Lake Hodges Bike Ride

SK8R Boyz

San Diego Zoo

Parker getting some shots of the orangutans 

At the elephant exhibit. Jared was sporting a pretty full-on beard at this point; I kind of miss it, it was handsome :) I think he stuck with it so long in a pact with Parker to get him to stop sucking his thumb (it worked!).

Taking a drink break in the shade--it was a hot, sunny day

Can you spot Grandpa Niki in the background?

Pushing the stroller and riding in the stroller was fun for each

We waited in line to see the pandas--luckily, you can actually get a really great view of them once you get in.

Parker captured a good shot with his camera.

Riding on the sky tram. Parker was pretty nervous about going on this (I didn't feel all that great about it, either, so I can't blame him), but as soon as it took off, he exclaimed, "Hey! This is really fun!" and then loved every minute of it.

Mariner I and Mariner II

We all couldn't resist the critter pics

 It's about time that I posted some pictures from Parker's birthday trip to the San Diego Zoo! They have been nagging me for weeks now :) Thanks to Dee and Niki, we were able to spend the day at the zoo with them and Nate, Lisa, and Alex. We got Parker his own camera for his birthday, and he spent a lot of time during the day diligently working at getting great shots and videos of the animals. We walked and walked all over, hopped on the tram here and there, and had a nice long lunch (where we caught sight of zoo keepers walking a cheetah on a leash along with its doggie buddy--who knew??). We even rode the sky tram back across the zoo at the end of the day--somehow, I got on the tram with all of the kiddos, luckily we all ended up feeling good and happy about the tram ride and made it back down to land safe and sound. It was a long, full, fun day, hopefully one that Parker will always remember as the day that we celebrated him turning five!!

Baking Cookies

You may notice that Rainbow Fish is also helping...

And there Levi goes, trying to help himself to Rainbow Fish...

For some reason, Parker chopped his cookie into bites. Now if only he would use utensils for the rest of his food...

A big happy "cheese!" for his brother

Covered in chocolate, from head to toe

So, "we" made cookies yesterday. Parker really wanted to help, and now that Levi is a master chair climber, there is just no stopping him when it comes to getting all up in whatever is going on. So, I let him join us at the counter, although he had a good cry when I wouldn't let him reach in the bowl and eat the cookie dough in giant, raw fistfuls as he so desperately desired. Since Levi had been so intimately involved in our baking project from the very beginning, I figured it was only fair that he be allowed to sit down to the reward of a warm, fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie just like me and Parker. This didn't seem like the best idea, however, once I realized just how many chocolate chips were in these cookies! Levi was absolutely covered. He didn't seem much the worse for wear after his indulgence, which I'm sure is the most chocolate he has ever had in his life, although for some reason he didn't seem all that hungry for our lovely, healthy veggie risotto come dinner time :) Oops.

Starting Him Young

Here are some pics of Levi reading through Jared's Bass Pro Shops catalogue the other night. I find it very fitting that he is shirtless and wearing army green pants (with a big ol' belly hanging over them) for this activity. There is also a little video clip that shows Levi identifying a "fish" and saying "fish"--it's that little noise that sounds like "eeesshhh." He likes to point to our fish Rocky and say this :) The first thing he is saying and showing me in the movie are "rain boots." He got this one all figured out after the big rain storms we've had the past couple of weekends. 

Mission Bay Bike Ride

Practicing skids in the dirt

Banana Bros

Levi's ridiculously ridiculous "Cheese!" face

Photo by Parker

Parker Self-Portrait

Bike Riding Baby

Here is Levi hanging out while Jared was getting our bikes ready to go for a ride--he loves bike riding so much that even wearing his helmet is fun, because it means we must be going riding soon! He looked particularly goofy in this outfit combo, though. It's a good look for him.

Bike Riding Dude

Parker learned to ride his bike without training wheels about a week before his fifth birthday, and we are so proud of him. These photos and videos are from that day--they show his very first few times riding all by himself! We took him down to the playground at the elementary school, and he "got it" so quickly. He was having so much fun, he just kept saying, "Again! Again!" It was awesome to see him excited and happy--he wasn't timid or scared at all, and the few spills he took didn't phase him. He became an official bike rider that day, and just gets better and better every time he rides. His favorite thing is to ride on dirt trails, so we're trying to think of some easy, flat trails (with the occasional fun dip or bump) near us to ride on--which is great, because it feels a lot safer to ride without cars around, and falling onto dirt feels a lot softer (and more fun) than concrete. I think he's going to be a great mountain biker :) We're really looking forward to going on bike rides as a family, even Levi absolutely loves to ride in the baby seat on Jared's bike! 

Paige, Parker and Jared Videos

I have a lot of older family videos sitting around my computer. I've always wanted to find the time to make them really nice but I might not ever find that time. My plan (at least for tonight) is to edit them quickly and post them here on the blog and when I have enough I'll make a DVD. Better to have a mediocre video then no video at all right? 

What better way to start these off then with a super special dance video of Parker from Mexico 2008.

Five Years Old!

Parker turned five years old on Saturday the 3rd! It really felt like a special birthday to me this year--five just feels like such a milestone. He's really growing up a lot lately. We decided to spend a day at the zoo to celebrate this year, and thanks to Dee and Niki we were able to enjoy the day with a whole group of family! When Parker woke up on the morning of his birthday, the first thing I heard him say (at about 6:20 am) was, "I'm five years old today!" it was really cute--cute enough to make me smile rather than just groan at being woken up so early :) We had a birthday breakfast celebration at Dee and Niki's house--Parker chose crepes for his special birthday breakfast, which Jared made for all of us. We stuck five candles in a fully loaded crepe for Parker in lieu of a cake. He was so excited to open his presents that he barely made it through the whole breakfast. We headed off to the zoo later that morning, where Nate, Lisa, and Alex met us by lunchtime; we all trekked back and forth around the zoo until closing time, where we wrapped up the day with a trip to the incredibly crowded gift shop. We finished off a long, fun, beautifully sunny day with a big dinner, and then it was off to bed for some much-needed rest for all of us. And so we begin a new year for Parker...

Thank you to every one, friends and family, near and far, for helping to make Parker's fifth birthday so much fun and so special!!

Zoo photos to come another day! There are of course tons to go through...