Great America

We go to Great America a few times a month but this was our first time we went without Tyler which means that we spent all of our time in the kiddie section. It was so cute to see Alyssa and Sarah running from ride to ride yelling 'More Mommy!" but we kept up with them but just barely. They rode on every ride at least twice and they rode two rides four times each! They wanted to ride together and then separate and then once, but only once, they asked to change right when the lady pressed the go button for the ride. She did not understand them since they were yelling, "no, geder" which means to us moms, as No, we want to ride together' and they pretty much sat there in disbelief as they did not get their way but they seemed to enjoy the ride anyhow. Her understanding when when it comes to reasoning has come such a long way. She truly understands what you are saying and the majority of the time goes along with what you say. She is not much of a napper, never has been, but four days ago I tried reading to her for 45 minutes and then laying next to her until she fell asleep. I would have to pretend to be asleep so she would get bored with me and fall asleep on her own. Since last Tuesday, she has slept at least 2 hours everyday (3 hours today thanks to Great America). Most people would think she would be even more enjoyable right? Wrong, she has had more fits in the past four days than ever before!!! The big number 2 is on the horizon and I am wondering if this is what is in store for us as she creeps up to the terrible twos. Hmmm...I sure hope not but I do however love the 2 hour break that I get now. I started out taking lots of pictures today but my battery died so I didn't get as many as I wanted. But we will all be going back on Tuesday of next week so I will get more then. In most of her pictures, you can see that she is screaming "weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" . It was simply adorable to see her so excited and giggling with anticipation before the ride even started.

Mother's Day 2006

What a wonderful day today was. Rob and Tyler made me breakfast and had all of my presents on the table. Rob did such an amazing job this year! Can't wait till next year. :) He even had a present from each of the pets. We celebrated with our playgroup yesterday and it was so nice to sit back and relax. We had one of the moms, who is a professional photographer, offer to take photos of the moms and kids but unfortunately, the only picture of us that turned out was of Alyssa! But it was a very beautiful picture, of course. We spent the day relaxing by the pool with my side of the family and the kids had a great time splashing about in the pool. My cousin taught Lyssa to say 'cheese' to the camera and now she loves it! She sees a camera and says "CHEESE!" It is rather nice to get some nice shots of her face looking at me instead of her looking at other things around me. Although it has turned her into quite a ham. She will literally stop everything to smile when a camera is pulled out. Happy Mother's Day!

Easter 2006

What a difference a year makes! Lyssa really enjoyed hunting for eggs and the rest of us enjoyed eating the fruits of her labor! When 'the bunny' came out all the kids, including Lyssa, stopped and stared at him. Some said "look a bunny!" and others said "Wah! Mommy!!". Lyssa just stared and we were asking her if she wanted to sit on his lap and she shook her head no. Tyler kept waving at her and finally she waved and moved a little closer, then a little closer, and just a little closer, then her eyes got really big and she wanted up. We put her on his lap and she stared at him. Finally she whispered "Ilyer?" (her attempt at Tyler) and then she said it louder and then Tyler looked at her and she screamed "ILYER!" and then gave him a big hug and kiss. It was soo sweet. Tyler really took one for the team at the party, dressing up as the bunny at age 11 and a half. Lyssa has a wonderful big brother!

She enjoyed coloring the eggs but she really wanted to keep her hands clean at all times. She had to have a baby wipe by her just in case. We had some friends over and the kids had a great time! The parents had a lot to clean up afterwards but it was well worth it!

Visiting Grams and Gramps!

We all took a trip down south to visit Grams and Gramps and it was so fun! We were able to spend a day with Shannon and the kids and Oasis water park, an afternoon with Buddy Joe and Pauline, and then spent lots of time with Grams and Gramps. Rob and Gramps went off golfing which was really cool because Tyler was able to use the clubs that he and Rob made (yes, made from scratch) and they didn't come apart! Way to go Dad! And Grams and Gramps gave us quite the show with the fireworks. And Rob and I think the best part of the whole trip was Alyssa sitting in her carseat the entire time without crying!! WOO HOO!

Just hanging out at home...

Introducing Kiki and Fifi

After a long time of trying to find the perfect dog for our family, we finally found a little maltese and named her Kiki (actually Kiara but Lyssa nicknamed her Kiki so Kiki it became). She the sweetest little puppy! Lyssa was sooo infatuated with her that we also got her a little maltese. We named her Fifi. So when Mommy brushes Kiki, Lyssa brushes Fifi and when we head out for the day we both grab our puppies and their carriers. It was a little exhausting chasing after them both but now that Lyssa has her own puppy to play with she tends to leave Kiki alone...for the most part.

Annual Family Day at Rob's Work

Today we all discovered that Alyssa loves speed! The kids had such a great day racing bath tubs, riding down the slide, jumping in the jumpy house, riding the train and of course, the crowd favorite, riding a pony named Cheeseburger! Tyler was going to take Alyssa down the air slide but they only allowed one child per ride which means that Alyssa had to fly down solo and man did she fly down! She was a little timid until she was about a quarter of the way down and then she sailed down the rest of the slide with a big smile on her face. She did end up biting it pretty bad at the end but she did ask for more once the crying stopped. Rob and Tyler had the joy of racing the bath tubs but little did they know that a old Granny was going to whup them both! Granny passed Rob not once but TWICE! HA! His first words after getting out of the tub was 'I had my pedal floored the entire time!"

Our first trip to the San Francisco Zoo

We spent the day at the San Fransico zoo with our playgroup. Alyssa was so excited to see the lions and tigers, and well, not the bears. The bears were playing and Lyssa deemed it a little too rough for her and made Daddy take her away. I think the most fascinating thing about it was that Alyssa was able to name and make the sounds for almost off the animals, well, not the giraffes as Mommy nor Daddy could come up with that sound. Aside from the bears, she thoroughly enjoyed her day and is looking for our next adventure with Shuka the killer whale at the end of the month.