Tradition

Some traditions are just too much fun to break. In this case, it is the yearly tradition of my birthday ride! Yep, another year has come and gone... and once again, it was time to celebrate my birth and my 25 years of life (Hah, don't I wish!).  For the past several years, it has been my dirt-bike that I've taken out on my birthday and had ridiculous amounts of fun playing in the dirt & mud. But with my dirt-bike in need of some minor repairs, I decided to keep the tradition of riding a two-wheeled motorcycle on my birthday alive and break out the Ducati!   

I suited up and gave my boy a big kiss...

Dusted off the cobwebs and swung a leg over her for the first time in a long time...

And before I knew it, on a crisp cool beautiful Tuesday morning...

my Ducati and I were off to go carve some amazing SoCal canyons!

It may have been my birthday ride, but I wasn't the only one who wanted to see if they could drag their knee around corners that day! I met up with a friend that morning and hit the mountain roads for some incredible riding! 

After numbness & cramping began to set in from the long and exhilarating ride, we stopped to get some much needed rest and fuel... both for our bikes and our bodies!

  

And after a full body massage and a nap that afternoon, Momma Soch took care of Allen while Jei and I toodled off to the movies that evening. Of course once we got home, it was time to open some birthday presents...

And have some delicious ice-cream after blowing out my birthday candle!

Of course after seeing Daddy do it, Allen wanted a go at it too,

so we re-lit the candle and he gave it his best shot.

My birthday ride tradition stayed alive for another year, I got in a massage, a nap, saw a movie, ate some delicious meals, opened some great presents, and had some yummy ice-cream! I don't know about you... but I'd call my birthday an amazing success! Oh, and I guess I did turn another year older... but as long as I have these two smiling faces helping me blow out my candles, who's counting?!

Muchos Huevos

Easter weekend was finally upon us... and on Saturday, while Daddy worked & slept all day, 'Wela', Allen and I visited the city's annual Easter egg hunt near downtown. 

But with it being just our first time there... and forgetting to bring a basket with us, we basically just enjoyed the weather, checked all the festivities out, and took notes on what to bring and what to do for next year. And somewhere along our travels, Allen found himself a yummy cake-pop to snack on!

We found some shade in the grass,

and stopped to enjoy our yummy treats.

The following morning, Easter Sunday,

a few of us girls woke up early and took Allen to church with us.

Where he made sure all the pews

were appropriately stocked & organized.

And the Lord said...

Go outside, be happy, and find all those hidden eggs!

"C'mon Allen... there ain't any eggs to find here,

but I know where we can find some!"

Once we got home, Allen was super excited about the Easter egg hunt

we promised him and that we had set up in the backyard.

So we gave Allen his little basket, opened the door to the backyard... and told him to go find some Easter eggs!

It definitely took a while for Allen to grasp the concept, but once he figured it out, he was the best little egg-picker-upper anyone has ever seen! 

Occasionally he had to have a little help, but for the most part he knew exactly what he had to do and was on a mission!

His little basket is almost full with still just a few more eggs to find.

That Easter Bunny sure was generous at our house!

Naturally, he took the whole Easter egg hunt very seriously!

"Ummm... a little help here!  Anyone?  Helloooo???"

After an exhaustive search and a full basket,

Allen was ready to call the hunt off and dig into all of his eggs!

In hindsight, we probably should've given Allen

the egg to open and play with after Wela's picture!

Speaking of Wela... not only was it Easter Sunday, but it also just happened to be Momma Soch's Birthday!!! And since everyone was here at the house, that afternoon we celebrated with a good meal, birthday gifts, and of course cake!

With a house full of family, a successful egg hunt, a delicious meal and birthday cake... it was just about impossible for us not to enjoy our Easter together!

I know Allen sure did...
Here's a short montage of him hunting in the backyard!

Hope everyone had a happy and fun Easter!

Bunny Ears

With Easter creeping up... I really wanted to send out an Easter card to friends & family. I had the time and the resources... but the one thing I needed most of all was for Allen to be in a good mood so that I could get just the right shot! So I gathered up the Easter basket, all the plastic eggs, the blanket, and of course the bunny ears... crossed my fingers and hoped for the best!

