Our Babies: Cameron, Riley, and PJ

Have you met Lola and Calvin?

2011-02-18T22:34:00.000-08:00

Lola & Calvin are the guinea pigs adopted by the Wetlands daycare in 2009. Lola is a peruvian brown and white female who is very vocal about what she likes and does not. Calvin is an abyssian who is much quieter tri-color. The kids help care for their friends and give them lots of good treats of fruits and veggies (all organic).

The guinea pigs also act as the subjects for the children for sculptures, painting, etc. Calvin and Lola took particular interest in what Cameron was creating for them. Cameron drew a picture of Calvin for Lola. It included a self-portrait of Cameron watching him through the cage.

Although the guineas are often shy, as they were singing excitedly Cameron leaned down to listen. Lola surprised everyon and gave Cameron a kiss. Cameron now asks to bring Lola home so she can keep her in the castle.... Maybe we will guinea-sit sometime.

Updates are Coming...

2010-06-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry to everyone who has been asking for months (not a year just yet) that the blog be updated. I'm working on it now and will try and catch up as quickly as I can.

Mommy

Happy Birthday Riley!

2010-06-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

Riley is 2!!

And Trains are the latest and greatest discovery second only to the box it came in.

Gilroy Gardens is open

2010-05-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

Gilroy Gardens is now open so we headed down. Gilroy is always a lot warmer and today was no exception. We were greeted by the giant garlic and enjoyed the unique trees which Gilroy Gardens is famous for. The grafted trees come in all kinds of shapes and sizes that will cause shock and awe.

Of course we rode the flying strawberries and the balloons but we again did not make it to the swans on the lake (the line is always too long and its in the sun).

The kids favorite ride was the cars they get to drive on their own. Its a bumpy ride for Mommy and Daddy but loads of fun for the Cameron and Riley.

We also visited the carnival games and Riley rode the firetrucks, again another favorite. This time Cameron and Riley refused to play in the water features but the train we rode multiple times. Nothing is better than the train, says Riley.

Roaring Camp

2010-05-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

We needed an outing so we headed to Roaring Camp with Uncle Greg. One of the best benefits of Roaring camp is they allow dogs so PJ got to enjoy the train adventure with the rest of the family. We started with a picnic and then jumped on the train to head into the Redwood forest.

After hiking on the top of the mountain we came back to enjoy ice cream. Even PJ got to enjoy a treat (minus ice cream just cone). Highly recommend this for a day out with the family.

The May Pole

2010-05-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

Today Ms Ana, the daycare music teacher, surprised the kids by bringing a May pole. It was a little chaotic to explain how to get started. The kids quickly grabbed their ribbons before the music started.

The dancing started and the kids watched as the pole became decorated by the ribbons. Cameron of course had to have a pink ribbon and she and her doll danced around the pole and decorate it in celebration of Spring.

Gardening Day

2010-04-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

It was time to replant the window boxes at the house. We started at the nursery and both Cameron and Riley got to pick out the plants they wanted and we came home to each plant our own window box.

We had to replace all the dirt and then plant all the plants. Riley enjoyed putting his shovel to use and Cameron laid out the plants the way she thought would look best. There was a pink box, a mostly purple box, and then the rest.

In order to make sure our flowers are were healthy, both Cameron and Riley gave the plants a drink. Riley actually wanted to use the hose but we explained that the flowers liked to drink from the watering can. He then agreed so his plants would be happy.

When we were done, we put the ladybugs into the garden. Riley was very interested in the bugs but Cameron wouldn't let him touch them. She pulled his hand away saying "No! No!" Once he saw that she was scared of the ladybugs he wouldn't touch them. We put the ladybugs on our vines so they could munch on the aphids and enjoyed the rest of our day at the park.

Weekend in LA - Pt III

2010-04-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

LeBrea Tar Pits

You've seen them in the movies and you've heard about it in books and on TV, but seeing it in person should not be missed. The LeBrea tar pits are incredible. Its surrounded by a beautiful park which we explored first. We walked around the lake and watched the gas bubbles coming up.

There is a museum that talks about all the research and displays of all the fossils they found in the tarpits. The number of animals is really amazing. To realize that they have been digging in the pits for decades is even more amazing. I think what struck me most was that the tarpits were not limited to just the few spots in the park. The area was much larger and most of the neighborhoods were built on top of them. A few remodels have actually uncovered new digging spots.

The animals were not limited to the saber-tooth tigers and the mammoths. The animals were from periods all through the centuries. Riley really enjoyed exploring the museu, even getting to play with the tar. In the center of the museum is a rainforest garden with a pond full of fish and turtles where we had our snack before getting into the car for the long ride home.

The drive home was really pretty. All the hills were covered in wildflowers and the California poppies. We saw them for miles. We've had a great family weekend but will be happy to be home.

Weekend in LA - Pt II

2010-04-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

Disneyland

We met Uncle Frank and Tia Diane for breakfast at Paradise Pier. The food was not that great but the show and all the characters were great. This is probably the best character breakfast we've ever been to. We saw Minnie, Mickey, Pluto, Daisy, and Stitch (Cameron's favorite).

The restaurant was not that crowded and Mickey did two shows. Riley was all over the characters. He danced with Mickey during both shows and he greeted each of them with hugs and got each to give him an autograph.

It was a warm day but the park wasn't too crowded. We saw Chip and Dale at the start of Main St then headed towards the castle. We rode the merry-go-round and the tea cups and then it was time to get Cameron to where she had come all this way for....

and that is with the princesses. Although she really wanted to see Princess Tiana, by the time we got in she had gone. Instead we saw Snow White, Aurora, and Cinderella. Cameron was so excited to see each of them. She was a little shy but each princess spent a few minutes talking to her about how great it was to be a beautiful princess.

We had a good time and it was great the day with family. The kids were exhausted and took a quick nap before we celebrated with all the characters during the parade. When we got home, the kids asked if they could go back to Disneyland where Uncle Frank lives. :-)

Weekend in LA - Pt I

2010-04-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

SANTA MONICA, CA

Mommy is in LA every week so Daddy decided to drive down with the kids and make a weekend out of it. While we waited for Mommy to finish her work, we headed down to the beach. We played in the park and hiked along the trail until we spotted the pier.

That looked like lots of fun, so we headed down there as fast as we could. There were so many great things on the pier. We played games, looked through the shops and ate at Bubba Gumps.

We drove the mini-boats over and over (and over...) again. There was live music and Cameron and Riley danced and danced.

Of course we also had to actually go to the beach. We walked along the boardwalk and out onto the sand. Cameron was not happy that she didn't have a bucket but they both had a good time anyway. When we were done it was time to pick up Mommy. We are now headed to Disneyland!!!

PJ Turns 6!!!

2010-04-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

PJ is normally really afraid of his birthday cake, but this year his cake was a giant knuckle bone and he wanted it!

That was until he spotted Cameron's surprise box. She would not share her surprises with him, but they did give him his knuckle bone cake with peanutbutter frosting. Happy Birthday PJ!!

Easter Egg Hunt 2010

2010-04-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

Each year we get ready for Easter by joining into the Rivermarkmoms Egg Hunt. This was a very exciting year because there were facepainters and lots of good treats. The Easter bunny was in a very good mood, but Riley did not like him at all.

We gathered our eggs as quickly as we could, but there was no candy!!! There were lots of fun toys and Cameron got a necklace that she wouldn't take off. As usual Hannah joined us for the party and filled her basket with lots of goodies too.

When we were happy with our goodies, the kids played on the playground for a long time. They went down the slide, up the slide, through the tubes, but the most fun, was the swing race. Daddy worked really hard to see how high he could get them to fly.

When we were done, we all met at Hobees for breakfast. As usual when we were done went hunting for pine cones and playing with Tim. Now we anxiously waiting for the real Easter bunny to fill our baskets and bring us lots of candy, toys, and books. Spring is fun!

Turtle is in Aspen

2010-03-25T17:14:00.000-07:00

Turtle was spending too much time in Aspen so we went to get him ;-) The kids were really excited to surprise Turtle and so we joined his ski trip. It was Cameron and Riley's first time in Colorado and Mommy and Daddy's first time skiing there.

Cameron had planned to go skiing, but when she learned that she was going to have to wear all her ski gear, she opted for the day care instead. The hotel was right on the slopes and there was a piano in the lobby that Riley loved to play.

We explored downtown and played in the frozen park. The slide was tricky but the swings and rope net were fun. The most fun was the snow, but our favorite part of the trip (besides the powder slopes) was the food. We ate at the Stew pot everyday and Mommy is now looking a recipe for white chicken chili. Its delicious!

On our last day we went up the Gondola from downtown to explore the top of the mountain. It was really beautiful and we now understand why this is Turtle's favorite ski town.

Happy Hallow is open again!!!

2010-03-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Hallow closed it doors in 2008 and it was supposed to open a year later, but it didn't. We anxiously waited for its opening day and alas its finally come. The park looked beautiful. The merry-go-round was restored and the animals are very cool. Cameron chose a horse and Riley chose a dinosaur.

While the park looks amazing, not all the parts are complete. The meadow still needs to be planted. Its typical that the mud and mess would be one of the biggest draws.

We visited the barn where we got to feed the animals including the really cute donkey. We went through the maze, rode the restored rides, played on the playground, strolled through the zoo, and finally took a ride on Danny the Dragon. The wait was worth it.

Pt Lobos hike and guided tour

2010-03-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

There are some keen advantages to having your own private grandma docent. Today we headed down to Carmel to get our own private tour at Pt Lobos. We had a picnic and took a hike.

We were hoping to see some of the baby seals, but we only saw the mommies. Riley was very excited today. He found the biggest stick and tried to carry it during the hike.

We found lots of wild flowers and climbed the rocks. Cameron made it to the top all by herself.

The wind was blowing and it was chilly, but its was a beautiful day to enjoy the reserve. This is grandma's favorite place and its becoming ours too.

Working Together...Being Together...

2010-02-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

Cameron and Riley do not get along all the time, but most of the time they are a good match.

Riley pays attention to everything Cameron does, and Cameron generously shares her experience and knowledge.

Riley will try anything and Cameron is very proud when he is successful. Mommy and Daddy are very lucky.

How is Riley doing in school?

2010-02-15T17:06:00.000-08:00

Riley is also practicing his writing. He is not yet practicing letters instead he spend the days writing on whatever looks like it needs some color or artwork, like the large box in his classroom. It took hours to get all the marker off of him and it was the end of his shirt.

But some of his friends did not have this problem. Riley is a big helper in his classroom, and he helped his friends clean the markers from their hands. He especially likes to help Josie who is his special friend.

But he is not really much interested in the arts. He is also learning some math skills and taking on engineering challenges. He organizes all the tools (by size) and is especially enjoying building. With some help from the older children they built an obstacle course and had all the kids climbing through the caves.

But he would not be a typical 2010 toddler if he wasn't embracing technology. You can see that he enjoys taking pictures and anything electronic within his range will become a goal. I'll share some of his photos in future postings. Its hard to believe he will be two in a few months...

How is Cameron doing in school?

2010-02-05T16:16:00.000-08:00

The Harvest Mouse class is filled with lots of learnings. Water play has gotten more sophisticated as the kids learned to measure and suspend tools from the ceiling. Cameron has to figure out how much water it will take to push items through the maze of pipes and tubes.

But that is not the only measuring happening in Harvest Mouse. The measuring tapes are getting lots of use measuring everything from books, to furniture, to kids, and distance the to the ceiling.

The most exciting is the practice of writing letters. Cameron is getting better and better at writing her letters. Her favorite letters are "C", "H", and of course "T" for Tim and Turtle.

Additionally her concentration has really improved and she is beginning to play games with her classmates. She still won't play with Mommy at home, but the her maturity is exciting to watch develop.

A week with the Onufer clan.

2010-01-31T14:54:00.000-08:00

We had a fun filled weekend with the Onufers. We kicked it off visiting the San Francisco zoo with Aunt Juliet, Uncle Greg, and Grandpa. Cameron really enjoyed seeing the peacocks and Riley liked the prairie dogs (mostly their tunnels) and turtles.

