Dinosaur Caves Egg Hunt

At the Dinosaur Caves Park the City of Shell Beach does a HUGE Easter Egg Hunt/Kid day the day before Easter.  We went two years ago when Garrett was 2 and Gannon was just born and had a blast so when we were going to be in the area again we added to to our to do list.  Well, just because something is really fun the first time doesn't mean it always is! Not that it wasn't fun, but it seemed to be a lot more crowded.  

Garrett and Gannon were in different hunts this year, probably contributing to the not as fun part.  Gannon's group was first and parents are invited to join.  When Garrett was this age I had a good strategy of getting him to the other side before letting him down to hunt, this worked with Gannon, but as I mentioned the crowd was huge so he only go a few eggs.  Which really is plenty!

I will had a huge THANK YOU to those that put this event together - there was NO candy in any of the eggs!  Fun junk filled them all making me very happy that Gannon wouldn't accidentally eat a peanut! 

Gannon spotted a fire truck at the part right before his hunt and I actually surprised he still hunted eggs.  All he wanted to do was go see the truck.  We were one of the first in line to say hi to the fireman who were handing out little pencils and erasers to the kids.  When it came to Gannon's turn he didn't even acknowledge the stuff, he just wanted in!  I told the firefighter this and he was so nice to put Gannon right in the truck (or engine whatever it was!)  Gannon was instantly in heaven checking out the back seat!  He posed for a photo with the chief and headed out.   

Then came Garrett's turn...he was having a low sugar moment so we thought! We gave him some juice and a little snack to get him to hunt and he still wanted NOTHING to do with it.  I told him I would go with him instead of Daddy which helped for a minute.  The 4 year old hunt does not include parents and Garrett wasn't too sure with the size of crowd that he really wanted to do it.  I didn't follow the rules and was just going to put him over the rope right by our spot for him to hunt a few eggs.  When the count down was over I decide I would just go out with him.  I went in and went to put him down and he let out the biggest "I seriously scared" cry that I hadn't heard from him in a long time!  Holy cow - made me freakin' cry!  Dave was like "oh, my God it's not that big of deal why are YOU crying"  I guess Mommy instinct I don't know!  A nice lady must have been watching us because she came over and offered to put some eggs in a side area for JUST Garrett.  How sweet! He was then excited to hunt these few eggs.  Come to find out that was the Mayor of Shell Beach.  Later in the day Garrett, "remember the lady that gave me the special eggs"  Poor kid was scared of all the people!

 Gannon high jacked cousin Dante's car. 

Dante and Gannon playing with the bubbles. 

A quick snack before the big hunts start. 

Gannon after his hunt - just take me to the fire truck. 

Easter Bunny after being traumatized!

Gannon wasn't sure of this bunny!

Baby Chicks

Aunt Shannon and Karley are the boys favorite and it's no wonder why!  They always have the coolest stuff at their house...baby chicks this time.  Garrett and Gannon were SO excited to watch and listen to the little chicks.  The poor chicks on the other hand were probably scared to death. 

Pre-Easter Fun

Garrett made this visor at school and brought it home the night before we are heading out to SLO.  It was so cute how excited he was to wear it.   When i picked him up he explained the stickers on the hat - "Jesus died on the cross for us Mom" long pause "with nails".  Yes, Garrett he did.  He wore the visor all night, including upside down. 

Grandma stopped by to give the boys their baskets early since we wouldn't see them on Easter this year.   And boy were they excited.  New bunnies and other fun stuff.  I made the mistake this year of getting the eggs and baskets out a few weeks early and they "practice" hiding/finding eggs everyday! 

11

Build A Bear

Confessions, I don't like sweats and I really don't like stuffed animals!

Okay, so the boys have always like the whole give a bear a bath or blow off, but have never really been too interested in buying one to take home so since I don't like stuffed animals I was cool with that!  I was starting to feel like Garrett and Gannon might like the whole build your bear experience so I asked them if they wanted to do it.  They were so excited and took off running to pick their critter.  Garrett picked a dog and Gannon a bear.  Off to the stuffing machine (which Gannon loved), kiss the heart and close em up.  Gannon kissed both the dogs heart and the bears, Garrett didn't want to.  From here they were SUPER excited to give their critters a bath.  There is a foot peddle that controls the air and they love to work that too. 

