mason rides a bike

today miles started to teach mason how to ride a bike. he is much more cautious than dahlia. definitely not a dare devil. he did ok, but our driveway is a very hard place for someone to learn how to ride a bike. he was very afraid when miles would let go of him. he would do so much better on a long flat straight sidewalk. i think we will have to take the bikes somewhere that is easier to ride. it will be fun when all the kids can ride and we can go on a family bike ride.

easter eggs

yesterday was so fun. miles didn't have to work. that was nice. i ran around town buying shoes for the boys that were not converse. we have a limited shoe collection for the boys around here. unlike dahlia who i am pretty sure has more shoes than me.

miles' mom came to visit. after school we painted eggs with the kids. they were so excited. we had many viewings of charlie brown's it's the easter beagle before this event. dahlia and mason went over the ways we should not cook the eggs. no frying, using the waffle iron, baking them in the oven, trying to toast them, or boiling cracked eggs. no egg soup!

miles had a great idea of how to use the dye with a paintbrush and paint directly onto the egg. the eggs looked so cool. while this technique is very interesting, the paint became sticky and came off on our fingers after it had dried. we unfortunately had to wash the eggs and the dramatic effect was lost. it was still lots of fun and we got some photos of the eggs before we had to wash them.

bike rides and birthdays

today we went to jen and ray's house in santa monica to celebrate kira's birthday. she is turning three tomorrow. christina and zena came too. dahlia brought her bike so she could show off her new skill. she is an expert now. kira and her rode their bikes. it was pretty cute.

later we had tacos for dinner and then sang happy birthday to kira. jen made yummy chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting. it was fun to hang out and we ended up staying way too late for a school night.

no training wheels

dahlia decided today that she wanted to ride a bike without training wheels. i was worried but miles took off the training wheels and after a couple of tries she was riding her bike! all by herself. miles and i were just shocked at how quickly she picked it up. she is so determined when she wants to do something. go dahlia!

disneyland

bodhi is on spring break this week and my kids had the day off so we all went to disneyland. poor miles had to work so he didn't get to go. jen and ray went early because they had breakfast reservations at ariel's grotto. i decided to skip that because it is really expensive. they told me kira loved it.

ray and i took mason, dahlia, bodhi, and connor on thunder mountain for the first time. i was worried that it would be too scary for connor but they all loved it. now dahlia wants to try all the roller coasters. we also rode gadget's go coaster in mickey's toontown. this was another hit. we did so many new things this time. it was great. i was thankful that jen and ray were with me and we could divide the kids up so they had a grown up next to them. i am not sure how i will do it when i bring them by myself.

we stayed all day. we were all super exhausted when it was time to go.

under the sea

it's a party weekend. miles is having a lan party at the house with his friends so jen and ray came over yesterday and spent the night. jen and i stayed up late drinking cosmos and putting together a puzzle while the guys played video games all night. so fun.

this morning we needed to escape the video gaming madness so jen and i headed out with the kids. we went to our favorite place to stare at fish. christina and zena met us there so it was extra fun.

there were a lot of fun things happening at the aquarium today. the octopus was out of his hiding place and we finally got to really see him. it was crazy. he was moving around all over. they are so trippy the way they move. the kids were really into the touch tanks. we explored all the touch tanks. outside they had a painting stations set up where you could help paint this giant canvas that will later be displayed in the aquarium. dahlia and zena loved that.

i got a cool picture of the chambered nautilus. they are so strange looking. the deep sea creatures are some of my favorites.

after we left the aquarium we went back to my house and grilled some chicken for dinner. christina and zena went home but jen and ray are staying another night. yay! it's puzzle time.

disney day

we went back to disneyland today. we are going to get our money out of our passes. yay. we met mason's friend archer and his mom there. we didn't hang out with them for too long. we did the classic rides including a trip over to tom sawyer's island. they now call it pirate's lair on tom sawyer's island. they added all this pirate stuff that is new from when i went there as a kid. it is really cool. it was the first time the kids had been there. they loved playing in all the caves. i love all the wooden bridges. we also went in the tiki room and the jungle cruise. all my favorites.

after we split up from our friends we headed over to the haunted mansion. we all love that ride. it was so fun for me to be at disney with just my three kids. we could do whatever we wanted to do without a big group decision. it was very relaxing.

i decided to not stay too late. i didn't want to get stuck in traffic. the kids were also getting pretty tired. we got home at 4:30. they played while i cleaned up.

spring break

we are on spring break. yay. it was so nice to not have to wake up early today. so very nice. we decided to skip dance class and go to santa monica to visit my sister and their cousins. bodhi is not on spring break this week so we went with jen to pick him up after school. he was so excited to see all his cousins waiting for him. we stopped for frozen yogurt on the way back to their place.

the kids played the rest of the day and jen and i got to talk and hang out. we made delicious salmon tacos for dinner. we stayed until bedtime. it was a fun and relaxing visit.

