Pinewood Derby

 Bryton started cub scouts back in December. He is in the Tiger Den and has been enjoying taking part in all the fun activities. Our pack Pinewood Derby was held at the local fire station and the boys had a great time. Bryton designed his car himself and Scott cut it out for him. It was the solar system theme. It wasn't the winning car, but he had a great time watching it race. Next year, we will have to make it heavier!

 Receiving his pit pass for race day!

 Getting ready to watch a race

 Cohen as a spectator

Bryton receiving his medal following the race from our Cub Master

a non-birthday celebration

Monster Jam comes to Sacramento every January. I took the boys last year because Scott was out of town. When we found out they were coming the weekend of Cohen's birthday we decided it was the perfect time to go. Cohen's little buddies, Finn and Gwen, and their parents came too, but I don't have any pictures of all of us. The best part was Cohen fell asleep within the first 30 minutes of the show, but Scott and Bryton enjoyed it!

FOUR

 Cohen is at the best age right now, hands down. He is so much fun, hysterical and just my little sidekick. We laugh at him like no other and couldn't be more proud of the crazy little boy that he has become. Birthdays aren't his thing, so we play them off like any other day except they have a few gifts and cake of course! He told his teachers at school no crowns or special activities, so they were sweet to respect his wishes. He was so scared they might ask him to stand in front of the class to sing to him. We didn't do the birthday song at home either, but he did agree to a candle :)

 4 Year old favorites: all things Star Wars, Planes Fire and Rescue, Legos, playing outside and digging in the dirt, working with his tools

 We unfortunately had to make a trip to the doctor on his birthday so he got 4 lollipops! He came home with antibiotics and shots, but he got to feeling better super fast. He's a trooper!

 A Star Wars cake for the birthday boy.

quick trip

 Scott was away for 10 days in January and so the boys and I had a few days to fill since Bryton was out of school for a few of them. In the meantime, I came downstairs one day to find Cohen making himself a sandwich...I guess he was hungry :)

 the Jelly Belly tour is a favorite of Bryton's. We have been on it 5-6 times but Scott has never gotten to go, hopefully before the move this summer!

 the Budweiser Clydesdales were in town and so we stopped by to say hello

 It was a perfect day for a picnic so we head to the UC Davis campus and went biking on the trails.

 

The new Chick-Fil-A hosts family nights once a month with fun crafts and activities. Cohen actually agreed to getting his face painted this time.  We always go when Scott is out of town :)

New to us

Our neighbors received a new piano for Christmas, so they had to find a new home for their electric piano. We were so very fortunate to inherit it! It is a great starter piano for the boys to learn on and we had been looking to get Bryton started on lessons. We found a teacher who comes to the house to teacher both music theory and lessons every week. She is fabulous. Bryton adores her and she comes to us, can't get much better than that!

 The only thing I needed to do was give the piano bench a little TLC and it looks like new! I found some clearance fabric for $4 and then put the staple gun to use...not to shabby!

before they left

We snapped a few pictures before we headed out to the airport.

 

Christmas Part 2

A few days after Christmas we took a trip up to Lake Tahoe and spent a few days in the snow. It was spectacular in every way. Mom and Dana found us a great little condo. It was in a perfect location for us to hang out and still be able to go out and about in the snow. We hung out around the fire and relaxed and played in the snow for the 3 days we were there. We even got Honey and Poppy up on the hills to go sledding...priceless!

 SNOW!

 Sleds come in handy when you are moving junk from the car...Cohen liked going for a ride too!

We had a little hill right out our door, so the boys were outside most daylight hours that we were at the condo playing. It was fabulous!

 Preciousness!

 Taking a break!

 Crash...but he obviously didn't mind!

 I am going to miss those cheeks. He is growing up too fast.

 Honey took Cohen down for his first ride down the hill and it was hysterical! Both of them were laughing so hard they could barely catch their breath. It was quite a sight to see!

 We were all on the top of the mountain together!

 Honey and Poppy

 We went off trail to explore a bit and the boys were in their element. We all laid out in the snow and they just played for hours.

love these boys