Knott's Berry FUN!

Last weekend we decided to take a last minute trip to California because Doug missed his family, and was aching to get in the ocean for a little surf session. I feel bad because before we started dating, Doug used to go home at least once a month, if not more. And, even though it seems like we go to CA a lot, it's not as much as he is used to. It doesn't help that he works weekends though, so I am not completely to blame  :) 

So we make the decision, get the time off work (him), invite his sister Robin (in Utah), and then we do the smart thing and check the weather. Rainy. Cold. Rainy. Cold. In other words crap crap crap. We (I) decide that rain+cold does not=a fun day at the beach so I suggest some alternatives to Robin...one alternative being Knott's Berry Farm. Who freaking goes there? I have no idea, but it's cheap and awesome. (from what we can remember) We both get extremely excited...

...and then Doug got jealous. 

So basically our planned surf trip turned into a Knott's Berry Farm trip. Just.Like.That.

Let me just tell you..Knotts is the shizzzz.

It is the perfect mix of Disneyland and Six Flags.

It has Camp Snoopy with a whole land of kid-ness. 

But then it has all the big roller caster rides too.

Including Excellerator-that goes from 0-80mph in 2 minutes. Ridiculous.

And by ridiculous I actually mean awesome. 

You know what else is awesome? 

Doug's mom deciding to come with us at the last minute, only to find out that she doesn't even like roller coasters and just wanted to take Matix around for part of the day. It could not have been any more perfect. I owe her --big time. 

On the other hand, young, minority, junior high school couples who suck face through a 40 minute line are not awesome. They are gross. And I'm really happy we made them feel awkward with our commentary...for the whole 40 minutes we were behind them. 

 Oh....now let me tell you about "the eye." 

Poor Matix had a rough couple of days....well actually...just his eye did. He

-fell down the stair and hit it causing a bruise.

-got knocked into a wall by Doug's behind (on accident) and bumped his poor bruise.

-fell onto a rock in a like at Knott's, hitting it perfectly on his already super black, super bruised eye and cut it open.

My poor child looked abused by the end of the trip. 

Good thing it looks worse than it hurt. He said it hurt but he never complained. 

I think he mostly like the attention he got and telling and re-telling the stories :)

Sunday was filled with church, baking, and family dinner at Doug's brother's house in Rancho Cucamonga. Robin loved having Matix's help with baking a cake...

 ....and Matix didn't mind helping ;)

It was the first time the whole family had been together in a while...so we snapped a couple cute family pictures. Yes. Doug and his brothers all look very much alike. Sometimes even the kids confuse them....jk.

Kim, Katelyn, Jeff, Jimmy, Mark, Ann-Marie, Doug,
Robin, Dean, Christian, Debbie, Sidney, David

Yet again, it was another fun-filled California weekend. 

It's no wonder Matix always asks to go to California.

 :)

PS: The weather ended up not being rainy or crappy, just a little on the chilly side, but nothing to complain about. 

Oh, and we had dinner Saturday night with the besties, Zach and Steph. They made us some bomb food and then we played Bananagram...all night. It was perfect. I love them.

So what if I'm a crybaby...

I have been anxiously anticipating the release of this movie...

Since Doug is a surfer, I basically convinced him that it's going to be the best movie in the entire world.

It's about the girl who got attacked by a shark a few years back. I totally remember when it happened. I was a senior in high school and would read all the teen magazines about the story. I think it is seriously the most inspiring story. The movie was seriously so good. It really makes you not feel so bad about your situations because this poor girl lost her ENTIRE arm, and less than a month after the attack she was back in the water trying to surf again. She has since won national titles, with one arm. Talk about beating the odds and being freaking awesome. I basically have decided that she is my hero and that I should be more like her. Needless to say me (and Doug) both shed a few tears during the movie. (Okay, so I basically cried through out the entire thing. They were mostly happy tears.) Everyone should go see it. You will be inspired.

And on a side note:

This movie comes out later this year sometime...we saw the trailer before Soul Surfer came on...and I may or may not have cried through the entire trailer too. It basically is a new version of Free Willy (kinda). And since Free Willy is basically my favorite movie ever, I can't wait to watch this. It looks so good. It's about a Dolphin that loses it's tale in a crab trap, and has to have a prosthetic appendage made and be taught how to swim again. What can I say, I'm a sucker for ocean movies. 

See...I do have a place in my heart for animals...just not a place in my house. ;)

bunny love.

I am not an animal person. I don't hate them, but I don't love them either.

Well actually let's just say I love them from a distance. 

I will pet them. Or love on them, especially when they are little.

But I just think that owning one is a different story, and a burden I am not interested in having right now.

Anyways, my child is the biggest animal person I know. 

He is fearless when it comes to touching, holding, or riding animals. 

(See HERE, HERE, or HERE.)

Well, fortunately for me, Matix's dad is also an animal lover. 

It really is perfect, because he supplies the pets, and I don't have to. :)

A couple of weeks ago, Matix's dad decided to get him another pet. 

(in addition to the dog that he already has, Dexter)

Meet Flipper and Pepper...

Flipper is Matix's.

Pepper is his aunt Mariah's.

Matix feeds them. Takes them to the park. And holds them. 

He always is telling me about his baby bunny and all the things they do together.

He sure loves his new little friends.

Well, today when I asked how "Flipper" was, he tells me.....

"Flipper died. I cried. But he is in heaven now."

I was so confused. He has only had him about two weeks. What the heck?

So Jon gets on the phone and tells me that Matix let D-E-X-T-E-R in the house, and he found Flipper....and well...you can imagine how that ended....

How sad!

My heart hurts for Matix and his recent loss. I mean...he cried!

