Birthday Treasure Hunt

clue 1 --> chick flick

clue 2 --> bowling

clue 3 --> golf range

clue 4 --> pizza

clue 5 --> treasure

Kylie and I (Lisa was there in spirit) celebrated turning 27 this year by going on a fun treasure hunt put on by our cute husbands. Each clue led to a fun activity and all day we got to drive around giddy trying to figure out where to go next! Drew stayed home with the kids and there were a few times I had to go home to pump, but we made it work and had so much fun! In the end we opened our presents and stuffed ourselves with our favorite pizza. We missed not having Lisa around and were sad we couldn't make a trip happen to be together, but Liv just came home from the NICU and I can't travel yet. Next year will make up for it, you just wait!

Choo Choo Party

I can't believe I have a two year old! He's such a big boy! Unlike last year he was eager to dig in his birthday cake while wearing his "choo choo hat". I spent at least three hours making his train cake and Drew thought I was crazy, but when you have a kid who loves something that much you'll do just about anything to make them happy! In case you're wondering I used a Betty Crocker tutorial for the train cake seen here. 

Anyone who knows Van knows how obsessed with "choo choos" he is! The weekend following his birthday we celebrated with my family and threw a choo choo themed birthday party. Van doesn't like the birthday song and usually cries whenever we sing it, but this time he almost made it to the end before escaping the attention and then Drew saved him. We ate cake and ice-cream then opened presents with lots of help from his cousins!

Two is such a fun age. Van says the funniest things and makes us laugh every day. His vocabulary is blowing up and he is starting to put 2-3 words together. He likes to name his toys and mimic animal noises and loves to watch cartoons. Van recently said his first prayer and I literally cried it was so sweet. His prayer goes something like this, "Choo choo dada. Choo choo mama. Choo choo Jimmy. Choo choo choo choos. Choo choo night night." 

I love being this kid's mom and I love sharing every day with him. Happy Birthday, Van man!

Van's Second Birthday

For Van's second birthday we took him fishing on the South Fork of the Boise River. He had been asking about fishing all day, so his wish was our command. Even though it was freezing cold and wind was blowing, we made a day of it. The river banks were frozen and as soon as Van's glove fell into the river I'm pretty sure he changed his mind about winter fishing. "Hand cold!" I think he's damaged for life.

Also I am testing out a new outdoor hat for Feral. What do you think? 

^ Van "fishing"

^ that blinky face kills me

^ Daddy son bonding

^ Searching for the perfect fishing spot.

^ Burrrrr!

^ A dedicated dad right there. 

^ 24 degrees out. 24 weeks pregnant.

We wanted to so badly catch Van a birthday fish. I had one on my first cast, which was unexpected since Drew was standing nearby, but I lost him! Drew almost got one too, but it just wasn't our lucky day. We kept moving eager to catch a fish for Van, but when he looked at me with that desperate look in his eyes I gave up on catching anything and called it quits. Sometimes you just gotta know when enough is enough! 

After fishing we warmed up in the car and turned the heater on full blast. We ate at Van's favorite restaurant for dinner, Idaho Pizza, since he loves all the salad bar options. It was nice sitting next to the warm fire. Then we went to Baskin Robbins for ice-cream. Van got his own little cup of cake batter ice-cream and ate the whole thing! It was the perfect ending to the perfect day.

Big Sur Birthday Trip: Part 3

Our 26th birthday was perfect. We woke up in a tent after camping roadside on a mountain high in the clouds. We went beach hopping and shelling since Lissy kept begging we find a good beach for sea glass. We visited the elephant seals because you just gotta do that when you go to Big Sur. We ate at a fancy harbor restaurant and shared a birthday cake. And we ended the day exploring a small town near Morro Bay until the sun went down.

That night we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast to clean up after days of camping. We ate Thai food for dinner and got chocolate malts for dessert. We stayed up late watching movies and even decided to stay an extra night to explore the charming beach town of Los Osos. It was the perfect way to end our Big Sur birthday trip before it was time to go home.

For more about our trip to Big Sur, visit Traveling Triplets or check out our hashtag #ttbigsur on Instagram!