Pics

My little kitchen helper with a cheesy smile

The boys all suited up and ready to go on a diving adventure (in the living room)  ;-)

Oakland Zoo

This driving is serious business

Quick wave

Fun on the carousel

Train ride to the Outback to see emus and wallaroos

After school yesterday we met up with Carrie, Johnny and Teddy at the Oakland Zoo.  The weather was fabulous and the boys had a great time exploring and playing at the zoo.  We ended up the visit, as always with some rides and an outing on the train, which is always a favorite.  

Jumpin' Fun!

This morning I wanted to something new and exciting with Alex, since he has been so patient about the move and all of the unpacking and everything we have been doing for the past month or so.  I found a place called SkyHigh Sports in Concord, which has a facility full of trampolines.  The floor is a trampoline, the walls are trampolines, and there is a foam pit and dodgeball court (on a trampoline surface, of course).  They have Munchkin Mondays, where kids under six can come in and jump from 11-1 for $6, so I thought we would give it a try.  It wasn't too busy, just appeared that there was another private school group there, so Alex had plenty of room to jump to his heart's content.  It took him a bit to warm up, but once he got into it, he thought it was pretty cool!  I did get on the trampoline at first to demonstrate how much fun it was to jump, but was quickly shooed off of the court by one of the employees (can't imagine why).

After jumping to his heart's content for an hour or so, we hit up the Guadalajara branch which happens to be in Concord as well.  Alex happily ate his tamale and rice and danced in his seat to the "Mexican polka" music, as I like to call it.  All in all, a fun morning and great way to spend a Monday.

Celebrating Mei Mei

We had a surprise today, when David called us and said that they were having a shower for Mei Mei at work.  Alex and I stopped by the office and were able to see some of the coworkers who so kindly gave us all kinds of cute stuff for Mei Mei.  Alex enjoyed a big piece of cake and was very excited to go to Daddy's office.

As you can see, when we got home, he checked out all of the clothes for Mei Mei, which he described as "adorable".   He especially liked the yellow sundress with cherries and limes on it.  He has decided that she can wear that dress when we go cherry picking this year.  He's already got the wardrobe planned out!  He also loved the balloons from the party, as you can see from the pictures above.

Mei Mei is very lucky to have so many cute things now.  She won't be stuck wearing all of her brother's little blue outfits, from when he was little.

A big thank you to everyone at the office for thinking of us and our upcoming addition.  Speaking of the upcoming addition, Alex and I went to the doctor this morning and it looks like Mei Mei is doing well.  Everything is fine, her heartbeat is good and strong, her head is down and we're at 1 cm dilation, which basically means we have no idea when she will be showing up ;-)  Anytime between now and June 2nd, I guess.  Next appointment is set for June 1st, so we'll see if we make it to that one.

Ball Pit!

On Tuesday after school we met up with Carrie, Johnny and Teddy at Play Cafe in Oakland.  The favorite part of Play Cafe, for both Johnny and Alex always seems to be the ball pit.  As you can see, Tuesday was no different.  Plenty of jumping and giggles as a result of all of those blue plastic balls.

The Funny Files

A couple of cute things that Alex has said recently....

While we were watching some NBA basketball on television,  "Hey, that guy should get a time out.  He shouldn't push and then grab the ball from the other guy.  That is not nice."  Yeah, so how exactly do you explain that it is fine for grown men to push each other and grab the ball from one another, but it isn't okay for the three year old himself to do this.  Go figure.

David was clearing some spiderwebs from the eaves (they are everywhere, since spiders seem to love to live out here), and Alex was asking David what he was doing.  David said he was clearing cobwebs and Alex said, "I think cobwebs and spiderwebs must be cousins."

Lawnmowing

Who knew that lawnmowing could be so much fun?  We picked up a used manual mower today from someone in our old neighborhood and tried it out this afternoon on the backyard.  Alex thought it was hilarious to run around and be "chased" by the lawnmower.  When David was first taking it out of the car, Alex inquired to me "where's the motor, Mommy?"  Well, Alex, Daddy IS the motor!  (and someday, you too can be a motor).  Such an enjoyable time mowing and then raking.  He loves his "lawning".

Family Photos

This afternoon, after a busy weekend full of visitors and outings, we did a little family photo shoot in our yard. Unfortunately, it was difficult to get everyone (including Xena) looking at the camera for the final shot, but at least she's in the photo.

Mother's Day Weekend

The super garden helper, transferring some new soil for the new chili plant.

Very serious business, this gardening.

The little explorer in the backyard on Mother's Day morning.  

It was a great Mother's Day weekend here.  Hopefully the same was true for you.  We spent the weekend working on some projects around the house, planted some new herbs and chilis, and played some baseball in the backyard.  Yesterday morning, David made croissants, cut up some yummy mangoes and strawberries and brewed some good Peet's coffee.  During breakfast we saw our birdie friends as usual.  This time there was a quail among the friends, so after breakfast Alex was inspired to go out and explore with his hiking stick and binos.  We took a little trip to my favorite taqueria, Guadalajara, in San Leandro and stopped by Crown Point Memorial Beach in Alameda and watched some windsurfers for awhile.  It was quite the windy day, so there were lots of them out.  All in all, great weekend thanks to my boys!

Reading Nook

So, Alex loves his new room.  I think one of his favorite features is the little reading nook in the corner.  Only problem is that now instead of reading books on his bed before falling asleep for his nap, he ends up falling asleep on the chair with book in hand.  Not the most comfortable position for a nap, but he insists on reading in the chair every day.  I'm not about to discourage reading, so I guess we will see if he decides to nap in the bed again sometime soon.