Dinosaur Party

Easton wanted a Dinosaur party at our house.  He invited several friends but only two showed up. : (  It didn't faze Easton at all!  Thank goodness!  It was probably because his two best buddies (Nicholas and Ian) were the ones who showed up.  It was definitely a lot more relaxing with just five kids (my three kids plus Easton's two friends) but I'll admit I was a little upset that more friends didn't show up.  I'm glad they didn't all show up because that probably would have been hectic but a couple more would have been nice.

Nathan had the day off so he helped me set up for the party.  We had the party in the backyard.

 The kids made volcanoes and we erupted them.  I thought it was pretty funny because all the boys started moving way back as if they thought it was going to be a big explosion.

Video of their volcanoes erupting:

They all thought it was pretty cool though!

Nicholas and Easton's volcanoes.  

They all put Jelly Belly's inside their volcanoes.  I think they were hoping they would shoot out when they erupted.

Blair's volcano

The kids went on a dinosaur egg hunt:

Looking for dino eggs.

Eating snacks:

Video of Easton slaying the dinosaur:

Close up of the Dino watermelon.

Dino chicken nuggets with a tree, sun, and grass!

I got a bunch of dinosaur excavating kits for the kids to dig dinos out of them.  These were a big hit.

Easton

Blair

Ian

Nicholas

Dyer

Video of Easton:

Easton

Singing to Easton:

My camera battery died so that is all I got.

Close up of the volcano cupcakes.

I got my old camera out and got a few more pictures.

Nerf gun

New Bey blade

Battle rink

I love how Dyer is with Lucy : )

Dyer LOVES Lucy

I think Dyer is more than ready to be a big brother!

I finally updated my blog so there are a lot of posts (I think 7 total).  Check them all out when you have the time : )

Princess/Knight Party

Blair wanted a Princess party but because she wanted to invite everyone from her preschool class (boys included) I decided there needed to be a boyish theme too!  Nathan came up with knights so knights is was. Blair had a great time!  The only complaint she had was that all her friends took all the candy.  She REALLY wanted a Pinata for her party so she helped me stuff it.  I guess she thought all the candy was for her?  Silly girl!

We had the party at the park just down the road from us.  Most of the preschool kids just walked down with Ms. Valerie and Ms. Laurie after school was over.  When everyone arrived the girls got tiaras and the boys got foam swords.  It was ridiculously windy that day so the crowns didn't stay on the girls very well.  The swords were a huge hit and I think the girls would have preferred them over the tiaras.  Oops!  

We ate pizza and fruit.  Valerie helped me make fruit wands (fruit on a kabob stick-I forgot to take a picture) and fruit on swords (sword toothpicks-again I forgot to take a picture).  They were cute though and I got lots of compliments.

The kids played on the playground and also wrote with chalk and played with the bubble machine.  Then they each got a turn to hit the pinata.

Bubbles

Pinata time!

Video of Blair hitting the pinata first:

Dyer was very excited for his turn!

Blair was the last one to hit and she went to town:

Another video of her hitting the pinata open:

All the kids collecting the candy:

Afterwards we sang Happy Birthday to Blair and since it was so windy we weren't able to light her candles.  I think she was a little disappointed with that too!  I tried several times to light them but it wouldn't work.

She wouldn't even pretend to blow them out because it wasn't the real thing.

Boy cupcake (This was just one of the cupcakes.  There was all different kinds of knights).

Girl cupcake (We also had all different kinds of princesses).

We tried opening some gifts but it got way too crazy with everyone handing Blair their gift.  Plus with the wind all the bags and tissue paper kept blowing away.  She really only opened about three gifts before I told her she would have to wait until we got home.

Blair's real birthday isn't until June 8th but we wanted to make sure and have her party before school got out.  Blair is now officially finished with her first year of preschool!

Scandia

At a park in Fairfield before we went to Scandia.

Dyer LOVED this motorcycle game.  He loves everything motorcycle.

Video of Dyer riding the motorcycle:

Dyer playing mini golf.  He had more fun just putting the ball in the hole then actually hitting the ball.

Nathan taking a turn.

Easton was hitting the ball more like he was playing hockey than playing golf.

Blair was a combination of Easton and Dyer.  She would start out hitting the ball but more times than not she would give up and just put the ball in the hole or right next to the hole and hit it in.

