Legoland!

We went to Legoland today with some friends. The kids had a great time. It sure is amazing seeing all the Lego models of cities, animals, etc.! I think they said they used over 40 million Legos to build the various structures around the park! Crazy!! Kyle and Emily loved the flying airplanes, much like the flying Dumbos at Disneyland. We went on those twice. Kyle insisted that we ride the number 5 airplane. So we did!

And the kids got to go on a ride all by themselves! Kyle, Emily and Olivia went on the train together while the adults watched them ride! Sniff, sniff! They are growing up way too fast! In the picture, Kyle is sitting next to Emily, but she wasn't so much interested in leaning forward so you can't quite see here. It will be a little bit easier to see her in the video.

pronunciations

Kyle has some words that he says a little differently than they actually are, but they are getting worked out. In fact when I went to record some of those words today, foosball (hooosball), octopus (opatus), ostrich (osarich), hummus (pummus), he was saying them right! And all I wanted was a recording of the funny pronunciations!

The tummy song

The kids have been talking about "The Tummy Song", asking for it each night before bed. Neither Jeff nor I know what it really is, but Jeff being the awesome Daddy that he is, made it up for them and they LOVE it! Here is a quick rendition during lunch today. Lunch was tuna salad in cantaloupe bowls which they LOVED! They love tuna salad, but loved it even more in the new bowl!

Let's go fly a kite!

When we were in Chicago, the kids were reading an ABC book and for the letter K, the object was a kite. Jeff told the kids that when we get back to San Diego, we could go fly a kite. And they remembered that for months! They have incredible memory! So this past weekend, we had a great breakfast at Kono's in PB and then went to the little store across the boardwalk to find a kite. The kids chose an octopus kite and a ladybug kite. They had a great time getting them to fly!

Here's Kyle flying a kite:

And now Emily flies her kite too. And yes, she does stop at the sidewalk.

For Uncle Josh

The first time Emily blew her nose, we were amazed! Uncle Josh must have taught her, she sounds just like him! Then we figured it out, but it is still amusing nonetheless because this is how she thinks you blow your nose!

Little Irish Dancers

Earlier this week we went to The Field, a fantastic Irish pub in San Diego. The kids always have a great time there and so do we! Though there wasn't live music and dancing this time, the kids provided the live dancing!

stay tuned...

We just got a little video camera so there will be a barrage of videos posted soon!

orange slide

The mind of a toddler is quite amazing. We often wonder where they come up with some of the things that come out of their mouths! And since October / November, the kids speech has just been so real. They really are little people now! One of my favorite expressions they have shared with us is "Roll it like a doggie!" I have no idea where they got that one, but one day at lunch, they were being particularly ornery about eating and started goofing off. Shocking! And then busted out with "roll it like a doggie!" and had their hands / arms rolling in front of them, like you would for "The wheels on the bus go round and round..."

And yesterday, they were having some tangerines. Jeff and the kids LOVE them. Kyle and Emily like to peel them themselves as well. They do quite well, but somtimes struggle to pull out the "bellybutton"! You know, the fleshy piece in the middle of the top that holds it together once it's peeled. They have made great strides in getting it out all by themselves. Emily will then eat her orange slices. Kyle though, I think just likes to peel and play with them. Because once it's peeled, he separates them all, counting them out and making some design in front of him. Yesterday, he did his thing and said, "Look Mommy, it's orange slide!" And it kind of really looks like a slide of oranges! You have your steps going up on the left and then a smoother slide down on the right!

they ARE my children!

Sometimes I wonder who the kids are more like, but the other day, I knew for sure that they are MY children! Cold Stone has started making ice cream cupcakes! I don't know which is better - cupcakes or ice cream - but I do know that they both are totally awesome! So after meeting Jeff for lunch, I insisted, with the kids help, that we try out these delicious treats! Needless to say, the kids ate-them-up!! And so did I!

Good day, sunshine!

