I officially have a 5-year-old

We recently discovered a family friend of my husband's family lives in Palo Alto. Since Paul's brother and sister live in the area, we decided to all get together in Palo Alto for brunch. My sister-in-law came a little early with her kids and we got to spend a couple of days playing with them. We also had a family party for Little Paul's birthday a little early since we had family in town. We had a Star Wars themed party for Paul since he is currently obsessed with it. Many thanks to Paul's family for partying it up with us. 

Paul and Brooklyn riding the roller coaster at Happy Hollow.

Paige and Addy in their matching outfits. 

Trying to get through the lasers at Paul's party. 

Zoey and and Eric having a staring contest. I'm not sure who won. 

Here is our Death Star Pinata. I couldn't find any Star Wars Pinata's other than a Darth Vader head so I bought a soccer ball and painted it. We used a shovel to hit it:) 

It finally broke!

Paul and his Star War's Cake.

The following week we headed to Southern California to further celebrate Paul's 5th birthday, see Uncle Chong and Aunt Clarysa and to have a little family vacation. Paul really wanted to go to Legoland so we promised him a trip there for his birthday. We were going to spend a couple days at Legoland but on the drive down we decided to do only one day there and spend a couple days at Disneyland. We love Disneyland! When we lived in Southern California, we had a year membership and went to Disneyland at least once a month from when Paul was a baby until we moved when he was three. It was really fun then but it is so much more fun now that Paul is tall enough to go on all the fun rides like Space Mountain, Star Wars, Matterhorn, Thunder Rocky Railroad, Splash Mountain and Indiana Jones. Paul was also so excited to stay with Uncle Chong and Aunt Clarysa. Chong lived with us a couple of years when Paul was little and then lived 10 minutes away. As a result, Paul and Uncle Chong are really close. We had birthday pancakes and opened a couple of presents on Paul's actual birthday and then headed to Disneyland. Uncle Chong got to come with us which was so fun.

Mom had a special moment and forgot to bring the gift Paul was most excited to get.  He got to open a few others but had to wait until we got home to get his other gift. 

Birthday pancakes at Chong's.

On the tram to the park.

Paul was so excited for 2 things: 1. Star Tours and 2. Jedi Training. Here is Paul watching Jedi Training with Chong. He was too afraid to volunteer. 

It's a Small World  

It's a Small World

Paige laughing at Uncle Chong while waiting for the parade.

Paige was SOOOOOO excited to see all the princesses during the parade. She pointed and waived to all of them. 

Roller Coaster in Toon Town.

Indiana Jones! This was his first time! 

The next day we spent at Legoland! Paul was so excited! It was our first time there and we really had a fun time. Paul is already asking me when we can go back. The only negative thing about Legoland was that Paige couldn't go on a lot of the rides because she wasn't tall enough. She still had fun but got left out here and there. 

There were some rides she did get to go on. 

The kids loved this slide. Paul was really cute and carried Paige's sack for her up the stairs. 

Couldn't pull the little or the big kids away from the swords. 

Paul hates taking pictures but wanted to take a picture with every character at the mini Star Wars land.  

Paige with Princess Leia 

It was pretty cool. The other displays were pretty awesome as well. 

 Of course, there was a little XBox playing. Paige was cute and went in for a group hug while the boys were playing.

The kids LOVEd this pirate ship ride. You get to squirt water out of these canons while other people shoot at you. 

Paige shooting the ships.

I love it when Paige poses for pictures. 

Zoey liked Legoland as well. 

Here is the giant toy my husband won playing some throwing game. We call him "brownie".

Paul and Uncle Chong playing some Lego Star Wars when we got back. Can you tell they are related? It's like my brother and husband had a baby together. 

The third day was spent at Disneyland again. This time Aunt Clarysa got to come with us! I honestly do not know how people spend a week there. I was beat by the third full day of theme parks. Maybe it was because I had Zoey in the carrier 3 days in a row. I couldn't have done a fourth day.

Paige and I waiting at the arcade while everyone else was on Space Mountain. She was a good sport. I can't wait for her to be able to go on all the rides. 

The highlight of all 3 days was Paul participating in Jedi Training. It took the 3rd show for him to get the guts to volunteer. I was so proud! He fought Darth Vader and got a Jedi Training Certificate. 

Chong and Zo

Buzz Lightyear

Autopia

Star Wars

Star Wars

Paige getting ready to meet Tinkerbell!

Tinkerbell and another fairy (don't know her name). I know my princesses but not fairies yet. 

