May at a glance

I have been meaning to get all of these pics up sooner, but the month of May was CRAZY busy and flew by.

It started off with a visit from Tyler's parents. They drove down all of our baby stuff that we did not take with us when we moved here. Thanks so much mom and dad! We were so glad we got to spend time with them. We visited a few places they had never seen before and a few places we had never seen before.

One stop was the butterfly pavilion at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

Can you see the butterfly on his hat? Halle had one land on her head too, but I can't find a picture of it.

We visited The Griffith Observatory in Hollywood. It is really beautiful up there and has an amazing view of the whole city. Best of all? Parking and admission is FREE! You don't find deals like that around LA very often! Tyler's mom was excited because she had just watched Rebel without a Cause starring James Dean that takes place at the Griffith Observatory. Tyler and I had just watched Yes Man with Jim Carrey that also featured the Observatory.


There was a big celebration at the Fox lot for the release of The Simpsons 20th anniversary stamp by the US postal service. We all went to have lunch with Tyler. We saw James L. Brooks, Matt Groening the creators of The Simpsons and all the people who do the voices were there. Vinny was the only kid while they were doing a press photo shoot so the characters mauled him. He thought it was pretty neat. He especially loved Lisa and Bart.




We drove up to Solvang, California- a quaint little Dutch inspired town about 45 minutes north of Santa Barbara. The pastries are well worth the drive! They have lots of little specialty shops and eateries. We got to visit the Hans Christian Anderson museum.



We were so glad we had family here for Mother's day. Tyler's parents were here and his nephew and family also came to see us! We all went to sacrament together and then hung out at the beach for awhile.

Tyler and the kids made my Mother's day special by making me breakfast in bed... ahh! It was so nice, and they gave me a cute little book called I love you Mommy! How fitting!

The middle of the month was Tyler's b-day and we went to celebrate at Disneyland! We wanted to take Halle to Disneyland on her birthday, but thought since Tyler's b-day was on a Thursday when it would be a little less crowded and hers was on a Saturday, we would go on tyler's b-day and on halle's we would go to California Adventure.



We still celebrated Halle's b-day at D-land by letting her get a new dress-up dress. She picked Cinderella. She also got to go to the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique and get her hair and make-up done. It truly made her feel like a princess!




Vinny was in his knight costume when we went to meet the princesses and they all absolutely adored him! Belle taught him how to dance and then he danced with all the princesses including princess Halle. He even learned to bow at the end of the dance. It was priceless!










What a charmer!





Cinderella was really cute with both of them and made Halle feel really special.





Halle got to meet her fairy godmother. It looks like all of her wishes have already come true! All except her prince charming coming to take her away. I hope that doesn't happen for a long time!





At the Jedi training academy Vinny was terrified of Darth Maul! Who wouldn't be? He came right up to him and gritted his yellow teeth and the poor kid started crying and ran away. Then he kept coming back. Donovin said he only wanted to fight Darth Vader not Darth Maul. I have never seen him so terrified before.



They both went crazy at the dance party parade, but as you can see, I think Vinny burned off the last bit of energy he had stored up.







We had a great day at Disneyland for Tyler's big day.

Carley and her family came in the middle of the month and we met them at Legoland. It was a great time for all. They came and stayed with us for a couple of nights and we got to hang out and relax together. So much fun! I love seeing the cousins being able to get together.








Vinny and Alivia driving the cars together. Vinny made it around one turn this time before crashing into the wall. Progress.




On Memorial Day we went to the Ronald Regan Library and Museum in Simi Valley. They have a lot of interesting memorabilia from his life and campaigns. An original copy of the Magna Carta was even on display. We also got to board the real life size Air Force One he used while he was in office. A very fitting outing for Memorial Day.







At the end of the month was Halle's birthday and we went to California Adventure. We had a lot of fun there too. Halle got a digital camera for her b-day from grandma Claudia (thank you so much!) and loved taking her own pictures of everything. Especially the High School Musical 3 parade. I think she took well over 100 pictures that day.







We went to Ariel's Grotto to dine with the princesses for dinner. What could be better when you are seven then dining with royalty and having everyone say "Happy birthday princess" all day long? I think she had a very special day.











