Paige's celebration continued

For Paige's birthday weekend, we went to Gilroy Gardens and to Gizdich Ranch with Dad to have some fun since he had to work on her actual birthday. Gilroy Gardens is always a blast for the kids and this trip Zoey got to go on a lot of the rides. 

Kids in a row on the small carousel 

Paige and I on the strawberry ride that just spins in circles the whole time. I'm getting too old for rides that spin. I felt so nauseous during and after the ride. 

Paige driving our convertible car around the track. She is not a good driver. It was a rough ride. Again, getting too old for this stuff. I don't know what happened to me. 

Paul got to ride by himself in his manly pink convertible. 

Dad driving Zoey around. 

Zoey was so excited to drive this fire truck around. Paul was a good sport and rode in the back to watch over her. 

Paul and I on the snake roller coaster. Paul has been on this ride maybe 10 times and this was my first time riding with him. The other times we've been here I was either pregnant or carrying around a newborn. 

Zoey on the goldfish ride. 

Paul loves the water shooter. 

Zoey loved standing next to Paul while he was using the water shooter. She got shot a couple of times but she liked it and kept going back for more. 

Olallieberries are in season right now at Gizdich Ranch so we had to go back for some more berry picking. I had Zoey in the carrier at the beginning thinking I wouldn't let her down but she had other plans of her own. I would pick the berries and hand them to her to eat. She took them for a long time but then she started throwing them on the ground. She wanted to pick and eat her own berries. She was so happy on the ground. This girl loves berries which was reflected in her diapers the last couple of days. Berry picking has become one of our favorite family activities. It also was the most beautiful day and it was so nice to just be outside.  A lot of grazing went down at the berry patch that day. We left that place with purple faces, hands and clothes.

Zoey on the ground getting ready to pound some berries. She didn't care if they were the really black ripe ones or the red sour ones. 

So yummy!

She would pick one, drop it in her bucket and then pick it right back up and eat it. 

Mom picking berries. 

Everything went into the bucket. I periodically checked her bucket and found rocks, dirt, leaves and berries all mixed in. I love this girl.

Lots of stains but they surprisingly all came out. 

Paul showing off his full bucket 

Paige did not contribute to the picking of berries. She just ate and then ate some more. 

Dad picking berries and Zoey running away. 

Paul and Mom.

Weighing our berries. We picked a little over 15 lbs at $2.05 a pound. 

Dad carefully carrying the berries to the car. We ate a lot more berries that night and next day. The rest we put in the freezer for smoothies. We had a smoothie today and it was awesome!

As a side note, Paige still loves her Beanie Boos. This is how she sleeps every night. It is really cute. 

Last night, she came into our room in the middle of the night pushing her doll stroller with her Beanie Boos inside.  She used to come in holding just Rainbow before her birthday but with 5 additions she cannot carry them all. So at about 2 in the morning, we hear her doll stroller being pushed down the hallway and into our room. Funny funny girl. 

Disobedient Child

Here is a funny video of Zoey at the kid's museum. From the video, you can see she thinks I'm a big joke. She is 13 months old in this video. 

Our princess is 3!

Our little Princess Paige turned 3 yesterday. I'm trying not to get sad on birthdays but all the birthdays this year have been a little rough for me. I remember how slow time seemed to go as a child. One day seemed so long and remember being bored a lot.  I haven't felt bored in a little while now. There is so much to do all the time with little kids. Every year since I was a child has gone by faster than the last and this trend is not stopping. The same is true for this past year. I know I will love every stage of my children's lives but I can't help wish the current stages could last a little longer. I wasn't ready for the 2's to be over but I also love the 3's and I'm excited for her to be 3. 

I've been wanting to make a rainbow cake for Paige for over a year now but changed my mind at the last minute. She still loves princesses so I had to go with that theme since next year she may be over it. I helped my good friend in Southern California make a princess castle cake for her daughter for her 3rd birthday and had to make it for Paige this year. It seemed like the perfect cake for my daughter who lives in a world of pink. 

I was up until midnight the night before her birthday making her cake and decorating the room so that I could spend her actual birthday doing fun things with her.

I went to bed at 12:30 am and Paige came walking into our room at 1 am:) She occasionally will come in our room if she wakes up scared and sleeps with us the rest of the night. She hasn't come to our room in a while now but of course she came in the night before her big day. She slept at my feet the rest of the night which meant I didn't really sleep. My nice husband, woke up early and made birthday crepes for me so I could sleep in a little longer.

Crepe breakfast. 

Birthday girl at breakfast.

We opened a few presents after breakfast. 

