Jonah Turns 4

Jonah chose a Mickey and Minnie theme for his birthday this year. Not like last year, which was just Minnie, or the year before, which was just Mickey. We had cookies at the park with friends to celebrate.

Then the next day, his actual birthday, he opened presents with family.  He was so excited for Minion toothpaste, because the Star Wars kind is minty, ie "too spicy."

Scott picked these Star Wars readers for Jonah, which are amazing. I don't mind reading to the boys, but I can only take so many readings of the same book, especially Star Wars ones. Now they get unlimited hours of stories.

 He also got Minnie and Mickey Duplo characters that my neighbor was passing along.

 John and I bought him a big Minnie to match his big Mickey. I was hesitant because I don't love stuffed animals, especially huge ones, but it was the only thing he asked for and he does love his Mickey.

 We did not anticipate Perry's undying love. She's almost as big as he is.

 Grandma and Grandpa gave him a pedal go kart, which was a big hit with both older boys. 

 After gifts we had some delicious cake my friend Stacey made.

 It looked so great I didn't know how it would taste, because sometimes you sacrifice one for the other, but it was amazing. It didn't dry out and we enjoyed it for a few days. 

Jonah was a happy boy. 

At age 4, his favorite 

food: chicken and rice (haystacks, which he calls paystacks) and fruit

color: pink

church song: Nephi gets the plates and Nephi builds a boat

scripture story: Jonah and the whale

activities: being read to, jumping on the trampoline, playing with Scott (duplos usually)

animal: polar bear

and when he grows up he wants to be: a police officer (that's a new one)

At his 4 year check-up, Jonah was 36 pounds (52%) and 39.5 inches (31%).

July II

Somebody wants to sit with the big boys.

Speaking of big boy.

Scott picked out a raspberry balsamic vinegar on our last visit to the oil shop and couldn't wait to have it with some bread. Paired with our cheese selection it was a fancy lunch.

Jonah wanted me to take a picture of his angry face.

And Scott did sad.

Then Jonah's sad face.

And happy. Silly boys.

Perry perched himself on the stroller for some light reading.

So mad he couldn't get into trouble.

We went to Charlotte's birthday party and had a blast swimming and eating.

Perry had more than his share of watermelon.

Little cutie with her birthday cake.

We met Melody for a hike at Ranch San Antonio.

We walked about a mile to the farm, which was a nice, flat road.

Perry loved seeing the animals.

Reading again. He runs off while I wash my hands after changing his diaper and thinks it's so funny to avoid getting dressed again. 

I bought a used picnic table that folds up small to use in the backyard. Now the boys want "picnics" every day and I love not cleaning up after them for lunch.

Packages mean popper fun.

Walking to the library. Perry just mimics everything his brothers do and it looks so cute.

Jonah helping Perry with the puzzles at the library.

I bought some Mickey crafts to do during Perry's nap times. They did art projects every day in preschool and missed doing more than coloring over the summer. 

We had Charlotte one day while Britta was working and I took the kids through the car wash.

Charlotte was screaming and Jonah comforted her and held her hand until it was less scary.

All three boys love Chick-fil-a for the play place, fruit cups, and sauces. When Perry runs out of things to dip he just licks out the ketchup.

Sometimes the boys come in from playing on the trampoline and say it's a hot day, should we have a popsicle to cool off?

We were watching a documentary while Perry slept and the boys played. When he woke up, he joined right in.

Perry hit 16 months and had all 16 teeth broken through. We're hoping his sleep will normalize again now.

Perry climbed up and sat with his hands in his lap like this to copy Jonah. It was too cute.

They barricaded me in the hallway one morning. I played the Les Mis barricade boys song for them.

We went to the dollar summer movie. Perry sat and watched for a few minutes.

Then we tried snacks, then playing in the aisle, then just walked around in the hall. Well, I walked and sat, he ran.

Luckily it was a pretty empty showing and the older boys are fine to sit alone while I come and go.

He spilled some water and grabbed the kitchen towel to clean up after himself.

John got a new smart watch. Perry is attached to John when he's home.

My friend Stacey took me to a Jack Johnson concert because her husband couldn't make it.

It was at the Greek theatre in Berkeley and was magical. He was amazing in person and doesn't do tours very often, but I'd love to go again next time he does.

Pictures make it look like he's never dressed, but I pulled his clothes off to have the popsicle so he wouldn't be sticky and eating is the best time to get a non-moving picture of him.

Helping John with the cabinets.

I had to remind him he could drive at 16 years, not months.

He's our sweet little stinker. 

Yosemite

John was able to get a reservation for the Yosemite valley lodge the last weekend in July so we squeezed one last national parks visit out of our passes.

It took a long time to get there because of traffic and it ended up being hotter than predicted, in the 90's the whole weekend.

When we finally arrived, the boys were anxious to get out of the car. We took the Mirror Lake trail and found the Merced river.

Perry crashed.

The boys loved throwing rocks.

The rocks were painful to walk on and it was so, so hot. The cold water and sitting in the shade felt great, but next time we definitely need to bring swimsuits and sandals.

Perry woke up and was not shy about getting his clothes wet.

Everywhere we looked it was beautiful. It's so crowded in the main areas, but as soon as you go out on a trail there's open space that's peaceful and quiet.

We tried to walk some more, but the boys were done. So we took the buses to half-dome village and had dinner at the pizza deck. The buses took a while, so it was good we left early, and the boys loved riding on them. John found ice cream (and sorbet for Jonah) for dessert on our trip back to the lodge.

After the boys were in bed we went on the balcony and could see so many stars. I managed to get some mosquito bites and was grateful we weren't camping in tents--it was well worth the money, especially when Perry woke up a few times during the night.
In the morning we hiked to Yosemite falls while it was still cool out and the boys did much better.

They found walking sticks

which sometimes broke, hence Scott's sad face.

We walked up to the waterfall, which was lovely.

The boys loved dropping rocks down, but being near edges makes me anxious.

On the bridge.

Boys on a log. We walked further up the trail, then back down. We met lots of friendly people on the trails and buses and talked to people from all over the world.

I packed up our room while John entertained the kids outside. It's easy to do with dirt and rocks all around.

The view from our room was amazing.

We happened to be at the lodge the same night as our friends the Rogers, who invited us over for pancakes. Then we went right down the path to a sandy beachy access to the Merced River.

The boys were in heaven. Jonah went in the water and Scott stuck to the sand.

We had a fun time chatting while Perry had a little nap and the kids played.

Then the Rogers drove us over to the little church. There was a short and sweet sacrament meeting that wrapped up our trip nicely.

Ashley took this picture for us on our way out. I wish we'd gotten one with their family!

We loved Yosemite and want to go back in a cooler, less busy month or when the kids are older and we can rent tubes to float down the river. Or both!