Kaila's 2nd Birthday

Little Miss Sweet Thing was very loved on her birthday. We started the day with free special balloons at the grocery store and then Mommy actually gave them money to sit in the little car outside. Usually they just sit there and rock their bodies around to pretend it's moving.

Not today though, I shelled out the big bucks and spent the 50 cents to give them each a ride.

 Then, per Kaila's request, we went for a hike. It was getting close to naptime so here's a rundown of how it went.

Scene 1: Running out of the car onto the trail.

Scene 2: About 50 feet into the trail Josiah needs to pee and Kaila decides she needs to pee too. Hers was a false alarm. I think she just gets pee-envy sometimes and wants to try. Somebody is hungry (they just ate) Somebody won't share a log that they are walking on. Somebodies legs are tired and they want to be picked up (apparently, today 50 feet is a long way). Somebody else agrees and wants to be held at the same time.

The whining indicates that it is well into naptime and we need to stop our hike here and go home.

Stage 3: The 50 feet back to the car takes us about three times longer than it took us when we were heading out.   It was a solid 40 minute hike. Nice.

Can't forget our little girl's pancakes, strawberries pomegranate seeds, and whipped cream for breakfast. I just love my kid's birthday's! It's so fun to focus on loving them and treating them uniquely special all day. We love you Kaila. Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Josiah! 3

Happy Birthday Josiah! We love you so much and enjoyed celebrating your entry into the world today three years ago, Oct 9th. Actually our celebration didn't just last one day...

Birthday morning pancakes and whipped cream on the "You are Special" plate! The zoo and hommemade mac and cheese graced this special day as well. 

As I walked out of Albertsons and loaded my two white children with their "birthday hot chocolates" from Starbucks, into our Pruis,  I couldn't help but feel like I growing little yuppies. Oh well. I can either fight it or embrace it. Yes, I drive a Prius and love Starbucks. Enough said.

The next day Uncle G and Aunty T made us dinner and provided yummy ice cream sundaes for dessert.

Finally, on Saturday, Ryan had the idea to take his Little Man on a train ride, just him and daddy. Josiah was so sweet, he was concerned because "he had told Kaila that she was going to go with him on the train and she had to stay home and take a nap."  

Birthday Weekend May 2-5

May 2nd started off with Juevos Rancheros for Ryan...

                          

...and then ended with a picnic dinner in the park with Leslie and Trago. Such a nice day!

 May 3rd I packed us up for a camping trip in Big Sur with my parents, Garrett and Terra, Dave, Jaime and Joe and their family. It was going to be awesome!

May 4th Ryan made me whipped cream and pancakes...

                                     

...and my Mom and Dad made us camping calazones.

...and May 5th Kaila decided she couldn't sleep  from 1:30-4 am when a wind storm kicked in (that's the excuse I'm allowing her).

 Ryan had it even worse because he took Kaila out of the tent at 3 am. and then couldn't fall asleep when she did, so he decided to drive an hour and a half, round trip to Carmel to try and find coffee. (he (he was unsuccessful, by the way).

Brutal. 

At home at last, we slept well the next night.  We were cozy in our own beds, armed with ear plugs, a sleeping fan and two closed doors! 

...and Goodnight!

The Big One

Our baby girl is One! The whole time I was preparing, I kept reminding myself that I should always be enjoying the decorating and preparing, because K doesn't understand what's going on yet. If you ever read this K, just know that we had so much fun celebrating the gift that you are! 

Our amazing neighbor made a beautiful cake for K, and a little cake for her to demolish. 

We had a mini-petting zoo, with our baby chicks.

                           

 Poor little thing was a bit out of it for her birthday. Turns out she had a double ear infection, the same thing J. had for his birthday. We love you K!

TWO!!

Even though we really wanted to do a mellow birthday for Josiah, it was just so fun and easy to spend the whole week celebrating and doing fun things for him (and me!).

 The 9th, his actual birthday began with strawberries and homemade whipped cream on pancakes, a Lucio tradition. 

 Apple picking with Aunty T, he asked  to do this again every morning right when he woke up for an entire week!

Later in the week we picked out baby chicks, I,  I mean, the kids, were so excited and absolutely loved it.

Josiah screamed with excitement when he heard me mention the zoo, so the zoo it was to celebrate his birthday party. 

 Aunty T and Aunty Andrea, feeding the animals.

Hands-down the best exhibit at the zoo (according to Josiah)... the tractor working on part of the park.

 Pizza and salad, simple is good.

Wrapping paper, toys, it was heaven for him, the presents just kept coming! 

The group, it was all our family. We are so blessed to have so many involved family members. Andrea even drove up from San Diego by herself to be with us! We love you all.

Grandma and Grandpa Hayes also threw him a party a few weeks ahead of time, so our little guy had no lack of celebrating how much we love him this year! 

Birthday Bonanza at the Bay

...and Kaila's first camping trip! There were about 10 people with May  birthdays, so our amazing friend Joe Hendrickson put together a campout that saw over 40 people cycle in and out over the weekend! We stayed in the group campsite at Morro Bay State park and just enjoyed being outside all day. It was even complete with a 30th celebration for me and a Cinco De Mayo Feast on Saturday night! 

Celebrating the big 3-0 with a few of my amazing friends!

Kaila-Marie was an early riser! Up at 6 am, all three of us enjoyed the beautiful morning light and our little chatterbox with our morning coffee.

                                                                   Exploring the Marina.

 Hike up Cerro Alto with Aunty T and Uncle G.

Just hanging out at the campfire...Aunty Lyndal was there! Yea!

Lots and lots,...and lots of fun in the dirt. It was the good kind too, the powdery kind that blows in the air and feels so fun when you put handfuls of it on your head and let it fall down the back of your shirt...you know, that kind...tends to taste good too! 

The Schmidts know how to make a party happen! Josiah initally began to go after the pinata with a branch the size of a small horse (he's a little new to the game). When that amounted to nothing more than tears of frustration, he resigned to poking it with a smaller stick. Brielle (in the tan jacket) shared Josiah's desire to poke the pinata to death, and they double teamed it.

"Really mom!?..a photo-op right when she was about to let me reach in that bag and grab a starburst?!"

"more!? more!? more!?" 

                                      

There was a huge, full moon and our campsite overlooked the beautiful wetlands and hills of Morro Bay. It really was so gorgeous all weekend and I can't wait to go again. 

I'm even thinking of booking a mid-week trip where Ryan can go to and from work from the site, and I can just camp out with the kiddos and whoever wants to join us. I have to take advantage of my flexible stay-at-home mom status!

Thank you again to Joe, for making it all happen!