Her cousins introduced her to Beanie Boos and she is now obsessed with them. She got Spike, Bugsy, Porky, Nacho and Sting this morning to join her Rainbow. These are all her new companions at night. 

Playing with her Beanie Boos in her castle. 

Taking photos with her cake. She insisted on wearing all pink today.

I loved this photo.

After some playtime, we ventured to one of our favorite places, Happy Hollow, where she got to go on some fun rides.  

Zoey's first time on a ride. She loved it. 

This ride is always a hit. Four times on the Frogger. 

Her first time on the swings. 

She also got her face painted to complete her princess look.

And Paul wanted a blue snack across his forehead. 

Cute faces. 

More pictures with her cake.

And another. 

Her cake lit up. 

Props to Aunt EJ for sending this giant playhouse you can color. Fun for all 3 kids! Plus, my husband loves giant toys in our house;)

Another year has gone by with my sweet Paige. Paige is so nurturing to her siblings as well as her toys. Every night when I pull down the sheets to her bed, I find some of her toys tucked in. She also thinks she is Zoey's second mother and bosses her around, kind of the way I boss everyone around. Every time she tells a story, it starts with, "Once upon a time, there was a Princess Paige who lived in a castle." I think it's cute but Paul complains every time that she always starts her stories this way. She loves her brother Paul. She follows him around everywhere. She just wants to be with him. She loves him so much she has learned all the Star Wars characters. She knows them all. If you ask her what Jar Jar Binks says, she will tell you, "How Rude", in his voice. She will do anything for a little piece of chocolate. Everyday I look at Paige and picture our relationship together when she is older. I know we will be great friends. When we visited my parents last month, they both told me that Paige is exactly the way I was when I was her age minus her bossy-ness. I just love that. She is my mini-me.

A Graduation, a triathlon and beginning of summer

Paul graduated from preschool! I can't believe it! I also couldn't believe what a production the actual graduation was. There were 6 classes that graduated and it took an hour for the graduation to take place. Each class stood up and sang a song and then all 6 classes sang "Jesus Loves Me" in English and Spanish. Paul has been singing this song nonstop for the past 6 months and every song he makes up he sings to the tune of this song. I couldn't help but crack up when they sang this song. Then they called each child up one at a time to get their preschool diploma (nice piece of paper). After the ceremony, there was a fancy BBQ outside. Everything was super nice and there was a lot of support from family and friends. I couldn't believe all the parents, grand-parents, aunts, uncles and others that took time off to be at this event on a Wednesday morning. I think when I graduated preschool all I got was a high-five. 

Parents were saving seats as early as an hour before the graduation so we arrived a little early so we weren't sitting in the very back. Zoey skipped her morning nap to support Paul so she was extra cheery. You can't tell from this picture but she was not pleasant. 

Sweet Paige pretending to be part of the graduating class.

Paul sitting with his class. 

Paul getting his piece of paper. 

Paul and Mom

Paul with Dad 

My husband, Paul, is a tank. I mean he is a tank. Not only is he a tank but a competitive tank. He competed in his first relay triathlon in San Francisco this month. He did the riding portion, Shayna did the running and a friend did the swimming portion. They did awesome! We drove up the morning of but missed his transition and finish because it took us over an hour to find parking. We were sad to miss it. We even came ready with signs. Luckily, we were there in time for Shayna to finish. We were cheering her on but she was so focused on her run that she did not see or hear us. We were so proud of the both of them. P.S. Shayna is a tank too but in a hot ladylike way.

After his portion of the race. 

Number 2166 representing. 

Waiting for Shayna to come to the finish line. 

Paige and Eric

Shayna finishing strong

Summer is here and I feel like it is already flying by. Here are photos from some of our outings.

Paige at the kid's museum ringing a bell on a fire truck.

Paul at the kid's museum in an ambulance.

Zoey at the kid's museum playing with and tasting the sand. 

Zoey loved having Paul push her on this block. 

Paige our little artist loves to paint. 

Zoey loved the water. Still not sure how but she was wet from head to toe and she kept trying to drink the recycled water.  

Paige in front of some chicks at a farm we visited. She loved them. 

Paul and Paige at the farm. There were chickens, peacocks and ducks roaming free everywhere. 

In front of the barn. 

Paul loved chasing the chickens. 

Playing on the playground. 

Paige driving a tractor. 

Zoey also loved chasing the chickens. 

She also wanted to help me push Paige in the stroller. 

Paige feeding the weird looking ducks.  She wouldn't feed the goats but had no problem throwing food at the ducks. 

I had to cut Paul off from feeding the goats because I was running out of quarters. Having a goats tongue repeatedly touch your hand just grosses me out. I had to stop watching. This picture makes me want to chuck. We used lots of hand sanitizer this day.