Day at the track

From our family fun day at the race track: 

Getting ready to watch the horses run by

Aaron enjoyed it as well and slept through a lot of it. It was a hot day and he felt like sleeping. Must have had some growing to do. 

Kyle & Emily's blog debut

Today we went up to the race track for some horse races. There also happened to be a food truck and craft beer fest. When enjoying our treats, we happened to sit down with the food critic writers from the below mentioned blog. They were excited to see Kyle and Emily enjoying the foods. And we're not talking about hot dogs and hamburgers, but awesome food that adults enjoy - ceviche, fancy tacos and the like. He snapped a picture of them and posted it to his blog with his write up:
http://www.sandiegoville.com/2012/07/recappin-del-mar-races-food-truck-craft-beer-festival.html?m=1

Dance recital

This week was dance camp for Emily. She absolutely loved it. It was a full day of dancing and they actually danced the entire day except during lunch. What dance camp doesn't have a recital at the end? Here is the recital for this one. They put on quite the show with many different numbers. It was quite impressive the quantity of dances they did and the differences - tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop and even some tumbling. A few videos and pictures are below. 

Rock Around the Clock Dance:


Emily's Coffee Grinder (she was very excited to show us this new skill at home the entire week):

Aaron snoozing at the beginning during his nap time there until the noise began

Kyle reading while we waited for the show to start. Yes, we were early!

The hukilau (every single recital!)

I'm awake!

Yea, I'm not sleeping through Emily's recital! 

The modeling part. Emily is modeling beachwear. 

Kyle gave Aaron Miko to help him not fuss. And Miko wanted to ride in the bjorn. ;-) 

My lunch dates

My two lovely lunch dates today. Love.

Cuteness

Mr. Blue Eyes

I love "baby jail"!!!

Concert picnic

This week's concert in the park was a Beach Boy cover band. I love the Beach Boys so we were there! Plus, it's just a fun summer tradition to go to the concerts in the park for dinner and some music. We packed up some grilled chicken sandwiches, risotto and chocolate and headed over for a fun evening. 

Size comparison

In just 2 months, well 4 for that matter, Aaron sure has changed. He has grown a ton and become very interactive. This is the same changing pad and same outfit in both pictures, just 2 months apart. It's almost hard to believe this is the same baby in both pictures!

**Update: 7/24/12 Aaron had his 4 month check up and he weighed in at 14 pounds, 10 ounces for the 25% in weight and stretched out to 27 inches for over 98% in height. He has grown 6 inches in 4 months. That's some serious stretching out! 

July 14th

May 5th

Kyle and Aaron chat

Just two brothers having a conversation.

Kyle reads to Aaron in the tent

Kyle and Aaron are wonderful together. Whenever they see one another, instant smiles from both. Often in the morning, Kyle comes in to see Aaron before doing hair and teeth. He just loves his baby brother and Aaron loves his big brother. 

For the beach and being out in the sun, we got a little tent for Aaron to better protect him from the elements. Kyle was excited to see it and so we set it up in the house. Kyle made a little nest for Aaron in there and just started reading a Curious George book to him. He is so sweet to him. We caught a little bit on video here. 

Emily please go soothe Aaron

I was in the middle of something when Aaron woke up from his nap. I asked Emily to go soothe Aaron. When I went upstairs, this is what I saw: 

She so loves her baby brother. And he loves his big sister. He responds to her soothing very well. It's very sweet to see the two of them together. 

Birthday at home

Since Kyle and Emily didn't have a cake while we were at Disneyland, they determined that it wasn't quite their birthday just yet. It's funny because when the kids were going to sleep the night before their birthday, Kyle says to me, all concerned, "Mommy, what are we going to do about a birthday cake? It's not our birthday without a cake." And there you have it. Birthday = cake. I quite agree my son. 

So we fixed that and had some cake when we got home. Kyle wanted banana cake and Emily blueberry so we made a banana blueberry cake. And we took cupcakes of that to their karate class. As a summer birthday, they had a pretend birthday during the school year so they could bring treats to their school friends, but it was fun to do something right around their actual birthday - a day late in this case - with their karate class friends. 

