Okay, so let's face it - being the dad means you find joy through your kids. With Landon's birthday being the same week, Boondock's was just as much for Leon as it was for Landon. The oldest birthday "boy" and the youngest birthday boy had just as much fun.
A Little About Leon:
He always keeps me guessing.
He loves to cook.
He has this goofy way of dancing that he gets from his Grandad.
He knows how to do a LOT of stuff.
He enjoys his job.
He likes to be spontaneous, which is hard when your wife doesn't.
He is a good dad.
(He can also clean a toilet SO well that he's willing to lick it. Yes, he did.)
Leon has fully admitted that he cannot grow a beard, so his brother sent him one for his birthday. I told him I wouldn't sit by him in public if he wore that. But, he did drive around on a cold day with it and got a few questionable looks. He loves attention.
Landon's birthday fell on a Tuesday during Spring Break this year, so Leon took the day off, we loaded up the kids and hit Boondock's "$12 Tuesday" and got Landon in for free for being on his birthday. On Tuesdays the non-ticket games are free, so these boys spent a lot of time on this particular game. Fun.
Of course, a trip to Boondock's isn't complete without driving the cars.
This isn't the greatest picture, but I just love the facial expressions - pure joy.
Cameron had no problem just cruising around - a nice, relaxing Tuesday afternoon drive.
Dallin and Leon, on the other hand, could ride the "big boy cars" and sure rode them hard.
With it being such a nice day, the bumper boats were enticing. BUT, once I got the first blast of water, not so fun. Again, these boys are having too much fun.
We managed to do EVERYTHING at Bookdock's - even miniature golfing and laser tag (no pics of that - boo.)
After a tiring day at Bookdock's it was home for presents and cake. I'm really not sure why the Snuggie was involved, but okay.
And, of course, Mom is slow with the camera and Landon had to stage blowing out his candles again.
A Little About Landon:
Being the youngest brother, he has always had a great audience.
He is nearly always smiling.
He likes to keep the rules.
He still likes to snuggle.
He will believe anything I say, just because I'm the mom.
His favorite food is soup - really.
He is a pretty good dancer.
He loves soccer.
He wishes he had more friends.
He will talk to just about anyone about just about anything.
My parents are going on a mission. Yes, it's true. I have to come to grips with this sooner than later. They got their call the week before General Conference, so they got the family together on Saturday for the big reveal. But first, the men and boys got to go to Priesthood Session. This was Jayden's first one, so a picture was in order. So great.
We were kept guessing the whole evening. My parents had a map where we could stick our guesses. I was certain they were going somewhere European.
We Skyped with the Oregon Eddingtons and the Colorado Cunninghams for the big game.
My mom planned a 20 Questions-style game for us to ask questions and make guesses. Oh, it was so hard for her to keep this information to herself, but since my mom had to so much work to reveal the destination, she kept it a mystery until we started guessing.
For the last several months they have been serving as Service Missionaries at the Home Canning Center. My dad has joked that they were called to "Fill-the-Beans". Well, as it turns out, they were called to serve in the Philippines - Loag Mission Home! They leave for the MTC on June 11. Despite some of us being nervous for them, they are super excited. I know they will be great.
Easter has always been one of my favorite times of the year. I love just about anything associated with Easter. However, for the past few years I've skipped the annual Nu Skin Egg Hunt. Maybe it has been the weather or maybe we've "been there done that" and have been avoiding it. But, whatever the reason I realized that Landon has been missing out. The other boys are too old for it, but why not just take Landon? So I did. He has been before but said he didn't remember it. But, as we pulled into the parking lot he said, "Oh, I remember this. The last time we came here I got pushed down and someone took all my eggs." It's a good thing we came to create a new, happier memory of egg hunts.
While we were waiting, we strategized a bit. I told him that all the kids would rush to the eggs right up front, and that he should just run past all the eggs and kids and head for the back of the lawn. As you can see from the picture, it worked. Landon had all the eggs he wanted all to himself. He had his bucket completely full before other kids even discovered the "back area."
We are happy to report that Landon did not get pushed down this time and got to keep ALL of his eggs. He had a great time!
Easter Sunday was pretty typical with the finding of the baskets. We weren't able to do the egg hunt since we had early church....
...but, the "Easter Bunny" sneaked into the backyard and the boys had an afternoon egg hunt.
This pink tree in this picture is one of my favorite things and I love the people in it, too.
Later that day we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the traditional egg hunt with the cousins.
Grandma numbered and filled all 121 eggs!
Easter would not be complete without a visit from the Easter Bunny/Man. Ry-Guy was very interested in him until he looked him in the eye. I love his subtle head shake "No!" Run, Ryan, Run!
Each year the Spanish Dual Language Program puts on a Spanish Dance Festival. Each grade sings a song and performs a dance. Even though the boys say they don't like it, I can tell that they actually look forward to it each year.
~
Cameron's Fourth Grade class sang a song about a snail. Um, okay. I'm not sure if he was serious, or not, since I don't know how to say "snail" in Spanish. I hope it comes in handy for him someday.
I spent the whole time videoing Cameron's dance and didn't get a still shot of it. We really didn't have good seats for that anyway. But, as he was leading his partner off the floor, he said, "I don't like this." He's a funny kid.
There's just something about a kid in a Sombrero that cracks me up. Maybe it's just me. Probably.
Jayden's Sixth Grade class sang "Esoy Aqui" by Shakira. They started learning it months ago and Jayden uploaded it to his MP3 player. Needless to say, he played it and sang it A LOT. It became a great way for him to annoy his brothers. All he'd have to do is break into "Estoy Aqui..." and he'd get a reaction.
The traditional Sixth Grade dance is "La Bomba" where they have to tie a bow with just their feet. From the time they are in Second Grade the kids look to the Sixth Graders' dance as a rite of passage. These are the "big" kids doing a very difficult dance that seems impossible to accomplish. The Sixth Graders have always taken this dance very seriously and do NOT want to be the last one still tying their bow. Jayden and his partner did a super job. (It was cute, too.)
Jayden has "tied the bow" and is officially a "big" kid. Sniff.
Here is a YouTube video of Jayden's class singing "Estoy Aqui" just in case you want to hear the song that's been torturing brothers for weeks. :)
And, here is Cameron's Dance:
The first video Jayden and his partner "tie the bow". I only included the second video because the first few seconds just cracked me up with Jayden's fancy foot work. The rest of the video is pretty dull, but if you're gonna' watch it, you will enjoy the first little bit.