Jungle Boat

Jungle Boat

We saw some ducklings while waiting for the Tiki Room!

Tiki Room

The fourth day we packed up our stuff, went to brunch and drove home. It was an exhausting trip but so much fun! It was especially nice to spend some time with Chong and Clarysa. We really miss living close to them. 

Yay! Paul got to open the present mom forgot when he got home.

It was kind of a hard birthday for me. Five seems so old to me and five means he is going to go to Kindergarten this fall. I get really sad when I think about him being gone every day. I'll probably be a mess the first day of school but for now I'm going to stop worrying about it. Everyone knows Paul as being my "wild child" always getting into everything and not stopping for a second. He is definitely an active child but he is also a sensitive soul. He gets his feelings hurt easily and he cares so deeply for others. He is a sweet boy. I'll have a bad day and he will tell me how much he loves dinner and thanks me for making it. When his sisters get hurt, he runs over to see if they are okay and helps them up. He is my buddy and makes me laugh daily. I love that I can have a real conversation with him. I feel like this year has been hard for him with a move, a new baby in the picture and dad at school. Everyone is busy but he continually reminds us not forget about him:) He teaches me patience and how to let go and enjoy the simple things. Happy Birthday to my favorite little boy in the whole world!

Big 35 and St. Patty's

Guess who is out of town for school? That's right, which means I get some time to get caught up on our blog. 

Paul was at school on his actual birthday so we didn't get to celebrate with him until he got back a couple days later. We had a nice family dinner, opened presents and had some yummy carrot cake. It was a low key birthday this year but it was nice to have some time together at home. The highlight of the birthday for Little Paul was when Dad opened his new XBox and games. Our old XBox broke (red rings) so Dad got a new one for his birthday. Little Paul has some serious video game addiction problems thanks to his Dad and Uncle Chong so he can only play very little amounts.  He loves playing Lego Star Wars with Dad and they got to play a little bit together that night. We are so glad Dad was born and love him lots!

Here is a random picture of the kids in Paul's Buzz Lightyear blowup ship. He found it tucked away in the hall closet and it was like Christmas at our house. I love it when we find old treasures we haven't seen in a long time. All three kids had so much fun playing in the ship.

One of my good friends from college recently had a baby girl so we went up to see her and her cute family in El Dorado Hills for St. Patty's day weekend. It was so fun to see my old friend and spend some time holding a new baby. The kids loved playing with new toys and exploring the hills behind their house. We left a trap for the sneaky Leprechaun out but we didn't catch him this year. He did leave behind some goodies in their rain boots. He also left the toilet water green and tried to leave the milk and pancakes green. Unfortunately, the Leprechaun had some natural dye for the milk and pancakes that left them more of a light pea green color that wasn't so cool. When I asked Paul about the milk and pancakes, he said "Mom, that's not green." The Leprechaun will have to be better next year. Blew it... We made some cupcakes and the kids got to decorate which made up for the lame milk and pancakes. It rained most of the weekend but we did manage to get outside in the hills behind their house. It was beautiful and I gave my kids the green light to jump through some puddles. Boy, did my kids take advantage of this rare opportunity. My son went nuts and was pretty much bathing in the puddles. Unfortunately, the rain gear did nothing to keep these kids dry but they had so much fun. Who knows when their mom will let them bath in puddles again.

Here is the new baby:)

No Sick Days

I've said this before, but the worst part about being a mom is being a mom when you are sick. Seriously, how are you supposed to take care of yourself and even the basic needs of little children and babies when you feel like poop (yes, I said poop)? Why can't I use a sick day? My kids always get sick first which is nice because I can take care of them while I am feeling okay. However, when they start feeling better,  I get sick. You don't want to ask your friends or extended family to help out because you don't want to get them or their families sick. So, you just miserably take care of your kids and try to take a short nap while the baby is napping and the older ones are watching a movie. Meals consists of cold cereal and anything they can find in the pantry. Everyone just stays in their pajamas all day, the house is a disaster, and there are random spills and sticky spots on the floor.

I should start a business that has babysitters available to go into homes of sick parents and take care of the kids and the sick parent. The sitters will wear special space helmets so they don't get sick themselves. That would be awesome. I'm totally doing it.

You know, I should also start a service for when parents feel like eating brownies and taking a nap. I had one of those days today and a sitter/maid/cook would have been nice. I'm having all kinds of good business ideas today!

(P.S. I was sick over a week ago so no need to check in on me. I am totally good now!)