Is There Such a Thing as a Pre-Teen Toddler?

Oh My Gosh! We really have a pre-teen on our hands here with this little Lucy. I don't know where she picked this up...but little miss attitude has a new saying. I hope this doesn't last long.

Fer-Goose-Licious

Zach likes to call Lucy Fergoose (like Fergie, I guess). We love the new Black Eyed Peas song and play it all the time. Now we've got Lucy singing it and it's almost better than the real deal.

Easter Weekend

On Easter weekend the kids and I went to an egg hunt at a friend's house. Her parents hid 1,000 eggs all over their property and divided up the search by age group. Tyler and Lucy were in different groups this year so I had to keep an eye on both hunters. They found lots and lots of loot! Lucy used her ballerina basket and Tyler used the dinosaur basket he had made the day before with Grandpa Gary.

After the hunt we came home and colored our hard boiled eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide. Tyler had a Cars themed kit and Lucy had princesses...of course. They had a really good time and Zach and Tyler enjoyed dipping their eggs in every color to see how that would turn out. Kind of brown if you were wondering...

On Easter Sunday Tyler woke up bright and early to see what the Easter Bunny had brought him. He was excited to see that he got 2 dinosaur books, some dinosaur pajamas, some dinosaur Easter eggs, a dinosaur plate set, and some dinosaur toys. See a theme here... Tyler also woke up and saw Mommy outside "fixing" some of the eggs that the Easter Bunny had hidden. Oops. Lucy woke up a bit later and checked out her girly basket with princess dishes, some pretty pajamas, and some books. The Easter Bunny was trying to be more practical this year.

We hosted an egg hunt and brunch on Easter Sunday. The kids had a great time in the backyard finding the eggs and got a wee bit 'o help from the adults. I don't know if that was just out of the goodness of their hearts or the need to eat the food in the house. :) Tyler was a pro at egg hunting, Quillan followed right behind, and Lucy was a more cautious hunter. She kept looking over her shoulder to see if that darn bunny was going to pop out. She's not a fan.

Lucy, Tyler, and Quillan

After the egg hunt ended we came in the house and had a YUMMY brunch. The kids wolfed down their eggs and monkey bread so that they could tear into their Easter baskets. Lucy and Quillan got some adorable Fancy Nancy dress-up dresses. They looked so fancy.

Tyler got some really cool swim goggles that the kids enjoyed. We enjoyed how they looked too. Ha ha!

Family Trip to Monterey

We thought it would be fun to go to Monterey during Tyler's spring break, so we got in the car and went! Well, not that spontaneous, but just about. The kids were excited to see the beach and play in the sand. Tyler found this cool spot under a restaurant that he could explore (the picture below was taken there). Lucy had fun running from the waves.

On Wednesday we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Zach and Jenn hadn't been since they were kids, so it was kind of a new experience for all of us. We explored the whole aquarium in record speed. Tyler would look at something and say, "Next!" It was frustrating, but probably a blessing in the end since it started to get really crowded around noon...and we know how Zach is with crowds. A new exhibit opened up the day before we toured the place...it was all about Seahorses. Pretty cool really. The one pictured below looks just like seaweed.

The kids had fun checking out all the cool stuff. It was a great day!

On Tuesday we had driven to Cannery Row to scope things out and have some dinner. On our way back to the hotel we saw this really cool park and figured we had better check it out. For some reason it was closed on Tuesdays (wouldn't you know?!), so we decided to go there after the Aquarium visit the next day. We got some lunch at McDonald's and found a picnic bench and enjoyed the sunny day. It was a really cool park and we all had fun.

Later that night we decided to check out Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. It was such a cute little place. We found a restaurant with some reasonably priced fish 'n chips and clam chowder (quite the feat in this tourist town!) and enjoyed our seafood. Then we stopped at an ice cream shop and got dessert. We took our cones down to a little beach and enjoyed our last night at the ocean. It was relaxing (and sticky) and fun. We'd like to go back again soon.

Easter Pictures

I needed a new picture (in an 8 x 10) to hang on my wall, so I took the kids to Kiddie Kandids to get one. I dressed them in their Easter outfits and let Tyler pick the background. He really wanted to sit on that log. Lucy, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the camera. I had to bribe her with cookies to get her to take this picture. If you look closely you will see a cookie in her hand. It was better than the freaky stuffed bunny they were trying to give her!

Tyler is getting so big!

I just loved this picture of Lucy

Second Annual Laurel Oaks Egg Hunt

April 4th was our second annual Laurel Oaks egg hunt. We were so excited for this event! Last year we had so much fun and this year there was going to be more kids and more eggs! We started off being festive with our bunny ears...but then it was just mom in the ears.

Tyler is a pro when it comes to hunting eggs...


Lucy was a little nervous at first. She heard that there was going to be a bunny...and she's not a fan...

Tyler was excited to meet the bunny. Lucy had to be held by Grandma Karla...far, far away. The bunny was really cute and Tyler had fun giving high fives and hugging him. (Or her...who really knows?!)

Happy Easter!

Madness at the Guthmiller House

Some days you never know which Lucy you are going to get - the sweet wonderful Lucy...

Or the feisty Lucy...

The terrible two's have certainly arrived in our house. Between that and whatever f word you want to use for the fours and what comes with that...it's a wonder we get any pictures with smiles in them.

We do have some pretty silly kids, though. Lucy can't go anywhere without ALL 4 of her blankets. She's got a pink one, a yellow one, a blue one, and a different pink one. She asks for each of them individually or all at the same time. She sucks on the corners and they must each have their own flavor, because sometimes she'll "taste" the yellow one and then ask for the blue one. Go figure.

This is how Lucy eats her snacks sometimes. Silly Goose.

Tyler has gotten into athletics lately. He loves soccer, t-ball, and cartwheels. Here is an action shot of him pulling off a pretty good cartwheel. Olympics here we come!

Our Tahoe Trip

We spent the past weekend (March 27th - 29th) in Tahoe with our good friends...the Mello Family. The kids were so excited to have a whole weekend together and we were just excited to not have to be at home where responsibility lives. On Saturday morning we got up and found a place to take the kids sledding. A place that didn't cost $40 for 4 people to sled. The kids had such a good time. Even Aria...despite the look of pure TERROR on her face.

Lucy just HAD to go down the hill by herself. Even though Mommy and Daddy told her no...

Then Matea and Lucy wanted to go down the hill with me. We were headed for a tree, hence the look of terror on my face. The girls were just having fun...but they still engaged in a "whew! we made it" hug afterwards.

Zach and Mat had a bit of a race down the hill with their two girls. I don't know if it was more about who "won" or more about who didn't hit the tree... (Zach)

The sledding ended, though, when Tyler and Aria both ended up in tears...

After sledding we headed into Tahoe City to check out the lake and enjoy the fresh air. The kids found some rocks and spent a good half hour throwing them in the lake.

Once we got back to the cabin the guys couldn't sit still, so they went out back and carved out a maze in the snow for the kids to play in. Tyler and Aria really enjoyed the snow maze and played out there for hours. Like, turn your feet red and freeze kind of hours...

We had a really nice weekend. Of course both kids are already asking when we are going to go back again...