What a weekend

Two things as preface...

1. It's been hot. Really hot. Kiddie pool hot in April. 92° today. And,
2. for the girls, it's already been a crazy week. It was spring break at pre-school and they've been gallivanting all over town. Legoland, Sea World (more than once), Quail Botanical Gardens, etc... they've been busy and have gotten so tired!

So this weekend we stayed busy. Yesterday we hit the outlet mall at the Viejas Indian Reservation with Marc (my co-worker and carpool buddy), Miné, and their daughter, Isobel.



They may take more pictures of Isobel than we do of Melanie and Jenna! They were kind enough to take some shots of the girls playing under one of the waterfalls at the mall.



Later in the day, they came over, as did Jon, Jody, Evan, and Abby for some quality time in the kiddie pools, dinner, and dessert.





After such a big day yesterday, it was hard to rally this morning. But we did. And the girls joined me in my weekly pilgrimage to North County. The girls played in the park...



... while I played soccer.



(I'm the one in middle, in yellow, barely moving.)

Did I mention it was hot? 92°?!?! Rather than playing halves, we played quarters for the extra water breaks. It was so hot that after nap (Jenna's as Melanie didn't take one - she played with her Leap Frog computer) we decided to head down to the beach. But not just any beach... DOG BEACH! I had been promising Emma a trip down there for a few weeks now and it was fun to go and run around with all the other dogs. And even better, it was so much cooler on the water!



Jenna LOVED the water; as did Emma, to a point; and Melanie built sand castles. There was a "big dog" meeting -- twenty or so great danes, mastiffs, greyhounds, and other large breeds. They came up to Jenna to sniff her and had to bend down to do so!



Now the girls are tucked in with the fan running in their room. I'm going to grab a beer and plop down on the couch and watch some bad television. They have school tomorrow and Melanie is very excited because her teacher, Deborah, is back from vacation. I'm going back to my day job where I can relax. ;-)

Good night!

Early morning chores

or "Still life with bucket"

Though I guess that should be "not still life" as they were running around pretty early this morning

What's for breakfast?

Two servings of HAM!

Happy Passover

Jenna taking the necessary precautions before going into the hot oven to get the brisket for seder.

Lazy Sunday

Actually, this was yesterday at Sea World, but it seems appropriate to post today... at least right now as both girls are napping.

Surrounded by Boys

Is it too early for a dad to panic?

Where is Baby Moses?

Melanie's pre-school class signing "Where is Baby Moses?" at the school Passover extravaganza. The little voice in the background is Jenna saying, "Hi, Melanie" throughout the song.

Mommy, where's your crown?

Happy birthday, Laura!

Of course this has been confusing for Melanie as Mommy hasn't had cake, a crown, or "a big chair where people sing Happy Birthday to you" like at Pump It Up.

Queen of the Pit

The ball pit at My Kids Clubhouse, that is.



The girls were there with Anna, Zoe, Lisa, Cameron, and Alyssa. Photos (from Anna) here.

Too early?

Seven months after this photo was taken back in July... maybe it's still too early, but recently Jenna has been indicating that she wants to, how can I say this delicately? Well, I probably can't. She's been heading to the potty saying, "Pee pee. Poo poo." She so wants to be like her big sister. From time to time we'll take her diaper off and sit her on the little training toilet. Never came to anything until tonight. I was preparing her bath, and maybe it was the running water, but tonight she put pee pee in the potty! Likely this was just a one-off... a happy coincidence. But what a big girl!

Elmos, Twins, and Jumpies. Oh my!

It's the weekend, so it must be birthday party time! Last week it was twins Nathan and Lily Jacobson turning two. Today was twins Lilah and Jonah Berman's first birthday. Both parties had Elmo pinatas, jumpies, cakes (plural), and lots of friends.

Bear Left

"Bear left! Bear left!" / "Right, Frog!"

Kermit and Fozzie, The Muppet Movie

North County

Click on either photo below for more of the girls recent trips to North San Diego County.

Carlsbad Flower Fields



Oceanside with the Laura's cousins Jennifer Preisman and Michael Campion and their twins, Ben (Blue) and Griffin (Green). Jennifer is the wit behind Now That You Mention It...