On to May . . . . . .

A lot happened in May!  To start with, this little guy turned TWO!

  I know, I know.  I can't believe it either.  I love this kid so much.  He is sweet and loving and is so fun to be around!  He is talking up a storm and LOVES playing with his sissy.  He's also come down with a case of the "Terrible Twos", but he's got a lot of catching up to do to match up with that sweet big sister he has!  We were planning on just doing a little family celebration, but Ava had other plans.  She woke up on Kai's birthday and yelled, "Where are the balloons?  When's the party?  Where are all of Kai's friends?"  After explaining to her that we were just having a little party with mommy and daddy, she promptly became devastated, and with tears rolling down her cheeks said to me, "But Mom, Kai is 2 today!"  Well, needless to say, we had a party!  We called all of Kai's friends and had a little get-together at the park, complete with some yummy store-bought cupcakes that we're actually really good, but dyed all of the kids skin bright colors.

  

   We also had swimming lessons for Ava.  She is a super good little swimmer!  She got to be in the class with 2 of her best friends, Ethan and Luke.
 
And dentist appointments. . . . . . I'll just say due to some major hesitation on Ava's part, we didn't get cleanings done, BUT she did let the dentist look in her mouth.  I consider the trip a success!

We also finished off the soccer season.  Ava had a blast and can't wait to do it again.


Krispy Kreme doughnut field trip!  I don't get Krispy Kreme doughnuts very often, but when I do, I remember what it's like to really love something.  There is nothing better than a warm doughnut in the morning.  That is exactly why I rarely visit.

Like I said . . . . .

Family!  Our favorite people to hang out with . . . . Grandma and Grandpa Cuff came for a fun Easter visit and we had a blast!  We started our adventure off at South Point where we were *supposed* to go swimming.  Once again, that darn Vegas wind put a kink in our plans.  We proceeded to drown our sorrows in Cafe Rio and Nielsen's Custard.  :)  Luckily, we were able to swim the next day - and managed to fit Nielsen's Custard in one more time.  Our next adventure was a trip to Hoover Dam.  The new bridge is so neat and it's great to be able to park and walk up to the lookout without having to deal with all of the traffic and congestion right on the bridge.  I, of course, documented all of the fun in pictures.  Grandma and Grandpa also took Ava to Build A Bear for her birthday.  She picked out a "beautiful bunny" that sings "I Want Candy" and named her Emma.  She had so much fun and you'll see that Emma makes a few appearances in this post.

After that we took a trip out to where Randy works to show Bob and Vicki around and take the kids to an Egg Hunt.  The kids really went after the eggs and came out with lots of loot!  It was fun because Kai actually knew what he was doing this year!

We colored eggs that night.  I don't know what it is about coloring eggs but it is SOOOO much fun!  Ava was very particular about how hers were colored.  Kai . . . . not so much.  We had to help him understand that you couldn't just chuck the eggs into the cups.  It was a bit messy.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the Easter Bunny Cupcakes.  Ava absolutely loves making cupcakes, so we went all out for Easter and made a masterpiece!  Ava was so proud, and apparently they tasted good too.  It is so fun to have Grandma around for stuff like this because she is so helpful and patient!  I guess that's the teacher in her. :)

 The next morning the kids woke up to fun Easter Baskets.  The both got a new movie and I'm proud to say that Ava's movie is Annie.  The Classic.  We need to thank Grandma and Grandpa for introducing her.  Then we had a little egg hunt of our own.  Who knew you could pack so much fun into one weekend?  We had such a fun grandma and grandpa filled weekend!  Thanks for the visit!

Then it was off to church.  My favorite part of Easter.  We had an amazing lesson on the Crucifixion of Christ and it really ended the weekend on a high note.  If you ask Ava why we celebrate Easter she says, "Because Jesus came back to life."  I'm so grateful for the Savior and so grateful for my family!

   

Family . . . . .

Our favorite people to hang out with!  My fam (without Jess or Sam - Missed you!)  came to visit for a few days.  We, of course, all had a blast.  We were even lucky enough to have them here for one of Ava's soccer games!  The best part was that my grandma and grandpa came!  I love them so much and they are the best grandparents in the entire world.  We're so lucky that my kids have such a great relationship with them. 

