Pillow Talk

Matt and I love our silly little conversations with the kids as they are going to bed and the one on one time that is part of the night time routines (which are finally getting back in place!).  Matt recently had quite an interesting conversation with Zack that he typed up to share with his parents and I thought was definitely blog worthy.  I'll skip the lines of who said what since I hope it is fairly clear:).

Hey Zack, I need a kiss

Why?

Because I have to go to work.

Why?

Because I have to teach my students.

Why?

Because they need to learn.

Why?

So they can get a good job

Why?

So they can buy a nice house and have a family

Why?

It’s kind of “The American Dream”

Why?

Well, long ago, in Europe, people worked hard and had to pay all their money to the king?

Why?

Because kings are greedy.

Why?

Well, once you get a taste of wealth, it’s hard to give it up.

Why?

Because humans are imperfect beings.

Why?

It has to do with original sin

Why?

Because of Adam and Eve…mostly Eve.

Why?

Because she was tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit.

Why?

Because satan wanted to wreck God’s plan

Why?

Because…I don’t know.

La Jolla Cove

Our work days have been a bit longer since we moved to San Diego, which has been our biggest adjustment.  We don't get home until around 5 usually these days.   On Friday we all were home by 4 and took advantage of the time by heading out the the beach for some family fun.  The weather has been in the 80s and today was 90 so the beach was perfect.  We visited the sea lions who are very cute but stinky!

The kids played in the sand and searched for crabs and I finally dusted off the camera.  We had a really nice evening in La Jolla and plan to come back more frequently.

 

Birch Aquarium

I remember visitng the tide pool in La Jolla growing up and I was excited to take the family.  I thought it would also be a good idea to combine the aquarium with tide pools but it ended up not being as easy to do both and fit in naps so we stuck with just the aquarium.  The aquarium was fun and the kids loved seeing all the water creatures.   It is definitely a nice easy afternoon and much more manageable than the zoo.

The view of La Jolla from the aquarium...beautiful!

Checking out the tide pools

Watch out for sharks!

Experimenting:)

The San Diego Zoo

Since we arrived in San Diego Abby has been asking to go to the zoo and see the pandas.  I don't even remember telling her there were pandas but obviously she did.  We got season passes and are excited to frequent both the San Diego Zoo and the Safari Park this year.  It is a great adventure and quite the workout!  The zoo is huge and we still have tons to see after spending a few hours sight seeing.

A few of our favorites were the polar bears...

Visiting the giraffes

We got to feed them!  These animals are sooo cool:).

Borrowed from the photographers at the zoo:)

The pandas!  They are so cute but the little one isn't out yet-maybe next time.

Abby navigating around the zoo.

Abby and grandma

Zack at 2 1/2ish

Zack's personality continues to develop and our little guy certainly keeps us on our toes!  He is such a little comedian, a wonderful little brother so full of love and certainly TWO!!!

The other morning he said, "Mommy, I made a Y!, Mommy, I made a Y!"  and I came over to see his trucks arranged in a Y.  He was so proud.

He loves to play with blocks and is really creative in his building.

One day he was so quiet playing with play- doh and I looked over to see his pile of rolled doh.  Very crafty!

We recently moved him into a bed from his crib when we moved to San Diego.  The first few nights he did great and teh 3rd night I found him like this.  The next night I found him under his bed

And then during nap time we found him in the closet!!!  Seriously, that is a small space!

There is no doubt that my little man is a charmer.  He rarely throws fits and is much subtle about than another toddler I know but definitely more mischievous.  For instance, we are all sitting at the table eating dinner and Z puts his foot on the table.  We calmly remind him that his feet don't belong on the table.  Zack says, " I not" with a smile as his foot is still on the table.  Zack please take your foot down.  I am going to count to 3.  Onnnnneee..foot hovers over the table while he smiles and says, "I not", Twooooo...Foot hovers, he smirks, we lose it and turn away to avoid him seeing us laughing.  No need to judge, we know it.  He wins....this one. 

When I lay with him at night we started talking about his favorite part of the day and snuggling after stories and I say good night and start to get up and he holds my hands to his chest and says, lay with me.  I wuv you.  I melt and the the force field pulls me back in for and go in a for a few more snuggles.

Z is also quite the trickster.  He loves jumping and climbing anything.  I love this picture of him at the local park playing on the bounce house.   Looks like we need to get this kid a board!

Love you buddy!

Grandma and Grandpa's New Place

Grandma Lori and grandpa Don moved into a nice apartment down the road while we occupy their awesome house ( we can't thank them enough!!!!).  It has been fun to go swim in the pool and play at G & Gs.

Hanging with the Ducotes- San Diego Style

The Ducotes were in town visiting Lisa's family and we got some quality time in during  the week!  We visited the DelaMontaigne house for a nice afternoon.  Rich BBQd and we swam in the pool and caught up after too long:).  Abby was having a little anxiety after going to a few gatherings with lots of unknown people and lost it when we got there but eventually recovered and had a great evening (thankfully that didn't last long).

 Joseph and Zack splashing around!

 Later that week Lisa and I went out and had some nice Katie/Lis time.  Before we knew it, it was 11:30!  No pictures..oops

We also squeezed in a great beach trip to 20 the street in Del Mar where we used to go back in our high school days.  The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast.  Abby and Zack loved all teh seaweed and didn't mind the cooler water.

Joseph, Abby and Zack

 Abby and Zack were paying so nicely for quite a while.  They just get in their own little worlds sometimes.  I love seeing how they communicate and play with one another.

 

Zack and Joseph paying in the sand

Until next time, Ducotes!

Where the Turf Meets the Surf

Since we are never in San Diego in August it has been quite a while since we have made it to the Del Mar horse races.  They have family weekends with bounce houses and lots of kid friendly activities so we made a day of it.  We left the stroller at home since we thought it would be more of a pain but wished we had it almost immediately.  We walked a long way to actually get in and then another long haul to the kid section and realized why all the other families had strollers..next time!

Once we made it in the kids headed straight for the bounce houses.  There were also many kid games set up and they had a blast!

 

Hula Hooping!

 The kids both decided it was way more fun to jump from the top than to slide down.  I saw some other parents cringing as Abby and Zack launched themselves from the top but they were loving it!

 Abby couldn't pass up an opportunity to be a "big" kid.  She played tug-o-war and they won.  I overheard a mom say, "wow, look at the little one- she's tough!"  That's my Abby!

 She also loved the parachute once she figured out what everyone was doing running in and out.

And, the Horses!

It was a fun day but we'll wait for next year to head back.  I am still tired form hauling the kids!

Preschool for Two!

After searching all the options that we could find in the area for preschool we knew that Discovery Isle was the right choice.  Zack runs in to his class in the morning and loves his teachers!  The feeling is mutual..they are always so cute with him.

One big difference is that we have to pack lunches and we are getting pretty good at working that into the nightly routine.   The kids are love their lunch boxes and getting little surprises in their lunch.

 Abby is adjusting very well also.  Her teacher says she shares a lot during circle time and she has made lots of new friends.

Now we are just trying to figure out how to get preschool loans now that we have two enrolled in preschool.  Can't wait for college!

Aunite Sofia's Helping Hands

Auntie Sofia is so amazing and we are so thankful Zack was able to go there for almost a year and only sad that we diddn't find her sooner!  She loved Zack and was so gentle with the kids.  Here are the last batch of pictures I got while they were out on field trips to McDs and the library.

Glad that he feels so comfortable that he can just throw his feet up!