There were lots of fun mirrors and the merry-go-round was beautiful. Cameron picked the perfect horse and asked Grandpa to ride with her. It was a really fun day and when it was over Cameron fell asleep on the sofa while we discussed dinner plans.

We also went exploring the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Riley always enjoys the aquarium, he has since he was an infant. The kids made pictures, watched the divers in the big tanks, and played in the children's play area.

It was a very special visit and Cameron especially loved showing Grandpa her classroom and sharing a story. She talked about her Grandpa for weeks and created pictures of her and Grandpa at school on a regular basis. Everyone in her class can tell stories about him.

Back to Mammoth.....Finally!!!

2010-01-18T14:24:00.000-08:00

Mommy has been waiting to go skiing for more than 5 years!!! For our new years trip the entire family decided to go to Mammoth. Daddy drove with PJ, and Tim/Turtle, Mommy, Cameron and Riley took the new flights from San Jose into the Mammoth airport. It was a perfect flight and only took 45 minutes from takeoff to playing in the snow.

Riley was really excited to see snow for the first time. As soon as he got out of the airport he went straight to the snow. When we got to the condo it was time to really explore. PJ was thrilled and ran all over the place, climbed in the snow bank, tackled the snowman, and dug for pinecones. Cameron and Riley buried Tim, made snow balls, tasted the snow, and climbed the snow bank.

Then it was time to ski. It was Tim/Turtle's first time at Mammoth and the conditions were excellent. We explored both the north and south side of the mountain. Cameron wouldn't ski the first day, but the second day she agreed to try it.

It was so fun to watch her ski down the bunny slope. Its a lot harder in toddler ski school because they have to pick up the skis and walk back to the top. She did meet a few friends who also didn't think it was fair to not have a chair lift. We had a great time and can't wait until we can ski again. Will we ever get back to the 20+ days of skiing pre 2005?

Its here, its here, the bed is finally here...

2010-01-09T13:52:00.000-08:00

We tried to get Cameron's grown up bed before the new year, but alas its finally arrived. It took a long time to get it put together correctly, but Cameron was very good at supervising the work and was very opinionated about its construction.

When it was done, Cameron invited her friends to enjoy the upper deck and there were official tea parties hosted on the main floor. The slide is super fast and there are lots of rules to all castle games (to insure safety), but the new bed is definitely a success. If you want to know how she likes it, just ask her about her "castle bed" or come for a visit. Cameron, is so proud to show off her "grown up" bed.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T12:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas doesn't start as early as I remember. When you have a 3 and 1 year old, they don't realize that waking up early is a requirement on Christmas morning. As they slept in, I waited patiently for the fun to start. At about 10 am it did.

Of course the first thing Cameron spotted was Corinne from the Three Musketeers dress. She immediately put it on before exploring any of her other gifts. Once she was in it, she was ready to get to her other gifts.

Riley too enjoyed the opening of the presents. The sweet thing about a 1 year old, is every toy should be played with immediately. I thought it was going to take until New Years to get through all of his gifts. I never realized how impatient I actually was. In the end we got through all of them and he was thrilled with the great toys he received from Santa, family, and Mommy & Daddy.

Once the presents were done, we had to get dinner ready. Riley and Uncle Greg were put in charge of the mashed potatoes. These were the best potatoes we've ever had. I'm pretty sure there were a couple of pounds of butter.

We had a great day and were very thankful to have such a great day with our family and the people we love.

The Nutcracker!!!

2009-12-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

Cameron started watching Barbie movies. The Three Musketeers was quite a hit and we've been hearing about Corinne for months, but while traveling she saw Barbie Nutcracker. Cameron became enchanted with Clara so it seemed perfect to plan an outing so see the Nutcracker ballet this season. San Jose Ballet does a children's matinee and we decided to coordinate a fieldtrip with her class before the holidays. When we arrived the Nutcracker, Clara, and the Rat king were out greeting guests. There was no way that any of the children would go greet the characters, they were much bigger in person...

Once inside though, the Nutcracker figurines were not scary at all. It was very exciting to see the theater and the stage. When it started Cameron watched intensely. She was not found of the fireworks but she enjoyed the rats and the dancing. She especially liked when Clara danced with the Nutcracker. When it was over I let her pick out a commemorative xmas decoration for the tree. We had a really good time and can't wait to go again next year.

Baking B-Day

2009-12-19T19:33:00.000-08:00

This week one of Cameron's classmates turned 4. For her b-day her parents decided the class would make cupcakes and have a party. Each child got a chef's hat and together they all made home-made cupcakes.
They followed a recipe and did all the measuring and mixing. They worked in teams and everyone got to measure in the different ingredients and then pour the batter into their own cupcake mold. They let them bake and after lunch and rest period the fun really began.

The class came back together to have a decorating party. There were lots of different decorations including candy, and different colored frostings. After decorating your own cupcake each child received a box to bring it home in. The leftovers were ate on the spot, of course after singing Happy Birthday. It was a unique party and Cameron was really excited to tell us about it at the end of the day.

Palo Alto kids museum

2009-12-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

Today, Daddy needed a day off. So Mommy planned to take Cameron and Riley to the Palo Alto Jr Children's museum and zoo. Lucky for Mommy and the kids, Tim came along too. The museum was good fun. We played Plinko for a long time and Riley really liked to explore the experiments. In the above picture he was controlling the water flow which was creating electricity. More fun that than was the maze where the tennis balls were carried and pushed through tubes, up ramps, etc.

We went out to the zoo and some of the exhibits were under construction. We spent a long time staring at the raccoon who can't see well (maybe that's why he didn't realize it was day time and he should be asleep). We wanted to see the bobcats but they were hiding. As Tim was telling Cameron and Riley we wouldn't be able to see the cats today one of the workers walked by and said "Sure you can, I'll be right back." He went into the cage and the cats came out to greet him. He brought them to the window and Cameron and Riley squeeled with delight. I'm positive this would only have happened with Tim and his special powers with us. ;-)

Cameron had a great time too. She liked everything but the goose, but thats okay, she bites (the goose that is). It was a nice simple afternoon and Daddy enjoyed his break even though all he did was work. Boo Work!

Shopping for the perfect tree...

2009-12-06T18:30:00.000-08:00

Searching for our Christmas tree is always fun. Daddy searches for the biggest tree they have. Mommy searches for the tree that speaks to her. Cameron chooses each one we ask her about. Riley, well he is not quite sure what to think. We thought we were shopping early but almost all the best trees were taken, then we saw him.

He was perfect. We all agreed. He wore my scarf proudly and we knew this was our Christmas tree!!!

Thanksgiving in New Orleans

2009-11-30T14:26:00.000-08:00

We typically enjoy Thanksgiving in New Orleans every other year. This was our year. We flew in for a long weekend with the family and what a time to visit. The city was in a party mood and the kids got to spend lots of time with their cousins. Of course its New Orleans so we enjoyed sitting out in the yard in the new swing.

It didn't take too long for the kids to warm up to their cousins. We enjoyed several outings including a visit to the Aquarium of the Americas. Riley loves aquariums and this was a great one. All the kids got to feed the rays although Riley and Cameron were really into the ray taking the fish so they mostly just dropped the sardines in the water.

The Saints are having a great year so of course there was lots of football to talk about, learn about, watch, listen to, play,..... did I mention talk about, learn about, hear about, etc etc etc. Cameron did enjoy playing the game with her cousin. She was better than I expected. He older cousin Sean who just turned 21 was there and he made sure the kids knew what to do and played fair.

Did we mention we watched a lot of football too? Aunt Heather made Cameron a Saints dress and she wore it all over town. There were lots of comments and cheers for her dress, she loved it.

We also made it out to the French Quarter for a day. We started at Cafe Du Monde where we met up with our Aunt Yvette, Uncle Troy, and cousin Sean as they were headed out of town. We walked around Jackson square enjoying the shops and St Louis cathedral. We saw the Archibishop and then we enjoyed lunch at Muriels (the best lunch I've had in a long time). We then took a French Quarter tour in one of the horse drawn buggies. Although I've lived there my entire life (prior to CA) this was the first time I'd taken a formal tour. It was cool.

This was the best trip I can remember, and there are so many stories there is no way to capture it all here. Enjoy the photos here.

Cameron, What's new at school?

2009-11-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

Harvest Mouse is Cameron's new class. The teachers have been introducing games. They started playing lots of different games including sports. Cameron is a pretty good soccer player, even in her dress. They learned about rules, taking turns, following directions, and the various different equipment for games (pieces, dice, spinners, etc). Once they learned the concept of games, the kids started creating their own games. Cameron's game has a princess...... oh and a castle.

Game design has not taken the place of the more traditional activities in the class. Cameron still makes sure the babies are well cared for and they continue to decorate the new room with their art work. The class did start an unusual garden. They are growing mushrooms. Another students family shared with the class the tradition of growing their own mushrooms. The entire classroom planted several boxes and over the next few weeks will water and monitor the mushrooms. The plan at the end is to have a mushroom celebrations where we will harvest them and serve them at a party. Its going to be great!

Our grandma is a docent at Pt Lobos!

2009-11-09T21:26:00.000-08:00

Today Daddy took Cameron and Riley south to visit Grandma Cindy. She is a volunteer docent at Pt Lobos and the kids got a treat when Grandma Cindy gave them a tour. She let them climb on the whale bones, get into the blubber pots, and talked about all the displays.

They then enjoyed a long hike all around thee park (well Cameron hiked and Daddy carried Riley). Grandma Cindy pointed out all the flowers and the kids saw lots of birds, a sea lion, and Cameron found a great view. You can see the pictures here.

Happy Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T23:14:00.000-07:00

"What is Cameron going to be for Halloween?" is a very common question these days. I'm not sure why there was any doubt, she wore princess dresses the entire week before. On this day it seemed like she was holding court while in Music class. I really wanted to dress Riley and Cameron in a theme like I tried last year, but that ended up being a bust, since Cameron refused to be Lil' Bo-Peep and Riley was a lonely little lamb. I figured that was unlikely again this year as I couldn't really find a costume that seemed to be a good match without making Riley a lame prince charming.... :-)

During the last week as Mommy struggled to think about what Riley would be, we went out and explored more Pumpkin patches. Riley really enjoyed picking out his pumpkins although he was pretty adamant that he needed an assortment instead of just one. Tim and Turtle helped him narrow it down to one small, one big, and one in-between.

As the day approached and I was no closer to choosing a costume, Turtle decided he would help. He put together a Dopey costume for Riley. He made the hat, modified a t-shirt with buttons and a belt, and made elf shoe covers for his shoes. Riley was soooooo adorable I could hardly stand it. On the big night each time they went to the door together the neighbors would all say "OMG that is sooo cute!!" Turtle was so awesome!!!
Hannah joined the kids on the trick-or-treat outing and Riley was kind enough to always select Snickers (mommy's favorite) whenever he was allowed to choose. This year our street was closed off because of the crowds that come to see the Tims and our decorations. We had lots of new decorations which included a remote control ghoul that Riley loved firing off and scaring the people on the street. This year we got more than 1000 trick-or-treaters (we bought about ~5000 pieces of candy and we handed out limit of 2/visitor with a few exceptions for people we know). It was crazy.

As usual PJ got to clean up. He finished all the pumpkins that were not destroyed by the late-night trick-or-treaters. This is his favorite part.

Disney's Princesses on Ice

2009-10-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

Cameron has a best friend at school. Nadia knows all the Disney princesses and their stories and she tell Cameron all about the ones Cameron has yet to see. Her favorite is Aurora and Cameron loves to hear about Aurora because Mommy won't let her see the movie. Given this common interest we thought it would be a good idea to take the girls to see Disney's Princesses on Ice.

The girls got all dressed up and Cameron picked out one of her princess dresses for they day. The entire arena was filled with princesses both big and small (Mommy did not dress up). Cameron sat on the edge of her seat and as the stories began she leaned over and hugged me and kept saying "I love this, I love you Mommy!"

The girls were in complete awe and at intermission could barely stay away from their seat. The show told the story of each princess with Mickey and Minnie making cameos. All the princesses and their princes came together for the big finale and the wedding of Cinderella. Cameron could not have had a better time. It is impossible to forget her face and how intensely she watched the show. When it was over we all went to out to lunch. The whole experience was a little bittersweet because Nadia is moving away. At least they will always have this memory together.

