Carmex chin

For some reason, Aaron thinks Carmex goes on your chin. He has found a tub of Carmex for several days in a row now and he keeps putting it there. It's quite amusing because he comes to us all proud that he's put on Carmex. 

And the second day...

Marble run

Aaron is a marble hound. The kids LOVES his marbles. He has them stashed all over the house and is always asking to play with his ma-mas. Thankfully he doesn't put them in his mouth. He seemed to try once a while back, we told him never to do so and that was that. Here he is creating his own marble run. Clever kid, clever. 

Cookies

It's Christmas time so it's time to make cut-out cookies. This was something I did as a kid growing up each year. And we've been continuing that tradition with the next generation. Kyle was at tennis for the start of it, but we saved some cutting out and frosting and decorating for him. Emily's best friend came over to join in the festivities. Aaron loved it as well though he was more about the eating than decorating. 

Kyle playing tennis

Kyle loves playing tennis and is very lucky to play as much tennis as he does. Here is some footage from a tournament the played in. He took 2nd place this weekend. He took the kid who won to a tie breaker. Great work Kyle! He ended up being the overall winner for his division (by ability, age doesn't matter) for the fall. He is still almost always the youngest kid out there by 2 years. He has played one other 7 year old and the rest are 9+. He will test again in the winter season and hopefully move up a division or more. His goal is to move up 3 divisions. He has set some lofty goals, but he can do it! Good luck Kyle! 

Emily swims

Emily is doing swim lessons to get her strokes refined because she wants to join the swim team. Yes, it's December and this is an outdoor pool. She is doing a great job with her strokes and is a model student. She should be through stroke school in no time. Great work Emily!

Kyle tennis

Kyle played in a tennis tournament today and did a great job winning his matches 6-4 and 6-2 against a 9 year old. He is getting good experience playing these little tournaments to put all that he learns in his lessons together in a game. Great work today Kyle! Here is a short little video of Kyle playing. He is in the background serving and showing great strategy. 

Hot chocolate

Emily & Kyle had hot chocolate and song festivities at school on Friday. Parents were invited to join in on the fun. What was most heart warming to me was how Emily and Kyle chose to sit together during it. They both have their little groups of friends at school, but it was nice to see them choose one another. 

Mammoth

This past weekend, I went away for a few days to meet up with Spike in Mammoth for some skiing together. It was great to hang out and ski with Spike and company and to get away from the daily responsibilities. Spike got me skiing blue/black runs. The great thing about Mammoth was that for the most part, I could get down from almost any lift on a run of my level. I feel comfortable on blue runs and blue/black are a good and do-able challenge for me. I found several that I could do which was a big deal for me. 

Aaron with his girlfriend. He got to hang out with her one of the days while Jeff worked (he had different babysitters each day which was a new thing for him and he did well). Notice his I <3 coming="" day="" him="" home.="" i="" jeff="" mom="" nbsp="" on="" p="" put="" shirt="" that="" the="" was="">

Cool dude at zoo

Aaron and I took a quick, impromptu visit to the zoo to check out the monkeys. He had a good time watching them. Like Kyle, he had fun watching the capuchins skitter about and hang from the sides. There was one that seemed to come up the fence to say hi to Aaron and then hid in a little potato sack (or looked for food in there). 

Aaron Driving

Aaron had a field day chillin' in the front seat of the car and practicing his driving. All the buttons and levers to push and the wheel to turn... so much fun for him.

Zerbert

And Aaron discovers the hilariousness that is zerberts. Gotta love how he says zerbert.

Tree decorating

Today we went to get our Christmas tree. Given the lateness of Thanksgiving and how close we are now to Christmas, we went to Home Depot to be able to get it up and enjoy it. Kyle and Emily had a great time decorating the tree. Aaron saw how excited Kyle & Emily were to decorate that he eagerly joined in. 

This link is of the kids happily decorating. 

http://youtu.be/6urP4At2mRk

Daddy snuggles

Jeff's flight was cancelled so we got to hang out all day. The kids got some good Daddy snuggles in before we went out to get our Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving

We had a fun time visiting family for Thanksgiving. The kids saw all of their cousins between our families. 

Riding the bus to the rental car

Kyle playing pop-a-shot with Kari. Aaron had a good time with the basketball game too. He asked daily to go to the basement and play ba-ba. 

Aaron with Uncle Eric. Aaron has such an affinity to Eric. He's always been so smiley with Eric and just at ease with him. The smiles just capture it. 

Aaron's massage

I got a massage from Kari to help my neck and the kids wanted a massage too. Emily, Kyle & Aaron all had a massage too. And it was the longest I've seen Aaron sit still. 

At Papa's, Aaron would just go to the basement to play. I found him down there playing some pinball just like he's a big kid. 

Emily reading with Grandma

Aaron and Ethan hugs

Aaron at the kid table with Addy and Trevor

7 of the 10 kids at Grandmas' house doing the gumdrop tree

Ryan, Evan, Kyle & Emily getting clean

Everyone at Grandma's house

The kids having fun at the airport

Kyle tennis tournament

Kyle has been playing a lot of tennis these days. He is playing in some tournaments and having a good time. This particular one, he played quite well and even as the youngest player, he held his own and came out with the win. 

Kyle is in the far court playing against a 9 year old girl. He won 8-1.

Kyle is in the near court I think and is playing a 9 year old boy. Kyle won 8-1.

Kyle posing after his decisive victory. 