Off to the birth certificate station.  I asked Garrett what he wanted to name his dog and I swear I don't think I finished asking and he yelled, "Baby Jason".  Okay, I have no idea where that came from, but works for me, Baby Jason he is.  Gannon obviously is much simpler, he just wanted "Bear"!  Oh yeah, and he can't say too many other names so that could be it too!

These two were so excited to talk the mall carrying their new critters in the little houses they come in and snuggled all night with their critters too.  I guess I'll get used to the stuffed animals. 

An Overnight Adventure with Mom!

Since we were in Fresno and I had a few things I needed to do at the mall and stores we don't have in Merced I arranged with Taylor to use her place while she was out of town.  I do believe this was my first overnight adventure with two kids and no Daddy to help.  I was a little nervous, but since we do LOTS of nights at home without Daddy I shouldn't have been!  I know Gannon is two, but shopping with two kids can sometimes give me anxiety!  Maybe because he is TWO! I have to give my kids credit - they were awesome at the mall.  Double stroller loaded up and off we went.  This was probably even one of the best shoe shopping experience I've had with both boys.  They were so good to let the lady measure their feet and were excited to pick and try on lots of shoes.  Garrett had one requirement - they needed to light up.  This narrowed our selection to a pair of white shoes and some sci-fi show shoes. Not a fan of white, but less of a fun of sci-fi show so white it is.  Garrett calls them his exercise shoes!  Gannon was just as excited for his new sandals. 

I then had a quick return and on the way we passed Build A Bear.  The boys have been here before so Garrett asked if we could go there next.  Sure, why not!  We had to make a potty stop and to the Bear store we went.  (See next post)

After our trip to the mall it was getting late so we headed to the grocery store to grab milk and stuff for breakfast before heading back to Taylor's.  Finally we get to Taylor's at 8:30, thirty minutes past the boys normal bed time, so I quickly went to grab their clothes for bath.  OMG I forgot jammies for Garrett.  Of everyone to forget these for he is NOT the one! I tried to explain to him that he could sleep in sweats like Mommy does.  WOW huge melt down was on its way! I thought really it's not worth it and we had time to fun to Old Navy which is right down the street from Taylor.  I quickly explained to them that the store was closing and we would have to RUN to get new jammies.  Okay, not literally run, but go fast.  This is where the adventure came - load both boys, drive, unload, run through the store, pay, back to Taylor's.  I swear we did all this in less that 15 minutes! 

Back to baths, new rocket jammies, quick story, and right to bed.  Garrett's eyes were closing before I finished reading.  Originally Garrett was just going to sleep with me and Gannon in his pack n play next to the bed, but Aunt Taylor has really cool blankets so we made Garrett a cozy bed on the floor and he slept great.  Both boys snuggled their new Build a Bears all night too!

This little trip was fun and maybe now I will be a less apprehensive to travel with just me and the boys.  Much better with Daddy though!

Vintage Days & A Visit with Daddy

The Fresno State contest for FFA always falls on the same weekend as Vintage Days.  Vintage Days is like a huge craft fair/festival set up at Fresno State with booths, activities, and music.  We have been in the past and Garrett loved the kids activities so I thought since Gannon was old enough to enjoy also this year it would be fun.  This also happens to be the weekend of the FFA State Conference so Dave is gone for 4 days.  I explained to the boys that we were going to see Daddy and jump in the bounce house...which was all they seems to care about.  The boys had such a great time.  There were 3 bounce structures set up, one for little guys, one for bigger, and a huge slide.  The small one was perfect and the next one was nice too, but because of the crowd they were only allowed to jump for 5 minutes and then had to get back in line.  Great to jump, but they didn't like the wait in between.  I was excited because I talked the boys into climbing the big slide and going down with me!  FUN!

We watched a magic show while the boys ate lunch and did a few of the craft before heading over to listen to the music.  They loved just running around the field as the band played. 

Prior to heading out Gannon had to grab a sit on the tractors!

I NO like it!

This is Gannon's new favorite phrase!

He uses it for EVERYTHING! Food, clothes, drinks, shows, whatever! 

When we pick out jammies for him we will give him two choices and he is quiet the indecisive child so if you persuade him to one you will soon hear, "I no like it".  Oh, really because you just picked these a couple of days ago!

Give him a snack, that he CAN  eat, and he will eat a few bites bring it back and say, "I no like it" and then want to pick a new one.  I'm finding it's his "I'm done" saying.

If Garrett chooses to watch Handy Manny instead of Mickey Mouse Gannon will quickly tell you, "I NO like it!"

It's hilarious and the way he says it with a little pout is SO dang funny!