Padres verses the Phillies and a little recap of our favorite memories...

So here are some pictures of the last part of our vacation.  I don't know what to say about it...it is a baseball game.... I love being with family and that is how I look at it.  We were cheering for the Padres I think...but were sitting next to CRAZY Philly fans...go figure.  Perfect night out with the kids my husband and of course...goood ol Matt.

I jotted down an ongoing list on a scrap piece of paper during our driving time.  Here is the list:
Things I WANT to remember.

Spencer singing "DJ turn it UP...UP...UP!"   So sad you missed it.
Weston dancing in his underwear while we ate in our car at Seaworld.  He was cold...from a wet ride.  Too funny.  (by the way...we didn't buy ONE thing from Sea World.  I was so proud of us.)
Playing at the NEW PARK with Matt.

The Shows at Sea World

Kids acting SUPER hyper around Matt.  It was annoying but cute at the same time.

Spencer saying "Shamu Funny...he do Backflips!"

Our ride up was great and so was our ride home.  We rode home after the baseball game and didn't get home until 3:00am.  I loved spending time talking to Jake the whole time. I do love a captive husband....

Getting pooped on TWO TIMES and thinking it was raining...ha ha

Building Sand Castles.  Getting Great Parking...almost everywhere we went.

Jake burned a CD for the drive...epic.

Playing kickball on the beach and having Weston remind me "Moms don't sing out loud on the beach...it is embarrassing and they sound bad!"

A Little Piece of Heaven on Earth

So Sea World...it was fun.  However, trips like that are a LOT of work.  I was thinking about it today.  We work to plan...clean, pack...I had the oil changed on the car.  I cleaned it out...packed it and then we spend hours in the car to drive there.  Then we get up really early and we take our kids ALL day to walk around, wait in lines and to see the sights etc.  Then we have tired cranky kids to put to sleep and to try to get some sleep ourselves to do it all over again.   So by Friday morning MOM (which is me) is exhausted.  I hardly slept the night before and didn't appreciate hearing Weston snore and 2 other kids in our room.  We head to Sea World again and I like it...don't get me wrong.  But for some reason when we stepped on the BEACH ...finally MY VACATION STARTED.Maybe it is because Jake plays most of the time with the kids.  Maybe water is good for the soul.  Maybe it is just the sand between my toes...the view. 

Whatever it is...I find myself laughing, relaxing and just feeling at peace.  Even Spencer seems to get in the action.  He slept over 4 hours between the two days we were "beaching it."

Aubrey loved the sand.  She even tried hard to not have any "meltdowns" this year when she was cold.

Weston can use all the energy he wants and it isn't annoying...misplaced or misunderstood. 

Thank you San Diego and Thankyou La Jolla and Mission Bay beaches...for making our vacation perfect!

Sea World 2011

I absolutely love this pic of the kids.  Here we are about 15 minutes until Sea World San Diego opens...standing at the gate.  They each have their little maps and are ready to enter.  It really was so fun to see them discover new things and enjoy our trip together. 

Here is a pic of our dear friend Matt.  He is the one who invited us to come and stay at his place.  Matt and Jake went to school together and have been "buds" forever.  I love the way he is with our kids.  Even Spencer got more hyper and excited when MATT was around.

For some reason the favorite ride at Sea World was the Bayside Skyride.  Aubrey was super nervous to get on it...but then had to do it again the next day.  Sea World is a great place and we ended going both on Thursday and Friday.  I personally love the shows and enjoyed the "New Horizons" show the best. 

When we were there on Friday we saw a Water Monitor which is the 2nd largest lizard in the world.  I think his name was Clive.  Weston loves to tell the tale.

Latest stuff!

Well the first big recent occurrence...is Spencer....going POTTY! Yes that is right people....he totally potty trained himself. I have a little sticker chart that he uses and sometimes I bribe him with Kid Essentials (some chocolate drink...thanks Janalyn.) He hasn't been dry at night yet, but since Monday we have only had 1 accident during the day...so he is doing great! If anyone wants to congratulate him..he loves it.
 

Next we have our little spring garden. I am sooooo proud of it for some reason. I had NO idea how to plant or what I was doing. So when ANYTHING grew I was just tickled pink. I assumed Jake would do it since his Dad is the gardener in their home. However, Jake was busy when it needed planted so the kids and I took over. He has been more than happy to allow us to continue to take care of it. I thought I would hate it, but I love weeding. I love seeing the plants grow...I love watering with Weston (he is my main helper,) I call him my "farmer boy." Lots of fun so far. It is even a lot bigger than this now, but I will post more pics when we harvest.

The other day I was out weeding the garden and left the sliding door open. A little bird flew in and just froze with fear. He let us pet it for a while before he had the courage to fly off again. He is down on the lower right part of the picture. The boys were having a blast.

Aubrey was being studious and stayed doing school. Here is a picture of just a few of the things she is working on at school when she goes to EAGLERIDGE. I can't make myself keep all this stuff, but I wanted to document it somehow. Aubrey is doing great at school and I just hope she continues to be as self motivated and keeps her love for learning.

