A lot of April

Lots of random fun from the month of April!! 

On April 2nd we hosted a virtual baby shower via Skype for Lindsay and her little boy!  Friends from the San Diego area met up at my mom's house and then we had family and friends from all over the country and Canada join in!  Here are a few pictures of everyone playing a fun game of drawing a picture of the baby on their forehead and writing the prediction of his name...which they are keeping a secret!!! 

 Nani's friend, Jan, taught the girls some yoga moves following the Skype call!

 After church on April 3rd, I had heard about a street festival in Poway so we decided to check it out.  The first thing that we came upon was pony rides and Ella didn't want to miss out on the fun!  Joseph was more interested in checking out the entertainer who had live snakes which worked out perfectly since I could stand in the middle of them both with Julia taking pictures of Ella and keeping my eye on Joseph, while Rich waited for Ella in line.

 After about an hour or so of checking everything out we had some lunch there, listened to the live band and then headed home.  

That afternoon we took our inaugural swim in our pool!!!  Once we moved in we had to get the pool resurfaced since it was in pretty bad shape so after a month of letting it sit and stabilize it is now ready for use!  The pool is still a bit chilly for me but the kids are loving it!  We are going to love having it!!

 Julia, of course, could not and would not miss out on the action!  She cries every time it is time to get out.

 Random selfies one morning hanging in bed with these two monkeys!

They were playing trucks together!

 Rich was out of town for a few days one week and I was wanting to get a good walk in so the kids and I headed to Lake Miramar one morning.  Joseph did a great job of riding his bike the entire 5 miles around and Ella ran/walked 3.25 miles of it!!!!  Crazy, right?!  I kept asking her if she wanted to take a break in the stroller and she kept saying no.  I told her that as long as she would keep up with me that she could keep walking/running and she did great!!  She finally decided that she was good and rested for the end but she was a rockstar-in a dress, nonetheless!!!  

Checking out the ducks after

 Hanging out on the kayak after...

 I had to go to the mall one day to exchange Julia's outfit for Brian and Hollies' wedding so we stopped and played for a bit.  Love these curls!!!

 On April 8th, Ella had her evaluation for speech with the school district which deserved a celebration with a pink cake pop after.  After a rough start (she totally freaked out, started crying when the therapist came to meet us) she came around and ended up really warming up to him.  She is going to qualify for articulation and will begin services in May.  

 That night we went over to the Martin's home to celebrate Zack's 6th birthday!!  The kids had a blast and it was a fun neighborhood celebration!

You would think these two play together daily the way they pick up with each other every time we see one another. I love it!!

 Sweet picture of Julia on her 19 month birthday!!  

 

This girl.  19 months has her talking a lot more, climbing a lot more and testing the limits a lot more!  She definitely has learned that hitting her siblings gets a reaction out of them and her parents and that pulling Ella's hair makes Ella really mad and makes Julia laugh.  I have caught her standing on our tall kitchen chairs trying to get into the pantry to get cereal and most recently caught her on the bathroom counter (she climbed on to it from the toilet) turning the water on filling up a cup. She is BUSY!!  One night the kids went swimming right before dinner so I told them we'd skip baths and as we were walking up the stairs to get ready for bed she kept yelling repeatedly at me, "Baaa, baaa, baa"-at first I couldn't figure it out and then it dawned on me that she was upset that she wasn't taking a bath!!  I know I mentioned it before but whenever we are in the car and "Let It Go" comes on she busts out into song and it makes Rich and I crack up every time!!!  It seems that she is always looking for a "nack" (snack) and asks for her "paa paa" (paci) often even though we are trying to limit it to the car and sleeping.  She has recently not been wanting to eat in her high chair so eats breakfast on the floor, lunch is outside at the picnic table and thankfully we are able to get her in it for dinner.  She insists that she is the one to buckle her in to her high chair though (along with the top buckle of her carseat) so that independent streak is shining through.  She is still really cuddly and is starting to kiss my belly which is super sweet.  Her favorite book continues to be "Brown Bear, brown bear" and will now ask for it when walking into her bedroom for nap "bown bear".  She continues to follow Joseph and Ella around constantly and is learning so much from them.  

 On April 9th we went to Mission Beach to meet up with our friends from Texas, the Moragues family.  They were in town for a vacation at Legoland and we had such a great day playing and catching up with one another!  It was overcast and a little chilly, at least I thought, but that didn't stop the kids from getting in the water and from playing in their bathing suits!  

 Ella helping Julia with the baby powder to get the sand off before we went for lunch.

 After lunch at Draft, which was really good right on the boardwalk, we walked down a bit because we had spotted really large ice creams earlier in the day.  Well, they also had HUGE shave ices (the salesgirl wasn't joking when she said they were as big as your head!)  Thankfully the kids shared and they didn't finish them all but had a pretty delicious (and messy!) time trying to do so!!  

 We went to my parent's home on April 9th for dinner and a celebration for Laura's birthday which is on the 12th.  The kids had a great time together as always!

 Julia looking mighty grown up!

 Celebrating Laura's birthday with ice cream sundaes!  

Playing in the sand at Joseph's baseball practice on April 19th.  

While Joseph was concentrating hard in the field.

 Ella has become quite the photographer recently so I am always finding random pictures on my phone and most days have to delete 100 plus photos!  Here are a few of her masterpieces from April:

 

 This one I had to laugh at...although it is blurry this is how Joseph's floor (and often times how the floor in our family room) looks!  We are full blown into the Lego stage at our home!!  

 Her view from our walk at Lake Miramar on April 23rd-I think she was trying to take a picture of Joseph who was riding his bike with Rich who was running in front of us.  

I'm pretty sure I took this one but the next few after are back to being Ella's work.  

 All three of the kids are totally into band-aids!  Joseph had a freckle/mole removed from his right hand on April 27th which has meant that he needs a bandaid on it while it heals so the girls have also wanted them on.  Nothing is wrong with her head but this is where Ella decided she needed it this day!
 *As a sidenote-do you see the frames still in a pile behind her??  For my Mother's Day gift I am requesting that everything gets put up on walls or given away!!  

 We heated up the spa on April 24th and had a blast playing in it.  Love doing this because even I got in!!  

 Couldn't get them all to look at the same time but they were playing so nicely in the corner of our room on the morning of April 26th when I was getting ready! 

 We hadn't been to story time for awhile but finally made it on April 28th and it was so fun to sit back and watch them all-they all really enjoy it!!  

 Ella rarely naps anymore but I found her totally passed out here on April 29th. Gotta love the pool noodle in her room!!  

My parents took the grandkids (minus Julia who is a little too young and Cole who was sick) to Seussical, the Musical, which was put on at the church where Joseph goes to preschool on the afternoon of Saturday, the 30th.  My parents said that they were all really entertained during the show and Joseph and Ella talked about it for the rest of the day so it's safe to say they enjoyed it!  Nani and Poppa treated them to frozen yogurt after at Golden Spoon which was probably even more of a hit!  Laura met up with them to pick up Sydney so she got a few pictures!  

What a fun way to end the month!!