I knew if there was going to be a problem, it was going to be with the bunny ears. Allen did not like them on his head and really wanted to take them off... but of course I insisted!

And just when I thought a tantrum was going to start and ruin everything... I quickly went into action and totally distracted him with... chocolate of course!

"Are you sure I can eat this?

Like the entire thing???"

Thankfully, the chocolate bunny kept him plenty occupied,

and made him totally forget about those stupid bunny ears!

Now the hard part... waiting for just the right moment / pose!

The excitement of the chocolate quickly wore off

as his attention turned back to those colorful eggs.

    

Still don't have the perfect shot, but when he's this cute,

I had all the patience in the world!

And then suddenly, Allen realized, "Oh yeah... I have ridiculous annoying bunny ears on!"... after both the eggs and the chocolate failed to capture his attention.

But after way too much time was spent playing with the eggs, eating the chocolate, and being whiney about having to wear the ears... I finally got just the right shot I was looking for, worked my magic on the computer, and came up with a pretty darn cute Easter card! Thanks Allen for being so patient with Momma... I hope you trust me when I say it was worth it.

Pot O' Gold

St. Patrick's Day has never really been much of a celebrated Holiday for us... even though I am part Irish (Ferrell?). So we usually don't plan anything or have plans for St. Paddy's Day... but for the past couple of years, our neighbors have held a S.P.D. get-together at their house... with lots of Irish beer, whiskey, Guiness, and all the traditional Irish food like corned beef! Everyone typically brings something to help out in the food or beverage department... and this year we decided to bring a dessert! Jei made some delicious Pot O' Gold S.P.D. cupcakes to bring to the festivities... which everyone thoroughly enjoyed! (Although there were some that were a little confused & thought they were at a GLAAD party instead!)

With our cupcakes, appetites, and thirst for adult beverages ready to go, we all made sure to put on some green, walk down the street, and celebrate the Holiday with our friendly neighbors! Cheers!!!

Slinky

We can now add "going down stairs" to Allen's ever growing list of accomplishments! Neither one of us showed him how to do it... so we were both kind of surprised when he did it. But considering how fast, suddenly & effortlessly he learned how to go up the stairs... we probably shouldn't have been so stunned when he finally got the courage to go down them. Nevermind the fact that his cartoons, toys and milk are all downstairs... I'm sure if some stairs led me to my three favorite things, I would've learned how to go down them just as quickly. Nevertheless, we are proud of him... and can't wait to see the next thing he pulls out of his little bag of tricks!

Dirty Toys

"Things that make you go, hmmm..." Yes, not only is it an old (classic?) 90's song, but it is also a common theme around our house lately. Case in point... our 18-month-old son, his toys, and the kitchen sink really shouldn't be mentioned in a sentence together, but recently, they have all become very much familiar with each other... leaving Jei & I extremely bewildered, scratching our heads, and wondering if Allen has been dropped on his head a few too many times! Allow me to illustrate and explain: Without any rhyme or reason, the little guy starts by going over to his toy box in the corner of the living room and begins to furiously dig, search, and pull out random toys of his.    

Allen then picks up the toys he has choosen...

And then walks over to the kitchen sink...

And without any regard to whether the sink has dirty dishes in it or not, Allen proceeds to throw and/or toss the toys into the sink!

And then sometimes he'll look back at us as if he wants and is waiting for some sort of congratulatory clap or praise from us for putting away his toys! Although a part of me thinks he looks at us after doing it to see if we get mad and begin to scold & beat him... which we never do of couse, but I just can't imagine he thinks that is the right place to put his toys... unless he's a lot smarter than we think and he's telling us that his toys are dirty and that he would like us to clean them for him?!? 

Regardless of why he looks at us or why he even does it in the first place... the fact remains that he does, and he does it well and often! Kind of annoying at first, and then it got cute... and then it went back to super annoying. Definitely one of the stranger things Allen does, and we can only hope it doesn't last for  very long!

UPDATE: Our prayers have been answered... becuase this weird behavior of his didn't last for very long! No more toys in the kitchen sink... Woo-Hoo!