I'm taking Riley on a hike.

2009-10-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

Jeff decided he was going on a hike and that Riley would probably enjoy going along. This would be the first Father/Son hiking trip. They headed up to Skyline and hiked around Horseshoe lake.
The nature center was closed but Riley tried to get in anyway. Once he determined that there was no way in he continued to explore around the center. The binoculars were interesting, even without looking through them.

The lake was probably his favorite part. He stood on the pier and looked over the edge. Then he sat down for awhile and just looked around. He saw his reflection in the water and that was funny. He really enjoyed it and had a great nap on the way home.

Blue Angels.... well for a minute

2009-10-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

Today, along with Uncle Greg and Grandma Cindy we went to the city to see the Blue Angels. We got to see the United 747 do its fly-bys, a couple of jets fly past, and then about 5 tricks from the Blue Angels.

The clouds were too low and the Blue Angels had to stop the program about 5 minutes in because the planes couldn't see the homes on the hill. Safety was their priority so we missed out. Riley was thrilled to see the planes and the hot dogs were good too.

Its pumpkin season!!!!

2009-10-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Most people know Mommy loves Pumpkin season. She loves it in soup, pies, roasted, and just about any other way you want to prepare it. Even more fun is enjoying the various pumpkin patches around the bay area. One of our new favorites is Uesugi Farms in Morgan Hill. Lets make it a new family tradition..... We enjoyed the day with Hannah and her family, as well as Tim and Turtle.

Uesugi has lots to do. There is a pumpkin mountain, a train, a hayride, corn maze, music, petting zoo, and a huge pumpkin patch. We enjoyed it all. Cameron's favorite part is always the pony ride. This year she rode the pony all by herself and we just stood back and took her photos.

Riley also tried the pony ride. He wasn't sure about this experience at all but he played along well enough. He wouldn't let go of mommy and literally jumped off the pony when it was over. He preferred exploring the pumpkin fields and climbing the pumpkins. He also liked the corn maze because around each corner was a discovery board where he learned about how the bees helped the corn, etc.

We ate, we danced, we rode all the rides, and it was a great day. Riley wasn't sure about what he should do with his pumpkin, but he started with a little nibble. You can see all our photos here.

Sometimes its just fun to stay at home....

2009-10-02T17:43:00.000-07:00

We go out and do a lot of fun things, but we have lots and lots of fun at home too. When we bought a new basket to store the many toys that migrate downstairs Riley and Cameron figured out that it could be used for more than just toys. They both jumped into the basket and asked Daddy to carry them around. There was lots of giggling. When Daddy put the basket down the kids turned it over and made it a house.

Everyone knows that Cameron is a princess. For being such a good girl she got all the Disney princess dolls. She sometimes picks a doll then goes into her closet to find the matching dress. We are doing lots and lots of costume changes these days and she will tell you when she doesn't have a matching costume (we just smile and so oh?). Riley doesn't even blink anymore when she comes down in one of her gowns, he thinks its normal.

Riley likes to watch Cameron play with her dolls, and sometimes he'll try to join her, but usually he is doing his own thing. He is fascinated with the office and will hang out while Daddy is working (or playing). He likes that Mommy's computer is usually free because that means he gets his own chair (and computer). We're pretty sure he is a geek.

Cameron got a new bike from our neighbor who had outgrown it. It was a little difficult for her to start but this is a video of her first ride. She is not comfortable on hills and still prefers her tricycle. This bike does have a few features she likes, the princesses and the color!

GIlroy Gardens is awesome!

2009-09-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

After breakfast Daddy decided to give Mommy the day off and along with Tim and Turtle took the kids to Gilroy Gardens. It was a pretty warm day, which is typically for Gilroy. This park is perfect for young kids and horticulturists. The day started with a stop at the mini carousel. Its a nice stop off the entry way and you can wind through the gardens and waterfalls as you get further into the park.

There are lots of rides and games for younger kids including the cars on the track. Riley was really excited to get an opportunity to drive. Tim and Turtle rode with Cameron and let her drive as well. To see how well Riley did, check out the video.

While Cameron stays away from the water features at amusement parks, Riley is too young to know why that might be a good idea. Jeff decided to stand under the bucket and Riley was blissfully unaware of what was coming. Check out all the photos to see an incredible shot.

Along with the rides, water features, playgrounds, the kids visited the petting zoo and went shopping for crazy hats. Nobody got a hat, but this one looked really good on Riley.

Snowy Plovers don't mess around...

2009-09-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

Riley is definitely no longer in the baby room. While he is familiar with clay, they now get tools to work with. Riley is now taking his sticks, making holes, and then putting the clay balls into the holes. His teachers report that many of the other kids look at what Riley is doing and try to mimic him.

He is also now working on puzzles. On this day he pulled the pieces out then proceeded to try and get them back into their space. When that didn't quite work he went to get a bottle to try and use that to get the pieces back in. The teacher reported that when brute force didn't work he went back to moving the pieces back into the slots. He's getting there.

Snowy Plovers are also working with new writing instruments. The kids are very interested in the pens used by the parents for signing in. They are now working with these instruments to observe how the marks look using these utensils. Riley has mastered the pen. (We have some items at home to prove it).

In Snowy Plover they also got rid of the sippy cups. Riley is doing well mastering his cup and has asked that we let him use big cups at home. I'm not ready for that yet, but school is a great place to start this anyway.

One of the other differences is the Snowy Plovers can turn their light table on and off. Riley discovered the switch and spent some time mastering it. He also shared this tidbit with his fellow class mates and now all the children turn it on when they are interested and off when they are done. Its good to teach these "green" lessons at this age.

There is no such thing as too much beach time...

2009-09-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

Mommy got a new car. Now she needed someplace to go. Cookie and Mikey invited the group to Half Moon Bay to enjoy the sunshine while it still lasts. Even though we spent a lot of time on the beach while traveling, PJ hadn't and of course he needed to get out in the sun for at least a day.

Cameron really enjoys the new car because it has rear-seat entertainment. We make her where the earphones which she calls her "telephones." PJ has lots of room in the back and his own sunroof.
Cameron, Riley, and Mikey spent lots of time digging, collecting, and rolling around the sand. Mikey even went swimming but it was way too cold for Cameron and Riley. It was not too cold for PJ so he spent almost all the time in the water with Lexi (Elisabeth's boxer) on shore chasing him back and forth (she was not that interested in the water either).

After lots of play there was snacks. PJ stayed very close to Riley because Riley kept putting his hands in the sand and therefore losing his cheese puffs. PJ would then jump at the chance to dig them up and enjoy his cheesy (sandy) treat.

It would be nice to live only a few blocks from the beach like Elisabeth, but we are lucky she shares her home and beach access with us.

Riley is back at school

2009-08-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

While we were traveling we missed the first day of school. We were lucky enough to return on Music day. Ms Ana was back and in the Snowy Plover room when we arrived and Riley got to enjoy music once again. The puppets were still his favorite and they consoled him as Mommy left to get back to work.
There were lots to re-familiarize himself with. The infant room shared the play yard with Snowy Plover so that wasn't new but Riley was happy to see the fountain again. Water play was always the best part of being outside as far as Riley was concerned. "Oh fountain, how have I missed you."

Riley was happy to be back with his friends. He showed them all how strong he got while he was traveling and pulled Morgan around the yard being careful to negotiate between the babies and other toys.

Cameron came downstairs to visit Riley's new classroom. She helped the babies with an art project and showed them how to make circles and choose different colors. Cameron was also in a new room, Harvest Mouse but she was lucky to keep all the same teachers. She was especially glad to see her best friend Nadia.

Last Chance in Oz

2009-08-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

When Cameron started to finally feel better I took a half day off or work and we decided to join Turtle on a whale watching tour. About 30 minutes into it, I realized this was the worst idea I've ever had. First we didn't see any whales. A humpback showed his back but that was about all that anyone reported seeing. Cameron and I didn't see anything because we were in the cabin with our heads hanging in a bucket. I owed her big for this...

Since the kids, and Turtle enjoyed Bondi so much we decided to go and spend the day at the beach. We enjoyed a great lunch at Nick's and then picked up some sand toys for the kids. They played in the sand and Cameron again was greeted by some Japanese tourist who asked if they could take their picture with her.

I remember my first trip to Bondi where I learned that clothes were kinda optional. Riley got to experience the same thing. He was very curious about the kids running around without their clothes and watched them for awhile.

On our last weekend day I decided to finally go and see the Opera house. We spent the day exploring the Botanical Gardens and enjoying all the performers around Circular Quay.

To pay Cameron back for the awful boat trip on Friday we went shopping and bought a new outfit. She picked it out and it was really outrageous. After buying the new dress, jacket and shoes we went to a chocolate shop where she enjoyed her warm milk with chocolate sprinkles. We really enjoyed our shopping trip together and talked about everything we saw that day. It was hard to remember that she was only 3. I hope we have lots of Mommy and Me dates like this.

You can see more of our pictures from Sydney on Picasa.

Week 2 in Oz

2009-08-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

I was really looking forward to doing some sightseeing after missing all the fun this week. On a recommendation from a local co-worker, we headed out with another manager and his friends from the states to a Australian National Park, Bundeena. We woke up early and took a train, then a boat to the little town. We didn't really know much so we just followed some hikers. We didn't realize we were going to have to trek up a hill and through a neighborhood to find the trail head. Then didn't realize we should have grabbed food because now we were in the middle of nowhere. Sumeet ran back to grab a picnic lunch and we decided to start hiking. It took us a long time before we saw anything.

Jeff took the long trail and we took a short cut to the cliffs. It was difficult treking around with the kids and the stroller. The trail was sandy and rutted. Turtle also did not enjoy the hiking or that hill.

When we finally hit the coast it was really beautiful. We spent a long time just taking in the view. After awhile Cameron starting to complain about her ear again so we separated from Sumeet and friends and just headed back to the city.
By the time we reached the hotel Cameron was really sick. The rest of the weekend I just tried to keep her comfortable while Daddy and Turtle did the bridge climb. It was clear that she needed to go to the doctor and the rest of the week was spent trying to get the correct antibiotics. It turned out her complaints about her ear on the first day was more than just jetlag. Cameron had a double ear infection and after 3 visits to the doctor she was finally on the road to recovery.

Riley was a very good sport through the whole thing. I guess he figured he owed us that after Tokyo. He found lots of ways to occupy himself while in the hotel room. The curtains were his favorite hiding spot. He would climb up and wait for someone to go looking for him, then he would pop out and surprise you.

First Week in Oz

2009-08-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

After a few days of recovering from Tokyo and a trip to Dr. Lee to make sure Riley was okay to travel we arrived in Darling Harbor, Sydney. It was a long flight but Cameron had a new movie, A Bugs Life on the Iphone and the flight was showing Monster's versus Aliens. We watched them both several times. Riley slept and enjoyed having Turtle in the row next to us. When we arrived everyone was tired and Cameron was complaining about her ear hurting but we didn't want everyone to go right to sleep since it was only 7am. Cameron felt better after eating something and we headed out to explore Darling Harbor. Our first stop was the new (at least to us, it wasn't here the last time mommy and daddy were here) WildlifeWorld next to the aquarium.

We barely got out of the hotel before Riley fell asleep in the stroller. The first section was filled with bugs. The entire cast of "A Bugs Life" was there so it was really fun for Cameron to see Flik, Manny, and Hopper. It was fun for us to because Turtle got to hold a really cool stick bug and it crawled up his arm and on his shoulder. Cameron would not hold it. After making it through half the exhibits and getting to meet the koalas Cameron traded places with Riley and slept while Riley got to meet the Kangaroos and wild birds. We had lunch and realized it was too long of trip to do any more exploring.

The next day Mommy had to work, so Daddy and Turtle headed out to explore Sydney with the kids. They took the ferry over to Circular Quay and explored the Opera House and the Royal Botanical Gardens. There was lots of chasing of birds and Cameron enjoyed finding the "Castle" (or the Government House). After they took the ferry back, mom met them for dinner and a trip the aquarium. We quickly discovered that with the jet lag and a full day of adventure, it was not going to be possible to have a second excursion that included mom. So the rest of the week mom would only get to have dinner with the family and put them to bed, after all, it was technically a work trip.

