Smiles, Giggles, Hugs and Squeals

That's what the boys experience when GG comes!! Kyle beams with happiness whenever GG is around. And Gavin caught on pretty quickly while watching them play/squeal/laugh/and run around the house. A favorite is picking her up from the airport. Airports are great places, you know, they take us to Chicago and bring GG and other IL family to us! 

Kyle unstrapped himself from the car seat lickety split and ran into his GG's arms.

 Smiles, smiles, and more smiles!

 Kyle got an early birthday meal and trip to the store of his choice for a birthday present.

After dinner at our place and a trip out for frozen yogurt, GG sang the boys to sleep. She's here and gone so quickly...and Kyle and (soon Gavin) will be asking and asking for her return until we see her again!!

Thanks, GG!!!!!!!

Enjoying Knott's Berry Farm

We've been getting great use out of our annual membership. I never really paid attention to Camp Snoopy prior to a few months ago but let me tell ya, I'm so glad we jumped on this train. Knott's is easy to do. With only a fraction of the crowd Disneyland draws, free parking (under 3 hours), and a quick entrance/walk to dozens of rides perfectly suited for small children, Knott's has quickly become the place to be (for us, anyways)! The fact that we get to go with two other family-friends makes this outing a win-win for the mommies and their kids.

Elsie, Nate, and Kyle (with 4 little brothers looking on from their strollers).

Riding the balloons (with Cherie and Kari and kids in the other two balloons).

Happy kids = a happy mom!

And we all enjoy getting to see Daddy on his lunch break!

I believe this will go down as a highlight of 2013! :)

...when pigs fly!!

The Martins made a memory this past weekend! Oh yes we did. We were headed up to the Malibu area for my cousin's son's birthday party and the chance to meet our new cousin, Luke! We planned out our drive so that Gavin would take a nap on the way up and Kyle would happily watch a video on our portable DVD player. That was the plan, anyway. What should have taken just over an hour turned into a half-day saga we will not forget!!

Our first sign (to turn the car around) was when we were just a couple of miles from home and saw an accident from a random air tank rolling around on the fwy. It exploded and caused big delays, mostly from looky-loos. After we navigated through that we stumbled upon a plane crash on the side of the fwy. Yes, a plane. Here's a picture to prove it!  

You don't see that every day. Neither did all the other drivers who crept by at a snail's pace in order to get a picture... oh wait, that'd be me, too. We spent almost an hour trying to get past that one. Gavin had been crying this whole time just trying to fall asleep, but by then he was beyond tired and losing it. With Kyle yelling at Gavin to stop crying (and therefore preventing Gav from sleeping even more) we decided to exit the fwy and help bring the sanity back to our little car. It was a nice idea, but nothing worked for long. We contemplated turning around but by this time, the traffic going the other direction was all backed up looking at that plane. So, we charged forward with two crying, over-tired kids. Do you see where this is going?! We didn't. Still believing the roads would finally be nice to us and Gav would take his much needed nap, we kept the course. Not 5 minutes into the drive we hit another big pile-up. So we crept along, stopping frequently...and the slow pace meant Gavin couldn't fall asleep. :( Still, we continued on believing that the drive couldn't get any worse and the accidents would surely stop. Ha! Somehow we found every single accident that occurred in Southern California that day! (Okay, probably a slight exaggeration!) We passed not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, but SEVEN accidents!! We inched by all of these with crying kids and frustrated/irritated parents! Fun times.

When we finally saw LA's skyline, we decided to pull over and try once again to help Gavin get to sleep. It worked!!! We put a sleeping Gavin in the car and decided to ditch the 405 (that was still backed up and inching along!) and head west to PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). Uuuuunfortunately, the lack of movement from the long stop lights and stop-n-go progress to get to the coast woke Gavin up. Not kidding. Once again, we had two crying kids, two tired/irritated/arguing parents, but a beautiful ocean to look at along the drive. Ya know, looking on the bright side. We passed a looooong line of cars going the opposite direction and thought to ourselves, "Whew, at least we're not going that way!" Then, just a few minutes before we could turn up into the hills and head to my cousin's house, we stopped. We didn't move for 30 minutes. Finally, we saw people walking by who informed us that there was a MAJOR accident up ahead. The people were trapped in their cars, the jaws-of-life were coming out, and "you may as well turn your car around!" So we did, right along with everyone else. Within a few seconds we found ourselves in that big, long line of cars we had so gleefully passed just minutes prior! :( We needed a break.

