Weekend Morning Hijinx

Here are a few photos of the kids on a recent weekend morning while daddy was away.

A rare moment when Waylon would actually look at the camera and smile. A not-so-rare moment, Waylon in PJ's.
Avalon got a hand-me-down helmet from Chloe, and she LOVES it. She will bang her head and point to the closet where its kept, meaning she wants her helmet on NOW. Its too big and often covers her eyes, but she still loves wearing it.

Waylon also wanted his helmet on, then turned into a catcher's helmet for a game of pretend baseball.

Catching a pretend baseball!

Have I mentioned Avalon's passion for PJ's as well. She doesn't care as much about wearing them--she just loves to carry them around. She often will bring her own PJ's or some of Waylon's with her in the morning and carries them around for awhile. The other day she drove the entire way to school cuddling with her own PJ's for the entire 20 minute ride.

Safety boy gets ready for a nap. I dont know if I have ever posted a photo of Waylon's crib tent. We call it the Rocket Ship. When Aaron is out of town and I am trying to get both kids down, I put Waylon in the rocket ship with "One million toys" (the number is pursuant to his request--I have no idea where he heard one million). I know he needs to move to a toddler bed, but I am just not ready to get rid of the last place I can safely "store" him while I deal with baby sister.

See?! He doesn't seem to mind chilling in the rocket ship. I promise that he can get out of the rocket ship by the time he gets to high school.

First Doll House

Aaron went into downtown San Clemente last weekend to return books to the library. Apparently he could not resist a visit to our favorite store, Wee Peats, which is a second-hand children's boutique. He came home with a present for Waylon and a Little People doll house for Avalon. She was still pretty sleepy when she got up from her nap, but she definitely was intrigued with her new gift. Of course the toy is for both kids and Waylon enjoys it as well. I think its hilarious to watch him play with the pink doll house.

Family Self Portrait

Aaron was inspired by Waylon's photography, and grabbed the camera to take a self-portrait of the family. Aside from the fact that Avalon looks completely miserable, its a darn good shot. Sorry, Avalon.

Waylon the Photographer

Waylon seems to be training to be a professional photographer--just like his beloved cousin Doug. We have wanted to get him one of those indestructable cameras made for kids, but we are too cheap and lazy. However, an artist cannot be stopped and somehow he got a hold of one of our older cameras. I cant believe the camera survived, but after a few almost-drops and about 100 deleted photos of the ground, sky, and ???, I present Waylon's photos. Well, the first two are my photos of Waylon taking photos, but then the rest are all his.

Photos Taken by Waylon:

I am 99% sure that Waylon took this while sitting on his potty.

View from the wagon.

Rookie of the Year

After seeing the Angels vs. Red Sox (see post below), Waylon was inspired to start throwing around the baseball with daddy. Sometimes he avoids using an actual ball and just plays "pretend baseball" where daddy pretends to pitch and Waylon hits. Waylon always gets a homerun, which involves daddy jumping up and down to reenact the fireworks that Waylon expects since that is what they do at Angels Stadium.

On his way in to homebase after hitting a home run.

Easter Brunch and Mega Egg Hunt

After our "warm up" egg hunt at home, we joined two of our neighbors for a big cul-de-sac brunch. Grandma Josephine, Grandpa Ed, and Uncle Matt joined the fun. The Carlsons hosted, which meant it was an over-the-top, amazing meal with great food, beautiful decorations, and fantastic company. The hilight was watching all four kids participate in a mega egg hunt. It was adorable to see Waylon, Chloe, and Rachel run all over the cul-de-sac grabbing eggs. Avalon happily toddled along after them, grabbing a few eggs that parents and grandparents set out for her. The kids loved it, and were especially excited when Nicole told them that she heard the Easter Bunny making noise in the backyard so they hightailed it back there to find adorable baskets. The Easter Bunny spoiled all four kids!

Waylon, Chloe (rear), Avalon (front), and Rachel were very patient while 3 sets of parents and 2 sets of grandparents forced them to endure many photos before the egg hunt could begin.

They're off! I love this photo of Rachel with her hair flying as she bolted around, looking for eggs.

Chloe stopped to think about where she could find more eggs.

Grandpa Ed helped Avalon hunt for treats.

Rachel and Chloe stuck close together during the hunt.

Waylon ran all over the place while daddy tried hard to keep up.

If you look closely you can tell that Waylon is yelling something out. Probably, "Hey guys, I found another one!!!!"

I love this photo. It really captured his excitement as he ran all around. The best part was at the end when his basket was full he constantly lost eggs out of the basket while he ran around looking for more.

She found one!

Chloe, Waylon, and Rachel mid-hunt. This is my favorite photo of the day.

Avalon was happy to sit down and inspect her eggs.

Waylon tried giving baby sister some pointers on egg hunting. (She wasn't interested).

Look at those awesome baskets.

Waylon didn't know what to do with himself once the hunt was over.

Aaron gets in the spirit.

All three cul-de-sac families: The Carlsons, Davis's, and Dinacolas

Our happy family.

Chloe, Craig, and Nicole

Tony, Rachel, and Inna

Avalon joined the girls at the kids table. Nicole had their table adorably decorated with their own easter cups, plates, and silverware. It was too flippin' cute for words.

Easter Morning 2009

We had a blast on Easter morning since it was the first time Waylon understood the concept of the egg hunt. After the trauma of our mall photo session, we were excited to show the kids the fun part about Easter. Waylon embraced the morning hunt although he needed some help finding the eggs that weren't right in front of him. Avalon didn't really understand what was going on, but she became an eager participant when she realized that the plastic eggs had cheerios and goldfish crackers inside.

Waylon inspects the toys in his Easter basket.
Avalon inspects the goldfish crackers!

The hunt is on! Notice Avalon sitting in the background, enjoying her cheesy cracker breakfast.

Avalon found a few eggs, and shook them like maracas.

They stop for a breather and inspect their loot.

A few cheerios to get his energy back up for egg hunting.

More crackers.

Avalon loved dragging the baskets around and placing toys (and other fun items) inside.

Grandma & Grandpa Davis and Uncle Matt brought over lots of Easter treats.

Grandpa gets into the bunny spirit.