Spring, where are you?

I had a week off from school, but the weather didn't take a break. It kept raining. We were able to catch some dry spells and tried to enjoy my short little vacation. We got to go to the zoo to see the animals and play with Lexie's friends.

Lexie got to hang out with Savannah and Faith.

And of course, Lexie's favorite is always to visit the goats. It got a little windy while we were eating lunch so Lexie wanted to wear her raincoat and then refused to take it off. When we left the zoo, she was one sweaty, little girl.

Lexie loves bubbles. She likes to chase them and dance around with the bubbles.

Then she likes to get her hands all soapy and rub everyone and everything with soap!

We have been trying to potty train Lexie for about 10 months. She does pretty good except for #2. She has refused to do it and nothing we could give her or say to her would make her do it. For her birthday, she got a Minnie Mouse bubble tea set. She really wanted to play with it, but she has so many toys, that we don't open everything at once. We told her that if she does #2 on the potty, we would open it. Well, that girl really wanted to play with it badly because she said she had to go about 5 times and finally she went. We are so relieved to be over this hurdle and Lexie was thrilled to play with her bubbles!

It's really cute. You pour bubbles from the tea pot and the spoons and cups are bubble wands.

Lexie was excited because Savannah came over to have a tea party with her.

These two are really cute together. One minute they are the best of friends and play very nicely.

The next minute, they are arguing and not sharing. Luckily, it doesn't last for long and they start laughing and become best friends again.

Lexie fell in love with Savannah's baby brother, Boston. She hasn't been around too many babies, so she was very curious about him.

I asked Lexie if she wanted a baby brother or sister. She said, "Sister!!" I hope you're listening Taiwan!

This is my favorite picture. I love how the three of them form a heart!

On one of our rainy days, we headed to the mall so Lexie could ride the train.

Gohan growls at Lexie, but he has to be near her at all times. She has a table that she draws on and he decided to sit by her.

Daddy was able to do an impromptu photo shoot with Lexie.

We didn't get to do a whole lot during spring break, but it's always fun just spending time as a family.

Party Time!

Usually we have beautiful spring weather, but for a few weeks, we've had thunder, lightning, heavy rain and wind. There has even been hail and tiny twisters along the beach. This threw a damper on Lexie's party. We changed many of our plans the night before, but mother nature had a plan of her own.

The morning of the party, the sun was actually shining. It was so bright that within a few hours, it dried out our lawn. We started setting up the tent and cleaned out the yard as quickly as we could in hopes that the kids could play outside for even a little while.

With the weather being so bad, this was the least prepared I've ever been for a party. And for people who know me, I'm all about organization. I was very stressed because I did not know what we were going to do if it rained. I made this banner the night before the party. Even the goodie bags were thrown together a few days before. Thanks to Aunty Yvette and Taryn for helping me stuff the plastic eggs.

Lexie was very excited about her party. She really wanted to have bubbles, but with the crazy weather, we had to scratch that idea. For days, she kept asking when her friends were coming over. Her first guest was baby Faith, who is getting bigger than Lexie.

We are so fortunate that we have a wonderful group of friends who have adopted from Taiwan. We joke that Lexie has brothers that will fend off potential boyfriends when she gets older.

Lexie and her girlfriends. These sweethearts loved playing dress-up.

Lexie loved getting presents. She got a lot of Princess and Minnie Mouse toys, which are her favorites. Everyone totally spoiled her!

We used our garage as the party room. The kids decorated their baskets and made some crafts. I'm so grateful for Taryn for being on Lexie duty and taking care of her during the party. And thanks to Aunty Yvette for helping me to set-up and clean up.

Lexie wanted me to make chocolate chip cookie brownies for dessert. I made a batch of those plus a brownie trifle, but I felt we needed a birthday cake. Lexie asked for a pink cake, so we went for a cupcake cake with pink icing. Our theme was bunnies since Lexie loves her Thumper rabbit, so I decorated the cake with plastic bunny eggs. Compared to last year, Lexie can blow out those candles with no problems.

Since the rain never came, we were able to have our egg hunt outside. To make it more fun, the older kids had to use spoons to put their eggs in their basket. Poor girl, I forgot to wipe the frosting from her face.

Lexie kept stopping to look at what was in her eggs.

Lexie was proud of how many eggs she collected.

The kids had fun looking for eggs and they even liked the little rats that Lexie's daddy put in the eggs.

Lexie had a wonderful time and after her friends left, she kept asking when they were coming back to play.

Birthday Fun!

Lexie got a special birthday package all the way from Okinawa. She couldn't wait to open it.

She got a piano from Aunty Catherine, Uncle David and Max. She carries that keyboard around the house and already knows which songs she likes. She has a special dance for each song.

Lexie loves her chanchanko that Mika picked out especially for her. We're so lucky to have such wonderful friends. We're sad that they won't be moving to Hawaii, but California is pretty close.

For Lexie's birthday, we took her to the Discovery Center, which is a hands-on children's museum. She loves trains, so she liked this little wooden one that was on display.

The first area was learning how your body works. Lexie got to clean giant teeth.

Then she got to go inside the stomach and slide down the intestines.

The next section was called "Imagination" where you can pretend to be community helpers. Lexie's first stop was the bank. She loves magnifying glasses and was looking at the different dollar bills. She got to try out the ATM machine. After you punched in your password, you could withdraw money and it gave out pretend $20 bills.

Lexie got to drive the bus and then she showed us that she can do gymnastics anywhere she goes.

Lexie ponders a career in broadcast journalism.

We stopped at the police station and Lexie enjoyed figuring out where to put each traffic sign.

Learning how to fix a car.

Maybe a career in firefighting is in Lexie's future. She loved sliding down the pole.

Lexie loves going to the market, so she enjoyed one that was just her size. She knew exactly what she wanted and even told me that the tomatoes were for our turtle. She liked playing cashier.

Next stop was the post office. Lexie loves to write and draw so she could have spent the whole day here. She wrote a letter and then she put it in the mailbox. She is just like me and had to double check to make sure that the letter went into the mailbox.

Maybe Lexie will be a judge. She loved pounding that gavel!

She went to the Arctic and got to do some sledding and catch some fish.

Lexie made some brownies and visited the library to rest on their comfy chairs. She met her friend George and read him a story.

Lexie got to visit India. She played some drums and learned how to weave.

Lexie went to Japan and wanted to learn how to use chopsticks. She loved the koi pond.

Lexie's favorite was China. I guess it reminded her a bit of Taiwan. She made noodles and told me she was going to serve me dumplings.

Lexie happens to share her birthday with Dr. Seuss and there were lots of fun crafts for her to do. She made a hat in honor of the Cat in the Hat. She decorated fishes from "One Fish, Two Fish". Lexie and her daddy are definitely Thing 1 and Thing 2!

This was the perfect place to celebrate Lexie's birthday. She got a private ride on the carousel and made giant bubbles. Two of her favorite things!

Lexie loved being able to touch everything and she loved using her imagination. It amazed us at the things she could do. In one area, there were puzzles that you had to put together for different countries to show what kinds of foods they ate. I gave her each piece and she told me what food it was and put it in the correct place. Her spatial recognition is incredible. Even Eric couldn't get all of the pieces to fit.

This is some place that we will definitely visit again, maybe even have her next birthday party here!