Jump 'n Jammin One Last Time

We had to fit in one last visit to Jump 'n Jammin before the big move! We headed up there one morning for a last wild playtime!

Jonathan wasn't too sure about the wristband and we had to go get one put on his ankle instead, so he'd actually play!

Matt was being goofy in the toddler area before he got to playing. He was having the ducks talk to each other.

Jonathan was really wide-eyed in the bounce house. It got worse as more kids filtered in!

At this point, Jonathan had just begun playing like he was sleeping. He still hasn't figured out the whole closing of the eyes, but he's got the laying down thing!

Matt has a love/hate relationship with the ball volcano area. It's really loud, but looking past that, it's a lot of fun! The boys loaded up the machine with balls to shoot them upstairs to the kids up there.

Jonathan did not venture very far from the machine. He was able to load the balls in and actually push the button this time around.

Here's the volcano going off! As more of the older kids come into the place, Matt starts to shut down. Luckily, that's about the time Nick & I are ready to leave.

Matt hung out with me in the bounce house for a bit when we found a quiet moment.

We will definitely miss this place! Turns out the Putt Putt in our neck of the woods is getting the ball volcano! Watch out!!!

Matt's Last Day

Matt's last day at his preschool came quickly! We went on our zoo field trip and then the next week was his last week with is friends. He grew so much during the year he was in that class and had a lot of great experiences. Here's his last day at snack with his friends.

The other table during snack time.

Matt and Gigi! He really enjoyed her!

Matt & Ms. Jessica, his teacher

Matt's buddy EJ was in preschool with him and at times in the daycare at the clinic after school. They were good buddies!

A couple of cheesy smiles!

Matt misses his friends and the routine of going to school. We'll be checking into preschool here next week. It's great to be at home with the boys, but knowing how much Matt got out of preschool, it's looking like a good option for all of us!

Last Visitor in Cali

Nick was set to go out of town for the weekend and we were weeks from moving, so I asked my mom to come down for one last visit to San Clemente. We had a great visit, playing out back, going to a party and playing at the park.

I was trying not to interrupt Jonathan's play outside, so I took a few pictures from inside the house through the screen door. He spotted me, but all was not lost. See the video below.

Jonathan was convinced he was playing baseball in sitting. It was fun to watch him hitting the ball, and Matt letting him!

In trying to catch Jonathan on camera at the baseball tee, Matt decided he needed to show me his golfing skills. Can't let his little brother have the spotlight very long.

Playing at the Park

One morning we loaded up in the car and went to the park. After a cool afternoon the day before, this morning was comparatively hot! We had to cut our visit short because all of us were a bit hot. But, Jonathan managed to eat a bit of sand while we were there!

Matt ran around with his truck and his sand toys, having a blast. At one point he even shared a few toys with another boy at the park.

I think Matt was in the middle of telling a story about where his airplane was flying in this shot.

Waylon's Birthday Blowout!

Matt's buddy Waylon turned 3 in February along with several of Waylon's friends. They teamed up and attacked the birthday party head on, together. So, while my mom was visiting we walked over to Waylon's and went to the birthday party of 5 3 year olds! It was crazy, but so much fun!

There were two bounce houses, the In-N-Out truck serving up burgers, and adult beverages including a keg! Matt warmed up and got in the bounce houses before there were too many kids inside. He decided to combine football along with the bouncing!

High stepping in the bounce house!

More bouncing!

Jonathan had just started walking at this point, and he was a bit unsteady, but wanted to push and ride on every available toy. So, to save our backs, my mom and I found a place where we could contain him a bit. Jonathan stayed for quite a while, playing with the cones and Matt joined in between turns in the bounce house and riding on all of the riding toys.

We were pretending that the cones were hats, as you can see, Matt stole Jonathan's cone from the previous picture.

While Matt & Grandma ran off toward the riding toys, Jonathan and I amused ourselves some more with the cones. He kept himself quite busy!

Here we are in an attempt at a mommy and the boys picture. Neither one of them would look at the camera. The funny thing was that Jonathan was "patting" Matt on the head for this shot. Change of roles could be coming soon. Matt had better watch out!

More play with the cones!

A view of the In-N-Out truck with Matt running around chasing balls in the street.

I think this might have been 2 hours in, and Jonathan was looking a bit worn out. Motor skills decline when this look comes, so we had to leave shortly after he rode on this little car.

Celebrating at the keg with the birthday boy! Luckily Aaron (Waylon's dad) & I were in reach and the tap was not working at that point! Couldn't resist getting a picture of them chatting it up over the keg, just like their dads have done a few times!

Look, Mommy!

The "Happy Birthday" hug goodbye.

Jonathan was SO ready to lay down after our walk back home.

But, once we got inside, craziness hit! Jonathan was crawling under the coffee table after some toy.

Matt finally donned his hat from the party and started making some phone calls. He also cooked up some great burgers in his kitchen.

Matt's new favorite person to call on the phone is Handy Manny. Apparently something was broken and Manny just had to come fix it for us!

Time for a bit of Candyland with Grandma!

Grandma Flies Back to Sacramento

My mom left to fly back home the morning after the party. Matt had to get in one more game of Candyland before she left.

Then he took the camera to take a few shots of his own. This was one of his pictures!

Before she left, we tried to get some pictures of the boys with Grandma. It didn't work out as well as we had hoped, but here's what we were able to get.

Matt made an appearance, but left before I could get him to look at he camera!

It was a good visit, full of lots of adventures with the boys, as always! Three weeks after this, we headed back to Texas.

Zoo Field Trip

Matt's last days of preschool were coming close and there was one last field trip to catch before we said goodbye and prepared for our move back to Texas. The field trip was to the Santa Ana Zoo. It was an interesting adventure, full with a sign at the entrance stating the water was not working and therefore there were no bathroom facilities. That made for an interesting start to a field trip with 15 preschoolers! I believe we made it through without any accidents among us, but there were some touchy moments, details of which I will withhold.

Matt was cracking me up squatting down and using his baby voice to talk to the animals. It's a soft, high-pitched, sweet voice he often uses with Jonathan. So funny!

The farm animal portion of the zoo had nothing on a little time with his brother! I think this is the beginning of slapjack or something.

Matt had his "favorite friend" Cole join him for a little drumming on the signage while we waited for the other classmates to be ready to move on to the next animals.

I don't remember what we were looking at here, but apparently the animals were interesting. I think it was some of the monkeys.

Look closely and you can see Matt was pointing out the monkey to me.

Jonathan joined in on this one with full on monkey sounds! It was entertaining!

Despite the look on Matt's face, this is one of his favorite people. This is Nelli who took care of the boys every day I was working.

Matt kept telling me he was tired and he wanted me to carry him. He decided to take a break and "take a nap" on the bench while we waited for everyone to catch up with the group.

Here we are preparing for our train ride around the zoo.

Jonathan gets in some cuddle time with Nelli!

We had a great morning hanging out with Matt and his classmates. They had a bit of time to play on the playground before we left to head home. Matt amazes me everytime we go to a playground because he is getting more agile and comfortable with his new skills.