Ronald Reagan Library & Museum

After a fun morning with Mike, Mary and Mason, we headed to the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum. It's hard to not be inspired by all that Reagan was and his legacy continues. 

This was cool seeing the teleprompter. And of course getting to be the presidential speaker!

Recreated Oval Office with actual furniture from his Oval Office. Note the jar of Jelly Bellies by the lamp. 

Air Force One

Boarding Air Force One! It was used by 7 presidents up to George W. Bush, though the latter took a token flight on it to be the 7th president on it before the plane was retired. We couldn't take pictures inside, unfortunately, but it was a nice plane. Sure would be nice if regular planes were as comfortable. 

A snack after seeing the plane. And chocolate cake. Apparently Reagan had a chocolate cake on board each flight just in case it was someones birthday or some other celebration. Smart man. Good taste. 

The library also had a Disney collection on hand for a temporary exhibit.

Dinner at Umami Burger afterward. Great burgers. Recommendation came from Giada de Laurentis' opinion on Best Thing I Ever Ate. 

Space Shuttle Endeavor

Right after Kyle and Emily's basketball game, we headed to LA to see the retired Space Shuttle Endeavor. Wow, was it amazing! It's huge and small all at the same time. It's flown millions of miles and has been to outer space. Outer space!!! Crazy! And wonderful to have seen the actual craft close up. Unfortunately you can't go on it to really see the inside, but it makes sense that they don't allow that for security reasons as well as upkeep. 

Lunch stop on the way. Kyle's pastrami sandwich that was as big as him. 

Endeavor

Under the Endeavor

By the nose

Basketball

Kyle and Emily's basketball season is nearly over, but they are having fun. The other day, I took Kyle outside to shoot some hoops and teach him some dribbling moves. (Emily was at a friend's house.) I taught him a spin move and he was a quick study. He was so happy to use it in practice and the game. He gets a big smile every time he does it. Some times it's more successful (maintains better control) than others, but it sure wowed the other kids because defense at this age consists of standing there in front of the dribbler and then the dribbler stops at the defense. But with the spin move, Kyle can keep going and the kids don't know what to do with it. 

Emily gets to dribble the ball down court from time to time. She is so giddy when she gets to dribble. Here she is trying to get a pass off after encountering the defense.

Softball

Spring training has begun! Emily is playing softball this spring with the girls, all 6 years old and younger. In the picture below, she is the one in all pink fielding the ball. 

Aaron's real haircut

Aaron got his first real haircut today. I know he technically already had his first haircut, but that was all they did then - cut a hair. And cause ScreamFest 2012. Today he went to the military barber with Jeff and Kyle. Jeff was hesitant to take him there among all the people who go there for a nice relaxing haircut. But Aaron was awesome. He watched Kyle and Jeff go first. Kyle gets in the zone when he gets his haircut. You can talk to him, but he's not there. He's just off somewhere, probably thinking of monkeys or tennis or Miko. So he was a good example for him to see. 

Aaron sat still for the most part, though he was interested in the comb and the buzzer, but otherwise he was great. He also was holding a lollipop though he didn't really know what it was until we were walking out and he put it in his mouth (wrapper on and all) and discovered it tasted good too. But it kept him occupied and he didn't cry or freak out at all - well until we took the lollipop away for the car ride home.

Before

During

After

Baby Giggles

Whenever Aaron sees Jeff in his office, he lurches for him and wants to play with Daddy's computer and electronics. Well today he got to play Baby Giggles. He had a blast and was laughing and shrieking at the monkeys throwing bananas at him and the penguins sliding down the ice slide. He was also just so happy to have his hands on a computer keyboard. Jeff came over to watch and take a picture and Aaron gave him big smiles of joy. Jeff nailed it when he said, "this is probably what Aaron thinks I do all day at the computer." 

Flu

And once we left the batting cages, early I might add, Kyle got the flu (Monday evening). And then 2 days later, Wednesday evening, Aaron got it. Then 5 hours later (wee hours of Thursday) Emily got it. Jeff and I have been spared so far. I sure hope it stays that way. What a fun house we were this past week! Pajama days and games and shows. 