My kids favorite spot at "Papa's House" is right in Papa's chair watching cartoons.  Ava told me more than once that she "just wanted to watch cartoons with Papa."  My favorite part of the trip was cuddling my sweet little niece.  She is so much fun.  I daresay Ava and Vienna are two of the most beautiful girls ever.  We also got to spend some time at the pool even if it was a little chilly.  Ava still braved the water, but Kai was a little more careful and spent a lot of time with only his toes in the water or with his towel wrapped around him. 

More pics of Vienna of course . . . :)  The bottom right picture is of me and Alecia changing our babies.  I definitely had a bigger bum to change!  I love the fact that Alecia is a Mommy now.  As soon as the little Miss was born, Alecia was immediately a part of the Mom Club and, as close as we were before, I feel like it brought us even closer.  The other random picture I have is of Kai.  Buck Naked.  He was apparently hungry because he snuck out of the tub, went downstairs, and helped himself to a bag of Lucky Charms.  Dare I say that the majority of us would not be comfortable in that position in the middle of the kitchen?

A few weeks ago, we had a "stay-cation" on the strip.  Randy had a conference so we all packed up and headed to the Mandarin Oriental for a night.  Of course, the wind was horrible, so the beautiful pool and hot tub were closed.  My kids were devastated.  We did some improvising and the kids went swimming in the big tub in the room.  We all had a blast on our little getaway!

Ava all ready for her Preschool Easter Party.  I can't believe how grown-up and beautiful she is!  It makes me sad, but excited at the same time.  As sad as it is to watch her grow up, it is so much fun to see all the new things she is learning and doing.

"O" we love Extracurricular Activities!

I hope you like the title of my post as much as I do. :)

A few weeks ago Randy's brother Scott and his wife Lori came to visit.  We love these guys so much and were able to have such a fun date night!  We went to dinner and saw Cirque Du Soleil's "O", which was AMAZING!  We all loved it so much.  Even if our husbands complained about the $8 bottle of water.




Ava's dance class was cut short this year so there won't be a long, darling post about her recital, fancy dance costume, and beautiful hair.  Along with that there will be no videos of Ava up on stage.  I see this as a negative, but I venture that some may see this as a positive.  :)  SOOO, I took a few pictures at her last dance class.  She loves dancing so much and listens to the teacher so well. 




Moving on to soccer . . . . this girl LOVES it!  In her first game she scored 4 goals.  FOUR!  How great is that?  In her second and third game, well, not as many.  She gets a little distracted.  I hear that's normal for 4 year olds?  Even 4 year olds with mad soccer skills?  Okay, I'll believe it.  Anyway, the only negative she can see about soccer in general is that she can't wear her big, beautiful fluffy skirts to play.  One of her favorite parts is eating oranges at half time. 





And I couldn't leave you without a shot of my little man.  He slays me.  Seriously.

Introducing . . . . .

Miss Vienna Marie!  My sweet little niece was born on March 10 and we couldn't be happier!  Isn't she beautiful?  I wanted to be there when she was born SOOOO bad, but I was nervous it wasn't going to happen because of the 5 hour drive separating me and my pregnant sister.  :)  Well, she called me on Wednesday to tell me she was having what she thought might be labor pains.  I didn't know if it was the time or not, but the kids and I jumped in the car and headed to Utah.  Luckily we did, because this little beauty was born the next morning!



I am one proud Auntie!  (Finally!  Now I can cuddle and love on the little Miss and then give her back to her momma for a feeding, diaper change, etc. etc.)  My little sister is such a great mommy.  I love the bottom pic.  It was Alecia holding Vienna for the first time and Sam just broke down.  Such a beautiful family.

Ava was so excited to get a new cousin.  She's been telling all of her friends that "her cousin came out of Aunt Alecia's belly and she's SOOO sweet and tiny!"  Just a couple of funny things Ava has said.  The other day she asked me if I missed Oodie or Vienna more.  (Oodie is my parent's golden retriever).  I asked her who she missed more and she said "I miss Oodie because I really like him, but I miss Vienna a lot because she's my cousin."  She went on to tell me that she's sad because now that Aunt Alecia is a mom, she isn't her aunt.  I explained it to her and she felt better. :)  My mom sent me a cute new picture of Vienna a couple of days ago and Ava said, "That's not Vienna!"  When I told her it was she said, "Why is she big now?"  Luckily, we get to see them this weekend.

My kids had so much fun in my mom and dad's new hot tub, they were completely worn out.

Of course, we made the normal detour to Grandma and Grandpa Cuff's house on the way home.  Do you think they're spoiled much?  I think the highlight of this visit was watching "Annie."  Both of my kids loved it!