After taking a day of rest, the gang was off to the Taronga Zoo. This is a beautiful zoo and you have to be jealous of the view the giraffe's have. After getting separated from Turtle because one took the tram which dropped off at the top of the zoo, the two groups finally met us and got to enjoy meeting all of the Australian animals and some non-native animals. There was a great bird show and the elephants were awesome, especially the baby.

Although it was technically winter the sun came out and it was perfect because that is when the family was off to Bondi Beach. This is a beautiful beach and was just a bus ride away. The surf was perfect if you like to watch surfers, which Turtle did for sure! Cameron and Riley enjoyed getting in the sand and running along the beach.

On Friday the family decided to stay closer to the hotel. A week of inconsistent naps was taking its toll on everyone so it was a half-day trip to the Chinese Gardens. There is a photo shop that will allow you to dress in royal costumes so Cameron and Daddy dressed up for photos. Cameron made for a beautiful chinese princess, while Riley explored the interesting architecture.

Tokyo in July

2009-08-05T20:17:00.000-07:00

If you ever wondered what Tokyo was like, imagine hot. Then imagine really, really hot. Think of New Orleans on the most humid day and then raise the temperature and humidity level. I couldn't believe men were in suits and women were wearing tights!!! But anyway, everyone slept on the plane except mommy so the trip wasn't bad. We arrived in Japan and took a car to the hotel. The ride in was great and I was looking forward to our weekend to get some site seeing in before my week of work.

On Saturday we started by walking about the city, but Riley wasn't feeling well and given the heat we decided to split up. I took Riley back to the hotel. Daddy and Cameron went to the Imperial Palace without us. They walked through the gardens and looked at the buildings and took lots of pictures with the locals. Cameron was very popular but since she is shy she didn't really like the attention.

Riley continued to get worse so early Sunday we took him to the emergency room. Japan is not keen on sick foreigners who just got off a plane. They gave him every test possible but everything was clear. After more than 12 hours of tests they determined it was just the croup probably triggered by some virus.

The care was excellent (and relatively cheap) even though we could not understand most of what they were saying and not anything they gave us to sign. Luckily there were pictures for the important stuff. Riley had about 8 breathing treatments and when he was finally breathing normally we were able to check out of the hospital. He was pretty traumatized, when any young Japanese woman approached he would just cry (suspecting they were a nurse).

After a few days of being stuck in the hotel, Jeff took the kids to Disneyland. If you ever wondered what Disneyland Tokyo is like, imagine Disneyland California and stop. Everything is exactly the same including the stores and restaurants (except the food is really terrible!!!) After a day long adventure in the park by himself with two kids he called me for help. My boss helped me figure out the trains and I met up with everyone to help with the travel back to the hotel.

Given the rough start, the kids had a good time. Cameron learned to say "Konichiwa" arogatou" which was really cute.

Recipe for a great playdate...

2009-07-19T19:42:00.000-07:00

Hannah came over for a play date while her parents went on a real date. The kids, PJ, Cameron and Riley were very excited. So they made sure they had everything they needed....

Ball Pit? Check!

Safety Goggles? Check!

Princess Dresses? Check!!!

It was a very fun night for all..

Congratulations Aunt Juliet!!

2009-07-12T23:12:00.000-07:00

This is Crenshaw. Cameron has had this little horse since her birthday, but we haven't really seen him much until today. She insisted that he needed to go with us. I agreed to let her "horsey" in the car and was informed, "This is not Horsey, it is Crenshaw." It was the first time I can remember that Cameron has named any of her toys and cannot for the life of me figure out where she got the name. Regardless its a great name for a horse.

We went to the Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival with Tim and Turtle before heading to the city. Riley enjoyed exploring all of the exhibits, which was scary, but Tim was great at keeping him away from most of the glass. Cameron was pretty mellow and stayed in the stroller with Crenshaw most of the time.

Next we headed to Golden Gate park to see Aunt Juliet reach her goal of finishing the San Francisco Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. We missed her crossing the finish line, but caught up with her celebrating. She looked awesome even though she had just walked 1.5 marathons in two days. She trained for months and raised more than $5000 in memory of her mother. Her accomplishment was amazing and we are incredibly proud of her. Congratulations Aunt Juliet!!!

First Camping Trip

2009-07-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

We headed to Mendocino for a fourth of July camping trip with several of our neighbors and friends (one and the same). The kids were super excited as this was their first camping trip. The drive up took a lot longer than we remembered. Cameron got really tired of the car and insisted we stop about a half hour from the campground. We obliged and had a snack at a rest stop along the way. Mendocino is a little town on the Northern California coast.

Our first outing together was to the riverbank which had a great beach. We played in the sand and planned out some other outings. We decided we would take a canoe trip (Jeff, Tims, and Riley opted out but we had a great time), explore Mendocino, check out the Stanford Inn, and of course stay for the parade.

The beach was really nice. The dogs especially loved it. There was a leash law so PJ obliged. He carried his leash around and enjoyed swimming and rolling around in the sand. It got pretty cold at night so we didn't mind the sand as long as he kept us warm. Although the days were comfortable, the nights got really cold. It was going to be a rough couple of days.

The kids had fun. I couldn't believe how dirty they would get. I thought about trying to keep them clean, but realized that was a lost cause. I don't think they have ever been that dirty before. Besides the fun in the dirt, and the running between campsites, there were things to explore. One of our favorite discoveries were the banana slugs. They were everywhere. It was pretty surprising how big they actually get. Besides the slugs we walked down to the Stanford Inn and saw theire gardens, horses, and llamas.

Each night we took turns cooking and enjoyed each other's campsites. We especially enjoyed the Tim's, which happened to be at a Bed and Breakfast near downtown Mendocino ;-) That was our pizza night and the restaurant was very cozy and warm!

On the day of the fourth we went downtown and watched the parade. We expected it to be very quaint, and was surprised how political it was. The displays varied from the fire dept's trucks, and people dressed as the Mendocino founders, to the local farm animals and SPCA animals in costume, to a float of several teenagers dressed as the Statue of Liberty wrapped in chains being pulled down by the media.... It was fun...interesting... and hot dogs were great. For more pictures from the camping trip check out our Picasa and Sonya's Kodak album.

Who is Riley Onufer?

2009-06-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

Riley is in major Discovery mode. He is everywhere and trying everything. He typically leads the way with his fellow classmates. He was the first to try balancing on the cable spool. He had to step off the deck up on the spool and balance. He had no trouble and of course, no fear.

He is also exploring paint. He is not quite the painter that Cameron was/is, but he occasionally gets into it. This is him painting a gift for Father's day. He made a great picture and attached a photo of himself with a poem. We don't think he made up the poem on his own, but we believe he shared the sentiment.

Seems he is intrigued by everything. The best part is he likes things orderly. He loves to clean and that makes Mommy and Daddy very happy.

Cooperation is the key to good friendships

2009-06-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

I didn't plan on having Cameron and Riley 2 years apart. I thought 3 was a better split, but things work out for a reason. These two are a good set of sister and brother. Tonight they were playing in Cameron's room. They decided to make dinner together. There was a bit of a scuffle over the utensils but they worked it out.

They set the table and then sat down together to enjoy their feast. It was really fun to watch them play together. I thought it was interesting that they did not sit next to the plate they set. I'm not sure what that means but I'm sure its sweet. Jeff and I didn't get any food served to us because there was "no room for you." Bon appetite!

Little Gym Graduation and the last B-day

2009-06-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

This week was Cameron's last gym class. After 3 semesters we've decided to take a break. Cameron has gotten a little bored and we are going back to swim class. On graduation day it was time to show off the skills she had learned. Cameron did her rings, tumbles, and flipped on the balance beam.
Riley joined her for the celebration and was very interested in the swinging and uneven bars. Cameron showed him all her swinging skills including the basket and flips (with help of course). Riley was so into it we started to think we were going to have to sign him up instead (but he will be in swimming class too so maybe later).

After all the skills and running around was done. Ms Sarah gave each of the kids a Red Ribbon. Cameron enjoyed the celebration and of course had her dismount pose down!

We also finished the last of the trio of birthdays this week. While Mommy and Daddy were tired of the parties the kids loved having another chance at presents. It was time to celebrate Daddy's birthday. Everyone got to open more presents and we had a nice dinner with daddy at home. When we asked Cameron how old daddy was she said "not too old, he's just big."

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Cameron's Curious Birthday Party

2009-06-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

Cameron has turned 3! This Saturday we celebrated her birthday at the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose. How perfect that the museum just kicked off a Curious George exhibit. Cameron is a huge Curious George fan and loves him very much. We decided to make it the theme for the party and it turned out really cool with lots of surprises.

When we arrived the staff had an activity table setup for the kids. As we waited for all of our friends the kids colored and enjoyed fruit, sandwiches, and pizza. After we all had lunch the staff helped the kids decorate picture frames. Then they each took pictures with the Curious George statue in one of the exhibits. As we finished our pictures with the statue we returned to the party room to find the actual Curious George waiting for us. We were all surprised and Cameron was a little shocked. The first thing she said was "He is really big!!!"" She didn't really want to shake his hand but as he played with Riley she pet him and said "He is really soft!" We all took pictures with the real George.

After George left we sang Happy Birthday, blew out the candles, and cut into the yummy Curious George cake. It was banana cake of course, everyone's favorite. It had fresh bananas in each layer, buttercream frosting, and the decorations were all white chocolate. Yes, Daddy picked the cake.

Next we explored the rest of the museum. We spent a long time in the Curious George exhibit. The whole town was there and all of George's friends. Riley loved the exhibit and spent the most time opening all the activity doors. Cameron played with the golf game and spent some time at the grocery store where she was taking people's money as they purchased their veggies and fruit. After playing with all the George exhibits we explored the water room, the ambulance (a big hit), firetruck, and the "Out on a Limb" exhibit. We were there for hours!

After the party we went home where Cameron opened all of her presents. Her good friends Stephanie and Daina helped her. Once they were all unwrapped, the girls played with all the new toys. That took another few hours. After such a long day, Cameron was exhausted. As her friends were leaving Cameron just sat on the sofa waving goodbye. When I returned from walking them out I found Cameron fast asleep, sitting up, in her new Cinderella princess dress. It was a great day!

Happy 1st Birthday Riley!!!

2009-06-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

I can't believe he is 1!!!! The year went by so fast. He walked early. He is super strong. Even stronger attitude, and now he is 1. Truly a big boy he really enjoyed his birthday. He was given a crown at school and he wore it all day. He didn't even try to take it off. When I picked him up he wore it home and really didn't want us to remove it for dinner.

We had a small backyard celebration. The Uncle Tim's were there as well as Hannah, Sonya, and David. Daddy grilled up dinner, and we had balloons, and Kara's cupcakes. Riley really enjoyed his cupcakes, as did the rest of us. Yeah for extras!!!

After our bellies were full it was time for presents. Cameron was a big help in getting the presents unwrapped and showing Riley how to enjoy them. She showed him the books and introduced him to his new pal Maxwell the Duck.

I think he and Maxwell will be great friends. The first birthday is always very exciting and to see how incredibly happy, healthy, and energized he is, we are really looking forward to what the next year will bring.

Back to Life

2009-05-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

After all the traveling this week was about getting back to what we know. The kids were excited to return to school. Everyone really missed them and they were able to share stories of all the things they had seen while on vacation.

Riley was really in the exploring mood. He got to visit the other classrooms which also meant he got to play on the slide and explore the dino table. He went on walks and played in the water structures. The teachers are reporting he is an expert in the sandbox but don't you dare try and take his shovel (wow, that is so familiar).

For the weekend while Mommy was catching up on things at home, the kids and daddy went to Grandma Cindy's house with Uncle Greg. Riley got an early b-day present which was a pull-toy puzzle that included a giraffe, elephant, and zebra. He really likes pulling it around. While Riley napped Cameron went out to Pt Lobos. She saw some deer and was very excited to see the "rein"deer.

