We had a very nice time visiting with friends the other morning. Mommy got to scrapbook and the kids, well, they were kids. There are days when they just NEVER get along with anyone...and then there are days like this one, when they were sharing their treats and playing in a tent~
The other morning we were headed to a friend's house off the mountain and while driving along the rim I just had to pull over and take a picture. Some days it feels like we're living on Mt. Olympus...
Last week we went to the zoo again (with annual passes, it's virtually the cheapest thing we can do) and of course, the kids loved it. We got to do the sea lion show for the first time and it seems like every time we go there we find something he hadn't seen before. In particular, the kids love the children's petting zoo. My little man likes to chase the goats yelling "Dog! Dog!" and my little girl likes to use the "Big Girl" bathrooms (Translation: Potties so close to the ground that you're basically sitting on the floor and sinks at your knees). Oh yeah, I guess seeing all of the the wild animals was fun for them too~
I suppose they would have been more excited about these guys if they'd seen the Lion King. Have you noticed that ever since that movie came out everyone knows these little guys' names? Nobody could have cared less about these little guys or the wart hogs before that. Nice going Timon & Pumbaa.
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Every little toddler goes through a phase of learning to speak and not exactly getting the words right. For example, the golden arches around our family are referred to as "Old MacDonalds" and my blueberry loving daughter was often known to request "Boobies" (!). My little man is no exception to the rule but has decided to come up with his own terms rather than try to master the existing English language. Case in point: "Mookie Chookie". This term has been come to identify anything that is neat or fun or amazing or exciting or great or wonderful...you get the picture. So for example, yesterday the kids and I spent some time washing, cleaning, vacuming and detailing our cars and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. My son was elated to be able to sit in the driver's seat and practice his driving while I was cleaning and promptly proclaimed "Mookie Chookie!" There was also a day recently when I turned on some music (which they both love) in the toy room for a little dance party. The sound of the music starting was enough to merit a big "Mookie Chookie".
We recently had the great pleasure of spending a weekend with Aunt Sarah & Uncle Wally up North and had a fantastic time. We spent the first day out on the river, fishing and soaking up the sun while the kids played in the snow-runoff freezing water. Then we spent the next day on the lake where it was warm enough to make us want to jump into the lake despite it's chilly temperature as well.
We got to do lots of other fun stuff too, like playing jenga (Uncle Chris is a master), cooking up a world-class barbecue and playing in Uncle Wally's empty keg (he works in a brewery, and has no kids, thus no toys so cut him some slack). 
The kids had a wonderful time as did daddy & I, despite our sunburns we both dealt with on Monday morning. As is often the case, dealing with a sunburn is often the sign of a fun weekend.
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Every little girl loves a big twirly skirt and what better way to give her that than with a tutu? So while Grandma & Aunti were visiting, we made three of them (pink, lt green & orange) for my little ballerina. I still have the materials for 3 more but we'll see how long it takes to finish them. Not only are they fun on their own as skirts, but they also give lift to every dress she owns so now she wears them virtually every day. What follows here is how to make them - no pattern and minimal cutting necessary.
Measure your child's waist (mine's was 20"). You will need some fake flower petals, thread and 1.5 times the waist length (so I used about a yard) of each of the following: - toole (double this) - sheer - ribbon - soft flannel - 1" non-roll elastic (only waist length necessary, not 1.5X, so I used 20")
This Sunday was my little man's first Easter egg hunt. His sister was gone with Nana & Grandpa to Disney on Ice for her birthday and Daddy doesn't "do" Easter egg hunts he says, so it was just the two of us. A friend of ours invited us to join her and her daughter to the event that was hosted by her church. There was a volleyball game, tug-o-war, face painting, a bounce house, and the ever popular egg hunt. The hunt was definitely the highlight of his day. It didn't take long to figure out that there was candy in them-there eggs and has since spent every day disassembling the plastic decorative eggs laid out around our house in the hopes of finding more candy. He sure is a persistent little one.
The highlight of the day for me was not the hunt however, but the introduction of the Easter Bunny himself. At first, this 7 foot animal was quite daunting to my 1.75-year-old. He was inquisitive though and was soon following Mr. Bunny everywhere (keeping a safe distance). Eventually, with some coaxing from mom, the two became acquainted long enough for me to snap a quick photo. You'll note however, that the trust was not entirely there as my brave little man was NOT willing to take his eyes off of the suspicious rabbit.
We spent last Saturday at the Santa Anita Derby. The weather was beautiful and my hubby was lucky so both those things combined make for a pretty great day. The four of us set up chairs in front of the jumbotron, right by the finish line. Early on, my lucky other half hit a $1 bet to win $120 and the day pretty much followed suit. I lost about $20 but he more than made up for it with his winnings. There aren't many activities where you can go have so much fun and wind up making money on the deal are there?
There are two kinds of people in this world:
I learned recently when the hurdlers joined us for pizza and introduced me to the game that I fall into the latter category. Not only were they all much more agile than I was at this endeavor, but they made it look easy. Whereas each athlete could last for several minutes and in many cases, several rounds, I only lasted several steps. All this time I thought I had some kind of rhythmic abilities and yet now I picture myself more on the same level as Elaine from Seinfeld (a show which most of my hurdlers probably have never seen - sigh). Oh well, I am consoling myself in the assumption that they have nothing better to do with their time than go home and practice this game until their feet are calloused and have sweated through their shirts. Sour grapes maybe, but it's all I've got.
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My two kids had become accustomed to getting served extra helpings of attention all week last week while our family was staying with us. We went shopping, made birthday party decorations, sewed tu-tus (more on that later), went to Disneyland, had a birthday party, went to track practices, a track meet, out to eat, spent lots of time playing on the playground in the back yard, and had about 10 days of general mayhem. The LOVED it. So on Sunday night, when the house was quiet again, you could almost hear the crickets chirp as they wondered how to occupy their time. All week long they have struggled with entertaining each other until finally, today, they seem to have recuperated from the overdose. Did I mention it's 2 weeks till tax day? {insert mommy's sigh of relief here}