Kaden was not at all fond of the pool the first time we introduced him to it last year. He had much more fun this time.
He especially likes to jump into our arms from the side. We had to come up with a rule for the kids though otherwise they'd just jump in whether we were ready to catch them or not. They have to ask us if we are ready and they don't get to jump until we say we are ready. We tested them a few times and they did great!
Kalyssa is a little fish. She'd stay in the pool all day long if we let her! I guess we better get her into those swim lessons this summer. Hopefully my recovery won't mess that up for her..
I just love the look on his face here! Makes me laugh!
Kalyssa started off wanting her life vest, Kaden most certainly did NOT want that thing on. Kalyssa eventually warmed up to the idea that we would keep her safe so she took it off and had more fun. We tried to teach her how to float and stuff but just like school stuff ... she doesn't want to learn from us. I'm sure she'll do better learning from a complete stranger. Go figure.
Spitting image ... don't you think? Kaden is going to look EXACTLY like his Daddy when he grows up. I just know it!
Our next stop was to visit Grandpa Lester for lunch. We stopped in to the shop first where he is building a new race car. I'm sure you can imagine the pure joy Kaden found in that! Kalyssa liked it too!
They both got to "help" a little bit too. Happy campers!
And here is Grandpa Lester with 3 of his grand kids. (Notice Kaden's shirt? It says "My daddy is faster than your daddy." I just love that shirt! He and Kalyssa can say that to most people that they meet - except me and their Auntie Debbie. LOL!)The next part of our trip involved parking our trailer in front of my best friend from high school's house for 4 nights. That was so perfect! Shannon's house is so kid friendly! The kids could go in and out as they pleased and they are close enough in age (except for Savanna who played so sweetly with them all! I really want a Savanna full-time! Not kidding ... Shannon, feel free to send her over here anytime!) that they all got along so well!
So the first night Shannon and I got to do something that we've been dying to do together for ages ... make a cake! It was so much fun. The problem was that neither of us were able to be as prepared as we normally would be so it didn't turn out quite as we pictured in our minds. But it still turned out really cute and it tasted even better! :o)
Kaden's birthday was the day we arrived. We had a little birthday party the day after (Mother's Day.) It was so perfect. Shannon has a jumpy house so we put that up. It was mostly just her kids and mine (with a too short, but fun visit from Jim, Mich and little Katie) so it was pretty much an all day party! It was the best Mother's Day ever! Spending it with my best friend and her family! The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have my mom and m-i-l there with us!
The birthday boy getting his tattoo. His shirt sings so he spent the day showing anybody and everybody. (How did he get to be 2 so fast anyway? Time is just speeding by!)
The sweet and adorable little Katie! That kid ... holy cow she's cute! You should hear her talk ... it's the cutest thing ever!
Another view of the cake. So, the part that we didn't plan too well was that we forgot to buy black fondant. If you've ever tried to color white fondant black you'll know that it's practically impossible. So we (or I should say Shannon) painted the black parts. I think it worked pretty good. :o)
The birthday boy blowing out his 2 candles.
Just in case you were wondering ... he loved the cake. :o)
After naps we set up the pinata. I've never quite understood this particular party pastime since one needs to smash to bits their favorite cartoon character. But the kids didn't seem to mind. Kaden got to go first. Neither of my kids had ever done the pinata thing before so they really enjoyed it.
The kids took turns in order of their age. Here are the older ones, waiting in line so patiently for their turn.
And Kalyssa managed to break it open!
Kaden needed a little help scrounging some candy in the frenzy. See how sweet Savanna is with him? Seriously ... I want a Savanna!
And just because I think it's funny .... my daughter has this thing about wearing her clothes backwards. She loves to do it. You can almost always tell when she dresses herself because of this particular fondness she has. So I had to include a picture of her backwards shorts. Once they are on like that there is no convincing her to fix it. It's too funny!
I thought this was funny. A little back story here ... Shannon and I have been singing together since the day we met. So we were putting on a little show for the kids (there are pictures but none of them are good so I'm not sharing them. You're welcome Shannon. LOL!) KC caught the dog, Tucker, sneaking a little sip from Shannon's drink. Silly dog! Apparently the pup loves to sneak in after any meal and "clean up." He's really a cute dog, even if I'm not really a "dog person." :o)
They have this great toy ... they are called Magna-Tiles. They are the coolest building toy! Savanna would have little school lessons where she would come up with a building project and set out all the needed tiles for each kid and go through step by step. (Have I mentioned how much I want a Savanna? I really, really do!) It was the best way for Kalyssa to learn how to use this toy. She loved it! This particular building came about when Dylan and Kalyssa decided that they needed to create a building that's taller than me (since I'm the tallest of all that were there that day.) Here they are showing off their creation. Do you see how Dylan is hugging my daughter? He's so in love with her! And she feels the same way. They both totally believe that they are going to get married some day.
See? This is what we pulled up to. Dylan wrote this on the sidewalk right where he was patiently waiting for us when we first got there. He also made sure to tell the little boy across the street that Kalyssa was his love and nobody else's. And they are betrothed too ... Dylan asked Kalyssa to marry him at the Grand Canyon 2 years ago. Don't you just adore young love? It's so sweet!
They live in this great neighborhood. It's not a cul-de-sac but it's tucked away so there is hardly any traffic. So they put up these "Slow Children Playing" signs and let the kids ride their scooters and bikes in the street. My kids don't have a good place to do these things so they haven't learned how yet. But I assure you that now Kalyssa insists she needs her own scooter! Maybe for her birthday. Okay ... there you go ... part 2 complete. I'm working on finishing up beach pictures next. After I get those posted I'll finish up Disney pictures and then Palm Springs. Then I should be caught up.
Here's our truck and trailer. We love it! It's absolutely perfect for our little family. It's definitely going to make a terrific home away from home!
They had this old stage coach there. Every time we passed it we had to stop and play in it.
Tom and Wendy came up for the afternoon. That was a nice treat. While KC and the kids took naps the 3 of us went for a drive around the (almost non-existent) lake. Before Tom and Wendy tell on me ... the view wasn't this pretty. It's amazing what can be done to photos in 
If you ask 
You can't tell me this isn't the cutest little Wrangler Butt on the planet! No, really. You can't! I won't let you. 
See .... look ... I really was there! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a family of 4 (2 of them very small) to all look into the camera and smile at the same time when you are relying on the timer? Man ... it's hard! And it didn't actually happen. This is as good as it got folks.