Florida Trip - Part II

2009-05-15T15:32:00.000-07:00

I was a little afraid that the kids were too young for Disney World. A neighbor assured me that she took her kids at Cameron's age and it was great. I was unsure but it was such an awesome experience with them both. They were excited to go everywhere and Cameron was thrilled she was going to see Cinderella's caste in person. We saw it from a distance and she squealed and pointed it out. She was even more excited to find out we were going to have breakfast in the ballroom and meet Cinderella in person.

She met Fairy Godmother right outside of the castle and she watched all the older girls get autographs and take pictures so she was shy but she did hug her and pose. As we waited to meet Cinderella she was so happy but a little timid as she walked up to her. I guess that is to be expected when you meet your "idol." Cinderella was very nice and met Cameron's tinkerbell doll and talked to Cameron. Then we had breakfast where we met all the other princesses (Jasmine, Belle), some Cameron didn't even know (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty). The called Cameron "princess" and called Jeff and Riley "my Lord" which Jeff loved. After Disney we headed to Ft Meyers to visit with Grandpa and Ma-mere.

The beaches were awesome. The sand was like powder, which definitely has the downside of not being able to wipe off. Poor Riley took a face plant off one of the chairs and he looked like a sugar cookie until we poor water over him. Cameron was thrilled. Grandpa and shovels and buckets so she thought Florida was heaven. Then to top it off, Grandpa had a pool. She kept saying "Grandpa has a pool at his house!' so each day after our adventures around town/beach/etc we finished the day with a swim in the pool. It was a great vacation!

To see the rest of the picture from this part of the trip, check Picasa.

Florida Trip - Part I

2009-05-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

There were several goals of the Florida trip. See the shuttle launch, visit Disney World, and see Grandpa and Ma-mere. We flew into Tampa because that was the shortest travel time and spent the night there. The next day we drove to Disney World and checked into our hotel, The Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had a room with a savannah view so we could see the giraffe's at eye level. It was really cool to see all the animals from our room. We celebrated Mother's Day with the grandparents and had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and explored Downtown Disney.

The next morning we drove out to Cape Canaveral. We could only get a car pass to the causeway even though daddy really wanted to be at Banana Creek. It was very exciting but really, really, hot! Daddy was sure we had to get there early so we were at our destination 3 hours before launch.

We listened to the updates over the loud speaker about the astronauts getting to the launchpad and getting strapped in and Daddy was getting updates from friends working on the system checks to make sure things were still a go. In the meantime the kids tried to find ways to entertain themselves and keep cool. Riley actually didn't complain about the heat at all. I'm not sure where he got that from, but he did enjoy getting the little water shower from daddy.

At the final count down we got in the best spot see watch the launch and 3..2...1...boom! The boom actually took a little while to get to us but the light was so bright! I didn't imagine it would be that bright. It moved so quick and was out of sight in seconds. By the time we got to the car, daddy reported it was over Europe. Cool! This was something everyone should experience, only 8 more to go!

For more pictures of our first few days in Florida, check Picasa.

Baby Shower at the Zoo

2009-05-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend the San Francisco Zoo was hosting a Baby Shower. Its spring and they have lots of babies to show off. Although we woke up to a little rain we didn't want to miss the babies. Uncle Greg and Tim joined us which makes having the kids too easy. Because it was a little cool and rain was expected to be worse, the zoo was empty. The concert for the kids was like a private one because we had a front row seat.

There was lots of climbing. We spent a significant amount of time with the prairie dogs. The kids climbed around in their tunnels and pop up holes. There were several babies out of the tunnels gathering food and frolicking about.

The children's zoo was fun. Cameron got to brush a goat. We didn't feed the animals because several of the male goats were pretty aggressive. Although Turtle wasn't with us, we did see lots of turtles and tortoises (which a junior ranger explained to us was one that didn't live in water). We even saw a turtle named "Tim!"

Riley was very interested in the animals. He was very patient and stayed in the stroller for most of the day but by the end he wanted out. He ran around as much as he could and explored the store where we bought gifts for the teachers. You can see all the pictures from the day on Picasa.

Bring your Child to Work Day

2009-04-24T22:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

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.

Mom Completes the Triathlon

2009-03-29T18:38:00.000-07:00

So far we are loving vacation. Riley has really enjoyed exploring the sand. The wind really picked up so we've only spent 1 day at the pool (there are waterslides!). I really enjoyed going down the water slide and after observing the older kids for awhile. I was ready to go by myself. I had to go down on my tummy because that is how the big kids do it. Luckily mommy caught me at the bottom. I didn't stay at the pool too long because it was really cold.

We also explored the beach. There isn't a beach at our resort but there is at the Marriott where mom's good friend Cindy came to cheer her on at her triathlon. We went to the beach to watch the practice swim and then had brunch with Cindy and Benny. On the day of the competition the wind was mild in the morning but picked up by the time mommy was on the bike portion. It took her longer than expected to finish but we were at the finish line with our "Go Mommy!" t-shirts that Cindy had made. Although I was sleeping, I knew she could do it.

This was a big accomplishment for Mommy. One of her life goals and she finished! To mark the celebration we gave Mommy a gift after the race. It was in her favorite kind of box, blue! It was a diamond celebration band that we are going to have engraved "First Triathlon 2009."

After the gift, I gave Mommy a big thumbs up. It was a lot of training and a huge mental hurdle to get mommy across the finish line but she did it, and now its time to enjoy the rest of our vacation!

Off to Hawaii

2009-03-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

Today was the day. We headed off to Hawaii for Mommy to complete her first triathlon. This was going to be a much needed vacation for all of us. We left early to give us plenty of time to enjoy Hawaii before the race, and then plenty of time to recover. Cameron and Riley woke up early but were very excited to take another airplane ride. They love business class and we had so much room that Cameron made herself a tent and both kids played all the way to the island.

The first thing we did after checking into the Waikoloa Hilton was have lunch. We sat at a table right next to the dolphin exhibit and enjoyed sandwiches and watching the dolphins. There were three outdoor pools the dolphins were swimming in. Cameron was very excited at seeing "Shamu the Dolphin!!!!" We tried to explain several times that Shamu was not a dolphin but she still remembered San Diego and to her they were all the same.

After lunch, Cameron got her sand toys and we went to explore out hotel. The hotel was huge. There were three buildings and all the walk ways had museum exhibits. Cameron loved all the horses and wanted to ride all the ones that were large enough. The hotels had a train that connected all the buildings and there were great views of the lagoons and fish ponds.
Immediately our favorite way to get around the hotel was the boat. I'm sure we are going to be riding the boats every day. It rides along a lagoon and is full of native fish. They are not all small. There are lots of yellow tangs but also schools of really large fish. We even spotted some barracuda. The boat dropped us off at the farther end of the resort where the ice cream parlor is. Everyday the ice cream parlor has an ice cream happy hour where all cones are $1. This is going to be a great trip!!!

Easter Egg Tree

2009-03-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

Grandma Cindy came for a visit and she brought some traditions to share. She packed up some German painted wooden eggs and other decorations into a box for each Cameron and Riley. She also brought some pussy willow branches and introduced the Easter Egg Tree to the kids.

She told the kids about how Daddy and Uncle Greg used to decorate the tree and play with the wooden figurines including a bunny hutch for each. Cameron really enjoyed decorating the tree and when she was done she said "See my tree, See!"

Grandma Cindy did not expect Riley to be very interested in partipating but he really liked the eggs. We had to keep the paci in his mouth to avoid him chewing on the eggs but he liked twirling them around in his hand. When Cameron would hang an egg he would try and reach for it.

When the tree was decorated Cameron played with the wooden figurines. There were various bunnies, and flowers but the best gift were the bunny hutches. She is very protective of the bunny hutch and will let Riley play with anything he wants except for the hutch. Each hutch has a mommy bunny, babies, and a feeding bowl. The only problem is.....its really hard to take it away...

Riley tries the Little Gym

2009-03-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

Cameron has a gym class every week. She loves it and on the few occasions that Riley has tagged along he has tried very hard to get in on the fun. This week I decided to sign Riley up for a trial class at the Mountain View Little Gym. The baby classes are only during the day so I took a few hours off and picked him up for daycare to make the 1pm class.

He was happy. Circle time was fun and he liked the songs and let us flip him forward and backwards. He is really strong so during the warmup he tried to walk. Then it was explore time and he went straight for the raised matts. He liked banging on them and of course he climbed them. The teacher gave out jump ropes to try and entice the kids to explore, you pull the rope and they are supposed to try and get it, but Riley didn't really need any help. He was into everything.

He even tried to hang on the bar, which is also Cameron's favorite. The best part was the parachute. He liked riding it and getting under it. He was the oldest in the class and it was fun, but I think he is still a little too young to do this regularly. I think I'm going to try and get the teachers at daycare to play with a parachute and then maybe sign Riley up when he is fully walking on his own.

A visit to the park

2009-02-28T16:03:00.000-08:00

Today was Riley's first time on the swing. It would probably be an understatement to say that he loved it. He didn't want to get out the swing. Cameron liked swinging with Riley and would squeal "Higher! Higher!" Riley liked having Cameron next to him because when she would fly next to him he would just giggle and giggle.

When we did finally get him off the swing we encouraged him to try the slide. This made him nervous but Cameron was very supportive. She would say "See Riley! See! Its fun" and take off. Cameron, of course, had a shovel. We took off Riley's socks and let him explore sand. He wasn't really sure what the point of sand was so he just ate it. He would grab handfuls and just shove it in his mouth. Its days like this that I'm happy I have two. Its so fun to see them support each other as they play.

The jumpy house is full

2009-02-16T14:12:00.000-08:00

Its been raining all weekend. Cameron and Riley have been really good but we knew this President's day would be a challenge. We decided to go to Pump It Up Jr for Family Time. We even made arrangements with Sonya and Hannah to join us. The plan was to leave at 9:30 so we were sure to get a spot, but we were running late and when we arrived the place was full. This did not go over so well with Cameron. We had been talking about it all night.

She was devastated. We thought we would try and take the kids to the mall, but she just cried "I don't want to go shopping!" Hannah was tired so she went home and we scrambled trying to figure out where to take her. Finally I called the Jungle and they were open. Cameron cried "I don't want to go to the jungle!" but we went anyway.

I let her look in the window and asked if she wanted to go in and she said "okay." She was hesitant at first but soon really got into it. The balls were a big hit. She would jump in, swim across and then get out and do it again. She was doing cannon balls which totally cracked everyone up.

Riley liked the balls too. He would get in and swim around but stayed close to mommy for protection. He would look a little nervous and I would pick him up and he would push me away and try to get back to the balls. The rest of the time Jeff and I took turns taking Cameron through the rope mazes and play structures. This is not a place for anyone with claustrophobia. There were times I thought I was going to get stuck.

Luckily there is a Red Robin, Cameron's favorite place to eat, in the same shopping center so it wasn't hard to get her to leave. We had a really nice lunch and then headed home for a rest. Riley was so tired he fell asleep in the car.

Valentines for Grandmas

2009-02-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

Tonight we decided to make valentines for our Grandmothers. Both kids enjoyed painting and making footprints. Hopefully mommy will remember to send them even if they are going to be late.

We painted with Red, White, and Pink. It was great fun, but the most fun was had after all the painting was done. Riley was covered and Cameron who is obsessed with her paint brushes these days (she sleeps with them) decided to try it Riley's way and did some finger/hand/belly painting.

Cleanup was the most fun. Daddy decided to speed things up tonight and just plopped them both in the sink. They had fun trading the faucet back and forth. This is why people have double sinks. It was awesome!

Bang my drum!!!

2009-02-04T07:14:00.000-08:00

The weather is so good that the Song Sparrow classroom has been spending lots of time outside. Riley is extremely mobile so he is exploring the entire yard. He has visited the sand box (not a big fan) and the water feature (empty thank goodness), but his favorite find, was the silver tub.

He started to bang on it, and got really really happy. He stayed there and played music for all his friends on the blanket. He had it all to himself because many of them are only just figuring out how to be mobile but they were squealing with delight which only encouraged him.

