University of Redlands' Kids Concert

My aunt told me about a fun local event and invited us to attend with her and Makenna's second cousin Paityn.  The children's concert was held at the University of Redlands and I jumped at the chance to go.  The concert was the day after the Renn Faire and just an hour after getting home from church (ie. NO NAP), so Makenna was a bit more tired than usual, but oh well that is the way things go sometimes.  Having one live event under our belts recently, I knew that Makenna would have to be a little quieter this time than for the Disney on Ice event; so I was a little worried.  Getting out the door proved to be a bit of a challenge, but we managed to make it to the concert towards the middle of the first section when they were still introducing all of the musicians, instruments, and the sounds that the instruments make.

Then the concert began.  They began each section by describing one of the fairytales and then playing an instrumental piece.  Makenna got a bit restless during this part because she couldn't grasp the concept of music portraying a story without words.  I must admit that I even struggle with this a bit, not being musically inclined, so it was hard for me to explain all of it to her.  The last instrumental piece that they played was from Peter and the Wolf.  Having grown up listening to this, I could easily explain to Makenna what was happening.  Aside from that it also helped since each character had a specific instrument and they narrated different segments of the piece to let you know what was happening.  Makenna really got into this piece and had fun quietly letting me know what was happening throughout Peter and the Wolf. And she was very excited to tell everyone about it afterwards too.

After the concert portion everyone went outside for the "instrument petting" area.  I think that is such a creative name:-)  The kids got to go around and try all of the instruments that were used during the concert.  We didn't bother going to try the wind instruments but Makenna and Paityn did like the percussion instruments and the drums.

It was so fun that Paityn was there too!!  Makenna always loves to play and have fun with her.

I thank my aunt for inviting us to this fun event and hope that the University will put this event on again next year. Makenna will look forward to attending again.

Renn Faire 2013

We had our annual Renn Faire day on May 18th with two of our friends: Kristen and Daniel.  This was Kyler's first time at the Renn Faire because last year I was VERY pregnant.  We of course saw the joust (where I got Kyler snuggles).

We saw our favorite washing well wench show and then changed things up a bit by going to the kids' area for playing time and a magic show where Kristen got to be an assistant.

Kyler didn't really appreciate the idea of sitting and watching the shows, so I did a lot of running after him as he walked wherever he pleased.  He rode in the stroller a bit when we could actually get him to and was carried the other part of the time.

Makenna had seen one of the rides and decided that she wanted to try it.  So, graciously Kristen went on with her while Daniel took amazing pictures.  You gotta love friends!!  It was so hilarious to watch Makenna's face as they slowly wound the ride up and up the pole until it was up the furthest it would go.  Then they let it go and it twirled quickly down.  Makenna's face stared off as a scared little girl and made Toby and I doubt our decision to put her on the ride.  But then that scared little face started to turn into a smile and then into giggles of joy.  She was not traumatized for life...Phew!!

And Makenna made a "best" friend in the process (Kristen and she were inseparable from then on).

And then the Renn Faire wouldn't be complete without us posing in some picture cutouts:-)

The three girls caught in the stocks.

Pirate Kyler

Princess Daddy?!?!

At that point it was time for us to leave, but we know we will be going back again next year for more fun.

Disney On Ice Girls' Night

Our little girl is growing up so fast and it is so fun to watch her.  With a little brother that competes for attention, it was really nice to get to do something special with just her.  Daddy stayed home with a sleeping Kyler and Makenna and I headed out on May 8th to Ontario to see Disney On Ice.  Makenna, like any other little three year old girl, is fascinated by Disney princesses.  Her favorites are Cinderella and Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty).  Makenna was SUPER excited when I told her that we were going to see princesses.  She had no idea what to expect because one, she had never been to a live performance like this before, and two, she has never seen or been ice skating before.  So, my attempts to prepare her didn't really help since she really had no prior knowledge to tap into:-)

When we got there there was a huge line with a lot of other little girls dressed in all kinds of princess dresses.  Makenna told me what each of them was dressed as while we waited patiently for our turn to show our tickets and enter the building. Then of course once we made it in we were bombarded with everything Disney.  Once we got through all of the craziness though, we got to our seats and we actually ended up getting terrific seats very close to the ice.  Since we arrived just after the doors opened, we were there pretty early and so we had to wait very patiently for the show to actually get started.  It was really nice though, because about 10 minutes before the show was scheduled to begin several performers came out and did a small comedy-type act that kept the kids entertained and laughing.

And then finally the show started and she was mesmerized.  I was so grateful that it was a kids performance and that she didn't have to be completely quiet because she liked to tell me everything that was happening during the whole performance.  But compared to the other kids she was very well behaved and a lot quieter than most of the others.  I was very proud of her:-)

We got out of there pretty late at night but had a marvelous time!  Since Makenna is getting older, Toby and I need to make a point to take her out alone and do big kid stuff with her.  And we both look forward to getting those opportunities with our wonderful little girl.