Happy 7th Birthday our princess Halle! We love you so very much.


Well, like I said it was a busy, crazy, full month. But it flew by which is good for me because the last trimester always goes the slowest. Only six weeks left! Hopefully June and July don't go too slowly.

Our Spring Break

We actually went somewhere this year for spring break! Not such a good time to want to go to theme parks and such because EVERYONE is there doing the same thing. Nonetheless we had a great time in San Diego! It was a little chilly and drizzly a couple of days, but it was still great fun.

We left on Thursday and headed to an awesome Mexican restaurant right by the zoo. Best Mexican food I have had in a LONG time! We will definitely have to stop there again sometime. We went over to the zoo for an hour or two and saw most of the things we didn't get to see when we went for Vinny's B-day. The polar bears weren't out that day though... bummer.



Our little monkeys!




We got a great look at the hiphopipotomus. It was going around and around in a big loop and would come by every 30 seconds or so. It reminded Halle of an underwater ballerina. It is quite amazing how graceful a huge animal like that can be in the water.

Next we tried to go to the USS Midway an Aircraft carrier that is also a museum you can tour, but we didn't expect to be so late and they had already closed for the day. We went to Point Loma National Park instead. I wish we could have spent more time there because it was great. There was a really neat trail around the park that took you right next to the ocean the whole time. We really want to go back sometime soon and see more.





This is the Cabrillo monument commemorating the Spanish settlers that first came to the San Diego area. Captain Cabrillo was the first to land his ships there.




We went insde the light house and looked around. A family actually lived there round the clock to take care of the light house. I imagine it was a pretty lonely life with no one else around for miles and miles. Really neat little light house though.




My mom has been asking for a "belly shot" to see how far I am poking out these days. So, this is for you mom.

On our way to the hotel we passed the San Diego Temple, one of my favorites that I have never seen up close except from the freeway so we decided to stop and walk around. It is so very beautiful.





The next day we went to Legoland with Dallin and Kalani and their family. It started out raining, but by the time we got out of the aquarium it had stopped for the day. It was a great aquarium. One of the neatest we have been too so far. The kids liked all the Lego guys in scuba gear in the exhibits.







Legoland...





Halle won't quit talking about this safari ride. We waited in line for 40 minutes for it and it lasted 1.5 minutes. I guess it was worth the wait.





Mini land was really cool to see. It is amazing what you could do with Lego's.



Tyler said watching Vinny try to drive a car was the funniest thing he had ever witnessed. Apparently the kid can't drive! He would put his foot on the gas, but forget to steer and run into the wall over and over again. The guy running the ride finally had to steer him around the track.

Our last day of vacation we went to the Wild Animal Park. Again, it was kind of cold, but we still got to see everything we wanted to and had lots of fun. Halle has been BEGGING to get her face painted every time we go to the zoo or Sea World and we promised her last time we went to the zoo that she could this time. She wanted her whole face painted like a....


TIGER!!!



Vinny wanted, what else but a monkey. We didn't let him get his whole face because it would have been a runny mess in about five minutes. He was still happy with the monkey on his cheek.

Look at the one month old baby elephant! Cutest thing ever! It weighed in at 250 pounds at birth. YIKES!


The last thing we did for the day was visit the butterfly garden. Halle wanted to catch one SO bad, but they said you could not touch the butterflies.

We had a great time together and are glad we got to spend time with Dallin and Kalani and their family. Many of my favorite memories are from family vacations when I was younger and places we have visited with our kids. That time together is priceless.

Vinny is 3!

My little man is 3 now! It is hard to believe. He is the sweetest, cutest little guy ever. He really does literally melt mine and Tyler's hearts. It is so hard to say no to him or to disappoint him in any way. He is such a good boy and we are so proud of him for all he has accomplished over the last year. I sometimes forget how big he is because he is still my baby, but I guess once this baby is born all that will change.

We really wanted to take him to the Zoo for his birthday, so we bought tickets to the San Diego Zoo a couple of weeks ago. We told him we got the tickets, and he got so excited he went and grabbed his hat and shoes and was ready to go! We told him he had to wait a while. For the next couple of weeks every time we got ready to go somewhere he would ask if it was time to go the Zoo now. Finally the big day arrived!