After the concert he decided to see what else it was good for. He got on top of it which caused the teachers to run to his rescue. He gets them so scared because he is really fast and usually does thinks they don't expect.

Whew! Outside time is good fun.

Superbowl Sunday

2009-02-02T06:52:00.000-08:00

How do you talk two kids into letting you watch the Superbowl? Pizza!!! We typically have people over for Superbowl although its less about the game and more about the friends and food. Its a day we reserve for completely pigging out.

Cameron can have pizza of course, but Riley is not quite there yet. To make up for it we gave him a pizza plate of cheerios instead. He wouldn't sit in his own chair, he wanted to be right next to Cameron. She didn't mind as long as he stayed away from her pizza.

He is getting pretty good at picking up his cheerios. When he misses it looks like the sign for "eat" and so we repeat "eat" and give him a cheer. He isn't signing yet but he is acknowledging words that he knows. Here are some of the words he knows: mamma, cameron, eat, milk, dadda, peek-a-boo, bird, pj, go, paper.

Visit from Maw-Maw

2009-01-31T06:03:00.000-08:00

This week Maw-Maw was here from New Orleans. Cameron was sick most of the visit which was not much fun but when Cameron started to feel better we decided to go out and enjoy the warm weather.

My mom asked Cameron what she wanted to do. Cameron wasn't sure how to answer. I told my mom to give Cameron choices, "Museum or Zoo?" Try to make it simpler. "Art or Animals?" Cameron screamed "Animals!!" We asked her where they lived, "The Zoo!!!!!!!" Given that she had been sick and we weren't sure how she would do with a long day we decided to stay local. We've never been to the Palo Alto zoo. It has a small museum and zoo, which houses some local wildlife and is supposed to be perfect for Cameron's age. I've heard it existed, met some volunteers but never visited and didn't really know what to expect.

The museum was cute. It had lots of discovery exhibits including a tunnel that both Cameron and Riley enjoyed crawling through. There were several machine toys and an exhibit on green power. There were lots of tubes to run tennis balls through and Cameron enjoyed running back and forth putting the balls in and then watching them come out through the tubes. Riley just wanted to taste the balls.

After exploring the little museum we headed outside to see what kind of animals they had. There was a bird exhibit that had a hawk, a peacock (!!! I thought the museum only had local wildlife....). There was a pond that had a goose and some ducks. There were bunnies, rats, snakes, an aquarium with a shark, starfish, crabs. There was also a bat and bobcat exhibit. The zoo was free but they asked for a donation.

Afterwards we went out to the playground to let Cameron play. She rode on the big girl swing for the first time without falling off. She asked to be pushed very high. She made another discovery on this day. She saw some girls playing jump rope and asked what they were doing. I told her and she watched them for several minutes. When we got home, she found an electrical cord and started carrying it around the house. When I asked why she was doing that, she told me it was her jump rope. I took it away and gave her an actual jump rope of her own. Cameron is very happy.

Not a good week for Cameron

2009-01-24T16:25:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, usually her favorite day because Ms Ana is there to play music, Cameron was sent home after lunch for having a fever. I think you can tell that she wasn't very happy that day. Several kids were sent home with flu like symptoms so that is what we thought she had.

We took turns staying home with her and by Friday it was really obvious that it was not the flu. We took her to see Dr Lee. Cameron was really miserable. We found out that she had a double ear infection. It was her first ear infection and she gave us no sign that it was her ears. She is a tough kid. She had to get a shot and medicine to take home.

Riley is fine. At first we were concerned he would also get sick but now know ear infections are not contagious. He stayed his happy self all week. He actually enjoyed going to the doctor's office because he discovered the fish. He would crawl to the tank and pull himself up and just squeal if they came out from under the rocks.

Lets play in my room

2009-01-11T16:00:00.000-08:00

Today was a fun day of watching the kids play together. Cameron let Riley play in her room. They played legos and blocks. Cameron showed Riley her horse who she loves very much. Cameron then declared it was time for snack.

She immediately went to her mini-kitchen and pulled out the pots and pans and all the food. They piled it up and Riley dug in. He tried just about everything by putting it all in his mouth. Cameron liked putting things into the pans, cooking it up, and then giving it to Riley for him to taste.

Riley really likes Cameron's room. He has lots of things to pull up on and the toys are all easy to pull out and scatter around. Its not too usual that she will tolerate him touching her things but she was exceptionally generous this weekend and it was so fun to watch. Poor Riley, I hope he doesn't expect this to last.

Happy New Years Legoland!!!

2009-01-01T21:52:00.000-08:00

The real reason daddy agreed to go to San Diego!!! Today we went to Legoland. It was kinda funny that today we saw more animals but this time none of them were moving. Cameron thought all the legos were very funny. The park was still decorated for the holidays and daddy decided we would have a lego tree next year....we'll see.

It was another great day for weather. It was warm and sunny. We rode the story land boat and walked through all the safari animal exhibits. Riley got eaten by a lion but we were able to pull him out safely. He actually didn't want to leave the lion and held on to the teeth for as long as he could.

Cameron wanted to ride some rides and luckily she was tall enough for a few. Although you were supposed to be 3 years old to drive the cars, Cameron actually did a really good job. Some of the older kids got stuck but Cameron did not, she even went around a stalled car. After that she rode the helicopters and liked making it go very high.

We had a really great time seeing everything, the cities, the art, the new aquarium. Daddy also had a great time, and not just because of the legos. He met the Legoland princess. He took several pictures with her. He was the oldest person in the line. After he told me he got a picture with the princess I asked if he took the kids.... "Oh" he said, and then got back in line again.

Where the Wild Ones Go....

2009-01-01T10:26:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. This was our first visit although the Tims had been therer before. Its like a big zoo but with a very large savannah exhibit that you take a train around. Although I like the San Diego zoo, I always feel like the animals are all on top of each other. This zoo was more to my liking.

Riley was very excited. He got to take his first merry-go-round ride. He rode on a gorilla and Cameron rode a giraffe of course, she insisted. Cameron liked getting to explore. We got a double stroller but the two kids refused to ride together so Cameron mostly had it all to herself. She was a little tired so she asked to be pushed to every exhibit.

She did occasionally get out to explore. She went to watch a kangaroo presentation with Tim. And the bird show. The birds flew right over our heads and caused us to duck each time. We were also able to feed the lorikeets, but Cameron said it was "Scary!" She thinks parrots of all kinds are scary. She is a little scarred from Einstein, the Tims Macaw, who likes her so much he screams, and she runs.

We tried to teach the kids to yell Happy New Year, but it didn't really happen. We did get some really good screams though. Our New Years was pretty uneventful after the park. We were all so tired we just ordered room service and went right to sleep.

San Diego here we come

2008-12-30T23:23:00.000-08:00

Now that Christmas is over we decided to take a break and go out of town. After talking with the Tims we decided it would be fun to do a group trip down to San Diego for a few days. We woke up early this morning and headed to the airport. Cameron loves flying and now Riley is liking it too. We had to wake up early so we kept him in his jammies for the flight.

The Tims actually drove down and toured around LA for the weekend. We met up for an afternoon as Sea World. Cameron was sure about one thing, she wanted to see the Baby Belugas. Its all she talked about on the flight and as soon as we got in the gate she said "Lets go guys, Baby Beluga is here."

She was not disappointed by the Arctic exhibit. She loved all the animals, especially the Walrus. She went back to see him several times. He was eating a fish right next to the window. Its really amazing how big they actually are. The Polar Bear was cool, she asked him "What do you see?" and sang Baby Beluga at the Beluga tank. They weren't actually babies but it really didn't matter to her. So she was very pleased after that exhibit and we didn't think we would be able to top that, but then she found out there were horses. She ran with Tim and Daddy to see the Clydesdale Horses.

We also saw the pet show, where rescued animals perform including: dogs, cats, birds, pigs, ducks, and rats. Riley also liked this show. He actually liked anything that made Cameron laugh. We then went to the dolphin show. We luckily got there early enough to not have to sit in the SPLASH ZONE. That seating is probably much more popular when its warm out. The fog came in when the sun went down and it got really, really cold. We decided to not see Shamu since it was already late. We would come back on Friday if we had time.

Christmas Morning 2008

2008-12-26T17:41:00.000-08:00

What a great Christmas we had! Although the kids both woke up at 5:30am we got them back to sleep before they discovered their gifts. At a reasonable hour we brought them downstairs. The Uncle Tims came over and got to experience Riley's first Christmas and Cameron's expertise. Cameron really liked all her toys and presents but she did take time to hand out gifts to everyone.

It might be hard to believe but PJ was the most excited. He had been awake a lot longer than everyone and when I first came downstairs I noticed everything was slightly nudged. When PJ saw me he ran around and around in circles and went straight for his stocking, as if he had been waiting all morning. When we finally gave it to him he tore into it. Cameron helped him get everything out of the stocking and then he took all his toys into the den and played by himself while we opened our presents.

Riley didn't need any help at all. He had a great time opening all of his presents. Of course he liked the wrapping more than anything else but after we removed all the wrapping he also played with his toys. He is getting so strong, he pulled himself up on anything with some height and his crawling is so advanced that he just moved around the room to whatever sparked his interest.

Cameron got lots of good stuff. She loved her giant elephant but her doll houses were also a hit. She loved all the furniture and rearranged the houses multiple times. She played doctor with her medical kit, requiring each of us to have a checkup. She also got a backpack for her baby filled with new clothes. She ran to get her bitty baby, changed her clothes and then packed her up and carried her around.

The house is still a mess no matter how often I try to clean it up. Hopefully it will all get put away before we leave on our New Years trip. To see all the pictures from Christmas morning check Picasa.

San Jose Museum of Art

2008-12-24T15:40:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to take the kids to the Santa Clara Triton Museum for awhile and thought today would be the perfect day. There was no school, I had the day off, and daddy was working. Although I called ahead the museum was actually closed but given that we were ready to see a museum we headed to the San Jose Museum of Art instead.

The lobby of the museum had a great set of cardboard monkeys called the "The Great Monkey Project". The monkeys were hanging from the ceiling, from the banister, above the doors, and there was a family on the floor. Cameron was very excited about the monkeys. She wanted to pet them but we told her they might bite and from then on she didn't try to touch any of the pieces. Riley wasn't quite sure about the monkeys. He was really tired but he stayed awake so that he wouldn't miss anything.

The museum was really setup nicely for kids. Each gallery had an interactive piece for the kids and there were art bags that you could borrow in case you were feeling inspired. While in the San Francisco Abstract Expressionist gallery Cameron decided she would sketch. She did some pencil sketches with Uncle Turtle who came along with us, and then they did some colors pieces. Turtle talked to her about one of the pieces and then they picked out matching colors and did a drawing together.

After walking through most of the exhibits we visited the gift shop. Cameron actually picked out a gift for Aunt Juliet. I thought it was nice that she wanted to get something for Juliet but we actually took her second choice, a scarf with musical notes. The first choice was a very bright red beaded belt. She also picked out a gift for herself. She got a mini-Magna Doodle since she had to return the art bag she used. I actually loved the art bag idea and maybe I'll put one together for her to take to all the museums she visits.

Since it was Christmas Eve we had to head home and wrap all the presents. I only left the room for a few minutes but returned to find Cameron wrapping herself and Riley. He is actually under that pile somewhere. He loved it and tried to eat his way out. This will be an interesting Christmas, we will have to stay close to Riley who can't help but taste every piece of paper he gets close to...

Grandma's Christmas Visit

2008-12-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

We visted Grandma Cindy this weekend in order to celebrate Christmas early. It was fun for the kids to get to explore the nutcracker collection. Riley especially liked the feathers in the largest nutcracker's hat.
We had a great dinner and then Cameron and Grandma made a dessert for everyone. We had chocolate cupcakes, icing, icecream, chocolate snowman, and festive sugar. Cameron took everyone's order, put together each plate with Grandma, and then delivered to everyone. She was very particular about her own dessert. She didn't want any icing or ice cream no matter how much you asked her.