Happy 6th birthday Kyle & Emily! 

Birthday at Disneyland

This year, we celebrated Kyle and Emily's 6th birthday weekend at Disneyland. We went up the day before to spend the day at the hotel and enjoy the pool during the day. The water slide was open this time and it was a great day for swimming. 

Bathtub for Aaron... the bathroom sink! 

Dinner at the hotel the evening before their birthday

Opening presents from one another on the balcony the night before their birthday

We went to the park on their actual birthday which was a lot of fun. Actually, we went to California Adventure. Since we stayed at the hotel next to it, we got in to the park an hour before it opened which was crucial for checking out the new Carsland area. It was pretty amazing. We got over there at 7:30am and checked out the awesome new Lightening McQueen ride. It was a lot of fun. Kyle and Emily both rode it twice - once with Jeff and then with me. We did the parent ride switch since Aaron was too young to ride (he wasn't even allowed in the line). 

It was a great day there. We were at the park from 7:30am - 12:30pm. Yes, only 5 hours. But we got on everything. We did Carsland and then moved on from there. When the park opened at 8am, the crowds all went there as well and we moved on out of there after finishing our rides. We didn't wait in another line after the initial line for Lightening McQueen. We worked the parent ride switch passes, Fast Pass, the kids' birthday and a sleeping baby to go on all the rides we set out to without waiting. Aaron slept through the entire morning there. We hit up Lightening McQueen (twice, rider switch), Mater's tractors (ride switch), Ariel's Adventure (twice, ride switch), the Golden Zephyr (twice), Toy Story (birthday), Goofy's Flight School (Fast pass), Soarin' over California (Fast pass). That's all I can remember, but I think that was it. It was a great way to celebrate Kyle and Emily's 6th birthday.

Oh and after we were done at the park, we went back to the hotel to swim and slide for a few hours before driving home. Great day. Busy and tiring, but wonderful. Happy 6th birthday Kyle and Emily!

Kyle's 6 year old goals

Here are Kyle's goals for his 6th year:

Emily's 6 year goals

At dinner the night before their birthday, Jeff asked the kids what their goals are for when they are 6 years old. Here is what Emily said:

Chivalry, according to Kyle

Kyle and Emily were fighting over who got to go first on the water slide this time down. I told them it doesn't matter who goes first, that they would each get a turn. They still didn't care so I told Kyle that he should be chivalrous and let Emily go first. We've used the term with them before so they know what it is. But in that moment, when I asked Kyle what chivalry meant, here is what he told me: 

Chivalry: when you shiver and shiver when you're cold, like we are now.


addition 7/25/12: Kyle's version of being chivalrous - brushing Emily's teeth for her

Kyle on milk

During Kyle's tennis lesson, he made a pretty funny comment to his coach. Of note, we were all there, watching and Aaron was covered up on me nursing and I forgot to bring a water bottle for Kyle. 

Nic: Let's take a water break. Do you have water?

Kyle: No, I normally drink milk.
Nic: Well I don't have any milk here for you, sorry.
Kyle: Mommy has milk here but I can't have hers anymore. It's just for Aaron.

Little dancer

Today was Emily's recital from ballet camp. They had a fun week practicing their dances for this show.

Jazz number

Capuchin field day

While Emily was in ballet camp, Kyle and I went to the zoo. The capuchins were fun to watch. They were having quite the field day playing with some hollowed out gourds.


Kyle could sit and watch monkeys all day long

Monkeys

We set up the Jumpin' Johnny for Aaron and he seems to like it. I'm sure once he's more upright and on his feet he will love it even more. 

I think Kyle was cold. So here he is under some pillows with his Miko. 

Duke of York

Emily and Kyle enjoy doing the Duke of York with Aaron. Here Emily is doing the Duke of York with him. I used to do this with both Kyle and Emily, one on each knee. 

Kyle's yellow stripe

Today Kyle got his first yellow stripe at karate. It was fun to watch the class and see him being tested throughout the hour.

Yes, that is Kyle and Emily paired up for a choke hold move. 

Aaron slept through most of it