MORE CAKE!

Uncle Dan's B-day party was on Sunday evening... Mattie and Tati were thrilled to have some cousin bonding time... Hugs....

Stacking blocks and finding the animals I asked for...

And of course, there was cake.... Mattie's new favorite word...

Alyssa's 3rd Birthday Party!

Mattie seems to want a toddler bed... she spent a good 30 minutes playing in Alyssa's bed. Alyssa enjoyed "tucking her in" and they did lots of screaming as well, Mattie still wins for loudest scream....

Mattie finally left the bed for some bubble time out back...

Does this face say "I love cake" or what? After Mattie's was gone, she even tried to steal some of Sylvie's! Happy B-day Alyssa, we all had fun at your party!

Tanaka Farms Strawberry Tour!

We were so excited to take a strawberry tour at Tanaka Farms on Saturday. Here are some "before" photos on the tractor....

Here's a "during the tractor ride" photo... tasting some fresh picked produce... lettuce, snap peas, carrots, etc.... yum yum....

We had 15 minutes to pick strawberries and eat as many as we could during that time... Mattie ate while mommy and daddy filled their containers.... we ate them right off the plant!

YUMMY!

The LB Aquarium again!

Mattie takes a time out to hide in the sticks fortress from the crowds on Thursday... really.... it was soooo crowded!

Sylvie gives Mattie BIG hugs!

Some baby yoga and chase outside by the docks was super fun, especially because there was room to move ;)

Mattie's 2nd Birthday Party!

Mattie celebrated her 2nd B-day on Saturday with most of her closest friends and family members :) She was especially excited when Tatum arrived and gave her lots of hugs.... Sylvie sort of wanted in on the action, see her in the corner?The highlight of the party had to be the cake. Mattie knows Bday parties involve cake and we had been talking about it all week!

When we first handed Mattie her cake without a fork she wasn't quite sure if she was supposed to just pick it up.... I gave her a fork and she was very happy to eat her cake like a big girl this year!

Fuzzy the dog even came to Mattie's party... here is a shot with cousins Afrouz, Arezo, and Aunt Mahshid...

Mattie didn't open many gifts at the park but she really loved the singing Dora card grandma gave her!

What a super fun 2nd Birthday Party! Thanks to all who came to celebrate with us!

Father-daughter bonding...

While I was making dinner Friday night, I heard some music coming from the bedroom. Apparently Sadri tried to learn some of Mattie's fave songs to play on the guitar for her, including "Old McDonald" and "Apples and Bananas".... sooo cute!

Easter (part 2)

He is Risen! We started Easter Sunday with a celebration at church of the resurrection of Jesus. Then after nap, it was time for more kid fun... We met my relatives at the park and Mattie played with my cousins and their kids, as well as, my aunt and uncle, and her grandma and grandpa.Audrey showed Mattie how to make a "wood-chip cake" and they even included candles of bigger sticks. Mattie enjoyed playing with the "older" girls and is hoping to have a wild imagination when she gets to be their age as well.

There was an easter egg hunt, of course... Mattie seemed to really enjoy collecting the eggs and she couldn't wait to see what was inside each one!

The attempt at the group shot... it is nearly impossible to get that many kids to cooperate for a photo shoot, but it helped that we (the adults) started singing songs ("happy and you know it," "thumbkin") to get their attention.

After a lot of playing at the park and with the other kids, Mattie ended the afternoon by playing ball with daddy. Look at this cute action shot of her cheering him on (click the photo to make it bigger)! Happy Easter everyone!

Easter Eggstravaganza (part 1)

Saturday morning started the Easter weekend fun with a trip to grandma and grandpa's house. Our friends met us there, and we all headed over to the park for all kinds of activities....

There was a super fun bounce house... Mattie loves jumping.... on beds, couches, trampolines, and of course the bounce house...

There were pony rides! This was Mattie's first time riding a pony, and she loved it!

There was a giant inflatable bunny... of course.....

Mattie and Tatum got sheep tatoos on their hands...

There was a petting zoo, and of course, Mattie wanted to feed the goats.... there was no food, so she had to settle for petting them....

The Easter Bunny made an appearance, and what do ya' know, Mattie sat on his lap! Apparently the scary lap experience with Santa of 3 months ago, is long gone.... Tatum wasn't digging the bunny, you can see her lunging from the bunny's lap even though Mattie was trying to sit next to her....

There was an egg hunt, although, there were no eggs, it was just candy all over the grass....

Mattie didn't mind at all, in fact, she moved from spot to spot, took a seat and collected handfuls of candy.... and then when it was over, she decided to pilfer some candy from Tatum's basket.... what are friends for?! What a super fun, egghausting day!

Santa Ana Zoo

Mattie took an early enough nap today that we were able to meet some friends at the zoo in the afternoon. These friends moved back to CA from Michigan recently, and they are lovin' the California weather! The first stop was to feed the goats, ever since Mattie fed the goats at the Irvine Park zoo a few weeks ago, she has been wanting to do it again! She gets nervous, and needs a little coaxing, but when all three of her older friends encouraged her, she gave it a shot

It was impossible to get a group shot of all 4 kids looking at the camera, but here's the best I got. Mattie was so excited to drive the safari jeep while Phoebe (6yrs) hung out in the back, and Ava and Vivian (4yrs) (twins) attempted to share the passenger seat. What a fun trip to the zoo! Thanks for inviting us Lisa!

Another Park Day!

Whoever said sand play involved buckets and shovels, has not met Mattie. Our sand play involves Mattie sitting in the sand sink full of water, then mommy dumps sand in it, so Mattie isn't sitting in the water. Mattie then proceeds to throw handfuls of wet sand at mommy while mommy takes pictures of said event.....

Mattie enjoyed some girl bonding time with her older friend Calista after the sand fiasco :)

Fun times with BFF Tatum!

Mattie and Tatum spent a lot of time together this past week! They played at the park and modeled their sunglasses....

They visited the petting zoo at Irvine Park....

Where Mattie got up close and personal with the goats.... Tatum was not interested in touching them.....

Mattie even wanted to follow a goat up the tree!

The girls also attended Sierra's 1st Bday party and enjoyed playing in the drink buckets full of ice.... Well, it was more Mattie who played in the ice, Tatum just observed and didn't much feel like getting her hands all cold and wet.... smart girl ;)