Zoo Day

This past weekend was a weekend 'o fun.

On Saturday we headed out to the L.A. Zoo.

We met my cousin Lisa, Tim and their new little baby Cam.

Katie groomed just about every animal that would let her at the petting zoo.

Cam is just under 2 months younger than Maddie.

I can't wait until the girls get a little older so they can run around together.

I say that, but I really want to just freeze Maddie the way she is -- all little and perfect.

Zoo day with dad is always special.

Papa bought her a special lunch which was a big hit (Mama always packs lunches).

She carried that monkey head around a good portion of the day.

I love, love, love my new Ergo. Maddie seems to like it well enough too.

Finished the day off with a train ride.

The expression on Katie's face just made me laugh.

Just cruisin' with her bunny ears.

Easter

Easter Sunday was filled with friends.

The afternoon started with an egg hunt.

This was Katie's 4+ egg hunt in the past week so she proved to be a seasoned hunter.


Megan stole some baby time with Logan.

In the picture below the girls were running in a circle.

What cracked me up was they were having an actual conversation with each other while running.

I literally heard this as they were running:

"Katie, you like my hair?"

"Yes."

The kids were very entertained between Uncle Scott, Sammy and Geoff's version of hide-and-go-seek which went something like:

"Kaitlyn, go stand outside the door, count to 10 and then knock on the door."

After dinner and some more sugar Sammy blew bubbles and the kids were off to the races trying to catch them.

Have I mentioned having a 10-year old around to entertain your three-year-olds is wonderful?

Ellie

I'm thinking about my beautiful friend Ellie who will be having her second baby today.

Please send her your thoughts and strength today.

Filling Her Big Sister's Shoes

We have come to refer to Katie simply as The Destroyer in our household.

Her ability to decimate a room single-handily is unreal, and at times -- legendary.

Apparently, The Destroyer 2 (the sequel) is going to be appearing in our -- and perhaps in your -- household very soon.

Madeleine empties out the play kitchen shelves multiple times a day, and today she began pulling books off the bookshelf, for what appeared to be sheer sport.



Now, I remember Katie exhibiting similar behavior, but it didn't seem as bad and I just figured out why. Our house was set up different then. I didn't have anything down low for her to well -- destroy.

I didn't put books on the bottom bookshelf until Katie was old enough to want to pick her own books to peruse. We didn't get the play kitchen until Katie was 2-years old. And, we didn't have toys that consisted of 4,000 miniature pieces when Katie was 8-months old.

It is so different when you have that second child.

I'm thinking about putting a child lock on that blasted play kitchen door -- would that be bad?

Early Easter Eggtravaganza

Today we attended not one but two early Easter celebrations. I thought this might be too much for one day -- I mean, there is nothing like pushing your 3-year old to her limit, right?

To start, this was the highlight of the day...


Then, there was an egg hunt with some of her pals.
And, of course the Easter Bunny was there.

The girls approached with caution...

This was as close as Katie would get to the bunny.

And, there were crafts -- which Katie is always up for.

Note: there was a ton of room at the table they were doing play-doh at, Dylann and Katie just chose to sit on top of each other -- shocker.

Later, I took Katie and Dylann to the bathroom. On the way Katie fell behind looking into a storefront shouting something about the Easter Bunny.

Dylann was sprinting ahead so I yelled at Katie to stop loitering, and that we'd see the Easter Bunny on the way back.

On the way back Katie tells Dylann that they are going to see the Easter Bunny and they both take off running.

They stop at this empty storefront. I peer in expecting to see a stuffed bunny or something, but in fact is was the Easter Bunny taking a break from the festivities.

The girls thought this was hilarious.

Later at Easter Celebration #2 there was a second egg hunt which Katie thoroughly enjoyed.

And, the Easter Bunny made an appearance here as well.

Many of the kids -- like "boy Dylan" (what she calls the boy she knows whose name is Dylan versus her girlfriend Dylann) gave hugs and got special eggs from the Easter Bunny.

Not my girl, she stayed safely far away with her friend Ryder in a protected location -- backs up against the gazebo with the bunny square in front of them so there'd be no sneaking up on them.

They just sat there -- suspiciously -- watching the Easter Bunny's every move.

The day was completed with a spin around the backyard on our hostess Katie's big wheel.

The Yetti Call

A Day at the Park

Katie has been asking to go to "the whale park" for the past week. So, today we headed out to Alameda Park in Santa Barbara.

We stopped by Panino -- thanks Miyo for introducing us to this place-- to pick up some delicious sandwiches. I had my favorite: #12, no mayo.

We had a picnic by the pond and watched the turtles, ducks and coy fish.

Katie and Dylann gave a couple of leftover crackers and pieces of rice cake to the ducks.

Today was a "special Monday" so Papa joined us. He makes every outing better.

Katie and Dylann found the perfect little nook between some palm trees.

It became their "bus." They took turns driving and drove to Paris, San Francisco and I think, Japan.

Logan even got a little love this afternoon too.

Why Didn't I Choose Applesauce?!

I made all of Katie's baby food, so of course, I'm making Maddie's food as well.

The mom's group I'm in is having a swap event where we make a big batch of something and then trade so we walk away with a variety of food for our babies.

Good idea, right?

For the last hour my house has sounded like a Jamba Juice.

And, now it smells like cauliflower -- blech.

I think the only thing I could have picked that would have been worse would have been broccoli.

I hate broccoli these days.

Katie only eats peas and broccoli, so I make a lot of broccoli. I used to like broccoli. Now I find it terribly offensive. Worst of all, it seems to show up everywhere. I go to a restaurant and it's my side, I go to a friend's houses for dinner -- guess what? Broccoli.

Oh well, at least it's good for me and my Little Wickies.

My Little Drummer

There is this really great local group called Pulse Drumming. They come out into the community frequently to do demonstrations, concerts, etc.

What I like is they let the kids actually participate and experience the drumming themselves.

Katie loves banging on those drums -- shocking, I know -- so we try not to miss these events.

Katie & Mama 2.0

Yesterday we had another special Mama and Katie day.

We packed up The Little Engine That Could and headed out to the train station to begin our adventure.

We waited behind the yellow line -- as the signs instructed -- and searched for the train coming down the tracks.

It was a really pretty day. You could see all the way to the islands.

When we reached our destination we took a quick snapshot in front of the train for posterity's sake.

Katie has a thing where she likes to check all of the newspaper stands.

Apparently the route we took to lunch is a priority avenue for newspapers -- any and all kind of newspapers.

The task did not daunt the diligent Katie, and every -- and I mean every -- handle was pulled.

Lunch was a huge hit because not only did she have french fries -- which she dipped into ketchup and then stuffed into her grilled cheese sandwich -- they had free peanuts in a humongous barrel.

And, the best part was you could throw the shells on the floor. The novelty of this was not lost on my daughter.

After having lunch on the pier we trotted back towards land.

And, took a carousel ride.

Made a wish at the fountain.

Then headed back to the train. We chatted with the friendly conductor on the way back.

We somehow missed seeing Padaro Grill on the way back, which caused some pouting.

It was only momentary though.






Then we got into the snack bag she made for herself before we left the restaurant. It consisted of two segments of a cutie tangerine, two oyster crackers from my soup lunch, two shelled and two un-shelled peanuts.

A very choice snack indeed.

Alas, all good things must come to an end.

We waved goodbye to the train, and headed home to fly our new glider (which was acquired from treasure chest at the restaurant).

Katie told me she had a "super-duper fun time."

That was all I needed to hear.