Jace's Birthday Party

On Saturday we had Jace's Birthday Party. His birthday isn't for almost 2 weeks but we had a combined one with his best friend Anna before they move. We celebrated at a place called Bonkers. Loads of fun. Jace wanted to have a backhoe birthday party and Anna wanted High School Musical. So we had two of everything. Here are a couple pictures.

Jace and his cake

Anna and her cake
The Birthday kids!
Jace playing at Bonkers
Who doesn't love skeeball? If only we could get the ball up there every try!
Jace opening his gifts.
Thanks to all our friends for being there!

Summer Fun

Well you are going to have to bare with me on this post. I am going to cover several activities and there will be a few pictures.
About a week and a half ago we had a fun Saturday morning with some friends of ours. Every summer a church by our neighborhood puts on a family event. They have bounce houses, snow cones, popcorn, hot dogs, music, games, and a puppet show. The kids love it.

Jace and Mason in the bounce house

Hayden, Mason, Jace, and Anna ready for the puppet show

The next week my niece Micaela came to visit for a couple of days. We spent one day at a park with a creek, playground, and spray park. We had some friends meet us there and had a great time.

Hayden would rather play on the rocks than the water

Jace posing on the bridge for me

Micaela playing in the water which she told me was boring (does she look bored to you?)Jace and Jagger looking for some fish...no luck though
Jace and Micaela (you may notice the ribs, I swear I feed him)We drove back to Kansas City to take Micaela back to my sister. We spent the afternoon at Crown Center. They have a place called Kaleidoscope. It is a free place run by Hallmark. Kids can go and make all this art stuff. It is completely open play and allows them to get creative. After that we went to a restaurant called Fritzes. I don't have pictures of this, they are on my sisters camera. It was so cool though. Jace was in heaven. You sit at a booth and order your food on a phone. Then a train brings you your food. It runs along the wall and the tray hangs from it. When it gets to your table it drops the tray on to a lift and then it lowers to your table.
Jace coloring a card for daddy at Kaleidoscope
Hayden, Aunt TonTon, and MicaelaHayden painting. I think he liked dipping the paintbrush in the water more than anything

Today we had a bunch of kids over to my house for a morning of fun. We made foam door hangers with their names on them, had popsicles, played outside, played with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and water balloons, made tshirts, and ate lunch. It was great. I think all the kids slept great for there mommies!

Mark, Anna, Jace

Mason, Caden, Chase, Jagger

Hayden, Cash

Walt Disney World

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Walt Disney World. We went with Clint's parents and his sister and her family. Everyone had a fantastic time there. We stayed at the Yacht Club. It is one of Disney's resorts and it was fabulous. The rooms were big, the food was good, the atmosphere better, and the pool was a blast. We did so many incredible things I don't even know where to begin writing about it. We were able to visit Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Downtown Disney, and Typhoon Lagoon. Jace turned into a little dare devil why we were there. He rode everything he was tall enough to ride (except for the tower of terror which he wanted to but we wouldn't let him). Clint and I were so amazed by him. Hayden didn't get to ride near as much, but I am pretty sure he didn't really care. We did two character meals on the trip, one a Cinderella's castle with the princesses and one at Hollywood and Vine with some PlayHouse Disney characters. Jace is normally terrified of characters. At chucky cheese he runs screaming and hides under tables to avoid Chuck E. We were so proud he didn't do this at Disney. It did take him a while to warm up to them, but he did great. The whole trip was great and we can't wait to go back. I do have to say most of all we enjoyed spending time with our family. Thanks for such a wonderful trip.

Uncle Joel and Jace on his first Roller Coaster ride

Clint and Jace on Dumbo

Clint helping Lauren get her Drivers License

Nana, Jace, and Lauren getting ready to spin on the teacups
Clint and Hayden enjoying It's a Small WorldOur family with Mikey Mouse

Jace, Lauren, and Lexie with Handy Manny
Cousins with JoJo

Lexie and Lauren with Jasmin

Jace loved seeing Belle. Not sure why but t was so cute

Belle left Jace with a reminder of her

Hayden enjoying the Chocolate Crown
3 Cousins at Epcot

Lexie and Jace being "Wild Animals"One more shot of the Mouse we came to see
Here are just a few of the shots we took. We have tons. Thank goodness for digital cameras. I don't have any of all of us. We got some taken by the Disney people in front of all the landmarks of the parks but I don't have any of them yet. Maybe I will post those when I receive them.