Poor little guy. 
RIP Flipper...you were a good friend.

**Clarification: Matix did not see the bunny get killed. Nor does he know that Dexter did the killing..hence the spelling out of his name. He is still a 2 year old :) **

Zombieland...

My friend Allison must think that she is some sort of very important person because she threw herself another birthday party. Apparently our Disneyland Birthday Extravaganza wasn't good enough. Pshhhh. Oh well, we are always looking for excuses to party, especially when there's dress up's involved, and the sweet nectar of ice cream cake   ;)   So...thanks for being so freaking awesome, Al.

It was seriously the most last minute, thrown together party ever...and on a Wednesday night...but even still...we all looked pretty freaking awesome...see for yourself...

Zombie Ash

Brooke and Corbin

Ashley, Brynn, Allison, Brooke, Corbin, Steve, Luke

Me and Allison

Hungry Zombies.

gorging ourselves on the remains of Steve.

Birthday Spanks.

...and then she got her revenge.

Ashley, Jane, Brooke

Ya, I know we are freaks...but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I love my friends.

<3

picnic.

Last weekend, my best friend Darci decided we should have a picnic in the park with the kiddos. She picked up pizza, I brought the drinks and we met at a park somewhere in the middle of normal Vegas, and too-far-to-even-be-considered Vegas, where she lives.  I brought my cute little niece, Kennedy along, too. Kennedy is a great little model...so much better than Matix  (she actually holds still)   :)

It was so much fun. I'm am loving the weather we have been having. Matix is such an outdoorsy boy, so I am so excited to be able to do fun things with him all summer long...including more picnics in the park! (with the Buhl's)

 to see more pictures...including some that prove that I actually was there....go HERE.

sleepover fun.

Keegan is one of Matix's cute little friends, and his mom is one of my cute little friends. Brittany has been suggesting we have a sleepover for a couple of weeks now, and it finally all worked out! My parents were out of town so I asked if she could watch Matix while I was at work on Friday, and then I'd come back and we'd just stay the night! (her husband works nights, so she gets lonely) It could not have  been more fun!

We started out the night with dinner at "Panda Bear"-the boys' favorite. Then we went back to the house and played in the backyard riding trucks, swinging, and digging. When the sun went down, the boys continued to play around in the house. They were hyper and had a blast "wrestling" each other---boys will be boys. Finally we settled down in our pajamas, Doug came over, and we watched Tangled.  Mommy fell asleep, but not those boys...they stayed up through the entire thing which ended at 11 something. But that's not all...nope...the hyperness returned and we couldnt get the kids to go to bed until we separated them-1 upstairs and 1 down-and they finally crashed sometime right before 1 am! Yes, 1 am!! Unreal, right?? Good thing we slept in until 1030 the next morning. Before we concluded our first sleepover party, we watched Tangled one more time, and Britt made us some homemade donuts for breakfast! Yummmmmy. 

Good thing we had no plans that Saturday...we came home, did our Saturday chores, and then took a good, long nap!

I'm sure this is the beginning of many more sleepovers to come :)

that time i lost my son.

This past weekend I got word that there was a $5 off coupon for Tangled, our new favorite movie...so of course we headed straight to Target to get our hands on a copy. My sister had been to 4 different stored in NLV before she found one in stock--the movie is that good! We head straight to the movie section and snag the last copy...aghhhh...lucky for us. Matix held onto that thing the entire rest of the visit. Before we checked out I wanted to check out the clearance racks for little boy clothes--always a must. Matix was being so cute and was in such a good little mood that we were just playing around while we shopped. It turned into a mini game of hide-and-seek...Matix's absolute favorite game lately. He would hide in the clothes and I would act like I couldn't find him, until i would hear him laughing from behind a nearby rack. Well, after a couple of times, I think he got a little carried away and actually hid somewhere....kind of far...because I couldn't find him for a minute or so...when I heard it...

"Ashley Marx please report to Guest Services."

I am mortified. I really lost my kid?? What the heck are they going to think of me?? Who loses their own kid at Target!!!!?!? My mind is spinning. But at the same time I'm glad he's fine and he's safe...

I hurry up there... (it's not too far) and there's Matix chit chatting away with the worker. The first thing she tells me is, "boy you have a smart kid. He knew what your whole name was." (We've been practicing) But that was the last thing on my mind, honestly. I was kinda laughing because I knew he wasn't really lost, but boy was I embarrassed. Never will we be playing hid and seek in a public place again...and we have had a few talks about not going anywhere with strangers unless they are a worker! 

She said he was hiding with his movie and she asked who he was with he said his mommy, and then she asked where his mommy was and he replied, "I don't know, I'm hiding."

Cute Kid.

conference weekend.

this is how we watched conference...

and by "we" I mostly meant Matix.....mostly.

twinners.

 Two of my very good friends (Paris and Lisa) just had a baby girl a couple of weeks ago...

So I decided to be a very good friend and go meet their new little addition...

Maya Milan Bayardo
March 5, 2011

 6 lb. 15 oz.

Only to be completely shocked at how much she looks like Matix-only in girl form!!!

No you are not seeing double.

The first picture really is Maya (hence the flower on her shirt), and Matix is the second.

I know babies all kinda look alike...but these two are twins...just a couple years apart. I'm convinced.

As I was holding her I was reminiscing about holding my own little baby boy...

...who is now almost 3 years old!

She even was making little grunts how he used to. 

Oh how I miss those newborn days. 

But not so much the sleepless nights.

Congrat Paris and Lisa...Maya is absolutely beautiful...

but I might just be a tiny bit bias   :)

and here's another newborn Matix picture...just because it's just so dang cute...