The Day After

Although Braden's birthday was pretty mellow, he did have his fair share of excitement with all his new gifts & plenty of cake and ice cream. We headed to Disneyland for fun with friends to finish off his birthday weekend.

No matter how old he gets, Braden can't resist a ride on the carousel....especially if Daddy agrees to ride on the horse next to him.

The day is bound to come when sweet, adorable Addison gets fed up with Braden's goofy antics. Until then, they will enjoy having tons of fun together!
While Matt flashed a peace sign, Braden proudly flashed his age. He just kept saying, "I can't believe I'm not 3 anymore!"

It's never too early to teach kids about money...ok, maybe this wasn't a good example of learning about wise spending. He was splurging on Star Wars figures with the Disney Dollars Addison's family so generously gave him. Hey, he did flash his annual pass for a discount...that's my boy!

It's never a good thing when the kids are really tired shortly after arriving at Disneyland...they somehow made it through the day, but by the evening, they were slightly delirious.

Somehow kids always get a second wind....and a third, and a fourth...

The Big Four

Our sweet, funny, clever baby boy turned 4 today. It's hard to believe since he often acts like he's 8. This smarty pants (or farty pants, as he says) cracks us up daily. The last 4 years have been amazing and we look forward to seeing what this next year brings.

Rather than an over-the-top birthday party, Braden suggested we just hang out at home...do we have an easy kid or what?! We did go out for a birthday dinner with Gramma and Papa.

Why down 1 drink at a time, when double-fisting it is much more efficient?!

We enjoyed walking around the lake & checking out the ducks and snapping turtles.
Braden loved goofing around with Gramma and Papa while enjoying perfect weather and beautiful surroundings.

Mr. Dramatic didn't want to take any more pictures...

But when you're this cute, the camera simply can't resist!

Braden showered the cake while desperately trying to blow out his candles....trick candles that is! I couldn't resist!

Braden quickly cleaned up the cake topper so he could play with it. It combined 2 of his favorite things...Spiderman on a quad.

Braden does most things quite enthusiastically...this triple chocolate fudge brownie cake amped him up more than he already was!

Cool guy cruised down the street on his new bike and showed it off to a few of our neighbors.

While riding his bike, he found a dollar bill in the street...the quad on top of his head? Just something he insisted on putting there if I was going to take a picture.

Braden was so delirious that he wanted me to take a picture of all of his new toys on his head....Here's Grave Digger rolling down his head in slow motion. Braden thought this was a cool trick!

Strange Housemates

Braden seems to be tracking down some items we haven't pulled out for quite some time...

He tried to pull off a serious demeanor as he sat at the desk. The hair and mustache made me cringe!

Hopefully none of the Hemet folks are offended by this picture. Matt thought a character like this may be seen in that town...he is from there, so guess he would know!

Getting Settled

The one thing we will miss about moving?? Absolutely nothing!! Moving is one of the worst things to have to do, however, Braden begs to differ!

Guess it goes back to the old idea that if you give a kid a gift, he'll want to play with the box. Braden has had an absolute blast unpacking boxes, exploring our new neighborhood, and settling into a new home. Every time he opens a box, he acts like he's never played with the toy that he finds inside. I think we will save a few boxes to give him for Christmas!

Bulldog Pride

Braden has been finding all kinds of treasures as we unpack. The latest item he found is Matt's letterman jacket from high school where he played soccer. Braden felt it was appropriate to bring Enzo in the house to play soccer with him since the mascot on the jacket is a bulldog.

Future jock?

Enzo was thrilled by the idea of roughhousing with Braden.

Guess we need to start over with soccer 101...Braden has clearly forgotten the basic rules of the sport!
Looks like Enzo gave up...or maybe he just needed a break from licking Braden!

As usual, the game turned into a wrestling match!

Too Cool for Preschool

When Braden was dropped off at school today, he had clean clothes on with no holes in them....my, how a few hours changes everything! Braden explained that he made the hole in his pants and crisscrossed the Velcro on his shoes because that's what's "cool." I asked him if the other kids do that and he said they don't. He told me the boys thought he looked cool, but the girls didn't, which was fine with him!

Kids certainly know how to express their personal style early in life!

Just like his Daddy...Braden loves people watching. Actually, he was trying to scope out friends in our new neighborhood. He told me to stop taking pictures because I might scare the kids away!
This was his attempt to appease me with a cheesy grin.

Braden ate carrots for dinner and was showing me how well he could see after eating so many.

This little punk reminded me that he is turning 4 very soon, but told me not to be sad that he is getting so big...I am a little upset, but mostly excited to see what this next year will bring!