my little ones...literally

I wasn't expecting to have really large children, but I don't think I expected to grow em this small. Jace is such a skinny minny. People often ask if he is tall for his age, which he is not. I think that is just because he is so skinny. He will turn 4 in 2 months. He stepped on the scale last night and appears to weigh the same thing he did when he turned 3. A whopping 30lbs. Since about 18 months I have struggled to keep his pants up. Luckily they have adjustable waist pants out there. He is still wearing some of his 18-24 month shorts this spring (as long as they aren't too short). How sad is that. Oh well. He is still such a cutie. I've included a picture of his new obsession. Tattoos. The one across his chest is suppose to be an arm band, but was way to long. So he though his chest would be the perfect spot. My other little one just went to the doctor for his 15 month check up. He is in the 1% for height and below the chart for weight, like -5% if you could go negative. He just seems content to not grow very much. I can't complain much about him weighing 19lbs since he still isn't walking and I have to carry him. I had gotten a bunch of 12-18 month clothes for him to wear this summer. They are huge. I had to get in the attic and bring out all of Jace's 6-12 month summer stuff. Here is Hayden's new found love, the little tikes car. he loves to sit there and turn the steering wheel and open and close the door. Entertains him for a long time.

Chicago

Clint and I just got back from a trip to Chicago. It was my first time visiting there and I loved it. We did a lot of great things, but I thought I would just list my top 10 of the trip.
10: Visiting the Museum of Science and Industry. It wasn't that great of a museum, but we did see a Nazi submarine that was really cool.
9: Riding on a train. We took the train from Missouri to Chicago. It was wonderful to both relax. No one had to drive and there was so much more room than on an airplane.
8: Shopping. The Magnificent Mile has tons of great shops. I couldn't afford most of them, but it was great to look!
7: Public Transportation. I believe this was my first time riding in any form of public transportation. I have never ridden a city bus or taken a taxi before. We mastered the bus system and saved tons of money doing so.
6: The food: Who would have thought we could find a great Mexican food restaurant in Chicago. It was fabulous. We also enjoyed some good Chicago style pizza.
5: Hancock tower: We went to the top at night time and there was an incredible view. Very romantic!
4: Navy Pier Ferris Wheel: I am not one for heights. What made this one of my favorite things on the trip was watching Clint crack up at me why we were waaaaaay up in the air.
3: Cubs game: I have never gotten to see the Cubs play in person. For those of you who don't know, Clint is a big Cubs fan. This might be his number 1 choice.
2: Grandparents: How could we have gone on such a fabulous trip with out someone to watch our kids for us. We are lucky to have some great parents who love our kids. Clint's parents came to watch Jace and Hayden. Knowing they were in such great hands made our trip that much better.
1: Alone time: I actually had 4 days and 3 nights alone with my husband. It was so incredible to get away from all that business of our everyday lives and focus on each other. It really helped me to remember why I fell in love with him in the first place.

View of all the tall buildings

Sculptures in Millennium park
Ferris Wheel on Navy Pier
view from the Ferris wheel
Hancock Tower
View from Hancock Tower (sorry it is kinda dark)

San Antonio

This past week we went to visit my parents in San Antonio. We had lots of fun and got to visit a few places we had not been. Our first stop was the San Antonio Children's Museum. Jace's favorite parts were the trolley and the airplane that he could drive. Hayden enjoyed the mirrors and throwing the balls around.

Jace driving the trolley

Nana and Hayden on the trolley

Jace driving the airplane

Hayden admiring himself

We also enjoyed the warm weather and visited the park a few times.
Our final excursion of the trip was to play putt-putt. It was Jace's first time to play. He had a great time. If only he was great at taking turns and not getting in the way while others are putting! I am sure he will get the hang of it. My dad and I even got a hole in one! You might notice the pink ball Jace is using. Still his favorite color, although now he adds an after thought that he likes all the colors too.

Some of my favorite parts of the trip were shopping at the outlet malls and eating some goodMexican food. Unfortunately the best we have up in Missouri for Mexican food is Bueno!

Thanks Nana and Pops for a great time.