I need more pictures of other friends here in our new ward...but I wanted to post about how Jake and I are making new friends as well as keeping up friendships from our past. Here we are on our Datenight with the Jones....last night. These guys are our ol' friends from Maricopa and they moved about a year before us into Gilbert...so now they are our NEW friends here I guess. They are always fun to hang out with...thanks guys!

Lately people have thought we were sisters for some reason...I will take it!

So there you have it...aside from Soccer (which needs it's own post) that is what The Watkins' Family has been up to lately.

Children's Science Museum

So a few weekends back my wonderful husband (and he really is good at this....) came up with something once again to do on a Friday night. This night he just so happened to find out that TARGET sponsors a free night for families on the first Friday of every month to go to the Children's Science Museum in downtown Phoenix. So we went. We first ate (I like to include this whenever the food is good,) I got a great Gyro! Anyway, then we rode the "light rail" downtown. Smart really...no parking, and cheaper than gas right now. Plus it is always an adventure.

So here are Aubrey and Weston...loving the train. I don't know if it is in my head or not...they still fight too much, but it seems they are better friends since we moved. Maybe the homeschool, maybe that they are older...maybe nothing has changed and I just notice it more. I do like seeing them get along though.

I have like 20 pics from the Museum, but they seemed boring and bad light. My favorite was watching the kids play at the virtual store and so I included this one.

Our family...minus the photographer of course.

And then we have the accident.... On the way home we hear a lady scream..."we're gonna hit!" and then BAM we hit...another car. The light rail just blasted into a SUV and here is the damage to the train. We were all fine, and I just hope the passengers were. We could see tires and parts of the vehicle all over, but not much more. I know they went to the Hospital and Jake read the next day that there were no casualties. It made for quite a long ride home, but at least we got here safe. Fun night...non the less.

First Swim of 2011

I am sitting here at 10:46pm on a cold, windy, rainy night in April....so I ironically I am blogging about a heat wave we had last week here in AZ. I guess that is the weather in Arizona in April for ya. Or global warming really does exist...or the end of days in near... who knows! I just am so excited to swim again this year. I technically have only gotten waist deep as of yet, but I do look forward to a long summer and enjoy my swims with the kids. We were worried that Spencer would be too young still for floaties, but with a little love and help from Aubrey (she really is so good with her little brother,) he was off!

Weston and Aubrey still remember how to swim from last year. A little too much doggie paddling is going on, but who am I to judge. I haven't swam with my head under water in who knows how long.

We love you Benner....

Ok, this whole blog post is dedicated to my Benner, Benny, Bencer, Jemmer..."little brother" and Spencer boy. For some reason, not just me...the WHOLE WATKINS FAMILY...freakin loves this kid. I mean it. Aubrey plays with him for hours. Weston wrestles lovingly with him. No one can hardly get mad at him...even when he spills milk, throws fits, cries in the night...you name it. He is by far the sweetest 2 year old to date. He is funny, talks up a storm, repeats EVERYTHING we say...we love him. I love him. He is my saving grace. I am really enjoying this little guy.

These are just a few pics of him over the past few weeks. He is growing up so fast. He really behaves like the other kids in so many ways. Spencer wants to be big and cries when the other two go to school. He loves his daddy, his mommy for that matter and wants us all there...all the time. Lately, now that we live closer to Norm and Sue (nanna and papa) he even cries when he can't visit them or hears they are gone. We have to tell him that we will see them soon. He loves them. It really is great the love has for people. So aside from getting told seriously...daily how cute he is (which I totally agree,) there is more to him than just good looks! I want to remember some of the funny things he does. Right now he loves these drinks called "kid essentials" that is the actual name and Spencer begs for them non-stop and says kidsentual...so cute. If I don't understand...he calls them "chalk-let" because they are chocolate. He is still drinking out of a sippy and it is starting to bug. Right now we are working on getting him to eat more real food and water instead of milk. He naps still every day; almost 2 hours ( I count myself lucky there.) He stepped on a thorn in our back yard and it hurt him really bad. I call those thorns "bullheads" (don't know why.) Anyway, now every time he gets hurt...he calls it a bullhead...even if it is a scrape or something. Spencer plays with squinkies ( a very small toy that can be a ladybug or a girl...they are all different.) Anyhoo, he can play for a LONG time. He puts them in time out, he sings to them...No more Squinkies jumpin on the bed. He can play with anything this kid. He is SO creative. The other day he played with the letters of the alphabet for at least 45 minutes. He talks to them, gives them baths, sings...you name it. He came up to me with two letter G's and had them on his fingers as rings. He was laughing and said..."two G's mom..." ha ha ha ha. He thought it was so funny they were his rings. He loves the computer and fights to be on when the others are doing their school work. He is really is SUPER smart. He is learning to add and knows all his letters and numbers. He LOVES the ipod and never wants to share. He loves to look at books and just be with the rest of us. We love Spencer. I really do find myself thanking Heavenly Father for you daily. Your Spirit is a bright one...and I pray we can help you continue to let it shine.

The IPOD addiction

Cosmic Bowling

He is such a little "lover" too. I love his hugs, kisses and the wonderful back pat. Jake doesn't write in the blog...but Spencer if you ever read this...Dad would agree with everything I have said...and maybe even add that you are a great soccer player too.