the happiest place on earth

today was the best day ever. we got annual passes to disneyland. yay! it has been a really long time since we have had passes. they keep raising their prices and it was just too expensive. but this year jen and ray decided they were going to get disneyland passes instead of throwing a birthday party for bodhi and kira. we decided that we would do the same. we really did spend too much money on the passes but i don't care. i am going to take the kids all the time. i even convinced miles to join us and get a pass for himself. a real family outing.

we met jen, ray, christina and their kids at the storybook cafe for bodhi's birthday brunch. the brunch was fun but way over priced as expected. they had characters walking around making the kids laugh. after brunch we went into california adventure to see the new cars land. it was pretty cool. we rode some new rides including the little mermaid ride. that is a fun one.

we also went over to disneyland and rode a bunch of rides over there. we stayed all day and had plans to stay to see the fireworks. we almost made it. we were going to watch the fireworks from the roof of the parking garage where we were parked. we got the kids in their jammies and waited for the show to start when mason and connor got too cold and too tired. then dahlia started to cry, so after a couple of fireworks we took off for home. still it was the best day ever.

color me mine

dahlia went to a birthday party at color me mine. it is a cute shop where you pick a ceramic item and paint it. then you come back in a week after they have fired it and pick it up. dahila picked out this adorable little penguin to paint. it was not that easy to paint this little guy. i tried to help her out a little bit. she was having fun but she soon got sick from the paint fumes. she is really sensitive to smells. i was thinking this would be a nice place to have a party but i guess it is not for us.

we stayed for cake and then headed home. we are all a little under the weather today.

natural history museum

we had a great weekend. today i took the kids and met jen, ray, bodhi, and kira at the natural history museum. i love this museum and have decided to renew our membership. they recently have made lots of fantastic changes. it is really a fun place for the kids to learn. every time we go we see something new.

they had this booth set up today where they take pictures of you on a green screen and then comp you into funny backgrounds. the kids did it and the pictures were really cool. i actually bought the set. usually i don't go for the expensive photos. i think it was worth it this time though.

we stayed at the museum for three hours and then we all went back to my place for dinner. the kids love hanging out with their cousins.

the attic

kids are so funny. miles is installing security camera's around the outside of our house and had to go into the attic to run cables. the kids were crazy excited about going into the attic with daddy. they were even more excited when they found a rat skeleton. fun stuff!

western round up

today we woke up early to go to the western round up. it is a carnival at connor's preschool. this year it was pouring rain so they moved all the games inside and set up a huge tent for the pony rides and petting zoo. i had to work at one of the game booths so miles took the kids around to play and see everything. i missed out on all the fun. once my shift was up they all wanted to go home.

they did get to play lots of games. connor's favorite activity was the pony rides. he loves to ride the ponies. how cute. luckily it stopped raining for a little while. mason likes the petting zoo. connor and dahlia got tatoo's before we left. a fairy for dahlia and spiderman for connor.

we lucked out and it didn't start really pouring rain until we got home. the rest of the day was really wet. we stayed in and i did laundry. it turned out a pretty relaxing day.

the king

connor is so crazy adorable. he has been dressing up everyday as a new character. some days he is spiderman or indiana jones. today he was the king. he loves to wear his costumes to school when we pick up dahlia and mason. my friend michele said he reminded her of harold from harold's fairy tale. all he needs is a purple crayon.

smores

the kids wanted to have a camping day yesterday so we pulled the mini tent out and set it up. jen, ray, christina, and all the kids came over for a sleepover. the kids played outside the whole day. they were having so much fun.

miles grilled some chicken for dinner. i set the table outside with my pretty new tablecloth. after dinner we roasted marshmallows in our chiminea. camping day wouldn't be complete without smores. kira decided that roasting the marshmallows took too long and she would like to just eat them straight from the bag.

poor miles had to work today. the kids didn't have school so jen and i had them help us wash the cars. we pulled the tent out again and they got to play some more. i love these three day weekends. i think we should have one every week.

so grown up

dahlia has been begging me to let her get her ears pierced. i have been reluctant but not because i don't want to have her ears pierced. it is more about the fact that i had no idea how to go about this task. i didn't want to take her to a store in the mall where a teenage girl with no training shot an earring into her. what if they did it wrong? i also thought that having the pediatrician do it would be crazy expensive and i wasn't even sure if our pediatrician did that sort of thing. i ended up reading lots of reviews from yelp and finally decided on a place in the mall called the piercing pagoda. the people that do the piercings are trained and they also sell cute earrings.

we all went to the mall as a family today to watch her get her ears pierced. she was super brave. i couldn't believe it. she didn't even cry. they did both ears at the same time with a piercing gun. they gave her a stuffed dog to hold while they did it. she was great. she said it didn't even hurt as much as a shot from the nurse. wow. i totally cried when i got my ears pierced.

after getting her ears pierced the kids all celebrated by taking a train ride around the mall. it was so funny and cute. there was this little train that was not on a track driving around. miles and i could see them cruising past all the department stores. it was a pretty long ride. i was impressed and they loved it.