Torrey Pines Hike

We were searching for something new to do and realized we haven't taken full advantage of Torrey Pines State Park, just near our house.  We've been to the beach there multiple times, but there is also some very scenic hiking that is doable for little ones.  Madeline had a great time.  She insisted on wearing her fairy wings, which got us many compliments during the hike.  The day was a bit windy and cool, by San Diego standards, but we were able to get a few glimpses of the ocean when the fog was just right.  We'll certainly have to plan to do this more often!

Valentine's Weekend

Well, I'm super behind on posts again, so I will attempt to catch up on what has been keeping us busy in our free time.

Valentine's day was fun.  Madeline's class had been talking about it and she declared she "wanted to do something special for Valentine's Day."  When we picked them up from daycare on  Fri evening, we let Madeline choose the course of the evening.  We ended up at her favorite restaurant "crazy chicken" for mac 'n cheese and nuggets and then we went home where a few Valentine's day cards and gifts awaited them.  I think it turned out to be pretty special!

We had planned to go to the zoo the next day, but when we got there, I realized I forgot our membership card, so we ended up exploring parts of Balboa Park.  We had a great time, and it turned out to be a fun and different way to spend the morning.

Olivia got her face painted and still have the remnants of a black eye-making for a tough looking little girl!

I'm not sure what this expression is about, but it was too good to not post! :)

Madeline's excited face!

The airplane flying overhead was much more interesting than daddy holding the camera!

Can't you just see the mischief in these pictures??  She has grand plans!

Our pretty girl loves posing for the camera (on her own terms!)

Gorgeous day!

Our attempt at a fun artsy pic!

The following weekend we did actually make it to the zoo.  We picked up donuts from the store and had a breakfast picnic at the zoo.  I think they approved! :)

Planting a garden

These pictures were from many weekends ago, but I thought I'd put them up for you to see the fun we had planting our garden.  Olivia enjoyed digging up the plants soon after we had them planted and Madeline enjoyed choosing flowers and where they should go.  Hopefully we'll have some fresh yummy veggies soon!

A belated 18-mo check-up

We went for Olivia's 18-mo check-up today, and she continues to be our robust baby!

Weight = 26lb (82%)
Height = 33in (72%)
Head = 19in (90%)

Her progress was good on all her milestones, and she has reached a number of the 2-year old milestones already with her verbal progress.

She took a good crash into a bookshelf on Tue morning at daycare and has two black eyes and a large goose egg to show for it.  I'm thinking her eyes will be super black tomorrow!

You can see how swollen it still is :(

 In other "big girl" news, she has taken an interest in the potty and has been sitting on it every night before bed.  Well, tonight we had success!!

Grandma and Grandpa were here!!

Grandma and Grandpa were in town a two weekends ago and I am just now getting around to looking at the pictures from their visit.  We enjoyed showing them our new house, our new neighborhood park, the Children's museum, the tide pools, our favorite breakfast spots and post-breakfast parks.

Here are a few pictures that capture all the fun we had:

Time for silly costumes and the living room parade!

We laughed at the tide pools, as you could really see the girls' different personalities emerge.  Olivia was all over the place, picking up things, examining them, taking risks, poking inside of the shells.  It took Madeline a long time to get comfortable with the waves crashing next to her, "We're going to get wet!"  She was hesitant to touch the sea things we found and stuck close to one of us, and really kept her eye on Olivia. 

The Daredevil!

The Cautious Observer!

Best shot of Grandma and Grandpa with the girls

"Hey Grandpa, check this out"

Grandpa **really** wanted to see a whale, but no luck this visit.  Guess they'll need to come back again soon!

Beautiful morning at the beach!  Almost impossible to get everyone to look at the camera at once!

We're already looking forward to their next visit.  Hopefully it will be soon!

Baby's First Tattoo

Brian and I clearly remember Madeline's first tattoo.  It was a painful experience for all involved.  Unckee-T and Auntie Meg came for a visit and thought it would be fun to bring their 2-year old niece a package of press-on tattoos.  After we all proceeded to apply our tats, we put one on Madeline.  She took one look at her arm and started screaming!!  I couldn't find the alcohol soon enough to prevent a full on melt-down.  Flash forward 2 years, and she has finally overcome her fear of tattoos, and now thinks they are somewhat fun.  She decided this morning that she wanted one before we went out to run errands.  Of course, Olivia noted all the commotion and decided she wanted one of her own.  We were hesitant to apply one, after our traumatic experience with Madeline, but Olivia really wanted in on the action.  She of course, had her older sister to model after and she thought her new tattoo was pretty cool.

This night at dinner Brian and Madeline were showing off their tattoos, followed by a "Boom!"  A few seconds later, Olivia starts joining in, flaunting her tattoo and "Boom" skills as well!  She had us all cracking up!  Of course, this was totally unprompted, and when we pulled out the camera we didn't get quite the same excitement level, but at least you get the picture....

Happy 2014!!

We're off to a busy year already!

We rang in the New Year at home and let Madeline stay up as late as she wanted.  She laid down on the couch around 9....

Shortly after 9 she got up and turned the lights in the family room off and declared, "I need to turn the lights out to let my eyes rest!"  She was sound asleep by 9:15....and Brian and I weren't far behind.

New Year's Day we enjoyed an outing to Del Mar and sunset at the park.

We followed that up with a special treat of cake pops and cocoa!

The following weekend, we went to the Children's Museum and lucked out as it was a special New Year's celebration, complete with balloon animals, treats and lots of arts and crafts.

Olivia was extremely proud of the hat she made and wore it during the majority of our visit.

In other news, Olivia loves the mermaid in Del Mar!

Despite all of the fun dress-up clothes and toys that they have, mom's closet has been one of their favorites.  They love prancing around in my shoes!

....and the biggest news of Jan.....we finally made due on the promise of getting them a play-set.  This is one thing we promised Madeline when we moved from Houston.  Daddy worked hard over the past week to get it all put together.  They played on it almost all day long today!!

This little one is such a daredevil.  It took her no more than 10 min to figure out how to get to the top, and she loves the slide, which is not a slow slide, and probably not suited for a 18-month old.  She shoots off the end, gets a stunned look and then runs back to the ladder to do it all again!

 Her fashionable look this evening!!

If the first few weeks are any indication, I think we are in for a great 2014!!