Bring your Child to Work Day

Cameron has come to work with me before but this is the first year that she was really old enough to enjoy the festivities that Google puts together for the kids. We played some lawn sports and made a custom pin wheel. There was a great show with the "Bubble Man" from the exploratorium put on. He made some of the best bubbles I've ever seen and he did it without a wand. He made a Mickey Mouse Bubble which Cameron recognized immediately, bubbles within bubbles, and he made giant bubbles that some of the kids got to get inside of. It was really cool.

Cameron's favorite part was, of course the jumpy house. She made her friend Kate and they jumped together for almost an hour. I was exhausted just watching. We also played in the inflatable obstacle course and the giant slide before going to create more art. There was a really cool spin table that the kids dropped paint into to create a really nice piece. Its now in my office.

We enjoyed the Google food and then headed off to real work. I couldn't let Cameron think that Mommy's work consisted of jumpy houses and bubble shows. She went to my office and we did work together. Her work consisted of taping up my office, but she did talk to my co workers which was the first time that has ever happened.

Riley didn't get to join us at Google but to make up for it we gave him Cameron's old tricycle. He really enjoyed being pushed around and ringing the bell. I never used the foot board with Cameron since she could reach the peddles but it worked perfectly for Riley. I think now that its warm outside we'll be taking them all on lots of walks and rides.

Week of the Young Child 2009

Week of the Young Child is usually my favorite week of the school year. This year was a downer because we only got 3 days of fun, and mommy had to travel for work on one of those days, no school on Friday, and Thursday was Bring Your Child to Work day so I had to go to work with Mom. We did get a visit from the animals which was the first time Riley ever got to touch a rabbit, chicken, pig, and goat.
The theme this year was "Bringing Communities Together." We did lots of gardening and transformed our communal areas of the campus to planting spots. We planted veggies, herbs, and flowers. I really liked the tomato plant and hope it gets really tall.

Ms Julia came and did some body art for us. I got a ballerina and I think it was the best one she did. Riley got a turtle and it was very good. I don't know why he got a turtle because now that he is walking he is super fast.

Since it was warm there was lots of opportunities for water play. Not only did we get to play in the fountains but they brought out the sprinklers. Riley had a great time exploring it. He wasn't afraid at all.

Work, Work, Work

Its been a busy week. We are learning lots of new things these days. Mommy is teaching us to clean house. We love it, Riley and I even fight over the chores. We aren't yet signing up to clean the floors, because if Mommy doesn't want to do it, its probably not fun.

They are putting us to work at school too. We are learning to set the table so when its our turn we get the table ready for lunch for all of our friends. We even get to load the dishwasher when lunch is over. Its great!


We are also learning to put on our own shoes and jackets. This is really big kid stuff so Riley is not yet doing this, but thats okay because he doesn't have any shoes anyway.

The best part of chores is the pay off. For being such a good helper, Daddy and Mommy got us a swing. We can now swing in the backyard. Its soooo much fun, we love it! Daddy says "all work and no play is.....something...."

Happy Easter

Its Easter weekend and we started it off by attending the Saturday neighborhood Easter egg hunt. The Easter Bunny was there and was hoping to meet all the kids but Cameron would not go near him. Riley did meet the Easter bunny and was quite amazed. He didn't cry he just kept staring at him in amazement.

Each of the kids got a goody bag so Cameron enjoyed the bubbles and the stickers while waiting for the hunt to begin. It was a good day and she got to hang out with Hannah and enjoy a breakfast of muffins and fruit.

When the hunt started the kids were off. Since I had helped stuff the eggs I knew which ones I wanted ("pick the taped eggs") but Cameron would not listen to me. She had her own agenda which I would discover later. Each of the kids could pick 10 eggs. Cameron got her 10 and then she got Riley's. He didn't mind at all. We next opened our eggs to see what we found. Cameron did the opening and all candy went into her basket and all toys, even the necklace that I thought she would love, went into Riley's basket. Alas, the girl definitely takes after me.

The hunt was fun but the next morning the kids were very excited to see what the bunny had put in their basket. Each had toys and candy. Today Cameron again went through the baskets and took all the chocolate for herself. Riley loved every minute of it and played with his eggs and dump truck while Cameron played with her first Barbie.

Now for the rest of the Vacation

Before the triathlon we mainly stayed at the resort. Now that the race is over we headed out to explore the rest of the island. We went to see the volcano. We all got stamps in our National Park Passport books (Riley got a book of his own). It was really cool to see the caldera and the steam vents. We saw some water falls and whales off the coast.

Daddy was very lucky because he got to take a helicopter tour. The tour took him directly over the lava flow and he watched the lava hit the ocean. He also got to see several whales breach and took video of the whole thing so we could enjoy it too.

A really fun tour was visiting the Seahorse Ranch. We got to actually hold one, but Cameron wanted to just watch. She did feed them little shrimp that was caught from a lava tube outside the ranch. There were lots of Seahorses and it was very interesting to hear how they breed them so that they can survive in captivity. We learned some important lessons about why we should buy our fish from ranches instead of animals taken from the wild.

There were lots more swim days and sand play. Cameron loved the sand pool. She and Riley were able to go into the pool themselves and walk out far without mommy or daddy hovering. We also got to enjoy more of the animals on the resort which included tortoises, Neh-Neh, tropical birds including some cranes, parrots, and a cockatoo. Cameron also got to feed the fish in the lagoon. There was a 4ft barracuda who enjoyed having Cameron throw him fish. His name was Elvis and he ate more than any of the other fish.

Cameron finally got to jump on the horses on exhibit but we made her hurry. She loves all horses even the statues. Riley also got pose on the exhibits including a rhino. This was the best vacation we've ever had.