It was a pretty festive day and we all dressed for the occasion. Even Daddy wore red. Cameron was very happy to see Uncle Greg and Aunt Juliet. Riley also enjoyed visiting with Uncle Greg. Uncle Greg was helping Riley practice standing and taking steps. We can already tell that Riley would rather walk than crawl or sit up.

After dinner it was time for presents. Cameron received lots of gifts including books, a teddy bear, and a ballerina snow globe. She loves ballerinas and Grandma promised to take her to the nutcracker when she was older.
You can see more pictures from the visit on our Picasa and also Grandma Cindy's Picasa.

The Reluctant Christmas Tree

2008-12-14T15:21:00.000-08:00

We've learned some lessons about cutting your own Christmas Tree. First, they don't all wish to be a Christmas tree afterall. We put up our tree and first, it didn't want to stand up straight. No matter what we did, it would lean to one side, then the other, then back. We left it for a few days to get comfortable in its new place. After it settled a bit we unwrapped it and it immediately started dropping its needles. Apparently when you cut your own tree, they are filled with dead needles. Note to everyone that you should have your tree thoroughly shaken before wrapping it up.

After a few days of battling the needles, which clogged the vacuum several, several times, we started to decorate. Unfortunately the tree refused to hold any ornaments. We had to start using hooks and bending the hooks so that they were practically bolted to the tree. Cameron enjoyed decorating the tree. Well actually she enjoyed unpacking the ornaments and giving them to mommy to hang on the tree. She said the tree "poked me mommy! you do it." Every ornament came with an excited shriek along with Cameron calling out what it was. "A Snowman Mommy! A Santa Claus! Oh A Star!! A horse! (aka a reindeer) Hang it, Hang it!" She was really excited when she found the Sesame Street Characters and insisted on those being at her eye level.

After the ornament boxes were empty she went to the decorations. She found a little Santa Clause house and searched the tree for just the right Santa to live there. Her decoration wouldn't fit in the door so she decided it needed to go in the chimney. It was really precious to see her try and pick just the right Santa.

Finally we were done. It actually took more than two days and the house was a wreck when we were done. But it looked pretty and Riley enjoyed watching the lights twinkle. Then the next morning I awoke to the sound of the vacuum cleaner. I was shocked that Jeff was up at 5am cleaning up and thought to myself that this was the best xmas gift. I fed Riley, picked out the kids clothes, got Riley ready for school, and then realized Jeff was still vacuuming. I knew there were a lot of needles but whew! So I headed downstairs to help and to my surprise the tree was laying down on top of the vacuum, decorations everywhere, the tree water soaking the carpet. Every single ornament and all the lights were off the tree. I didn't know how that was possible. Jeff and I spent the next 3.5 hours cleaning up the mess and redecorating the tree. It looks great, but I don't think its very happy :-(

Week of discoveries for Riley

2008-12-06T07:59:00.000-08:00

Well RIley was not the first baby to crawl. This week the oldest baby in the class began crawling. Riley did crawl at home, rushing to get to his favorite chew toy. He went about 4 moves on all fours but hasn't done so since. He gets up and lunges forward but still likes the security of his belly. This week he played outside with his friends with different kinds of balls. He was very interested in the balls with things inside.

Also this week the class discovered kitchen tools. The teachers brought out various metal kitchen tools including measuring spoons, colanders, pie pans, and cups. They were all a big hit because of the clanging noises they make. Also this week the light table arrived. Riley was very interested in it. He liked moving the color blocks around and would even army crawl to it if it was turned on.
But the best part of the week occurred on Friday. Riley finally got some time with the studio teacher, Shannon. Shannon came into the infant class to help the babies paint for the first time. Of course Riley has painted at home but this was his first formal art class. He dove in. He frantically spread out all the paint and mixed the colors. Once that was done he ripped up the paper and tried to get it all in his mouth. Shannon was a quick thinker and replaced the paper with his pacifier. Once his oral senses were busy he was able to focus and finish his work.

To catch up what is happening with Cameron, check out her class blog.

New Family Tradition???

2008-11-30T06:08:00.000-08:00

So this year we thought it would be fun to go to Santa Cruz and cut our own Christmas tree. We went to Crest Ranch to find the perfect tree. Cameron immediately took charge. She pulled the cart up the hill and set off on her search.

Riley touched all the different types of trees. He enjoyed smelling the trees but didn't like getting sticky with sap. It was a really great day, sunny and pretty warm. It was also not too crowded. We saw lots of families who obviously do this every year and picked up some tips for finding the best trees. We didn't know it, but they allow dogs so next year we will have to make sure to include PJ. We walked a lot, the farm is about 100 acres, and finally I found a tree I thought we should choose. Cameron had other ideas.

After about 15 minutes of asking Cameron to pick a tree, I finally decided to pick one out myself. I announced that I had found the tree and Cameron immediately responded with, "No, not that one, this one!" It was the tree right behind me and I have to say it was actually a better tree. She watched Daddy cut it down, directing him the whole time. There was no doubt about who was in charge today.

When the tree was on the cart, she told daddy he was going to have to pull the cart back to the car, it was "Too Heavy Daddy! You get it."

Although Riley was still recovering from being sick, he was in a very good mood. He did a great impression of Daddy that had me laughing. What do you think?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T05:33:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving together. It was quiet for us, no other family or friends, and it was good to have a low-key dinner together. Cameron sat at the head of the table and we went around and said what we were each thankful for.

Daddy was thankful that his Peter Lik picture finally arrived (you can kinda see it behind Cameron). Mommy was thankful for her happy kids, and supportive husband. Riley was thankful for his plastic book that didn't get soggy as he chewed on it during dinner. And Cameron was thankful for "Mommy!" We of course did not forget about PJ. He enjoyed the week hanging out with Ellie, but he was most thankful for his share of the turkey!

During our holiday break, Riley practiced his crawling. Although he is one of the youngest babies in the class, the teachers believe he is likely to be the first to crawl. He gets up and seems to know he needs to move forward but hasn't figured out the hands need to move. Here is a video of him trying to get around.

Sick Kids for the holidays...

2008-11-22T05:09:00.000-08:00

It figures that the kids would get sick as we go into the holiday week. Luckily I've already taken the week off. Both Riley and Cameron have a virus that seems to be going around. There is no fever just lots of congestion and nausea. Cameron seems to be handling it much better than Riley with just a cough and runny nose. Riley is struggling to breathe through his mouth and get any rest.

Having an extra day home was a great idea to Cameron. She let Riley play in her room and with her toys. It was especially fun when she realized she could dress him up. In return for allowing her to put him in pink, she let Riley play with her Curious George books. This was a really big deal, because those are her favorite books.

Classroom Karaoke

2008-11-14T04:34:00.000-08:00

So I stopped by the school for lunch and found the Tiger Beetles (Cameron's class - not sure about the name, its a pretty bug but the bugs are actually predators...) in the community room doing some Karaoke. The VC camera was on and the kids were happy to dance and see themselves on the two big screen TVs. When Ms Jessica turned on the microphone, David and Cameron sang "ABCs". David was a complete natural, but Cameron got a little shy while singing. On camera though, she was a complete natural.

Riley was also enjoying a musical day at school. Ms Ana was in his class today. He was loving it! He kicked his feet and was very vocal during the songs as if he was singing along. Ms Ana was very impressed with his energy and excitement. He discovered a new song he really likes, Skidmarink! Ms Marie did the hand motions during the song and he was extremely responsive. He is learning his signs and is much more interested in signing then Cameron was at this age.

Riley has a tooth!!

2008-11-10T01:38:00.000-08:00

This has been a big weekend for Riley. He has a tooth coming through the gums. Mommy was really excited but then got sad because he is growing up too fast. Since he now has a tooth, we decided to start him on rice cereal. His reaction to this was really funny. He was excited until it was put in his mouth. He made a really funny face each time it was put in his mouth, but got happy again when he was able to push it out. We think at least some was swallowed.

Cameron celebrated the tooth with Riley. She danced around him and he got really excited. He loves to watch Cameron and she is loving his attention. She had him laughing for more than 10 minutes. We had to put a stop to it so he could breath.

Cameron had a big weekend too. She got to hang out with the big girls. We rode bikes with Stephanie and Dana. We rode up to the neighborhood school and played on the playgrounds and rode our bikes around the campus. Cameron was so grown up and you could see her trying really hard to keep up with them. When Dana fell off her bike Cameron went to her and said "Are you okay Dana?" She was so sweet.

Halloween!!!

2008-11-01T00:05:00.000-07:00

Well the big plan to have Lil'Bo Peep and her sheep didn't quite work out. Riley cooperated but Cameron decided she didn't want to wear the costume after all. Sometimes its not so cool that they have preferences. Its probably my own fault. I put on her ballerina undershirt and then she decided she should be a ballerina instead of a Bo-Peep.

I can't really complain. She looked really cute, especially from the back because her diaper poked out of the tutu. Her school had a big party and Grandpa and I setup a spooky room which was a big hit with the kids.

Of course we decorated our house again. We lit up the trees this year so when the sun went down the entire house glowed green. Jeff got dry ice again this year and he refused to give the kids candy unless they came up the driveway. The witch was flying over the driveway and we had a really cool mummy hanging out the window so with the bubbling cauldron several kids refused.

Bringing out the decorations means of course we had record crowds. The sidewalk was packed and we had given away 20lbs of candy by 7:30. Luckily Uncle Turtle had reserves and we made it through the night without having to close down. We estimate that we had more than 300 trick-or-treaters this year.

The kids this week....

2008-10-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

Cameron continues to impress us at gym class. This week she learned to somersault on the balance beam (with help).

Riley had his first experience painting. He helped Cameron paint a pumpkin and had no problems with the paint. He actually got a little carried away, but it was lots of fun to watch.

Grandpa is here!!!

2008-10-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

Grandpa is here for a visit. Its been a year since Cameron has seen him but both her and Riley immediately bonded. Its so sweet to hear Cameron call him "Grandpa!" She was even happier to have Uncle Greg visit a few more times.

This weekend we decided to try and get to the new Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. It was really crowded. Cameron spotted the dinosaur immediately. It was funny to see the dinosaur and then see the whale. She thought she was visiting the same museum that Curious George visits.

Lucky for Riley the museum has an aquarium. He was happy to just hang out and watch the fish. Cameron spotted all of Nemo's friends. She was yelling, "there is Dory! there is Gil!" Grandpa wanted to buy Cameron a gift so she went to the museum gift shop. She picked out some binoculars. She really enjoyed looking at everything. She would yell, "I see you! I see ducks! I see trees!"
Although the day in the city was cold, we enjoyed lots of warm weather this week. We took advantage and had several grill dinners outside. The rain starts next week....

Vegas Baby = Sick Baby

2008-10-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

It started out with so much potential. We all decided to go to Vegas to celebrate Uncle Greg's birthday. Cameron was very excited, she loves to travel. We met up with Uncle Greg and Aunt Juliet and got upgraded to First Class (Daddy is good at that). We took a limo to the the Palazzo and checked into our room. We had a great view of the Wynn and its golf course. Cameron went straight to the window and spotted the pool, she immediately wanted to go for a swim. Instead we waited for Grandma Cindy to arrive and ordered champagne to toast Uncle Greg.

Cameron enjoyed the toast and the chocolate covered strawberries and then we headed off to the Hoffbrau House, the real motivation for the trip. Given that it was Octoberfest made the visit even more fun. The bad was fun and Cameron danced to the music and gave them a tip. Riley was so tired he slept through it all, and poor daddy had to hold him the whole night.

And then it all went bad. We got back to the hotel really late and went to bed. A few hours later Cameron woke up sick (all over the place) and a high fever. We spent the rest of the night trying to help her feel better. Thank goodness the bathrooms have tv.

The next couple of days were spent in the hotel room trying to keep Cameron comfortable. Riley luckily took it all in stride. He enjoyed the Palazzo beds and continued to experiment with putting everything he could reach in his mouth.

Although the kids didn't get to hang out with Uncle Greg very much, Daddy did take a trip out to see the Valley of Fire with him. If you haven't been there, its well worth a visit! On our last night there, Cameron started to feel better and demanded Cheerios. She has been eating them non stop ever since. Its weird she would ask for Cheerios because she hasn't had them in about a year. Oh well, when you get a craving...

