friends. I'm looking forward to it! I want to go to Mexico too, we'll see what we have time for. Nick says we can't b/c someone will steal the kids. Whatevs, I'm sure I can translate "terrible twos" into spanish and that will scare everyone off.

Two year pictures!

We finally took the twins in for some pro pictures! It was a rough trip, they weren't really in the mood for photos, Alden is getting molars so his fist was in his mouth constantly. When I was changing Roo's outfit I accidentally pinched her leg when I snapped her onesie. Oops. Poor chicken little, her face is all blotchy in the pettiskirt pics, but she's still hecka cute. See for yourself!

Nana made the sock monkeys in the photo, she is amazingly talented! Their matching library bags are hanging on the bench. The twins have been getting a little rowdy at the library, so we bring their sock monkeys and they hold them while Ms. Carr reads books. It is so cute to see them sitting with their monkeys on their laps. Ruthie's favorite book is Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?, she has it memorized! Alden likes any Sandra Boynton book, but especially Hippos Go Berserk.

Alden wasn't happy about posing, I call these his calendar pics. I see a modeling career in his future, what do you think?

Happy Birthday to my Twinkles!

I'll post pictures later, too pooped right now.

We celebrated Ruth and Alden's second birthday with a big bash at the lake. It was a Rootin' TWOtin' good time. Yes, I'm a dork about themes. I can't believe my lovelies are two, the second year flew by, even more quickly than the first. They learn new things every day, Ruthie knows all of her colors and can count to 5. She sings a bunch of songs, and has memorized a few of her favorite books. Alden is alway studying how things work, hinges, doorknobs, wheels, etc. His love of animals continues to grow, we saw some dogs at the park over the weekend and he immediately squatted down to their level (the ever-popular Merced Chihuahua) to say hello. I can't wait to take them to the fair this summer, they will go nuts.

Their size differences remain fairly constant, Ruthie is a hair over 23 pounds, Alden is a hair over 32!!!! He's also about 4 inches taller. The funny thing is, she eats way more than Alden. We eat lunch together and she scarfs hers down, then steals pieces of my food. I'm doing Weight Watchers, maybe she's just trying to keep me on track?

We have a busy summer planned, we are going to my dad's house next weekend, then we are off to Disneyland and San Diego. All told the kids and I will be gone for a week, my older sister and her family are in the states before their move to South Korea. We are all looking forward to spending time with her and her family, including my newest niece!

Had a crappy Valentine's Day (literally)!

Man, us Mercedians sure know how to party! We started off with a romantic breakfast of green eggs (scrambled eggs with steamed broccoli mixed in), then went to the park for a playdate with friends. We had an intimate lunch at the local Indian buffet, just us and our friends Harper and Merrick and their parents. To cap off the day, Nick and I took the kids to McDonalds for a gourmet meal of chicken nuggets and apple slices. Alden showed how he feels about me by climbing into the top of the play structure and taking a gigantic dump. I mean GIGANTIC. As in, down his legs, all over his pants, onto his socks and shoes gigantic. Now, this sort of thing doesn't happen often (read: ever) so I was totally unprepared and didn't have any extra pants for the poor little chubster. Once I had decontaminated Alden and finished gagging, I realized I didn't even have a manly diaper to put him in!!! Poor little guy had to wear Ruthie's Paper Doll diaper. Sorry Bubba!!! Did I mention that he started crying after he pooped and I had to worm my way into the twisty turny part of the tubes to get him? Yeah. Awesome.