Quick post from California

We have been really enjoying our time in California, we will be back in Portland on Friday night. We are so going to miss our family and friends!! We've been so busy visiting, playing, going to the beach, went to the Long Beach Aquarium today and the best thing for Jakob by far - Disneyland - yesterday!
I will post pictures when we get home of all our activities.
Anyhow, Jakob had an amazing time at Disneyland, he told me today that his favorite ride was Materhorn - yep my kid loves the speedy coasters! He didn't so much like Space Mountain, too dark and fast - I will have to scan the pic of that one - hysterical - I look like I'm possessed, Jakob is freaked, Mark and Pete are smiling and Sam is very concerned!!
But, the highlight of our Disneyland trip had to be Sam and Jakob getting picked for the Jedi academy and getting to train to fight Darth Vader. They both got up on stage and fought "the REAL Darth Vader" - I was so excited for them, I was even tearing up - knowing how memorable it would be for them. Of course the 8 hours after that they were still talking about how cool it was to fight Darth Vader.
Backtracking - Sam had never wanted to do the show before (he has seen it several times and is a huge Star Wars fan, but has never wanted to get up to fight Darth Vader), but while watching the show, Jakob turned to me and asked "When can I fight Darth Vader?", I asked if Sam would do it - knowing if Jakob got scared, Sam would be there with him, and Sam said he would! They waited about 40 minutes to get picked by "Mace Windu", who picked Sam first, we were nervous that Jakob wouldn't get picked but he did - he was one of the smallest kids picked - but was so focused on his task. It was so awesome, I think I speak for all of us - including the DangVu family - we are so proud of our new Jedis! Serioously a feat to get up on stage in front of hundreds of people and fight the REAL Darth Vader!!
Jakob has been doing everything that his big cousin Sam does and on our way back to the car, Mark and I asked the boys what their favorite ride was and Jakob said "Umm, I think....Mat (he almost said Materhorn)" then he turned to Sam and said "My favorite was the same as Sam's favorite...What was your favorite Sam?" Mark and I were dying laughing - so cute!
All in all we are having a great trip, it will be hard to come home and get back to the grind - well I'm off for the summer - guess it's not really back to the grind for me. We seriously need a vacation from our vacation - we've been up late every night socializing and having parents night out or even parent sleepovers - complete with hangovers - so awesome!
More to come later!

Boys Weekend

Grandpa Carroll Watson came to visit us this weekend. Jakob had a blast with him, as did Sarah - she was a total flirt and wanted him to carry her everywhere.The boys went to the Museum of Aviation, Jakob LOVED it. He got to sit in a B-17 Bomber, and see all kinds of planes. We also took a trip to the skate park, Jakob showed Grandpa his tricks, took a trip to the zoo and a lot of walks! I'm sure we wore Grandpa out, but it was some fun! Thanks for the visit Grandpa Carroll!!

Inside the B -17 Bomber - Jakob came home with a lot of questions about bombs "Why do planes drop them, what do they do to people, where do they drop them, do we drop them on mean animals?" He is so curious and so sensitive about anything that might hurt someone, but wants to know all the details. Poor Grandpa got an ear ful of questions this weekend!




Sarah playing peek a boo with Grandpa!

Sarah

Written on today's preschool/daycare sheet:

"Today Sarah was chasing her shadow and getting mad at it because she thought it was stealing her toy, very funny!!"

"Sarah pee'd on the potty, and when she heard the tinkle sound she said Pee Pee!"

Sugar and Spice?

Well, Miss Sarah, in all her glory, pooped in the bath tub tonight! Oh yeah, this is my first experience with this as a parent (I won't go into detail on my experience with my brother as a child). Jakob was getting out of the tub, I turned to help him out, turn back around and there is Sarah bending over, saying "Potty" and a huge unmentionable is coming out of her rear end!!! AAAH!! Thank God Jakob was out of the tub, he was laughing as hard as I was though! I called for Mark's help, he ran up, got grossed out, didn't hurry as fast I would have hoped to get the paper cup I asked for to scoop out the poop - meanwhile Sarah is frantically stepping around in the water, poop floating into toys, around her legs (narrowly being missed by her feet). 

So, it was a hysterical moment, one I soon won't forget, the image is burned in my brain!

And needless to say, the tub is quite clean and sanitized now!! It needed a good cleaning anyways!!

Happy Kids

Our kids doing fun kid stuff...

80 degrees outside, but raining, gotta dig in the dirt!

Naked toddler watching brother dig!
I found this stuffed dog today at the resale shop - an awesome deal - Sarah wouldn't leave without it, she tried to carry it out the door but didn't make it b/c it is so big.  So, I thought I better buy it before we got charged with shoplifting! 
Jakob named it "Spotty Dog", and informed me that "Roxy wouldn't be happy if she saw the dog in our house or on her bed...do you think she can see us right now from heaven?" Me:"I bet she can." Jakob:"Oh... well Roxy, this dog isn't real." Cute! 

Jakob's serious, thinking face while talking about Roxy.

Saturday Morning Hike

Saturday, we took a nice hike/walk at Tryon Creek, it was gorgeous and cool under all the trees (it's been about 80 degrees here). Sarah decided she wasn't going to ride in the backpack, she walked almost the whole way, held hands or ran with her brother. She's going to be a great hiker, just like Jakob.

An attempt at a family photo
Sarah having fun looking up at the tall trees (tees as she calls them).
Love on the trail.
C'mon, hurry up!
Last part of the trail, Daddy carrying the load!

A quick rest before we left. I love this picture - Sarah has had it, her ponytail is pulled out and her hair is so crazy - you know it's naptime when that happens!

Fun in the Dirt

We have a little back patio in our condo, that has an area for a table and then some dirt - we could grow grass there I guess, but the kids are having so much fun digging in the dirt. We've planted some flower seeds along the wall and are hoping they will sprout soon. Tonight I brought out some buckets of water and let the kids go to town, first they just put the water in the sandbox, later they discovered how to make mud - I don't have pictures of that - I wish I did, Sarah had it all over her face, hands and legs. I couldn't take pictures because she was running over to me trying to wipe it on me and saying "Diteeee" meaning "DIRTY!!" It was straight to the bath from there for both of them, even Jakob was muddy (he's turned a new leaf with getting dirty!!). I think the little back patio will work out just fine for them. We'll see what kinds of other activities they can do back there!