Angry Birds Easter Meets the Minions

 

  

Spring Break 2014

Well, Spring Break was busy around our house.  Sorry the pictures are small...we didn't want to drag around our big camera so I had to settle for my phone.  We kept the boys busy this week!!  We started off going to a big park overlooking the city.  The boys loved it and the views were amazing.  We went to Universal Studios too and rode the new Despicable Me ride.  Ryan lasted longer than I did and only got scared half way through.  He and I mostly hung out in the playgrounds while Nicholas and Mike rode all the scarier rides.  When Ryan was in preschool I took Nicholas out to a go-karting place and we sped around and played games in the arcade.  We took the boys to see Rio 2, and we really enjoyed the cute movie.  The boys got matching pajamas for the summer season and we enjoyed having Mike home for a couple of days during the week.  We did some non-fun things too like going to the doctor and taking Cheerio to the vet, but hey, life's not all fun and games right?  We're just glad nobody broke anything or anyone over the week and the house is still standing : )  We had a blast and can't wait for summer fun coming up!!!

Walking School Bus

Well, the picture doesn't do it justice because I only had my phone with me at the time.  But one great thing that we (or at least I) love about our new house is our walking school bus.  Two days a week the kids meet at the corner of our street and walk to school with two parent volunteers.  I walk Nicholas the other days of the week.  I love it...it's such a fun idea, although I don't think Nicholas wants to hold the bus : )  I love being able to walk to school.  It's a bit of a walk (about 15 minutes) but it gives me a chance to talk to Nicholas and we get to observe nature.  Plus, the weather is awesome so we enjoy our "walk-n-talks".  And then if it's raining I drive Nicholas to school and we get there in literally 2 minutes.  I'm just thrilled that we live in a neighborhood with so many kids.  What a big change from our last house.  I really appreciate that this school district puts a lot of emphasis on physical health through walking school buses, morning exercise at school, and running club twice a week.  In fact, I might volunteer to do a day for the walking bus next year (you have to get fingerprinted and fill out lots of forms), but I really feel that kids should be active and this is a great way to do it : )

And the winds shifted...

If you've ever watched the movie "Chocolat" with Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche you'll understand when I say that the winds have shifted once again for the Thompson's.  Yes, we are moving once again.  This time we're staying in the U.S. and we're even staying in the same state : )  Just moving to a place where we can finally enjoy some of the real famous CA weather.  We are excited about this next adventure and can't wait to enjoy all that southern CA has to offer.  We'll be in Redondo Beach so if you're tired of the cold anytime, come see us!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

It's nice to see the big table filled up!  Boys galore!!!

Past due pictures

 

We took a trip to southern California in August and I just never got around to posting any pictures from the trip.  We stayed in Julian, CA, a small gold-mining town.  We took day trips to Legoland and California Safari Park.  The boys loved the lorikeet feeding exhibit.  This was the highlight of their day…and they made us go back twice to feed them.  They were pretty amazing birds but when they nibbled at you, it kind of hurt : )  Guess that’s why they’re at the zoo and not in someone’s home : )

Visit from Angola

 

We were thrilled when we found out that Vivian and her daughters, Samantha and Allison, were back from Angola for the summer.  We had them over for dinner one evening and what you see here is the before picture.  Two seconds after this picture was taken Cheerio and Sami got into it…and Cheerio ended up biting Sami on the cheek. There was blood everywhere and Sami was crying of course.  We felt terrible and guess what…it wasn’t Cheerio’s first offense.  When we were in Angola, Sami was at our house and Cheerio bit her in the lip.  That poor girl is going to be scarred for life and we told Vivian that Lance (her husband) had a free pass with a Nerf gun and Cheerio.  What a terrible end to the evening but Vivian was so nice about it.  It’s just so freaky that Cheerio has never bit anyone before (except for one of our cousins who was poking him with a fork) and Sami got two hits.  Guess they can never be in the same room together…there’s some kind of bad chemistry with them.  But we are thrilled they’re moving back from Angola this month.  Maybe we can make it up to them…and Cheerio better watch our for Lance : )