Baby Chickens

Recently, our neighbor got four baby chicks. I am not sure why, eggs maybe? Anyway, she has these chicks and asked if I wanted to bring the boy by to see them. We usually have extra time during the week so I brought him and Kate by on Wednesday. They both had a good time and I was impressed with how gentle they were. Kate did try to pull the leg off of one chick but it survived.

Ever since we went to the neighbors' Walter has been asking for chickens. We can not leave the house without a request for chickens. I am glad that he liked them and we will probably try to get over to see them again soon. I don't think he will enjoy it if we wait too long since they grow pretty quickly and big chickens aren't nearly as cuddly as baby chicks.

Memorial Day and More Backyard

Well, I seem to have started a nasty habit of not taking my camera with me when I go places. For that reason you will not get any current pics. Sorry.

Well, the long weekend started last Thursday for me. I still had to take care of the kids and Walter still had to work but we were celebrating so it sort of counts as the weekend. Anyway, last Thursday was my birthday. Yep, the big 27. Thursday was fairly average except I got some presents from family and friends and a gigantic birthday banner on my garage door from the birthday fairies (Emma, Asher & Renee). Oh, and I had many calls with people singing the birthday song. I love my family and friends but they need to work on their singing skills.

Friday, Renee and I headed down to Burbank to pick Alexis up at the airport. No one knew she was coming so it was fun to be in on the surprise. After we collected Alexis and her stuff we went to Steve and Barry's to do some clothes shopping. All I wanted for my birthday from Walter were some new clothes so I was able to add to my wardrobe a bit.

Friday night we had a birthday dinner at the Elephant Bar and then saw the new Indiana Jones movie. If you haven't seen it yet I don't want to ruin it but I will just say that it was interesting. It was Indiana Jones meets Star Trek meets X-files meets Tarzan. If you have seen it, do you think it was a bit weird?

Saturday we finished the fence around the pond. My backyard is now pretty child proof. No drowning babies at my house. I can not tell you what a relief it is to know that I can let my child into the backyard and not be afraid that he will end up in the pond. We also made our way to Rosemary's for some birthday ice cream which was lovely.

Sunday we went to church where little Walter was fairly well behaved until the end of Sacrament meeting when he decided that he needed to throw himself on the floor and scream at the top of his lungs. That evening we had dinner at the V's and dessert with Mom and Dad Ray.

Monday Walter didn't have to work because of the Memorial Day holiday. We worked around the house a bit and then took the boy on a walk to the cemetery near our house. They put flags at the headstones of every person who served in the military and then large flags lining the roads. It is really a beautiful sight and it is amazing to see how many people have served our country. We tried to explain the purpose of the holiday and all of the flags to the boy but I don't think he quite got it yet, obviously. But we can continue to go each year and he will eventually understand. His favorite part of the whole experience was the memorial benches that he could climb on. Not exactly peaceful and reverent but he had fun.

Monday night we went to Mom and Dad Ray's for a memorial day/birthday BBQ. It was a lot of fun spending the evening with family and friends and the food was delicious. I love summer barbecues with the potato salad, watermelon, burgers, etc. I also love that my birthday was still being celebrated 4 days later.

I think Memorial day pretty much rings in the start of summer and I love it. Now we just need to purchase a kiddie pool and we are all set.

Family Fun at Knott's

This past weekend we attended Walter's company picnic at Knott's Berry Farm. We would have had an absolutely marvelous time if not for the 100 degree weather. I find it amazing that the terribly hot weather waited for us. Did you know that next weekend it is only supposed to be 72 degrees at Knott's? Did you also know that Knott's does not have misters? That water is $3.77 a bottle? That the one water ride where you actually get wet was closed this weekend? Well, enough about my complaining...

We had a really nice time. We (the Walters, Bradon and I) went down the night before and stayed at the Knott's Berry Farm hotel. We had fun swimming and the boys got to go play basketball in the morning before we headed to the park. I really liked going early and not having to make both legs of the drive in one day.
After we checked out of the hotel we headed to breakfast and then to the park. Little Walter spent about 2 hours during the day napping so that threw off our plans a little but we made due. We rode several rides between the boy's naps. We hit up the ferris wheel, the train and the race cars together. I rode the log ride and Walter went on two of the big coasters during our "you watch the boy so I can ride" times. I don't remember Knott's having so many big coasters but they were great. Of course I probably wouldn't remember considering the last time I was there was about 18 years ago. I had a really fun day with the guys and I am glad we went. I think we will hold off a little while before we go amusement park hopping with the boy, but this little experience was just enough for him and us.

We are now trying to catch back up on out sleep since my kid is fairly horrible when it comes to sleeping at hotels. I love him to death but he needs his own bedroom.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

Mother's Day Sod

Yep, that's right. I got Mother's Day sod in my back yard. Walter and I worked Saturday and got all of the sod laid and it looks marvelous. I really want to go roll in it. Unfortunately, you can't walk on it for a couple days so I guess rolling is probably out too.
The back yard is coming along nicely. We have the border in and the patio done (the picture isn't the best of the patio but I will get another one later), the shed in put up and we have started on the fence around the pond. The white posts you see in the yard are for the fence.
The grass and back yard weren't the only great parts of Mother's Day. In fact, the whole day was lovely. Little Walter slept in until 8am, then Walter made me breakfast and then he and the boy gave me a beautiful new watch that I have been eyeing. After that we headed to church where my kid actually behaved during Sacrament meeting. That was almost magical.
After church we handed out the Mother's Day cakes that we sold as a fundraiser for Young Women's camp. We ended up selling almost 230 cakes. I couldn't believe how well it went. This past week I backed over 200 cakes and am now done with baking cake for, I don't know, the rest of my life. Little Walter was a great help with cleaning up the frosting beaters for me.


For dinner we headed to the Villanueva's and had a lovely meal with their family. There were lots of kids which kept little Walter quite busy.
Now it is Monday and my fun is over and I am back to the same old, same old.
I hope everyone else had a lovely Mother's Day.

A love of Books

Lately, Little Walter has been taking books to bed with him. Every night we read two books before bed. He then grabs a book or two as we are scooping him up and putting him into bed. He is a great sleeper so I don't complain about his weird desire to have things, like books, when he falls asleep.
Well today he took this weird quirk to new heights. I just took him in to put him down for his nap and found not one, not two, but 13 books, a bottle of lotion and a pair of dirty socks in his bed.
I had to draw the line somewhere so I gave him his stuffed dog and took the rest of the stuff out. I wish I had the batteries for my camera (they are in the diaper bag that we left at Mom & Dad Ray's) so that I could take a picture of his bed full of stuff.
I suppose I can't complain too much. At least he loves books.