Since we were in beautiful Malibu, we decided to pull over and enjoy the scenery. After 20 minutes of randomness, we saw a street that we thought would take us up and over the hills and get us to the 405 (ya know, the one we ditched over an hour ago). I sat in between the boys (having given up on the idea of a nap for Gav!) and we zig zagged up, up the hills... and zig zagged down, down the hills. Basically back tracking to (almost) where we'd started from in L.A. It was on this crazy, windy road that we saw this...

... after laughing so hard we (I) cried and wondering if our trip could get any more insane, Ru said, "We'll get there...when pigs fly!!" Perfect.

We finally did reach our destination. Surprised?! We were. We totally missed the party but my family and cousin's wife's family were all still hanging out. Since we didn't know what the traffic would be like on the way home, and we had no desire to hop right back into our car and head home, we decided to make a fun memory out of the craziness and stay the night at a hotel! Kyle LOVES hotels. Ever since our road trip to Oregon he's been infatuated with hotels/motels. The kid isn't picky. So when we announced our plan to this little guy, he was ecstatic! He's so adorable about it, that my family followed us over just to watch his excitement. He said and did all the "Kyle" things we'd expected and his enthusiasm was contagious. 

Though we didn't have any suitcases/bags or much to bring in, we made lots of trips in and out of the room so Kyle could swipe his key.

After a leisurely breakfast we'd brought back to the hotel so Kyle could enjoy every second in that place, we headed home. Driving away, Kyle said, "I wish we could live in the hotel!!" :)

Our return trip? Wouldn't you know it, Gav slept from door to door and we made it in exactly 1 hour!! Kyle learned the definition of "polar opposite" this weekend. That, and what happens when pigs fly...

A Proud Mommy Moment :)

I had a moment the other day where I thought my heart would burst. It was one of the "firsts" that only happen when your child is big and it reminds you of your own childhood experience. I was that mom sitting standing on the sidelines cheering on her BIG boy as he repeatedly jumped off the diving board during his first swim class. Without skipping a beat, Kyle walked straight to the edge and leaped into the air. I remembered my own swim lessons and doing this very same thing and all of a sudden I realized that my son is growing up. He's been growing in his independence for a long time now (that is what growing up is all about, right?!), but seeing this caught me off-guard and took my breath away. It was like having an out-of-body experience...like, that's MY son?!? How did he get this old, this fast?!

I didn't care what anyone around me thought, I couldn't have stopped beaming if I tried. Gavin and I stood there, staring/cheering/smiling/picture taking while I kept muttering to myself over the fact that my son was old enough to be doing this!

Perhaps this is only a mom moment to me. After all, he's been jumping into our pool at home for forever. For some reason this was different. This was me standing back watching my son grow up before my very eyes. 

Happy Birthday, America!!

Happy 4th of July!! Kyle was counting down the days, so excited to use his fireworks. And what a day we had.

We started getting into the spirit of things the night before with a neighborhood bike decorating party/kids parade. After taping streamers and flags to their bikes, the kids rode around the block listening to patriotic music from a boom box. Neighbors came out from up and down the streets and cheered. It was too cute. 

Gavin rode with Sam in the caboose.

The morning of, we went to Huntington Beach's parade with our friends, the Hutchens. It's extremely popular, so friends of theirs slept in their car the night before to save our spot. Madness.We definitely appreciated their effort and how easy it was to park in our friends' parents' driveway and walk over.

 Kyle loved watching his (first?) parade!!

 Gav says, "How you doin' ladies?"

After over TWO hours of parading, Gav had the right idea. (And we finally got a picture of how he enjoys going to sleep. Ru bounces him on his legs and Gav sings himself to sleep. It's so bizarre, but it works like a charm.)

After swimming and a BBQ at our friends' parents' house, we headed home for our street's FUN firework show (that lasts over 4 hours!!). Kyle and I made "Happy Birthday America" cupcakes and shared with the neighbors. Since he's so into blowing out candles, he was all in for doing the honors (in America's place).

