The Mini Pinata

Alden was given a little pinata for Christmas from my siblings and so before we left they had fun breaking it open together.  We found a little plastic hammer in the garage and let Alden go to work hitting at it.  He ended up needing some help so everyone got a turn, but we had a lot of fun.

Alden starting us off.  He was pretty good at swinging that hammer around.

Alden was fairly consistent when he first started swinging.  He would just try the same thing over and over.  As you can hear in this video, Drew said he was just trying to tire the pinata out.

As you can see here, as time went on, Alden changed his technique and we started giving him some help.

Alden was very determined to do as much as he could on his own and just kept swinging to hit the pinata.

Erik finally got to help hit it some.

And then Drew helped and finally got it to start breaking open.

So, then we handed the hammer back to Alden and he got to wack it and make some candy fly out which he thought was really cool.

Then, when Alden was done Erik put it on the ground and just pounded away at it until it was pretty much destroyed.

However, Erik still felt the need to tear the rest of the pinata apart, which Alden had fun watching.  It was amazing how much entertainment we all got out of this tiny little pinata! 

Rancho San Antonio

We had a lot of fun going to Rancho San Antonio which is a park near my parent's house, with trails to hike and lots of neat things to see, including animals.  My dad, two sisters, Drew, me and our boys all went to walk some of the trails and enjoy being out of the house together.  We got lucky and got to see lots of deer, squirrels (although that isn't really anything special near my parents), quail, pigs, sheep, goats, horses and cows.  Alden thought it was really neat to see all the animals and spend time with his family.

Alden also took advantage of the fact that there were multiple people there who could carry him and he switched around so that he got carried for a significant portion of our walk.  We had a lot of fun and I was really glad we took the time to go out and enjoy some different scenery while we were in California.

 These were a couple of the squirrels running around.

 These were the deer that we saw just standing around in a meadow that we walked by.

Alden getting his first ride of the day on Grandpa's back. 

 Then Alden switched over and had Aunt Katrina carry him.

 There is a farm that you can walk to at Rancho San Antonio and that is where we took Alden.  He thought it was really neat getting to see the goats, sheep and other animals there.

 Alden had fun watching the goats run around and play.

 We were trying to get Alden to dance on the stage, but he wouldn't do it, so Grandpa did a little jig for us instead!

 At this point Alden was getting tired so he got back on Katrina's back...

 Then Daddy's shoulders.

 I think Alden also liked that he could see the goats and sheep better from Daddy's shoulders.

 These were the quail that we saw at the end of our walk.  Alden thought they were pretty neat.

 Anders had napped most of the walk but woke up near the end.

 My beautiful sisters and adorable baby boy!

Alden was still watching the quail at this point and trying to tell Anders about them, however, Anders was more interested in the people.

Christmas Break with Family

I am so glad that we got to spend this Christmas break with family and my kids absolutely loved it too.  We had so much fun playing and relaxing around my parents house!  Alden loved having tons of people who would play with him and spend time with him all day long.  I loved visiting with family and just seeing my kids happy!

These are just a few pictures I took while we were relaxing and enjoying family time in California.

Alden enjoyed relaxing with Xander, when he wasn't running all over the house wanting to do other things.

Katrina enjoyed working on one of the hardest, if not the hardest, puzzle my dad has ever made.  I helped a little but I will admit that I am not as good at puzzles as my sister.

Alden loved learning how to play ping pong while we were in California and got to the point that he could manage on his own.

I do think he is a little disadvantaged because he has to stand on a stool to play and that means he can't move along the edge of the table to get the ball.  However, he still has fun and when people played him they were mostly just helping him learn and improve so it worked out well.  I honestly just love the fact that Alden wants to learn and try so many different things.

Xander and Erik decided to do a much easier puzzle in the kitchen while Katrina finished her hard one.

Alden and Grandpa had fun playing with a ball that Jenni made for Alden for Christmas.

Drew and I took the boys out at one point to just go walk the mall and we decided to share a small Coldstone ice cream and Alden was really excited about that.

It was fun to see my siblings playing with Anders!  I love watching them interact and just having a chance to spend time with my siblings is great!

Anders checking out his aunts.

Drew and Anders checking out some of the ping pong action in the garage.

Alden had to patiently wait his turn on the side while my aunt and uncle played.

I just love catching moments like this.  It is just so sweet to see Daddy and son cuddled up together!

Drew and Anders found a new game that Anders thought was tons of fun!  Drew would just stand over him and drop this ball onto his tummy and Anders would just laugh!  It was so adorable to watch.

Here is a video where you can see a little of what was going on and hear Anders adorable laugh.

I love seeing Anders so happy!  Every time I hear him laugh or see him smile it makes me smile!  I am so glad that we got to have some great quality time with my family while we were in California!