Father's Day

Again this year, Father's day was a little obscured for Wes by my trip to Nicaragua.  I took off on a plane that morning, so he had to watch the kids all day until his mom and sister arrived.  So we didn't get to have a big day celebrating him, but we did do an early Father's day breakfast out the day before.

I let him sleep in a little, then he came out to presents from me and the girls.

Then we headed out for a fun family breakfast in Los Altos.  Wes is a father beyond measure!  We are so grateful for him!

Nicaragua 2016 Blog

You can follow our adventures in Nicaragua at: http://pavcnicaragua2016.tumblr.com

Kate rides her bike

Kate learned to ride her bike!  We are so excited for her.  She was starting to get really fast on her balance bike as I was getting close to leaving for Nicaragua.  I didn't want to miss the momentous occasion, so the day before I left, we got out the small pink pedal bike for her to try out.  It took her a few minutes to get confident, but then she was off!  

Here she is all geared up and ready to go.

And here she is riding away!  Go Kate!

2 and a half!

Adele is two and a half today!  Happy half birthday!

Here are some things I want to remember about Adele at this age.

She's basically potty trained, and has been for a few months.  She still has accidents from time to time, but I'm amazed that she learned this so quickly and so young.  I guess that's what 3rd children do.  :)

She still takes great naps, and is a great sleeper. She goes to bed the earliest and wakes up the latest.

She is still very sweet and snuggly.  She likes to nuzzle her nose into my shoulder and smell me when she is feeling sleepy.  She is also very generous with her affection, telling us she loves us all the time.  Her way of saying 'I love you' is 'I YOU!' with a big emphasis on 'YOU'.  It's as cute as can be.

She is full of words these days.  She has so much to say.  Her sentences are getting more complete everyday.  She is very thoughtful and you can see her wheels turning when she tries to get her sentences out.  She has also recently started telling knock knock jokes that she's learned from her sisters.  It's pretty cute.  :)  Her language is much more intelligible these days, but she still has some fun Adele-ism.  Her sisters are 'Tate and Emme'.

Adele is also full of jumps.  She runs almost everywhere and lands at her destination in a big two foot jump.

Here are a couple videos of her cute 2 and a half year old self.





And as per our tradition, we had a little half birthday treat for Adele.  We decorated some cupcakes together and everyone got to have a half.  :)  Here's a video of us singing Happy Half Birthday to Adele and a few pictures of the girls celebrating.

Monsters Gymnastics Party

For Kate's 4th Birthday we had a Monsters Inc/University themed party at a local gymnastics club.  Kate loves gymnastics and has been asking to have a Mike and Sulley birthday since her last birthday, I think.  We normally prefer to do a low key birthday in the park, but this year, once again Kate's birthday fell right after my trip to Nicaragua, so we decided to plan party hosted by someone else, purely for convenience.  The party was a few weeks before her birthday, for logistical reasons, it all worked out really nicely, and Kate had a WONDERFUL time.  Here are some pictures.

Before her party, we let her open some presents from mommy and daddy, to help her get in the mood.  A new leotard and the Monsters movie we didn't have yet.

At the gym, we decorated the party room with colors of Mike and Sulley and some Monsters decor.

And of course I made some Mike and Sulley cupcakes.

The kids had a blast.  The staff led them in some fun games, they got to play on the gymnastics equipment, and there was even a bounce house.  So much fun.  

Then the kids came inside for pizza and cake.

And the kids had lots of fun with the photo booth and pin the eye on Mike too!

It was an awesome way to celebrate Kate.  We love you!

Kate's school birthday

Kate's birthday falls during the summer session of preschool, but this year we decided not to do summer preschool due to our traveling and other summer plans.  So we celebrated with her class a little early this year.

She helped me make her birthday poster, and this year she was much more excited and willing to share it with the class.

Emeline had fun visiting her old preschool teachers for the day, and had fun dancing to the birthday song with Kate.

We brought a fun snack of plantain chips, crackers, and strawberries.  A good time was had by all, and Kate had fun celebrating her birthday with her school friends.