Birthdays, The Beach, Easter, Chickens!

I've become a terrible blogger - once per quarter instead of once a month! So sorry to all my loyal fans (ha!) Tons has happened since January. Mackenzie turned 5, and Ben turned 2! We celebrated Easter, the kids went on TWO beach trips, we got a flock of baby chicks, and had many fun day trips. And Ben got Potty trained!!! I didn't post any pictures of that in case he becomes president one day and the internet is combed for embarrassing pictures of him. You understand. 

Having fun at school!

Love these baby blues

Riding her horse next to our (previously) demolished backyard

Lobsterfest at the WC Yacht Club with all the grandparents

My big girl is 5!! We had a special pre-party for her at Pinky's pizza

We threw a birthday party at our house this year, which turned out great! The weather was so warm and sunny, we really lucked out. We put a big bounce house under our Oak tree in the front yard. We hung a piñata, and had a face painter. We invited all her preschool friends. All in all, I think the birthday girl had a great time. 

Ready for guests!

Jenny and Gigi in front of our bounce house

Benny's arm painted cow

Pretty unicorn

Warm enough for a picnic

Auntie Roz and Sterling

Lining up by the bounce house

Grandpa hiding in the broken piñata after we broke it

Pretend high heels. Growing up way too fast!

Love that she's part of Monica's sign on Homestead

Benny picking lemons at the ranch

My girl and I on a spaghetti factory dinner date

Benny playing with a broken dolly pack n play

We took a gorgeous hike in the nearby Shell Ridge Open space, and brought our kites. We hiked up to the highest ridge, and flew them! Benny barely tolerated being in a backpack, but Mackenzie was a trooper and hiked up that big hill herself!

Flying kites with Daddy

Fly Butterfly!

Dressing up her little brother

We took a fun day trip to the Oakland zoo with Roz and Sterling. Mackenzie LOVES Sterling, and held his hand and cuddled him a lot.

Riding in the gondola

While was potty training Ben, he had to be naked a lot so we could teach him what was going on. Well, it was during this time our furnace decided to break! Poor little guy was naked and it was chilly in our house, but I was not turning around after 3 days of training! Luckily our neighbors had some space heaters to lend us. Meanwhile I called a repair company who brought out some young workers to replace the furnace. Little Miss decided to dress up and proceeded to prance around seeing if they were checking her out. I am preparing myself for all sorts of trouble as she grows up! 

Mommy, where did that boy go?

Blue lollipops!

In between the fighting, there are some sweet brother and sister moments where they are playing together so nicely. I think a naked tea party qualifies as one of my favorites

Naked tea party!

Brothers hiking with their boys

Passed out in the backpack

Our giant 5 year old wanted a turn too

Local Sleeping beauty performance

We now have a flock of 9 baby chicks! I am really really really hoping they are all hens and not roosters, but there's a 5-10% chance that we have at least one rooster! Our house came with a chicken coop so we (and by 'we' I mean Jeremy) are working on renovating it. Mackenzie is super excited about her baby chicks. We have one in particular named Blossom that always jumps outside of the brooder whenever we open the cage to say hi. They've been so fun so far. 

Holding her new baby chicks

Blossom and Feathers

Dutchess, Sparkles, Feathers, and Blossom

The chickies now, 4 weeks later

Chicken Coop before

Jeremy working on the new, improved version! Check out that fancy door and roof!

We went to the American Heart Association Gala again this year, and they had a cool photo booth where we got to take a quick professional picture. Good picture, but man we are showing our age!! 

Old hubs and Old me

Our KPMG Posse

Big Sister Horsey Rides

Roz and I went on another cool day trip to the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. I haven't been in years, and man is it cool!! I didn't realize what a big aquarium section it has. We saw really neat butterflies in their rainforest, and so many cool fish. 

Smiley Sterling and Ben

Mac Attack in an aquarium tunnel

Having fun at lunchtime

We spent the Saturday before Easter at the Ranch where we had a nice celebration with family, as well as hunt with way too many eggs and too few children. 

Easy for Ben to find :)

Two giant baskets of loot!!! 

Judy brought a cool giant parachute that the kids LOVED.

On Easter Sunday, my parents had another hunt for them. My Children are so spoiled!! The yard looked beautiful and the eggs were only a little harder to find. Mommy and Daddy were happy to help eat all the fancy chocolates and candies hidden!

Hunting for eggs with his favorite elephant, "Ya-Ya"

My friend Yesica came up with a great idea to take the Amtrak train to the train museum in Sacramento. We've done this type of adventure before, to San Francisco to see the christmas windows. That time she brought her sister Susi. This time, thank goodness, she brought her cousin Loli. Such essential young women to help us! 4 kids and two moms during a big trip is a lot to chew. Thank goodness for the helpful young women in Yesica's life :) 

The train trip there was a little stressful. It turns out quiet commuters don't really want a huge group of loud children sitting right next to them! But we had no choice. The train museum itself was great! I have been there before, but no idea how long it's been. It's such a nice big space for the kids to explore, without any crowds. The train ride back was much better and we had all the space we wanted.

Loli with most of the kids

Hold me Yesica!

We have been a very spoiled couple these past two weeks. Two weeks in a row, my in-laws have taken my children on Tuesday morning not to be returned to me until Thursday lunchtime. Do you know how much free time that is for me?!! We had the best time!! Yes, I do love my children, but the freedom at night and in the mornings was amazing. We went to dinner 3 times, took a cooking class, went on a hike...all with a clean house. It was magical. Yes I missed them....but it was awesome! 

But don't feel bad for Mackenzie and Ben - they spent a ton of time at the beach! Two weeks ago they went to Aptos for a mini-trip with Rob's sister and her grandkids. Then last week, they went down to Capitola. We went down on Thursday and spent the last three nights there with them. It was a blast. Rob and Judy know how to pick a central location!

Cooking class at Sur La Table. 

My husband is a sandcastle building machine. I don't know if he enjoys it more than the kids, but I'm suspicious that the answer is yes!!! He brought a real shovel with him and built some giant creations,

Giant hole the kids found and had to  jump into. Luckily we have no broken bones. 

She has the best life and doesn't even know it!

Benny's 'bandaid' headscarf

Our VRBO had a jacuzzi tub, and these kids had an absolute blast with the bubbles!

Can anything be cuter than babies hugging?! 

Cool beach driftwood fort

Huge sandcastle #2! Complete with Moat

Beachfront location, Judy rented the orange one!

A fun visit from Baby Sutter, Jeremy's cousin Jessica's baby girl. She's the CUTEST!

Judy booked us a table with Scott and Roz at the best restaurant just a short walk away, called ShadowBrook. It was  like a botanical garden inside and out. Such a beautiful place with the best Scallops I've ever eaten. 

My Ben-a-do running in our field. 

Happy Spring everyone!