{SuMMeR aRouNd tHe coRneR}

Summer must be right around the corner.  We can feel it lately with our lovely 80 degree sunny days!  We have enjoyed soaking up the sun and decided to make our first trip this year to the water park by our house.  The kids love it here and it is nice to now (for the first time) have 2 kids that I can really just bring them and let them be.  Nobody needs me to hold their hand anymore.....or come in the water with them.....or carry them....or worry about them as they are crawling around or barely walking and getting stomped on by bigger kids.  It really is nice!  I enjoyed myself sitting in the sun and watching them play.

Ayden was having a blast when about 5 minutes into it, he slipped and hit the back of his head on the ground.  OUCH!  So he was over it by then and sit with me for most of the time!

Zoe enjoyed herself though.....

Ayden soaked up the sun because he was freezing.....

.....and complained that his head hurt and he was cold and he was hungry and he wanted to leave.....

I got tired of the whining and busted out our picnic lunch which instantly put smiles on their faces!  If you remember from Ayden's Mother's Day project he made at school.....I make a mean PB&J sandwich!!!  :)

{little BOYS}

And this would explain exactly why I still pick out Ayden's clothes every morning!  Today he decided to go in his room and get dressed all by himself (which he never does)!  He really has no problem with the fact that his Mommy picks his clothes out!  I actually enjoy it because Zoe (Ms. Independent) hasn't let me pick out her clothes in almost a year!  So I am still holding on to any little string I can to keep me in control of this little boy that is growing too too fast for me!

Blue polo shirt......orange and blue basketball shorts....red and white biking socks.....black and green Crocs....

And when I ran to get the camera and started taking pics of him.....then he REALLY thought he looked cool, so he had to do some of his famous poses for the camera!

Silly kid.....

{BiKe RaCe #2}

Summer must be right around the corner because mountain biking season is in full force at our house!  Jeremiah loves racing his mountain bike....especially since he keeps winning!  He signed up for a series of mountain bike races every Tuesday night at Irvine Lake for the next 12 weeks!  Last night was the first one! 

This was one of the first races that was actually really good for spectators.  We got to see Jeremiah go right by us 6 times.  I would see him coming, tell the kids and they would cheer for Daddy as loud as they could.  Then they would act like goofs for the next few minutes until I told them he was coming again.....

Jeremiah and his brother Kirt are doing these races together!  Here they are right before the start of the race!  There were a ton of riders.....over 400 to be exact!  I was glad that Jeremiah was wearing a bright jersey so I could find him easily in the bunch!

First time around.....

Such a cool spot for a race with the lake in the background....

The leader of the pack.....

Ayden practicing his Star Wars moves....

Every time Jeremiah went by, he would wave at the kids and they loved this!  It was hard to tell if he was in the lead or not because they started different groups at different times!  I figured since he was going out of his way to acknowledge the kids screaming for him....he must either be WAY BEHIND or WAY AHEAD!!

Going across the finish line.......

And the results are in......ANOTHER FIRST PLACE WINNER!!!!!  :)   Next week he gets to wear the yellow "leader" jersey like they do in the Tour De France!  He will have a major target on his back....hopefully he can come out with another win!!

We had fun hanging out with Aunt Stephanie during the race.....

We are so proud of our speedy Daddy!  And we had fun cheering on Uncle Kirty also!! :) 

{BiKe RaCe #1}

Last weekend, we made our first trip up to Big Bear this year....we will be spending lots of time there this summer!  :)  It's so nice that we go to Big Bear half the year and La Quinta half the year....there are different toys there for the kids and different things to do.  They never really get bored because there is always something new!  Since this was our first trip this year, they were excited to see the toys that they have missed since last time we were there last Fall!  And there are always fun crafty things to do.  During "craft time", I got a nice break and was able to work on my scrapbook while my mom let the kids paint!  They love that.....mostly because it is something they don't get to do very often at home (I am not a fan of the mess it makes)!  :)  They spent hours doing this....Zoe did some painting and made necklaces with beads while Ayden had a lot of fun painting a wooden helicopter and an alligator. 

Good thing they were making this mess outside....and thank goodness for paint shirts!!

Grandpa had a lot of work to do in the yard to rake up piles of pine needles that had accumulated over the winter.  Zoe had a blast "helping" him.....or talking his ear off!

We decided to go up this weekend because Jeremiah had a moutain bike race up there!  He did this same race last year and got 1st place!  This year, he moved up to a harder group and STILL got 1st place!  At one point, we saw him ride by really fast and Ayden shouted "Go Daddy....Go Daddy....don't lose......don't lose!!!"

After we heard he won the race, the kids had to practice standing on the podium like Daddy would......

The disadvantage to being the fastest is that there was a lot of downtime waiting for the awards ceremony.....when you are first it takes forever to wait for the last person to finish!

The kids entertained themselves quite well....

And finally.......here is OUR CHAMPION!!!  :)

{BMX}

Jeremiah has been wanting to get Ayden into BMX racing.  He got this new green BMX race bike for his birthday last year and it has been a little too big for him.  He is slowly growing into it and getting more comfortable on it!  A couple weeks ago, we took him to the BMX race track to give it a shot and see how he did!  He absolutely loved it!  When we saw the course, we weren't sure how he would do....if he would make it all the way around the track....if he would make it up the hills.....if he would get run over by other kids on their bikes!!  He made it around on the first try and didn't look back.  That first night, he went around about 15 times in a 30 minute time slot.  The kids under 10 years old are allowed to practice from 5:30-6 pm and then the older kids can start after 6.  That is when it started getting really crazy.  There were big kids going so fast and doing jumps.  At one point, I thought one kid was going to land on top of Ayden when he did a jump!  It was scary!  These kids are intense!  I remember when my brother was a young kid and used to race BMX bikes, but I wasn't a parent then and didn't realize that this was such an intense sport!!  CRAZY!!

