Annual Egg Hunt Playdate

This is my 3rd or 4th year putting on an egg hunt play date.  I have everyone fill enough eggs for their kids and bring them to my house the day before.  In the morning I dropped my boys off with a friend, picked up a few young helpers, and went to the park to hide eggs.

Here is the group waiting to hunt.

 I'm glad Rachel jumped in and helped Benton.  I was facilitating a wave start so he was on his own.

 Ethan and Trent hunted together, of course.

 Ethan was a determined hunter, and very willing to stick to the quota I set for him.

 Benton got so many so quickly being in the first wave that I had to sneak eggs out of his basket and re-hide them.

The boys loved finding all the surprises in their eggs.  Ethan finished his candy, and Benton probably got close.  Ethan has told me several times, "no more candy today!"

Dentist

Several weeks ago I took the boys to the dentist.  Ethan has been before and works hard to take care of his teeth.  I'm glad he was rewarded for his efforts with a cavity free mouth.

This was Benton's first trip to the dentist. He was very excited to go get a toothbrush and still loves to use it. 

Making Life Easier

1: Our new patio table.  My kitchen floor is needing a lot less sweeping.  Plus, Benton is currently in a phase of dumping any cup he can find. 

2: A garage shoe rack.  I'm finally getting the boys used to taking off their shoes as they walk in the door and that has pretty much eliminated the search for shoes while we are running late routine.  Yay!

Visitors!

On Sunday afternoon, Grandpa and Grandma Jeppson came to visit!  We played games, drove remote control cars, swam/sat by the pool, and after a yummy dinner (thanks Mike) had s'mores in the backyard.

 Monday we drove to Papago Park and hiked up to Hole in the Rock.  It is actually a very easy short hike, but fun for seeing Arizona landscape.

 I am 2 days shy of 37 weeks in this picture.

 I was paranoid about Benton running off and falling because he has a bad track record of staying on the path when we hike, so there was definitely some hovering/clinging going on!  Ethan had a toy car that was lost down the side of the mountain.  Dad and Mike made a valiant effort trying to get it, but gratefully, gave up before incurring any injuries for a cheap little toy.

 Then we went over to Tempe and the boys rode their bikes along Tempe Towne Lake.

After that we had lunch at one of my favorite Arizona restaurants: Oregano's.

We headed back home to attempt to get Benton to nap and Dad took Mike to Costco to get patio furniture for our backyard! We use our yard a lot year round, so we're very excited to have room for all of us (and guests) to eat!  They got it all set up and here we are listening to Ethan read us some bedtime stories at our new table and chairs.

 Ethan loves board games and Dad and Dianne played many with him while they were here.  He even got them to play one more game of Star Wars Trouble with him before they left Tuesday morning; he was SO excited.

Thanks Dad and Dianne; we loved getting to spend our weekend with you!

Zoo Day

We last minute decided to join a friend at the zoo today.  We got most of our chores done last night and finished this morning, hit the gym, and then went to the zoo.  Ethan has been anxiously awaiting the splash pads being turned on, so I'm glad we got to go now that they are.  

Here are the boys looking dapper in their new matching suits from Nana and Papa.  

 They enjoyed this little stream, especially when my friend, Mary, arrived with buckets and shovels.

 Splashpad!

 We did see a few animals.

 Here they are watching the Squirrel Monkeys in my favorite zoo attraction.

Perilous Decorating

It has taken awhile to get these pictures printed and then to get a special ladder that allows us to reach this wall (thank you Craigslist).  It scares me watching Mike paint and decorate in this space, but I'm really glad he is willing.

We have a third square that will be centered below these two for #3.  I think we will wait to hang it until I get a picture of him though.

Nursery

How cute are these pictures Benton's nursery teachers sent home?!?

The Lottery!

We have several school choices out here with public schools, a magnet public school, and a few charter schools.  My first choice school for Ethan is one of our local charter schools (Mike makes fun of me because when we got married I was anti-charter school) that has a lottery for admission.  The lottery was last night and Ethan got in, yay!  He was actually like the 4th one called.  There were 22 open spots (out of 75 Kindergarten places because siblings of older students get in first) and I think there were over 60 or 70 applicants.

I am very excited that I don't have to figure out which school is my second choice.  One more big stress factor gone before the baby is born.

Ethan is excited but says he is also sad because he won't get to play with his baby brother (Benton) very much and he really likes playing with him.  Awwww...

36 Weeks

I'm running out of time to document this pregnancy, so here are some more pictures.  It is hard to catch me in anything but my gym clothes, so that trend shows in these pictures.  7am, about to head out the door to grocery shop with the boys, then to the gym=my tired face.