The gorillas were hilarious to watch! There were two young ones that were wrestling each other and the kids thought it was pretty silly!




Vinny wanted to see the snakes so bad. I HATE snakes! They scare the crap out of me, but I went along anyway. EEEWW! They give me the creeps so bad! Vinny thought they were great. He would call them cute and say hi to them.



So, we go all the way to the San Diego Zoo and the kids wanted to pet goats. Go figure.


Vin made a good friend while we were there. I guess they could both see that they had a lot in common. Favorite food: fruit, especially bananas. Hobbies: running around, jumping on things and acting crazy.



Tuesday was his actual B-day so we had a little get together with a few friends to play and have some cake. Donovin's favorite thing lately is Ninja Turtles, so I made him a "pizza" (Ninja Turtle's favorite food you know) cake and he got a lot of new Turtle toys.





I think he had a great birthday. He is so much fun and the joy of our lives. He makes me smile every minute of every day I am with him and every minute I am not with him, I am thinking about him and smiling. He makes us so happy and we love him so very much! Happy Birthday buddy!

It's a....

So, I'm sure most everyone knows by now that we are expecting out third baby in July and we went to get our ultrasound done today! It's amazing how fast time goes. Well.. the first half of pregnancy anyway. The last half seems to drag out a little more. Anyway, we are having another little girl and we are going to name her Lolin after Tyler's father's mother. It just seems to fit her already. We are still debating on the middle name. As far as we know everything looked good on the ultrasound. The tech was NOT talkative. She was very nice, but did not say a word.

Halle is SO incredibly excited that she is going to have a baby sister. She is looking forward to being by "big helper" and I am too! It's is going to be nice to have her around to hold the baby and do things for me. Vinny thinks it will be okay too. She is a very quiet baby so far, but that could all change! I hardly ever feel her. By this time with Vinny I was thinking I might be having triplets. He was a very active baby. Anyway, we are all very happy and excited to have another precious baby girl added to our family.

It's been so long!

I know, I know... it has been a LONG time since I posted anything and I am realizing that I hardly took any pictures our whole trip, so if you are interested, check out my sister's blogs. They probably have quite a few posted, or maybe they will send me some soon? I have a couple of the kids in the snow and on Christmas day, but that is it. We left the middle of December and got home the middle of January, and I just didn't see the point in posting anything in-between because we were with our family the whole time. We had a great LONG, COLD vacation though. It snowed and snowed and snowed and snowed! I think we ended up with a total of 30 inches or so by the time we left. The kids got to go out and play in it a little bit and had a great time. It was really nice to be able to see everyone and spend so much time with our families. We had a great holiday season and it was hard to get back into our daily routine. What wasn't hard was to come home to 80 degree, sunny weather! Now I know why we love it here so much! Who's ever heard of laying out on the beach in January? Anyway, we got home Saturday the 10th and my kids both got sick on Monday the 12th. Go figure. Donovin was just running a fever, nothing else (?) and Halle had a runny nose and was sneezing like crazy. I wondered if she just had allergies or something, but she stayed home for a day of school. She was fine after that.

On Sunday my dad called and said that my grandma Koplowitz was not doing well and he was going out there on Tuesday. I didn't really expect much to happen, but then he called on Thursday and said she had passed away that night. The funeral was going to be on Friday. My sisters and I decided to all fly down to New Mexico and be there. We are all very glad we did. It was very last minute (seriously, I had like five hours to get ready to go) and our husbands were all wonderful to take time off and watch all the kids. We just couldn't send everyone, but we wanted to be there really bad. It was a beautiful service and we are so glad we got to be there for our grandpa and see our dad and aunt and uncle. She was an amazing woman who was always full of love and smiles. She loved her family dearly and always took such good care of everyone. You could not be around her and not feel loved and especially full... she LOVED to feed everyone. We will miss her greatly.

Oh yes, one other thing... Dononvin is potty trained! Yay! That is always such a relief for parents to have over with. He didn't have a single accident today and woke up dry from his nap. I am so proud of him. He is doing amazingly well!