Our family adventures

Before we moved away...

(so sorry for they layout issues. I tried my best and just gave up in the end.)

from all of Chloe's friends we decided to throw her a birthday party.My parents were in town to help us move so it was perfect timing as well. I was so glad that it was a nice day, (yes you can have bad days in Vallejo, it is very similar to Washington weather) we ended up having a pizza / pool party for her in our back yard.

This is Alexis and her son London

Annie and her son Dax. Baby Zoe is in the belly

this is Kerry and her son Caleb. (No they are not extra special, just issues with the layout)

And this is Marie with her daughter Cadence.

We had a fun time trying to come up with a cake that everybody could eat. Chloe is allergic to eggs and my dad is allergic to corn. Most box cakes have both ingredients in them . SO we did a box yellow cake and a home made egg free, corn free chocolate cake. Both turned out really good. I made cupcakes so it was easier to deal with, remember we had a bunch of toddlers running around. Since I didn't just want to have a bunch of cupcakes, I made them look like an actual cake. That was a lot of fun. I am so glad that my mom was there to help me with the decorating.

(Chloe and Cadence were attacking the cakes as you can see in the pictures)

Here Chloe is being sung to. She really liked it. Oh and it was too windy for the candles to light, so she just stared at the cake. I was actually kind of happy that she didn't have to figure out the candle thing just yet, plus we get to reuse them.

The kids had a great time eating the cake and candy and playing in the pool.

This was interesting, Chloe started to walk around holding the candy stick in her hand like this and pretending to smoke. She has never been around people who smoke, so I thought this was, well, interesting.

I am so glad that the pool play went so well. You never know how it will turn out with the kids. Dax was smart and waited until all the other kids were out of the pool and got to enjoy it all by himself. Grandma got a chance to snuggle with the birthday girl for a bit while she warmed up. Both really enjoyed it.

Chloe got some great gifts as well. Caleb picked out a princess bathing suit for Chloe. Dax got her the movie BOLT, Cadence got her a gift card to Target ( oh what fun things we will get with that) and London got her a bunch of stuff for the upcoming road trip. So thoughtful. My mom's friend got Chloe this great red and white striped dress. When Chloe saw it she gasped and squealed "dress!!" All she could do for the next few minutes was show it off to people. One of the gifts my mm got her was a puppy in a purse. Man does she know this kid or what? Favorite toy as of late.

Chloe and Dax, the best of buds are giving each other hugs.

So we had a pretty successful birthday party for Chloe. I am sad that we most likely won't be celebrating anymore birthdays with this amazing group of friends.

Six flags with friends

There is a six flags amusement park in this town that we live in. It is the Discovery Kingdom one. After 2 years of living 15 minutes away, we finally made the trek to the park. It is a great place to take the kids, even the small ones. I don't really like doing roller coasters so I didn't mind not doing the big kid rides.

There is so much to do with the little ones. They have many animals to look at, shows to watch, little rides for the kids under the age of 6ish and a climbing, park, water play area.

I wish we weren't leaving so soon. I would have gotten an annual pass to here.

Chloe loved the rides. She didn't want to get off. They have this Thomas Land area that has the Thomas train, Harold the helicopter, and I forget what the bus' name was, but they have it there too. Oh and if you go at the right time, you will get to meet Sir Topham Hat!

The train is part of the safari area where they also have a tree frog ride that jumps up and down. I even had fun on that one.

We looked at all the animals including elephants, giraffes, whales, tigers, sharks and many more. Some even had their own shows. Unfortunately none of my friends though that their kids could sit through a show, so we never got to see one.

This is the area that the giraffes are kept. You can see 2 of the 4 that they have here. At various times you can feed them for $5. It is our friend Caleb's favorite thing to do here.

Looking at these pictures now I realize that I should have taken more of them. I guess I just liked taking pictures of the kids, not the theme park. Hopefully we will be back another day. Then I will take more.

Prostitution park gets a make over!

In our neighborhood there is a park, not a great park, but a park. We have never gone there because that is where the drug dealers and prostitutes hang out. Oh and about a month or so ago, they found a guy murdered there. Yeah yeah, I know..."Kristina never leave your house!" I have been told that many times, but I have just learned to look out for people. And it really wasn't THAT bad of a neighborhood. As long as you looked the other way, "those people" would leave you alone. They were just at their job, working. They never once bothered us.

Well the neighborhood wanted to take the park back and make it a place for them and their families to hang out at. While I was in Iowa visiting family, the community got together and built a wonderful park. There were so many who volunteered their time, wisdom and tools to get it done.

Oh what a difference the park made. Now the park is filled, and I mean filled with families, not prostitutes and drug dealers. Kids are out there from morning until dark playing. Families are out with their bar-b-ques and picnic blankets. Kids are playing soccer, baseball and Frisbee. We have never seen this much activity there. NEVER! I am kind of sad that we are leaving it soon, but glad to see that there is a sense of community now.

Baby shower

My good friend Annie is expecting her little girl in the first part of June. Her son Dax is one of Chloe's best friends. We even joke that they are boyfriend / girlfriend.

Side note:

They both hug and kiss each other when they are around one another, and when they are apart, they are asking for the other one almost constantly. If we watched Dax for Annie and Colin in the evening, Chloe would tuck Dax into bed at night giving him kisses on the forehead and rubbing his head until she though he was asleep. Dax would wake up in the morning asking for Chloe. they are so cute together.

Ok back to the shower.

Since Annie, Dax and her husband are such a big part of my life right now, I really wanted to throw Annie a baby shower. At first it was just going to be a small get together of just us friends. Nothing big, just an "I'm thinking of you" party. Well her mom got word that I was going to do the party and soon enough it got much bigger. Her entire family was invited as well as long time friends. Even though this was now a bigger party with more to do, I really enjoyed it because I knew that it would mean a lot to Annie.

Since she was decorating the nursery in a lady bug theme, I decided to make the shower lady bug themed as well. My sister helped me come up with the "title". I called it the "Lady bug picnic".

And the ideas kept flying in my direction. I loved being in Iowa when trying to come up with ideas for the party. My mom and sis had some great ones. Oh and by the way, if you are planning on doing a ladybug theme, good luck with finding pre made items. I don't think they exist except for online.

So for the party I made lady bug candy on sticks for the kids to eat, and us moms as well.

I made the cake with some idea help from Brett

the flower arrangements for the tables

the drinking glasses, which were canning jars with shelving paper for the labels and raffia around the top for some flare.

cup cakes that looked like flowers (sorry the pictures are sideways)

and I made Annie, or Zoe really, a personalized quilt with help from the guests at the shower.

IF you want to see it close up, just click on the pictures. Oh and this was my first time ever making a quilt. I think it turned out ok.

This is the back of the quilt

my personal square. Thanks mom for the help! And sorry again for the sideways pic.

The front of the quilt

I was up late a few nights before the party just getting everything perfect and ready. It was worth it. Everybody had a great time and I got tons of compliments on the party.