About shows, Kyle was watching a Curious George and he says, "this is my favorite not-true show." So I asked him what his favorite true show was and he replied, "Super Bowl X-L-V-I-I. I liked it because it was real and exciting and the 49ers almost won in the end." He reads something and just seems to remember it. He wasn't going to forget that XLVII and that is how he refers to the game. 

Games and gatorade

Water and Cheerios

Aaron wants to play games too

Yogurt for some probiotics for Aaron. 

Walker

Aaron walking around with his walker again

Batting cages

Kyle and Emily are starting baseball and softball this spring. So I took them to the batting cages for some fun. They both really came along once they got calibrated to the pitching machine. (The pictures are from 2 different places about a week apart.) It is going to be a fun spring filled with lots of baseball and softball for us! 

Cute

Standing

Aaron gets around with his walker and is also showing signs of good balance. He hasn't tried to take a step yet (unassisted) but will walk along the couch or something he can hold on to. He has been standing and letting go though and balancing. One time he let go and was standing by himself and was so happy he started clapping. I finally was able to catch him on video just standing. 

Trouble

I think we have a few other posts with the same caption. There is a theme here... 

Zoo

I took Aaron to the zoo to see the monkeys before our passes expired. He was pretty entertained by them. We watched Kyle's favorites, the capuchins. There were quite a few of them out and they were somewhat active. We also checked out the gorillas and orangutans. 

What Aaron thinks of the monkey business

Kyle competitive tennis

This was fun watching Kyle play tennis at class today. I think he said the game was called around the world. The kids had to hit the ball to the other side and then run to that other side and get in line to hit it to the next kid. They started off with probably 6 or 8 kids, but as it got fewer and fewer, you had to run faster and faster. When it was just the last 2 kids, they had to spin around between shots. Here is Kyle taking the crown on the last rally. 

Walker

Aaron loves his walker!

Bike angular momentum

I took the kids to the science museum today to get out of the house and do something fun together. They changed up the front exhibits at the science museum so it was even better for the kids. This exhibit was especially cool with the gyroscope / angular momentum demonstration. I'm way too far removed from physics so I can't explain how it works, but if you're interested, google and Spike can. 

Sandwiches for breakfast

Kyle and Emily wanted sandwiches for breakfast. So they each made a sandwich for themselves. And they loved it and ate it. 

Basketball

Kyle and Emily had another basketball game! They both got to play a lot this game since the team only had 6 players. With this age group, passing the ball is a tough sell, but here Kyle is dribbling and passing to Emily. 

Emily on defense

Kyle passes to Emily

Kids on defense and Kyle dribbles and passes

Belly button

And I think he's saying belly button, or at least trying. Of course it sounds like "bah-bah" but he says that when pointing to belly buttons. And here where I'm asking him to repeat me. 

Swinging

Winter in San Diego. Glorious. Here is Aaron swinging. In January.

Cheers!

Aaron's on a tear lately! He's said ball, figured out the feeding pouches and now he picked up how to do cheers! Good work kid!

Feeding bag

Aaron rarely gets the baby food in a pouch, but we do have some on hand for travel and in case we don't have any food in the house he can have. Today was one of those instances so he got a pouch. I was making French toast for Kyle and Emily and he was too eager to eat so I gave him the pouch and turned him loose. He was a hungry boy and a smart boy too and figured it out. He definitely won't go hungry! Good work Aaron.

Ball

I think Aaron said his first word today! Just like Kyle and Emily, and not surprisingly, it was "ball"!

Way home

The way home from Jamaica, Jeff flew with us until Chicago. Then we had a 4 hour layover together where we got to do customs and all that fun stuff. We had dinner together in the terminal. It felt like old times when you could go to the gate with someone and see them actually get on their flight. His flight north and our flight west were both at the same time so we got to maximize our time together before another 4 hour flight with a baby on my lap who prefers sleeping in his crib or crawling around... 

Aaron playing peek-a-boo

Aaron got into playing peek-a-boo!