Riley's 4 month Checkup

2008-10-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

Riley had his 4 month checkup with Dr Timmy Lee. He was very happy and only had to have 2 shots rather than the 4 that Cameron had to have. Here are his stats:

Weight: 16.75lbs (66%)
Length: 25.5in (61%)
Head Circumference: 44cm (84%)

We are happy to report that he does not look like he has a huge head.

A day at Uesugi Farms

2008-10-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

Friday was Staff Development day at Google's daycare so Cameron and Riley spent the day with mommy. Instead of staying home we decided to go south and visit the Uesugi Farm's pumpkin patch. We were joined by Sonya and Hannah. Although all three kids were tired they were too excited in the car so nobody took a nap.

We got to ride two trains including a cow train. The cow train was pulled around the farm by a tractor. We also rode the steam train which had its own track. It took us around all the pumpkins.

Usually they do not have pony rides during the week, but we got very lucky and Sam the pony was brought out in the afternoon. Cameron was so excited she shouted "Horsey, Horsey" and ran to the ticket booth. She rode him around and then Hannah got her turn. While Hannah was riding, Cameron asked "Can I ride the horsey again? Please!" and I couldn't resist. She was so sweet and happy about getting to meet Sam. Ask her about him, she'll tell you the whole story.

After the pony ride we went to "Bootsie the Bee's" tour which was a walk through the corn maze. There were lots of stops along the way that told the story of Bootsie the Bee and how important she is to corn. Even Riley, who had been awake for > 8 hours with no nap, enjoyed the discovery walls and touching each of the different textures. Riley seemed amazed at everything and stayed very happy the entire time. He especially liked to watch Cameron run around.

The corn maze ended in the pumpkin market place. We decided to get a giant pumpkin that was definitely bigger than Riley and nearly as tall as Cameron, a pumkin to cook, and several small pumpkins to paint. The wheel barrel was very intersting to Cameron. At first she wanted to ride with the pumpkins, but then insisted on pushing it. We finally took a walk through the "Dora the Explorer" flower garden and fed Riley before heading home. It was a really fun day and the kids all slept the last 10 minutes in the car on the way home.

Week of Discoveries

2008-10-09T14:17:00.000-07:00

Riley had an active week at school. This week the class explored paper. The types of paper they played with were paper towels, notebook paper, construction paper, and sandwich paper. Riley crumpled the different paper and tasted each one. He was very happy with the construction paper.
Other explorations at school included the infant play yard. They started out on blankets but through the week began to explore the artificial grass. Riley seems to prefer the grass and even invited daddy to experience it with him. The best part of the play yard for Riley is watching the older kids move around. Riley is so ready to be on the move.
Speaking of on the move, Riley got his new carseat!!! Riley hated the car, would scream from the minute you buckled him in until the second he was out. We finally figured it out, he hated his infant carseat. Riley does not recline. He will lay flat or he will stand up, but there is no propped up position that is acceptable. If he is propped up even a little he tries to sit up. We finally discovered it was the crunches he was complaining about. Now with his new carseat he just stares out the window, or he reads a book (as shown).
But I think Riley's favorite discovery was coke. He caught a glimpse of my coke can and couldn't take his eyes off of it. He watched it go up and down and would follow it to the table. When I noticed, I put it close enough for him to grab it and he was delighted that it was cold. He giggled and couldn't stop smiling. Once he got a good grasp on it, he pulled it to his mouth and tried to drink (or slobber on) it. He is a true Onufer that's for sure.

Finally!!!!! No Kids!!!

2008-09-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

WhooHoo! Today was a great day. After all this time I finally got mommy to myself. We dropped the kids off at daycare and headed north. I haven't been to Fort Funston in years so this was a special treat.

It was not too cold or windy. The water was a little chilly of course but I prefer it that way. Mommy brought a ball and we took turns fetching the ball in the water. I didn't want to hog all the fun so I let mommy get the ball a few times.

We hiked along the water and watched the hang gliders and met a fisherman. I rolled around in the sand and smelled a lot of stuff. Because it was a week day the beach really just had a few humans and a lot of dogs. Most of the dogs were with their walkers so I was lucky to be with my mommy. I was on my best behavior the whole time. I found a jelly fish on the shore and checked it out, but I was careful to not get stung. From all the "Finding Nemo" viewing I've had to put up with these past few months, I at least learned that.

We did a huge loop and I was tired when it was over. I hope we can do this again before mommy goes back to work. It was just like the good old days...

The Pumpkin Patch

2008-09-28T16:09:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Carmel Valley to see Grandma Cindy and visit the pumpkin patch at Earthbound Farms. It was very exciting to see all the pumpkins. Cameron was really excited to see the pumpkins after the long drive and grabbed as many as she could and climbed all over the piles of pumpkins.

After exploring the pumpkins we had lunch and then went into the kids garden. Cameron and Riley really enjoyed exploring the TeePee. We walked through the thicket, relaxation garden, flower garden, and herb garden. We saw lots of different flowers and experienced the different smells. Cameron found lots of good rocks, bird feathers, and a very tiny pumpkin which she carried around with her until she fell asleep on the way home.

Before we left we all picked out pumpkins to bring home and paint. I asked Cameron to pick up the big pumpkin but she just looked at me and said "Its too heavy mommy!"

When we got home the next day she showed Tim her pumpkins and asked him to help her paint them. We had to hide Riley's pumpkin because she decided they should paint them all. To see more pictures and read more about our trip, go to the Picasa Album.

Riley goes to school

2008-09-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

Riley started school this week. He started early in order to get him on a schedule and ease him into it. Cameron took Riley to his class and immediately took out her favorite toys, the musical instruments.

Riley struggled with the bottle. Ms Marie was a pro and its getting better already. He enjoyed meeting his teachers and new classmate, Morgan. There are currently only two babiies and three teachers, Ms Marie, Ms Rosa, and Ms Claire.

By the end of the week he was completely smitten with Morgan and loved exploring all the toys. Morgan and Riley are comparing notes and training each other. Morgan is an expert at the bottle and Riley is a pro at napping. Morgan's mom has begged Riley to teach Morgan to sleep longer than 45 minutes at a time.

Now that Riley is at school, apparently Cameron feels she can finally play with him. Usually when I tell Cameron "Play with your brother!" she usually just throws a toy his way and runs off. This week I told her to go play with him in his room while I finished getting dressed. When I came back she had a whole play yard put together and was telling him about each of the toys. It was such a precious moment. I love my kids!

Chihuly at the deYoung

2008-09-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Chihuly exhibit at the de Young museum with Tim and Turtle. Of course Cameron fell asleep as we entered the garage and was so tired she slept through most of the rooms with Jeff carrying her. Riley was very interested in the glass and colors. He just looked from one to the next and if I moved too soon he would fuss. I talked to him about each of the pieces and several people commented on how he was responding.

Cameron woke up half-way through and was really confused about where she was. Tim helped Jeff out and carried Cameron in the last few rooms talking to her about the different colors and shapes. Cameron was really happy to be back at the museum.

After the exhibit Riley, with his new found passion, looked at some of the art in the different cases outside the exhibit hall. The cases each had different tea pots. Riley had strong opinions on each of them and shared them with Tim.

Trip to the Children's Museum

2008-08-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum. We got there early so we played in the park until it was time for the museum to open. Cameron kept us all entertained by playing with Riley, pretending to be daddy (carrying the Bjorn), and talking about everything she saw (trees, squirrels, airplanes, rocks, statues, etc etc etc).

Cameron explored all the exhibits including the bubble room, the emergency vehicles (she liked the firetruck and ambulance best), Alice in Wonderland, Circle room, Art Room, Secrets, and water play.

Riley was very patient as Cameron ran around. He hung out in the Bjorn with Daddy. He liked the new environment and all the noise around the museum. He would peak out and watch what everyone was doing. It was a very crowded day so he did a lot of people watching.

It was very difficult to drag Cameron away from all the fun. She stayed busy the entire time and even though she was tired she couldn't get enough of the place. When it was time to leave she was very sad. Riley tried to cheer her up by giving her his irresistible smile. She immediately fell asleep when we started the car. It was a good day.

Mom is sick

2008-08-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately Mommy has been very, very sick. So no big adventures this week. Both Riley and Cameron are doing great and keeping Daddy on his toes while he tries to take care of everything so Mommy can get better. This week we thought we would just share some of Cameron's philosophies.

"When you are feeling blue.....Embrace it!"

"Take time to learn from your friends!"

"Sometimes you just need to pedal through it..."

"Always wear your safety goggles!"

"Be cool and stay in school!!!!"
(This picture is the view from Cameron's new classroom, due to open at the end of the month or Sept.)

End of the Month...

2008-08-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

Wow, its been an incredible month. We've had lots of bubble fun, including trying to eat the bubbles (Thanks Tim), our baby boy has increased his birth weight by more than 60%, we've rode a roller coaster over our future at the Google Daycare (since the revision to the tuition increase, both kids are going to stay t), and we've had tons of new experiences.

Cameron is really enjoying her Gym Class at The Little Gym. She is so good she is often used as the example for the "new skill". Her favorite part of the gym is swinging on the bars. She is so strong that she can do pull-ups, and is thriving on learning flips. She shows off her tumbling every chance she gets and its really fun to watch her tumble through the yard. Riley also got on the extra curricular band wagon and took his first Gymboree class. It was fun and we learned some new tummy time games, but we didn't sign up to continue because he was very fussy and probably a few weeks too young. He will be starting school soon and since we won't be able to continue after September its unlikely that we'll go back (Why are all the infant classes during the day?)

This last week of the month was also the "week of the doctor." Both kids visited Dr Lee this week. Cameron was lucky and didn't require any shots, but Riley wasn't so lucky. He was so happy and cooing in the office and then they stuck him. It was no fun at all. Here are their stats:

Cameron

Weight: 24 lbs (12%)
Height: 34 in (50%)

Riley
Weight: 13 lb 2 oz (80%)
Height: 24 in (80%)
Head: 40.5 cm (60%)

PJ also got a treat this week. His pal BJ came and spent the week with us. They had a lot of fun. We spent several evenings in the backyard where Cameron helped pick the weeks out of the garden. She only up rooted a few real plants but they were easily replanted. Check out her Garden boots... she will find any reason to put on those frog boots...

New Experiences

2008-07-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

Riley is spending more time awake and he is starting to smile. He likes when we do "MotorBoat" sounds. He is responding more to Cameron which she likes and makes playtime much more fun.

This week Grandma Cindy came for a visit. She got to spend the afternoon with Riley while Cameron and Mommy took swim class and enjoyed the evening playing with Cameron and the new puzzle. We enjoyed dinner with Uncle Greg, and Tim&Turtle which we followed with a visit to a real ice cream parlor (they make their own icecream.) Cameron really liked having Grandma Cindy around and cried when she left. :-(

She wasn't sad for long because Tim&Turtle invited us over for a Wii Party. Cameron got to play the driving game with everyone. You may think that since she is 2 she doesn't really play, but you would be surprised. I was! Cameron exclaimed "Hit the wall, Stuck! Help!" and it was true, her part of the screen (cut into 4 for each player) had her car stuck against the wall. We told her to hit the "1" button to go backwards which she did, unfortunately she immediately hit the wall again. Its so cool how often she surprises us with what she can do and understand.

Cameron has seemed pretty bored at school and to make matters worse, Yoga and Jumpbunch has been canceled. I decided to take her to The Little Gym for a free class to see how she would like it. Oh my gosh, she loved it. She was great and could do all the skills, handstand (assisted by the wall), flipping over the handbar (with help), walking the balance beam, and to everyone in the class surprise, she did a nearly perfect tree pose (Thanks Ms Jackie!). Her Yoga proved to be a perfect precursor because you could ask her to do the appropriate Yoga pose for the skill, ie. "Downward Dog" for tumbling or the handstand. Because she liked it so much, Jeff is going to start taking her once a week. He is looking forward to having this Daddy time with Cameron.

This week also marked the first time PJ showed interest in Riley. He gave Riley a sniff and a taste of his nose. Riley wasn't so sure about the nose but was very interested in getting the up close look at PJ.