My Baby is TWO!

On Thursday it was Clark's birthday. I tried to make it the best day for him. We made cakes, had baths, took a long nap, played out side tons, got Little Caeser's pizza and ate it at a park, and ended the night with a party. Vienna made sure everything happened, even duck, duck, goose. It was a fun day. Clark got a train from mom and dad. We gave him CARS, and a semi truck. It was a fun day. 

I can't believe my baby is two. Time has gone fast these last two years. Clark is such a joy for me. He is so loving and loves to cuddle. He wants me to hold him and kiss him. On the other hand, he is so wild. He wants to wrestle and runs around crazy. He loves dinosaurs, balls, cars, and trains. He likes to climb and jump. He always wants to do what he sees other kids do. He is an observer. He will often stand and watch what others are doing. He is a collector of things. Often times he is walking around the house in dress up shoes, bags on his arms, and his arms full of things. He is constantly going and moving. He doesn't watch tv, but is always walking around looking for something to do. He loves his sister Vienna. He loves playing with her and she can make him laugh harder than anyone. He is talking so much and is constantly singing! All in all, I love every bit of him. He is my little boy and I love being his mommy! I am so grateful he came to me two years ago. I would choose him every time! 

Clark with his basketball cake!

My parents gave Clark this train.  It's been really fun.

Jaron and I gave him this car transporter and CARS cars.  He wouldn't take his eyes off of it long enough for a picture!

Jaron's mom made Clark this quilt.  It is so bright and cute.  The dinosaurs have really fun faces.  We are lucky to have a grandma who is so talented!

Oakland Zoo

This last Saturday we spent the day at the Oakland Zoo.  It was such a great zoo!  The kids had a blast!  Here are a few pics from our day!

Here are my three favorite people playing at the Zoo kids play area.

Here's my home girl!  She loves to wear her hat like that!

This is Vienna's favorite ride!  Me, not so much.  I get so sick with going round and round and round!

The kids absolutely loved this ride!  Their faces say it all!

This is blurry, but I loved Clark's face.  He was having so much fun!

The kids liked this ride, but couldn't figure out how to get it to go high.  You had to pull the stick really hard to make it fly.  They had fun anyways!

A Great Day

Our family took a day trip this weekend.  We left Saturday morning and drove to Muir Redwood Forest.  We hiked through some beautiful redwoods.  The kids did so great!  I was proud of them.  Then we went to Muir Beach.  It was beautiful.  We set up chairs and umbrellas and let the kids play in the sand.  It was a wonderful afternoon.  Then we went to Muir Overlook which we could see San Francisco and then up the coast far north.  There were beautiful cliffs and the ocean was so sparkly.  It was a great day.  Here are some pic.  Enjoy...

Here we are at the entrance to Muir Woods.

We are at the base of a large redwood.

We LOVE Clark!

Clark took my map and led the way!

Jaron took some great shots of the forest.

Yes, I am standing in a tree!

Here are the kids at the beach.  The played so hard and got covered in sand.  It was a great day!

Jaron was a good dad and helped them build a sand castle.

Take a runny nose and fall face first in the sand and you get a great mustache!  I think he looks like Hitler!

Here we are at the overlook.  It was beautiful.

Over Clark's shoulder is San Francisco.  This was a great view!  It was a great end to a great day!

Weekend Fun

Last weekend we had some fun.  First, we had a pirate birthday party to go to.  On Saturday, we did some sight seeing.  We drove up the coast.  It was beautiful.  Here are some pictures from last weekend!

I didn't have pirate costumes, so these were my homemade versions.  Vienna decided she was a girl pirate.  

Clark loved this little pirate ship.  He drove it the whole time.  He even says, "ARGH!"

We stopped at this beach right by the Golden Gate Bridge.  It was freezing, but Vienna was determined to build a sand castle!

This beach had some beautiful views.  The ocean was to the left, the bridge to the right, and ships were coming in.  In the summer this is a "clothing optional" (nude) beach so we were OK with it being so cold!