Grammie and Grandpa came and after watching a bit they went inside while Gavin slept so we could enjoy being out with Kyle. (Thank you!!!)

What a fun-filled day. Love celebrating holidays with my kids and seeing their wonder and excitement!!

Kyle says, "When's it going to be the 4th again?!?!?!" 

JHM

Our little Jonathan left us two years ago today. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't think of him and mourn our loss, but this is the hardest day of all. Today we relive the nightmare and feel the shock, the pain, the depression, the hurt and anger. We remember every gritty detail and have to try and force our minds away from several images and memories. Yes, it's a painful day. The worst, actually.

Thanks to Michelle watching the boys, Rudy and I got to spend part of the morning at the cemetery. It's too painful and personal to even try to write here, but we have developed several traditions we feel are special and honor our son. GG always helps us in that effort and her card and gift to Jonathan brought on a flood of tears. We left part of the gift at the grave. Thanks, GG. You have blessed us so much with your love and understanding.

We knew this would be a painful day so we decided early on that we'd spend the rest of it doing something fun as a family. Instead of heading straight home after church, we took a picnic lunch to our new, favorite park. In honor of Jonathan, we played, laughed and loved as a family. Although there were only 2 boys riding around on their bikes/cars, Jonathan was very much with us. I think he would have liked this place.

 The "bumply bumps!"

Stop lights, parking lots, and gas stations... as well as hills, bridges and tunnels make this children's bike park a huge hit.

Gavie.

Ru skated around a ton and then disappeared. It took us a while to figure out where he went. Then we looked up! :)

I always see Jonathan in between them. 

So we pull ourselves together and enjoy each other believing that one day we'll see our second son again.We love and miss you Jonathan. Always. 

Happy Birthday, Grammie!

This past week we celebrated Grammie's birthday! Twice, actually. I love these pictures we took at my parents' house on her actual birthday.

Kyle still loves blowing out everyone else's candles for them...

Then, we celebrated again today with the whole family with a lunch at Rutebegorz. Yum!!!

So thankful for a beautiful (inside and out) mother who blesses our lives so much! 

Happy birthday, Momma.

Summer is Here!

Granted, I've been on my summer break for almost a month now, but this week felt especially summerish. Not only are we going through a little heat wave, but we've started doing summery things. Our church's vacation bible school began this week. While I'm volunteering in the recreation department, Kyle attends the preschool program and Gavin either goes to the nursery or hangs out with me. In the afternoons, we go to Kyle's swim lessons. (Since all our pools are outdoors and the marine layer keeps us pretty cool till noon, afternoon swim sessions are a must! Learned that lesson last year.)
Some photos of the week:

Rec time! I took a picture of this game because I MUST remember how to play it! It was a GENIUS game.

Swim time!! Kyle was both nervous and excited!

Other events this week included my first ever book club night at Alta. I got a group of "mommy of boys" friends together to read some books related to raising our boys and the mother-son relationship. So fun!!
We also celebrated my mom's birthday. More on that in another post!

Happy Summer!

An Uncle Randy Visit!

Uncle Randy was passing through town and stopped for a visit. We loved seeing him. We always love seeing family. I love how excited everyone (Ru, myself, and Kyle) get the minute we hear the news that someone is coming! It really is such a highlight. I love that Kyle gets absolutely giddy whenever family is around. This kid loves family... and that warms my heart so much.

Gavin's 1st Trip to the Zoo

We were invited to a birthday party for my friend Tiffany's son Jalen. We rode on the mini train for the party and then our families all entered the zoo together. Since Rudy couldn't come, I was thankful my parents were up for joining us. During the drive down to San Diego, I sat in between the boys and entertained them. Fortunately, we kept the crying to a minimum. Love those car rides!

At the train station, Gavie got lots of love from Darcy and Emerie).

Riding the train.

With Lexi,  Emerie, and Kylie.

Kyle's favorite thing about the zoo were the sky buckets that take you from one end of the park to the other. Since it's a big zoo, this was quite a ride.

The airport is close to the zoo, and while up here Kyle was so happy to spot a GG plane that was close by!! Look at his face!

 Darc, Tiff and I (childhood friends who went to Zoo School here way back when) now with our own kids! :)