Stud

Aaron just looks studly so I had to share. 

Music fest

Kyle and Emily had their music program at school the other night where their class performed an Irish dance.

Trampoline park

Today we visited a trampoline park that had just opened around here. We had been to a trampoline park before with Papa and Kari in Chicago so we knew what we were getting into. But that time, I did not jump since I was taking care of Aaron. This time, both Aaron and I got to jump. It. was. awesome. And tiring! 

Trick mommy morning

Apparently today was April Fool's Day in our house. Kyle and Emily plotted and plotted the night before on what they could do to fool me. It's funny seeing what they come up with and what they find funny. So this is what I came downstairs to this morning:

Poems by Kyle and Emily

Kyle and Emily have a fabulous teacher this year. They are doing a poetry unit and here are some of the 'poems' they have written: 

By Emily: Reading. Forever/ Reading Forever / Isn't reading the best. / You should read forever / and get better grades / School. Reading. Grades / Reading. Reading rules. 

By Kyle: Sounds Everywhere. In the basketball stadium the / basketball goes dribble dribble / and someone throws the / basketball into the hoop / and the ball goes in the hoop / and he gets a swish!

At a farm the newborn / chicks go cheep, cheep, cheep. at a / stable the hose neigh, neigh. in / your friends house they have a cat / and the cat goes purr, purr at you and a  / monkey in the jungle goes ooh, ooh, ooh, ah, ah / robins in the zoo go / tweet, tweet. You can find / sounds everywhere you go. 

By Emily. Cats. Cats are cute / Cats can purr and meow meow they / say. Some are scardey cats too. When they / get made they go hiss hiss hiss. / Aat night hunting for mice there whiskers go / twitch twitch twitch. 

Swiss Bear

This is Aaron sleeping with Swiss Bear. This is the bear that Kyle and Emily chose for him in Switzerland before he was born at some world famous toy store in Zurich that I cannot recall the name of at this time. I was about 5 months pregnant on that trip and they chose this for their baby brother whom they had not yet met. Every night, I turn on Swiss Bears music box for Aaron and he snuggles with it while it plays its music before rolling over to sleep. Emily now has the music doggie that Jeff had when he was a baby that his Mommy and Daddy gave him. Maybe someday Aaron will be giving Swiss Bear to his kid and telling them the story of how his twin brother and sister chose it just for him.  

Padres game

Kyle's baseball team got together to go to the Padres game today. They got to walk in a parade through the Padres stadium. Since Jeff was away and Aaron needed a morning (daily) nap, Emily, Aaron and I stayed home for the morning portion of the events and met up with Kyle later. He was super excited to head to the game with his teammate Ethan and his dad and his sister who is actually in Kyle and Emily's class this year. I think the combination of getting to ride in someone else's car - a truck no less - being away from his twin whom he is normally with, his baby brother and both parents; and getting to go with a classmate and teammate and their dad, gave him a sense of maturity and independence. When Emily, Aaron and I got to the game, Kyle greeted us, but went right back to his buddies and teammates. It was really cool to see him interacting with his friends and cheering on the Padres and just having a great time at a baseball game. 

Emily, Aaron and I went down to the game after Aaron woke up from his nap. Instead of dealing with parking and to make it a fun adventure, we took the trolley to the game. It's fairly close to us and drops us off very close to the game and is much less of a hassle than parking so we did it. I just wish Aaron knew that he is to sit still when on a train or at a baseball game or wherever you are supposed to sit still! In time... 

Emily and Aaron on the trolley ride to the game. Yes, Aaron is proudly wearing his Cubs hat with his Padres outfit. 

Emily with her friends from Kyle's team - one is her classmate (who Kyle rode with) and the other has become her friend through the baseball season

Kyle with his teammates (he is behind the kid in the middle of the picture)

Kyle and his teammates. 

Aaron 'sitting' in the seat. Thankfully the section (nosebleed section) was fairly empty so he could have a seat or three and could climb around to his hearts content (and my anxiety). 

At the Little Italy trolley stop: I told Aaron to go give Emily a hug. He did!! He is really starting to understand many things!