Video of Blair:

Video of Blair:

Video of Dyer:

 Once again back on the bike!

Video of Dyer and Valerie:

Yosemite

Arriving at Yosemite:

Our plan was to eat pizza right when we got to Yosemite.  It took a while to figure out parking and then we walked about .25 miles to get something to eat.  They didn't have pizza at the place we went to so we just ate some snacks until we got to our camp site.  I was really hungry and cranky so it didn't help that we walked all that way for no pizza.  

The kids ate sandwiches until our foil dinner was ready.

Then of course we had to make smores. 

We had a hard time keeping shoes on both Blair and Dyer.  Every time we turned around one or both of them had no shoes on.  So gross!

Sleeping arrangements didn't go as planned.  We had a full size bed and a bunk bed.  We thought Easton and Blair could share the top bunk, Dyer could have the bottom bunk, and Nate and I would have the full bed.  The kids were afraid to sleep alone and I was worried that Dyer would wake up in the middle of the night and go exploring.  Nathan slept with Easton and Blair on the bottom bunk and Dyer and I shared the full bed.  Nathan was supposed to move once the kids were asleep but that didn't end up happening.

Day 2:

Hiking Bridalveil falls.  We didn't stay very long because the kids didn't like getting sprayed by the waterfall. 

All the kids on the bridge.  If you look closely you can see my big belly behind the trees on the left.

Dyer kept making me nervous trying to climb the wall so I had to make sure he didn't fall in.

Easton and Blair

Dyer and I.

Another picture of Bridalveil falls. 

Hiking through Mariposa Grove (Sequoias-redwood trees)

Dyer found a walking stick.

Grizzly Giant

Easton was excited to finally get to the big trees.  He was complaining a lot of the time about how tired he was walking.

Walking through a Redwood tree.

Easton told Dyer no and this is what happened!

Nate with the kids inside the tree.  If you look closely between Dyer and Nate you can see Easton's face!

After the hike and bus ride the kids got Popsicles and we walked around the pioneer section.  Easton is pumping water. 

After the Redwoods we drove up to Glacier Point.  The higher up we drove the colder it got outside.  Right when we got there it started thundering.  Since Dyer was sleeping and it was cold out I decided to stay in the car.  Nathan took Blair with him but returned rather quickly because she was too cold.  Nathan went and took a few pictures before it started raining.

Nathan drove to another view point to get some pictures and while he was gone a storm started.  It was thundering and lightning with hail and tons of rain.  It was crazy!  Nathan got back in the car drenched!  Once we got back to our campsite our tent was flooded.  Luckily the beds are off the ground and the only things we had on the floor were the kids' sandles.  Easton had fun digging trenches with Nathan to get all the water out of our tent.

Blair slept with Dyer and I that night in the full bed and Nathan and Easton slept on the bottom bunk.

Day 3:  

Hiking Yosemite Falls.

Family picture at lower Yosemite falls.  As soon as we got to the falls Nathan's hat blew off and got soaking wet.  Luckily he was able to get it!

Upper and lower Yosemite Falls

Dyer and Easton checking out the river.

We rented some bikes and took the kids for a ride.  I forgot how much of a workout it is riding a bike.  I was definitely very sore the next day.

This was the load I pulled around but boy was it hard work!  We had fun though!  Dyer was so tired and feel asleep almost instantly.  Sad but funny story:  Dyer's head is so big and shaped differently that we couldn't find a helmet that would fit him correctly.  The poor boy was so miserable with that thing on his head.

It wasn't too long after we started biking that a tire blew on the bike trailer Nathan was pulling.  I waited on the side of the road with the kids while Nathan brought his bike and trailer back to exchange them.  

Blair chilling while we wait for daddy to return.

We biked to Mirror lake and let the kids play in the sand and water for a while.

Dyer had a blast throwing sand into the water.

Eventually the kids took their shoes and socks off and waded in the water.

Even Nathan joined the kids.

Surprisingly Easton ran and jumped into the water.  He was soaking wet.  He thought it was fun until he got really cold.

Dyer kept hiding his face when I was trying to take a picture.  Silly boy!

Once again our sleeping arrangements changed.  The boys slept in the full bed and the girls slept on the bottom bunk.  I wish that I would have slept on the bottom bunk the other two nights because it was a lot more comfortable than the full bed.  

We had a great time and Nathan is already planning his next trip when the kids are older and can do more things on their own.