Techno kids

It amazes me how different things are for the kids versus 30+ years ago when we were kids. The amount of technology available and useful to them at such young ages is astounding. I remember using a computer for the first time to write a paper in high school. And in college, people were just starting to get their own desktops in the dorms. And now look at it - 5 year olds are working on laptops! At school, the kids have a fun educational computer program they work with for reading and can do it at home as well. 

Here they are playing / working on their reading program.

And we dug up an old Kindle and put some kid chapter books on it for them to read. Emily LOVES it - especially so because we put a fairy book on there specifically for her. We've geared it more to her since Kyle seems to take over many of the techno toys. But she is nice and let's Kyle use it too so they read together on it. 

Take down that wall!

Mrs. Mommy, take down that wall!

Between the kids beds, we had to put up a pillow wall to keep the kids from rolling onto one another's bed.  The reason for this is not so much limited space - they are on queen beds after all - but rather when Emily runs into Kyle in the middle of the night or feels his feet, she flips out and wakes up very unhappy. So best to put up a wall and prevent any unintended wake-ups. I do find it a bit cute how they typically sleep right next to the wall though to be closer to one another

Golfing

It was a beautiful January day here in San Diego - mid 70s with lots of sunshine. We rode down the street to the local golf course for 9 short holes of golf. Jeff has made the game fun for the kids so that they have the option to hit the ball with the clubs, throw it or kick it. They usually use the club to tee off, then throw from the next point and then kick the ball once on the green. That way they feel very successful with golfing when it could otherwise be pretty painful with the many misses we all make. 

Kyle golfing


Watch out LPGA! Here comes Emily, the first switch hitting golfer!

Homework

Even Kindergarteners get homework. This is how we do it! Kyle and Emily are great at their homework. Since they can read very well, they can pretty much be turned loose to finish their homework while I make some dinner. And they actually enjoy their homework!

Crib

This weekend we set up the baby's crib. Well we converted Kyle and Emily's beds back to the crib formation. Well just one of the cribs for now. Both Kyle and Emily were great helpers getting it set up. I only have pictures of Kyle doing his part because Emily helped me out when I was trapped in 3 sides of the crib in a doorway and wasn't holding a camera for that. :-) She was great in unscrewing the sides so we could get the crib into more pieces to fit through the doorway and get down the hall to our room. 

Just needs a baby! 

Kyle loved the monkeys in it so much (same bedding Kyle and Emily used when they shared a crib early on) that he jumped right into the crib. 

Haircut

This boy loves his haircuts. He goes into a different world when getting a haircut. Unfortunately the pictures show him paying attention, but before he noticed the camera, he was in another world enjoying his haircut.

Sleepers

Just some random pictures of the kids sleeping. Kyle is such a mover when he sleeps. Emily stays put for the most part, but she likes the sprawl.

Must reach tennis ball!

Flat Stanley

My cousin Theresa's daughter sent Kyle and Emily Flat Stanley for some adventures around San Diego. We decided to take him to the zoo.

Can't skip the squirrel monkeys! Kyle and Emily stayed there for a long time watching these crazy monks!

Apparently the cheetahs each have a dog companion to help keep them from being so skittish. Never knew that! But pretty neat how they are in mimicking poses. 

Emily brushing Kyle's teeth

Kyle has been complaining how his molars hurt. We think he's growing his 6 year old molars as they are pretty tender. But they haven't popped through just yet. Anyhow brushing his teeth has become a big chore so today he enlisted Emily to brush his teeth for him because apparently they hurt less when someone else does them. Emily is so sweet.

Belly

Emily demonstrating how the baby is curled up in my belly around 30 weeks.

My big belly approaching my record pregnant timing.

Music to my ears

Due to our timing today getting home from swimming later and having to do an airport run, we didn't have time to make dinner at home. Well, I suppose that's not entirely true. There is always time to make a dinner, but the issue is more that there wasn't enough time to make the dinner I wanted to in a timely fashion. So I asked the kids where they wanted to go for dinner. I rattled off a few options and Emily shouts, "I want to have Vietnamese!" Ahhh music to my ears! Kyle agreed with her too. It wasn't on my list of options (i.e., wasn't in the neighborhood), but it was a perfect answer. So we drove the extra mile and a half to Vietnamese and had a great dinner of spring rolls, Vietnamese pork sandwich and Vietnamese noodles. I'm so thankful they like all kinds of food. 

USS Midway

Today we went took the kids to the USS Midway. Jeff and I have been on the ship before and toured it, but wanted to take Kyle and Emily to see it. It is incredible the size and work that ship has done and where it's been. So we rode along the harbor to visit the Midway. It was a pleasant 4 mile ride down on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. 

We stayed long enough that it became dinner time so we had a sunset dinner at the fish market next door. It was quite beautiful. We enjoyed San Diego just like a tourist. Only when it was time to go home, we got on our bikes and biked the 4 miles home. In the dark. Thankfully the kids didn't mind. They were well fed and excited for their night bike ride. We turned our mega flashlights on on our phones to give us headlights. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon and evening! 

Monkeys at the zoo

Today we took our monkeys to the zoo to see the monkeys. And giraffes. And other animals. But by far, the biggest hit was the squirrel monkeys. They are too cute and were incredibly active. 

Reading at dinner

What do you do when you are done with dinner? Read a book together. On the same chair. Of course!

Ice skating with Daddy

The kids had such a great time ice skating last week that they were begging to go again. So we all took the train down for a New Years Day outing to the ice skating rink / pond. It was 75 degrees so needless to say it was a bit slushy.
(Please excuse the audio on the videos. I tried to cover the speaker to muffle it because some of their music choices were not so good.)