The park

On our last day, we took the girls to the park. Fun was had by all.

Birthday Video

We celebrated Kitty's birthday a little early during our California vacation.

My dad has a video posted of Kitty enjoying her triple chocolate cupcake.

You'll be on the edge of your seat for all six minutes.

California Trip - Downhill fast

J and I had planned an overnight trip to Sacramento while my parents kept the girls. We got the exact hotel I wanted from Priceline, and a steakhouse recommendation from James and Sabs. But then...

J got sick the day we were supposed to leave.

By the time we got to the hotel, I had it too.

We had a nice view of the capitol, comfy king size bed, no kids, and a nice bathroom to puke in.

The first day was the worst, but we felt crummy for almost a week afterwards.

BUT...

the girls did not get sick (until we got home), so they continued to have a great time with Grandma and Grandpa.

They made stepping stones for Grandma's garden.
And helped plant the corn.
(Video will be here when I can get it to work).

My parents got a Wii while we were there, and Boo played incessently. Kitty was happy perched atop the empty box.

California - Part the second

The second day of vacation was great. We had a nice, hot, sunny day.

We did a lot of visiting with friends and family.

Kitty with Great-Grandma.

Four generations.

I made a huge mess in the kitchen, making chicken enchiladas and triple chocolate cookies. And J cleaned up after me. (That's the way I like to cook).

Third day of vacation.

The weather was so-so. Jet-lag was starting to catch up with me a bit. But a trip to Jamba Juice improved my mood.

That night we went out to eat with James and Sabrina. We had a great time, lots of good food.
Someone gave Kitty the leftover dessert, and she was in heaven.

California Trip - Part the first

Last month we took girls to California to visit the grandparents.

I was dreading the flights. It took so long to get Kitty's bottles through security, we almost missed our first flight. But we made it with 3 minutes to spare.

Boo was so well behaved with her movies and tracing book (it kept her busy for hours). Kitty was really pretty good, all things considered.

We happened to fly in on the day of my brother's graduation from UOP as a doctor of pharmacy. Thanks to the three hour gain, we made it just in time for the celebration luncheon at James & Sabrina's house. It was fun to see them (and their new place).

Kitty took to Grandpa at first sight.

James taught Boo how to play Wii. She spent most of the afternoon hacking at Star Wars characters with her Wii lightsaber.

All in all, a great first day of vacation.

Where are they now - part 2

Boo's turn.

She's almost four.

She refuses to wear anything but dresses. So, WOW, am I glad it's summer and she can wear dresses and flip flops to her little heart's content.

Her little brain is working hard to make connections and sense of the world. The harpsicord voice on our digital piano sounds 'just like' the carousel at the museum. Regis Philbin looks 'just like' her friend's dad (not at all really). It was raining hard the other day, and she was upset because she couldn't use her new pool. So after some consideration, she said, "Maybe when Jesus comes to my house, he will make the rain stop." Maybe kiddo.

Boo still loves to color. She is writing words, reading some words, and playing dollhouse. She starts every morning with, "So Mom? Are we going someplace today or not?" She loves to talk to Grandma on the phone, and relates almost everything to something that happened in California.



She's a keeper.

Where are they now - part 1

Let's start with an update on Kitty.

She is almost one. Can you believe it?
She doesn't have a ton of hair, but what she does have is completely out of control.

She is a stair champion. She goes up and she goes down. Although she does need help getting started backing down the stairs. She tends to lay on her belly, parallel to the stairs, and kick around like a beached whale, trying to get her feet over the edge of the first stair.

When stairs aren't available, she makes do with a slide. She climbs up the slide and stands at the top, surveying her backyard kingdom.

She has one word. MOM. She has one volume. NOT QUIET. She only talks when she is awake.

She thinks signing is the greatest. Each sign is followed by a round of applause for herself. Cheese is her favorite sign. Followed closely by more, milk, all done and elephant, with bedtime bringing up the rear.

Destruction is her game. She cleans out my cupboards, dumps baskets of toys, spreads her mayhem far and wide. To be fair, Boo helps her out with this.

She's my babe.

Back

So it seems I've jumped ship on my blog for the last two months. For no interesting reason.

I've been binging on food blogs. Mostly this one. Annie's Eats. I am so addicted. Besides fabulous recipes, her food pictures are gorgeous. I may see the title of a post and think "Why on earth would I want to make/eat sugar cookie bars?" And then I see the picture and WANT THEM. So now I'm ready to quit my day job to learn to be a food photographer.

Best meal? The Chicken Enchiladas.

Best cupcakes? Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cupcakes. There are no words to describe how awesome these are.


So....remember this? Yeah, I didn't. But the winner is....

Sarah!

I'll get these to you soon and Parker will love them.

More posts on the way.