Another Trip To Our Favorite Gardens

On May 2nd we got the opportunity to go to the Huntington Library again.  And since everyone knows by now how much we LOVE it, we were of course excited to go.  This time we took our friend along with us and it made it even more special because it was her birthday!!

We of course headed straight for the children's garden and entered the magical land through the door of the "blue house" (nicknamed by Makenna).

We encountered a turtle riding princess.

And hand-in-hand made it through the enchanted tunnel.

Kyler found a leaf that he was quite enthralled by and enjoyed carrying it around everywhere.

We thought that he would never give up the leaf until he saw the play fountains and decided to give it up for a good cause: SPLASHING!!

I am pretty certain Kyler would have just went in head first if I hadn't been holding him.  Let me tell you, he threw such a fit when I took him away from the water.  He had such a blast!!

We went through the conservatory and saw the fish...

And we finished our day by walking through the Japanese Gardens and Australian Gardens.  Then we headed to BJs Pizza for a delicious birthday lunch.  Happy birthday to my wonderful friend!!  Thank you for joining us on our adventures.

Easter 2013

We began our Easter by dying eggs.  We used our same technique as last year by placing the egg into the tines of the whisk.

Makenna was able to dip it in herself without any assistance this year and without too much worry of her tipping over the dye all over the place:-)  She did need help writing her name one of the eggs though.

She is very proud that she is able to write "mmmmmm" but not her whole name yet...we are still working on that.  Our friend, Daniel, also happened to be over that night so he got to dye eggs with us and took some pictures for us too.

Toby and I of course got in on the action too, but thankfully we put Kyler to bed before we began.  I can only imagine what he would have done with the eggs and dye.

On Easter Sunday we got up and ready for our church service that is an hour earlier than normal so we can celebrate Jesus' Resurrection as a church afterwards.  Mommy was smart and took a picture of the two kiddos before we left for church because I knew this would be the cleanest, happiest, and most well rested that they would be today.

We always have such a great time and Beth, Jason, and Wyatt were able to join us so it made it extra special.  After the church service we got to have a yummy brunch while the kids ate and patiently waited for their turn in the bounce house.

Next it was time for the egg hunt.  There were such a crazy amount of eggs.  Makenna was still very particular about her eggs and was in no hurry to pick up all the eggs but carefully selected the colors and items that she wanted.

Then when her basket was almost full she decided that she had enough and didn't try to stuff any more eggs into the basket.

Wyatt was quite funny too.  He went full force into egg collecting mode.  Although where Makenna was more about the look of the eggs, Wyatt was more interested in what was inside and had to open every one before he put it in his basket...hehe.

After he had a very full and overflowing basket he kindly tried to help Makenna fill hers to overflowing too but Makenna wasn't too interested in his help this time.

Then we put Kyler out on the grass well after all the other kids had stopped hunting for eggs.  There were still a plethora of eggs left and we wanted to see what he would think of them.  And...we thought YAY maybe he would go for the egg...

but no...he realized that he was sitting on the grass and decided it was a lot more fun than the eggs:-)

When I picked him back up and gave him one of the eggs, a football one of course, he enjoyed chewing on it and holding it in his hand.

Makenna played one of the games and then we headed back to the house to see if the Easter Bunny had visited our house while we were at church.  Both kids had fallen asleep in the car on the short drive home but were fine about being encouraged to wake up by mommy saying "Oh, wow!!  I think the Easter Bunny came!!"

Makenna and Kyler both had fun looking in their baskets.  And since the Easter Bunny had brought Makenna bunny ears on her first Easter, Kyler also had some in his first Easter basket.  And he was super excited to have them on...

Ok...well he tolerated them for a few minutes...

 And then he decided that they were really worked best for chewing on.

Kyler particularly liked dumping everything out of the basket and for some reason was fascinated with the toothbrush and toothpaste that was still in the box.

And while we were busy taking pictures of Kyler with his Easter basket, Makenna took the time to examine the items in mommy and daddy's basket too...hehe.

She was more interested in Kyler's and mommy and daddy's basket then her own.  Although, she was super excited to see that the Easter Bunny had brought her a dream light toy.  And in her favorite colors, pink and purple!!

Makenna got more into the egg collecting here and quickly raced around the house finding all of the eggs.

She was told not to collect the sport ball eggs that were on the floor though because they were for Kyler.  Although, just like at church, Kyler could care less about the eggs and barreled over them.  I opened up one of the eggs to show him that his favorite puffs snack were inside but even that didn't entice him to pick up an egg.  What did finally get him to be interested was once Makenna had collected all of her eggs and was looking at them in her basket.

Then he thought it would be fun to go and take all of the eggs out of her basket, and Makenna wasn't going to allow that to happen...hehe.  He proudly was able to get one though.

And I think he liked it more than his own because it was filled with jelly beans and when he shook it it made a fun sound, which the puffs in his eggs didn't make such a fun sound.

Then it was time for the kids to get a nap.  Surprisingly they both went down for naps very easily.  When they woke up we headed over to grandma and papa's house to visit with my family.  It was a very long, but very fun Easter day.  He is risen indeed!!