This is from another tournament this week (December 8, yes I am back posting) where he played well and came in 2nd by tie break. He actually beat the kid who took 1st and had the same record, but the second level for tiebreak put the other kid ahead. Pretty good nonetheless and especially so considering the kids all had at least 3 years on Kyle. Well done Kyle!

Aaron

Just some cute pictures of Aaron and some with his girlfriend.

Aaron and Alice at the monkeys at the zoo

Aaron and Alice at the library having a snack together

Surfing

Yesterday was such a great surfing day that we had to go back again today. And it was a ton of fun again. This time we went in the morning (school was off today) and had a lot of sunlight and happy kids. While I was out helping one of the kids surf, the other was boogie boarding and playing on the beach with Jeff and Aaron. 

Kyle riding a wave in

Hang ten Aaron!

Jeff's funny tide dance with the kids on the beach.

Kyle and bear

Boys being boys running around the house

Teaching Kyle gymnastics

Emily had her best friend over after school today. We all went over to the park to play and the girls decided to teach Kyle gymnastics. He was a willing learner and had fun trying to do cartwheels and handstands with them. 

Aaron and Rudolph

We've started decorating for the holidays and the kids have been super excited. Aaron found the kid favorite Rudolph. While he may not have very many words, it's pretty clear what he is conveying here. 

Surfin' safari

Today was a great day. It was one that I can only hope the kids will remember for a long time. After Aaron's shorter than normal nap today, we went out to try surfing again. Jeff was apprehensive about taking the kids surfing again - after we did our lesson very successfully, we tried it on our own with the kids with terrible results. Anyhow, it was really warm out and we didn't have anything planned for the afternoon except spending time together. Surfing it was. Jeff insisted that we bring boogie boards to ensure some sort of success and happy kids this time. Last time, the unsuccessful time, we went back to La Jolla Shores since that is the consensus best place to learn to surf and it was terrible surf, loads of kelp and yuck to tread through in the water. The kids were miserable which made us miserable and it just was a rough time. Aaron had a great time playing in the water though in his little wetsuit. 

Anyhow, back to today. We headed out to Coronado beach since it (a) is closer and (b) is cleaner and (c) is a nice beach which we go to more often than other beaches in the area and (d) my friend says her husband takes her daughter (same ages as Kyle & Emily) there to surf. Off we went. I tried a few waves myself first since the kids were playing frisbee with Jeff and Aaron. I was able to barely stand up, but got a little thrill ride. 

Emily's turn was next. Upon approaching the water, Emily was nervous. She sort of reverted back to 2 year old Kyle who was terrified of the ocean (noise and all). But she got out there. I towed her out and she attempted her first wave of the day. She rode it in like a boogie board. After a few more attempts and confidence boosting, she was standing up and loving surfing again!! Yahoo!

Kyle was up next. He too was frightened of the waves and took a minute to acclimate. Despite being in a wetsuit, he said he was cold. It was just nerves so any little thing was getting to him. Anyhow, he slowly but surely got the hang of it again and was standing up and riding the waves, jumping for joy with happiness. He had an audience on the beach who were cheering him on as he rode his waves. It was a pretty awesome moment for him to be successful and have the cheering crowd. 

Jeff took a few turns while I took a turn corralling Aaron who just wanted to get in the water, but kept getting knocked back by the waves. Jeff had some good waves and was able to get to kneel a few waves in. He tried to put Aaron on the board (in the shallow) and ride him in, but Aaron wouldn't have it. The kids both took a few more turns as the sun was setting and two dolphins swam by (I'm not making that up!) and surfed in. They are both thrilled to be able to surf. 

We followed that up with dinner out on Coronado and playing with these UFO sling shot toys on the beach. From what we know, it was the kids' first slingshot experience. Some guy was peddling these toys that are a little helicopter type sling shot that you shoot into the air with a rubber band and the lights on it make it look like a cool little UFO. The kids loved it. Aaron sat there watching them until the music in the background got to him and he just had to dance. 

It was truly a fantastic afternoon with the whole family. I do not have any pictures except for some grainy dark video on Jeff's phone of the kids playing with the slingshots on the beach and Aaron dancing (there was some private function on the beach with a band playing California music - Beach Boys and the like). Despite the lack of pictures, I wanted to document this for the kids. And there you have it. A great day for our family. 

Snugly Aaron

Emily was feeling tired after school so she laid down on the couch. Aaron noticed Em looking all comfy and needing some snuggles so he went after Em.

My Dad's day

Today marked the 12th anniversary of my dad's passing. While the kids were in school, I took Aaron up to Cabrillo for a nice scenic hike that my dad would have loved. And in the evening, Aaron went with me to a little wine bar to toast to my dad with a glass of Malbec and fruit snacks for Aaron. And we played some Bunny Hop. For dinner, we had his specialty of red macaroni and cherry milkshakes. I sure miss him. 

Halloween candy

For Halloween, we have a rule / tradition / routine / call it what you want that you get to keep your age plus one pieces of candy. So this year, Emily & Kyle got to choose 8 pieces of candy to keep and eat whenever they want (within reason). It is now December when I'm posting this and they both still have several pieces left. The rest of the candy gets tossed, donated and used in science experiments. Emily and I had a great time doing different experiments with the candy that show how the oils separate and how the colors behave and how you can float the edible inks. 

Aaron's chair

This is Emily's doll's chair from Grandma Sondra. Aaron has claimed it as his own. In his defence, it is just his size. And he typically sits there with a book, any book. Today's book of choice was Kyle's school writing journal. That is about the only time he will sit still for a story.