Easter 2011

Here are some pictures from Easter this year. It really is next to impossible to get a good picture of 4 kids ages 9 and under.

-I would like to thank Costco for having matching dresses in all sizes for my girls.
-I would also like to thank Wal-Mart for cheap suits that my son will grow out of in a month anyways :)

Top Ten

Here are ten fun facts for a family of six traveling to San Diego.


#1- Have family that lives halfway between Salt Lake and San Diego aka Las Vegas. Liz (Jim's sister) and Nate were nice enough to host us for an overnight stay. Even better that they made "Happy Dirt Cake" for Ethan.




#2- Portable DVD players make the drive a bit easier.



#3- Expect looks of absolute happiness



#4- Watch out for the spray radius of a lion at the San Diego Zoo.


#5 - When visiting the San Diego Zoo know that it is AMAZING and HUGE. This is how we all felt at one time or another visiting the zoo .


#6 - That one of your daughters may be fascinated with snakes and insists on her picture being taken with it.




#7- Make sure to visit the beach at sunset (this is Mission Beach)






#8- Visit Sea World with family. Nate and Liz joined us for a day at Sea World. Unfortunately this is the only picture I have of them. Aren't they cute :).

#9- Enjoyment in knowing your kids are learning



#10- Leave one day with absolutely no plans but to explore and relax. We were on the go too much and next time need to stay longer and relax more. We forgot to do this thus no pictures. :)

hp

Time for another birthday in this house. Since it involves a 9 year old boy... HARRY POTTER IS THE THEME :) It was fun to see Ethan enjoy his friend party. I don't know what is funner as a parent to watch how excited he got in the days leading up to it or the look of pure happiness on his face the whole time of his party. :)

(Invite to the party)


Once the boys got here they were told they would attend three Hogwarts classes.
First, Potions class where they made slime. Easy and fun.




Second, Defense Against The Dark Arts Missiles. The boys loved this. Just take an empty film canister fill it a little with water, put 1/4 of an alka seltzer tablet in. Put lid on and watch it shoot up in the air. What boy wouldn't like that.

Third, Care of Magical Creatures where we had a dragon egg relay.


Then we had magic wands "the wand chooses you". Hilarious because we had Jim upstairs talking through a speaker on our phone.

Once they all had their wands they had to chant Alohomora for him to open his gifts.
Take home gifts were chocolate frogs, harry potter cards and of course the wand and slime.

Ethan

Well our birthday season ends with this boy turning 9 on April 18th....
There is so much to say about this kid but I will narrow it down to just nine. I used pictures from our photo shoot (again) since all my other pictures are on our other computer which is broken.

1. Loves to play with his Legos and would rather make his own creations most of the time than follow the instructions.

2. Loves to read and most recently started the Harry Potter series on March 1st. He finished book 7 on March 27th. Crazy!!!

3. Really likes the Wii and gets a little too excited, nervous, etc. playing Mario Bros or ANY other game.

4. There is a definite reason this mellow kid came before 3 sisters. :)
5. When he is mad it is hard not to laugh at him because he has a tendecy to be a little overdramatic


6. Is really smart and Jim and I are nervous how quickly the time will come when we won't be able to help him with his homework :)

7. He is 4'7" (90th percentile) and the 20th percentile for his weight. Long and lean this kid is.

8. Participated in his first Pinewood Derby a few weeks ago. He got 4th place and missed 3rd by one point!

9. In 9 more years will be 18!!! Oh my gosh! How can that be. I don't like this halfway point.
Happy Birthday Ethan!
We love you very much!