Who is Riley Onufer?

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

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

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

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!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week of the Young Child 2009

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

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

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

Work, Work, Work

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

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


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

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