Cousins Frame

I bought this frame and also one for my sis for this great pic of all of our kids together. I love how it has all of their names engraved in it :)

Painting and Pedaling

Today was the first weekend day (well, day off, since it's Monday but a holiday) that we didn't have plans so we were finally able to put together and play with two of Sofia's birthday presents. First is her new easel - it's super cute, made by Melissa & Doug (great kids' stuff!) one side is a white board, the other a chalk board, and there is a paper roll in the middle and the paper can be pulled down over the whiteboard side to paint or draw on. Only bummer is that you have to buy all of the accessories separately so it was a little pricey. So I stripped Sofia down to a diaper and her craft apron and let her have at it. She loved it! She painted 6 big pieces of paper. I also let her use her dot markers and regular markers so most of the artwork is a combo of disciplines :) She used the chalkboard side a bit too.
In the afternoon she tried her new bike - it has a handle so we can push it as well and a little canopy to block the sun (which doesn't do much good). She only rode it for about 5 minutes, then got frustrated because she didn't get the whole pedaling thing and just wanted to scoot. I think she needs to see some other kids or people riding bikes to see how it works so she can emulate it. So it's a work in progress.
Update: later that evening Dustin & Patty stopped by and Dustin was riding his bike, so we took Sofia out again on her bike. She pedaled a little bit, but mostly just kept her feet on the pedals so we were able to go for a longer trip. Now she really likes her bike and wants to go over to see "Dustin, Patty, Buddha house" every day!

Memorial Day BBQ

Today we had a BBQ at our house with the Elliotts and Nelson's mom Sara. We fired up the grill and had some delish food, plus tried these Cake Pops I made (YUM just need to work on the technique a bit to make them prettier!)
Sofia had a blast playing with Dustin - from playing on the swingset to swimming to reading to destroying the play room :)

Cake Pops = my newest obsession!
(and I don't even really like cake that much)

Ready to get the party started

Sofia's new "Babing Suit"

Cousin Claudia stops by

Chillin in her Chair

"Gapes!"

How I adore this face

Her colorful cover-up

Gabby post-nap

So much fun swimming in the "warm tub" as Dustin called it

Reading Dustin's Dora book

Family Day at Santa Barbara Zoo

Today we had a fun-filled day at the Santa Barbara Zoo with the Wyetts. Of course, duh, both Sofia and Gabby had zoo inspired outfits (Sofia a panda, Gabby a kangaroo -- ironically neither of which we saw today!) Sofia wore a really cute pink cap almost all day until she dropped it on the train - oops. Bad mom though, I forgot to put sunblock on so she has sunburn on her lower arms and just her knees. She doesn't seem to mind it though. We had fun looking at all of the animals and playing in the kids playground area. The kids' favorite part was sliding down this big hill on cardboard boxes. We also took a train ride around the zoo (kinda lame and we lost the hat plus Emma's paci). We were really glad we brought her push buggy car because it was a great way to get her around without another stroller and keep her from running away too much. Gabby, for the second weekend in a row, didn't seem to like being out on a field trip. Especially the feeding part. But she actually slept for a while and was pretty happy while awake when it wasn't feeding time. She is starting to demand absolute silence and comfort while eating, and that's pretty hard with Sofia running around and when we are out of the house - forget it. Hopefully it's just a phase.
Sofia took a short nap on the way home but not enough, and she crashed hard at bedtime. Hallelujah. Gabby was off her schedule all day but we managed to sort of get her back on track just in time for bedtime too. Field trips will be so much easier once she is eating "real" food!
The rest of the weekend should be more mellow but hopefully lots more fun too!

Watching How to Train Your Dinosaur Show

Checking out the giraffes

Savanna!

Cute smiley Emma

Up close with a gorilla!

Crazy cousins

Daddy patrol

Look Mama a bunny!

Feeding the fish

Emma did not like the applesauce!

Peekaboo Gabbers

Boys go for a slide

And typical Ben - right into a tree!

Sofia loved sliding with Savanna

On the Train