Maxwell's 2nd Birthday

We had a fun time celebrating Maxwell's birthday this year.

It was very last minute and low key, with all the holiday partying we did the previous week.

But, he's only two, right?

On his birthday, we invited grandma and grandpa out to our house for dinner and dessert.

And a family friend joined us later in the evening.

I think this Lego set that grandma and grandpa gave Max was a favorite.

The kids have loved playing with it every day since.

I successfully made my (Max's) first birthday cake.

I've always made cupcakes for my kids, but wanted to try something different.

It wasn't too fancy, but fun to make nonetheless.

I think everyone ended up with a frosting overload when they were done eating though.

Later in the week, we had a little birthday party with a few friends.

The kids ate snacks, played, blew bubbles and swam in the kiddie pool.

It's much easier throwing a summer birthday party, that's for sure.

Not much planning and preparation is required!

Happy birthday little buddy!  We love you.

Thanks to everyone who made Maxwell's birthday extra special this year.

Terrific Two!

Happy Birthday Maxwell.

It's hard to believe you are actually two!

My how the year has flown by right before my eyes.

Last night, as I moved you from our bed to Kathryn's, 

(you were having a hard time going to sleep)

I noticed it was the exact time when I realized you were making your way into this world.

You sure are a handful at the ripe old age of two.

  Full of energy, full of life and full of spunk.

Oh...and full of opinions.

To say the least, you give us a run for our money!

You can be the sweetest and most loving little boy.

You love to cuddle, play, wrestle and you give the best hugs and kisses.

You are a little ball of fire...ready to explode.

You are so much fun!

You love babies, which is good because you are about to be a big brother soon.
You love to play with Kathryn, and she is a good big sister to you.
You love to color, read books, swim, play in the dirt and eat anything made of sugar.
You are a special little boy and we are so grateful you came to our family.
Love you Maxwellian.  We hope you have the happiest birthday.

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July.

We celebrated with family and played hard all day.

The kids had fun lighting fireworks at grandma and grandpa's the night before.  

And Michael's brother put on quite a show for us once the little kids went to bed.

 Our little family woke up early on the 4th and went to our ward breakfast and flag-raising ceremony.

Then we met up with family for the parade.  We couldn't have asked for better weather.

The kids loved the airplanes that flew overhead right before it started.

Sadly, some of our favorite floats weren't part of the parade this year.  We missed them!

After the parade, we headed to the park for some food and rides.

I think I devoured an entire elephant ear by myself.

We put the kids down for a nap and then watched Despicable Me 2 with everyone.

And later that night, we watched the big fireworks show.
It was great finale to a wonderful day.

Family Vacation: Part 5

We loved the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

This time, we tried not to get too overwhelmed and did what we could in a day.

We started with a tram ride, which was neat to see the animals in a setting more like their natural habitat.

 

We loved the gorillas.

They really put on a show for us.

The smallest one got mad at the bigger one because the bigger one took something from the smallest one.

We explained to Kathryn that they were a lot like her and Max.

We met the king of the jungle.

Or wait, shouldn't it be the king of the safari...

Before leaving, we stopped by the carousel for a ride.

It was a tough decision which animal to pick.

In the end, Kathryn rode on the lion and Maxwell rode on the gorilla.

That night, we drove to Oceanside and stayed in a hotel right next to the beach.

It was the last "fun" day of our trip and we knew wanted to make it count.

It was absolutely beautiful and the weather was gorgeous.

We walked out on the pier, which seemed to stretch for miles and miles.

Then we went for a bike ride.

Michael did most of the pedaling though.

I thought I was helping out more...  

 

Can you tell by their faces that they were super excited?

They loved it!

On our way back to drop off the bike, we stopped at the park to play.

We got a good laugh when several people stopped to pose by the bike for a picture.

 

While we were at the beach in Oceanside, Race Accross America (RAAM) started.

It is considered the world's toughest bike race.

The team in the picture below stayed at our hotel the night before.

We ate gelato and watched the teams start their race. 

That night, we stopped in Las Vegas to sleep.

And even though it was super late when we pulled into town, 

We rushed our kids to see a few of our favorite things we had missed the first time.

The next morning, we sadly packed our suitcases and drove the final leg of our journey.

It was kind of a bummer for Michael, since it was Father's Day.

  

 We loved our trip.  Las Vegas was fun and San Diego was Perfect!

We will definitely be going back someday soon.

Kathryn still tells me on a daily basis how much she misses Shamu.

I think we all miss Shamu!