On the way home from the game, we stopped in Little Italy to have dinner at Burger Lounge. Since we were busy and out most of the day, cooking just wasn't on the agenda. Plus, Burger Lounge is a good and easy stop on our route home. There was some Sicilian festival going on as well so it was extra busy there, but no matter, we had just come from a baseball game that was also crowded (just not in our section). 

All in all, it was a fun day for all of us. Kyle grew up a little bit with some independence. Emily, Aaron and I had a fun adventure together. And the kids and I spent some good, quality time together while Daddy was away. 

Kyle enjoying his pretzels and hummus. They were handing out samples in Little Italy. Kyle must be growing because he is ALWAYS eating these days and if he's not eating he is HUNGRY. And he's not quite 7 yet. I hesitate to think what the teenage years will be like for this kid!

Camping

Kyle and Emily have been into fort building lately and carving out their own unique spaces together. They created their latest fort in Jeff's office under a table. They insisted on sleeping in there. It's a school night. Jeff said it was okay assuming they wouldn't last long. They actually fell asleep for a little bit. By 9pm they were awake again and went up to their own beds which are far more comfortable than sleeping in tight space on a pillow or two on the hard ground. Shocking. 

Water

Aaron has seen us get water from the fridge. He has taken a wooden spoon to reach up to the water lever to make the water come out. Today, Jeff helped him do it with a cup. Now when he's thirsty, he goes into his cup drawer, gets out a cup and a matching lid (yes, he does!), and goes over to get water from the fridge. Now, he doesn't always get it in the cup. Or really any water in the cup for that matter, but rather it goes all over to the floor. But he's happy about getting water. Or at least being able to communicate that he wants water and will go after it by himself if we don't drop everything to help him do it that second. :-)

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was a fabulous day together with my family. Jeff and the kids made me breakfast in bed: my favorite of yogurt with fruit and chia. Nice and simple and just right. Oh and a cup of tea. Then I got to go back to sleep until noon or so. It was glorious. Absolutely glorious. Not that we go to bed super late, but it's nice to feel extra well rested. Or just to sleep to the double digits again. 

When I woke, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed out to Mission Trails for a nice hike. It was nearly 100 degrees out so 'nice' may not be quite so accurate. We did enjoy the hike and being together and all. But it was blazing hot. Add 20+ pounds of baby on your back and it's even warmer. Thankfully, we had plenty of water and Jeff and I traded off carrying duties. 

These next few pictures of Aaron were literally taken 5 minutes apart. The heat finally wore him out. 

Emily's yellow belt

Emily earned her yellow belt in karate today. Congratulations Emily!

Emily punching

Kata 1 - the main requirement for yellow belt

Aaron plays basketball

Aaron is having a great time playing basketball these days. We brought out the Little Tikes basketball hoop that Kyle and Emily had when they were young and he is loving it! He will tell us he wants to play by saying "ba-ba-buh" and walking toward the room with the hoop. It's fun being the announcer saying "he goes up for the shot" and "he shoots he scores" and "slam dunk" because Aaron gets so excited to take the slam and afterwards he claps for himself with a huge grin on his face. 

He also enjoys playing on the big hoop outside where Kyle and Emily play with the neighbor kids. That is, he likes being lifted up and doing his slam dunks there. He likes to have a ball in hand and will bounce it if you tell him to dribble. He pretty much wants to do anything that Kyle and Emily are doing and basketball is no exception. 

Here's Aaron walking down the alley way toward the hoop and doing his dribbling.

Emily softball

Emily's softball season wrapped up this weekend with their closing ceremonies. The kids got to dress in their uniforms for the ceremony. Their age group didn't have play offs, but the older ones did. Emily's team, the Wolves, collected their participation medals and got to run the bases one more time with the team in front of all the teams in the league and get high fives from them. Another thing they do here that I don't remember doing when I played softball growing up is signing other kids' jerseys. Needless to say they had fun writing on each other's backs. Not everyday you can write on your clothes and not cause trouble. (Emily is in the green longsleeves below.)