After the first night, Ayden was in love with the sport!  We pretty much had to drag him off the track to go home.  He smiled the entire time and you could hear him singing a song to himself that he made up.  He would say....."Bike race for kids.....bike race for kids.....kids go.....kids go....."  I am sure that most of the people there thought he was a freak, but that is ok.  I realize that it is a "different" type of crowd that does this kind of thing.  I think Jeremiah and I were the only parents that didn't have tattoos ALL OVER our bodies!!

Here are a couple of action shots of our little BMX racer....

And his #1 cheerleader on the sidelines.....

Last night, Zoe and I were standing on the fence and when Ayden was coming towards us, Zoe started yelling "Go Ayden, Go Ayden"!!  He saw us and I couldn't believe what happened next......he flashed us a smile and then HE WINKED AT US!!!!  LOL!!  I couldn't believe it!!  I have never seen him wink before....not sure where he learned it!  I thought it was so hilarious that he felt like he was "so cool" and wanted to wink at us!  It was hilarious!!

Getting ready for the race.....

On your marks, get set, GOOOOOO......

Anyway, last night we took him to the track again and let him race for the first time. There were 7 kids in his age group (5 and under) and he had 3 chances to make it to the final race. Each of the 3 times, he got last place!! :( It was hard to watch him lose....even though he was oblivious and was having the time of his life! He did make it into the final race tho because another kid in his age group dropped out. So he thought he was special! :) In the final race, he was 2nd to last place most of the time until the very end when he got passed up....yep, another last place finish! :( Poor guy!! But another parent informed me of a couple tweeks that may need to be done on his bike to help him for next time. She also told me that her son, who is 5, lost 150 races before he won his first one....and now he is an expert, so I guess we couldn't have expected much for his first time! Even though he got last place, he still got a trophy since this was his first time racing! He was excited to get a trophy, but mad that he didn't get the big tall ones that the other kids were getting. We told him he had to win next time to get one of those! He also thinks he got 2nd place which is quite funny.....we will continue to let him believe that!! :) No point in breaking his little heart!

Here is a little video of Ayden before the race.  He is quite spastic in this video....he was hyper and excited!!  And I realize that unless you are family, you will probably not understand a word he is saying!!  That's ok Ayden.....we love the way you talk!  :)

{hAndSomE}

Here is Ayden's Spring Preschool picture.  I can't believe how big he is getting.  He is a little man these days.  His personality is changing and he is becoming a little more quiet and reserved, yet is still the social charmer that he always has been.  I love this kid to death.  I tell him all the time that he is a little angel and I am so lucky to be his mom.  To me, he is seriously the type of kid that you have no choice but to love.  His cuteness makes me want to squeeze him to death.  His generosity and concern for others touches my heart.  His love of life is contagious.  His desire to please his parents is encouraging.  He is a pure breath of fresh air.  He lights up the room.  I don't know what I would do without him.  I tell him all the time he needs to stay a 4 year old little boy forever so I can kiss his cheeks, pinch his bum, and snuggle up on the couch with him.  So since I can't freeze time and this little guy is gonna be a BIG 5 year old next month, I will just have to keep snuggling and hope he never gets too embarassed of his ol' Mom!  

{ceLebRaTinG in San DieGo}

On Saturday, we went down to San Diego to celebrate my Dad's and Cooper's birthdays.  Carter had a baseball game, so we got to see that too!  We got a couple new lenses for our camera....one is a major zoomer (great for sports), so Jeremiah was excited to try it out at the baseball game.  He got some pretty good action shots of Carter.....these could be his own little personal "baseball cards"!

Ayden was SUPER excited to go to the baseball game.  He couldn't wait and said that he wanted FRONT ROW seats when we got there!  Well, I'm not even sure he knew that there was a baseball game going on....he was too busy playing.....

I thought this was a cute picture of "Coach Foss" talking to his team after the game and little Crew right in the mix.  With 2 older brothers as involved in sports as they are, there is no question that he will be a star himself....

 

Crew and Cooper.....

Happy 11th Birthday Cooper!!  He has officially hit the age when all you want for your birthday is money......so much easier than shopping for toys!  :)

And this is a picture of some good lookin' Guacamole......I think Jeremiah was testing out our other new lens on this one....

Zoe and Crew.....

Joe and Cara....

Young Jedi Ayden....

Lots and lots of crying and injuries playing on the trampoline.....

My mom sporting her new DWBH shirt and "fanny pack" purse she got for Mother's Day....

I've complained to Jeremiah lately that I am NEVER in any of the pictures and when the kids look back one day, they won't even know I existed!!  SAD!!!  So Jeremiah took 1 picture of me all day with family.....this is the lovely one that my kids will look back on and remember.....

......Thanks Jeremiah.....that one is a beauty!!  :)

Here are the birthday boys......Grandpa (62) and Cooper (11)......nice face Cooper.....this one will definitely be going in your wedding video....

And when it is time for dessert that involves whipped cream in any way, my Dad can't pass up the chance to tease Cara about her whipped cream obsession.  After watching this over the years, my kids have now become the "squirt the whipped cream bottle straight in your mouth" type!! 

Last pic of the day.....me and my bro....

Noticed that the only person that didn't get in any pictures was Jeremiah......the photographer for the day.....maybe he will take over as family photographer for a while and I will start popping up in more pictures!!  :)  Wishful thinking.....