I know, cry me a river, but really today it was finally nice again in San Diego. It has been rainy and cool for the past 1.5 weeks so the nice blue sky and warm temperature of 73 degrees was very well received. The kids and I went to music class and afterward they were just itching to get outside and feel the sunshine. They were literally running down the hallway chasing each other. So we went outside and we ran. And we ran some more! We ran to the fountain where they played some. Then we ran to the grassy area near another fountain and played baseball - which they are quite good at. Kyle bats lefty and really makes some good contact! Emily also loves to hit when it doesn't interfere with checking out her necklace! And then we ran some more playing soccer. Emily is great with the dribble. She really gets that soccer is played with her feet and does a great job dribbling. Kyle really just wants to pick up the ball with his hands and basketball dribble it. And then to top it all off, we had a tree climbing lesson. There were some great low trees with good climbing branches and they asked to climb. So I coached them up the tree and they really just got it. Granted, they are great climbers to begin with (see wall climbing pictures), but there's something about childhood and climbing trees. I remember the tree in my front yard and climbing it and just loving it.

P.S. If anyone can teach me how to layout pictures nicely on Blogger, I would greatly appreciate it!!

Like Father, Like Son

Like Father, Like Daughter

You all probably know how Jeff likes to drink his leftover salad dressing, particularly Japanese dressing, after eating the salad... well Emily did the same thing the other day and she wasn't even copying Jeff doing it!!

Valentine's weekend

We had quite an eventful Valentine's weekend! On Saturday, we took the kids on a Dora adventure, just like Dora and Boots did in the book, "Dora Loves Boots". For Valentine's Day, Dora brings Boots strawberries and Boots brings Dora chocolate on their Valentine's picnic. So we packed up the picnic basket and put the kids in the running stroller and headed out. We stopped at the fish market to get some sandwiches and ran to the trail along the beach and had our picnic on the beach. The kids got to eat sandwiches, clam chowder, strawberries and M&Ms on the beach! And they fed the silly ducks and seagulls too. It was really sweet. Afterward we all walked the trail and the kids did an amazing job, showing us great endurance walking the entire way and then getting upset that they had to go back in the stroller!

Then on Sunday we took them to Torrey Pines for their first hike. I think it was the first time since the kids were born that Jeff and I had been back to Torrey Pines. We used to do many a 'punishment run' up the monster hill after a particularly gluttonous dinner the evening before! Anyhow, we took the kids over there and brought along the kiddie backpacks (i.e., we carry them on our backs) for the kids to ride in. Well they weren't having any of that and did an AMAZING job walking down the trail and up Flat Rock (pictured). When we turned around to go back up after 45 minutes of walking down, they still wanted to walk! Then Emily got wise to the uphill and decided to ride in the backpack. Kyle though, walked the ENTIRE way! He showed some stellar endurance even running some of it!

Pudge controls the weather & Kyle controls the wind

Most of you likely know how much I like the movie "Lilo & Stitch". And if you know the movie, in the opening sequence we find out that Lilo feeds Pudge the fish a peanut butter sandwich on sandwich day because Pudge controls the weather. Well Emily may have to start feeding Kyle peanut butter sandwiches on sandwich day too because apparently he controls the wind. It all started the other day...

We were outside walking to music class. Well the kids were in the wagon and I was pulling them. And it was windy out. Emily is not a big fan of the wind and the following exchange ensued:

Emily: I don't like this wind.
Mommy: Sorry Emmie, we can't control the wind so we will just have to deal with it.
Kyle: I'll fix the wind Emmie.
Emily: Kyle, you can fix the wind?
Kyle: [the wind stops blowing] I did it! I fixed the wind for you Emmie!
Emily, Kyle, you fixed the wind!

This exchange goes on a few more times on the way to music class with Kyle fixing the wind. Then on the way home, it's still windy out and we have some more exchanges.

Emily: Kyle, what's happening? Can you fix the wind?
Kyle: Sure Emmie, I fix the wind for you... [he fidgets a little, but the wind doesn't stop]
Emily: Do you need your hat and sunglasses Kyle?
Kyle: Yes! [Kyle puts on his hat and sunglasses. He then lifts his hat and glasses a bit after they are on and the wind stops.]
Emily: Thanks Kyle! You did it!

So apparently Kyle with his Cubs hat and Thomas sunglasses fixes the wind! Amazing!!