Inside of Our Martinez, CA Apartment

We are all unpacked and settled in.  I actually like have a one story small apartment again.  It is easy to clean and cozy!  The kids are adjusting well, thought Vienna still says that she misses Arizona, her house, and her friends.   I will post pictures of the outside, but here are a few of where we live.

This is the front half of our living room.  It is a rectangle, so the front half is the tv room and the back half is the kids play area.

It is nice to have carpet on the kids play area.  Hopefully it helps drown some of the noise for the neighbor down stairs.

This is our dining room.  We brought that cupboard with us since we had bought it for the house, but never attached it.  It makes for a nice pantry.

This is my kitchen.  It is small, but cute and it works.  

This is our small bathroom.  Leaves much to be desired, but it will do.

This is our bedroom.  It is quite large.  We even have the computer desk in there.  We only have a very small closet for us to use.  My shoes are stacked on top of each other.  Other than that, it is a great room with lots of windows.  

This is the kids' new bunk beds.  Vienna decided she was too scared to sleep on the top, so we put both kids on the bottom bunk.  They are too long to sleep feet to feet, so we put them horizontally on the bed.  It works nicely.

The kids room is so large that it fits all of the toys.  It's nice to have a place for everything and everything in it's place.

We have a small deck off of the family room where we have stored a few things, but after a huge garage sale, we fit nicely in 900 square feet.  There's a lot of love in this little place!

California Travels.

When given lemons, make lemonade!  That's what we decided to do.  Since we were moving from Arizona to Northern California, we saw that we were somewhat passing by Anaheim.  So, Jaron took a vacation day and we stopped.  The company moved us so all we had were our suitcases and van.  We also had enough Marriot Points to stay in the hotel across the street for free.  This was a great day.  It was rainy so not many people came.  We walked on all the rides, saw all the characters and had the best time.  This really helped us leave Arizona because we were excited about Disneyland.  Now we are in California and with all the rain we are getting, we are missing our beautiful spring weather in Arizona!  But we are here and healthy!

Here we are at the famous front gates!

The Princess Castle!

They had redone It's A Small World.  The kids loved it.  One time we got a frozen banana to eat in line, but Vienna decided it was hers and would not share.  Can you blame her?  They are YUMMY!

Here we are in line at Jungle Cruise.  The kids loved this ride but I had to remind them it was just pretend.  

We got to meet Mickey Mouse!  Vienna said to me later, "Mom, Mickey Mouse is just a puppet.  It is just a person in a costume."  Well, how do you answer that one?  

Clark pulling his classic silly face.

 
Vienna's favorite ride was the merry go round.

On Saturday we did some sightseeing to San Francisco.  We went to Fisherman's Wharf.  From this spot we could see Alcatraz, the bay bridge (in the background), The Golden Gate Bridge, Boats, and other islands.

In the background you can see the Golden Gate Bridge.

At Pier 39, Sea Lions bask in the sun on the docks.

We stopped to watch a street performer.  Jaron got called on stage to help.  He was a good sport!

California, HERE WE COME!

So, just when life is going just how you want it, something has to change and turn it up side down!  Last Thursday Jaron was informed that the company was down sizing and we were being transferred to Oakland, California.  We will be moving in a few weeks!  He will be working on a job site where they are building a large hospital.  We will live outside of Oakland and Jaron will ride the transit system to work.  Oakland is right across the bay from  San Francisco.  We are preparing for our new adventure!  Here a few pictures of Oakland, our new home!

Christmas Vacation

In December, we went home for Christmas and my sister's wedding.  We had a wonderful time. Here are some pictures from our vacation.

Jaron was the video guy for her wedding.  We are making her wedding video.  He was so dedicated in getting good footage.  He did a great job.  It was a long day for Clark!

Vienna had a great time!  She ran around the reception with the biggest smile on her face.  During the dancing at the end of the night, she danced the night away!

Jaron and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary!  I love you Jaron!

When we got back, we had Jaron's 29th birthday party.  Vienna made sure the whole house was decorated.  I don't think Jaron blew out one candle, he had too many helpers!