A Hiking We Will Go!

 Last weekend we went hiking up in Point Reyes. Although I really shouldn't call it hiking, it's more strolling along, exploring, talking about how cool nature is and taking snack breaks.

 Hazel loved that she could wander around on her own but wouldn't necessarily cooperate with going in the right direction. She really just wanted to go swimming in the creek bed - not such a good idea baby.

 Ava has keen eyes for banana slugs.

There are lots of horse trails here too and even a stable. So we stopped and talked to "Buddy" and got some good petting time in with this huge creature. Hazel was not so fond of the horse though. A few weeks ago she was tackled by a big puppy who should have been on-leash at the park. He licked her from head to toe before I got to her. No harm done but she is wary of all animals bigger than her now.

Art Day in Oakland

Here are some photos of our visit to MOCHA last week. Now that I'm home with the kids more while I job search we're able to try out some new adventures that have been on my list for awhile.  The kids got messy and had some fun. Fortunately, the Oakland farmers market happened to be going on just out side of the museum so we grabbed some lunch and listened to some music. All in all, a pretty fun day.

Sick Kiddo

 Poor Hazel has a rough cold that has turned into pneumonia. Mix that with her mild asthma and there hasn't been much sleeping around here for the past 4 days. She is in great spirits but coughing all night long, poor pumpkin. The antibiotics are hopefully kicking in and she'll be better in no time.

On another note, Hazel's pig-tails have come in nicely don't you think. This little girl has lovely long locks already.

Unkiss & Sara

We had a great visit with Uncle Chris and Auntie Sara last weekend. The girls got them up bright and early every morning just to give them a taste of what parenthood is like. Despite the rainy weekend we had some fun filled busy morning adventures at the Ferry Building and Chinatown, the Oakland Zoo and Cafe Trieste followed by lots of napping. We have some serious anticipation around here for our new cousin. Can't wait for our next visit with one more kiddo in tow!

Hazel's 18 Months

It's Miss Hazy's half birthday today. She's a whopping 18-months-old. Ava wanted cupcakes today but we'll celebrate with some zucchini bread instead. It's hard to believe that she has only been a part of our family for such a short time because it feels like she has always been with us. To me there is something so familiar about Hazel. I just look at her and I already feel like I know her. With Ava, everything is so new and unexpected she is constantly keeping me on my toes. They seem to be two sides to a coin that I love dearly.

Hazel is a busy girl these days. She loves her baby dolls immensely and strolls them around the house or outside in the wagon. She adores going for walks outside but unlike her big sister, she is not a fan of the stroller. At this point we need to let her walk just about everywhere which means there is lots of chasing and standoffs as to which direction we'll take. Hazel loves all forms of bike riding, as does her sister - I'll let you figure out where that came from. She will actually cry in desperation for the bike. She tries to water ski using the cat's tail which he surprisingly doesn't seem to mind much.

Hazel has become a big talker with a huge explosion of words in the last few weeks. She will give a good effort in saying almost any word you ask her to. Our new favorite is "crocodile" which is pronounced in more of a sentence fashion. A few other favorites: ka-ka = coffee, nake-nake = naked (as in, yea it's bath time), si-soo = sister (funny enough, she won't say Ava yet?), pa-ta = pasta. You get the idea. And we're just starting to get some two word combos, like "Daddy sleep". I have to say this age is completely adorable and it doesn't hurt that Hazel is such a good natured kid. Well, she bites and pulls hair, but I can overlook that.

Ah, love you kid.

Farm Christmas

Here are the girls visiting Santa at Ardenwood Farms earlier this month. It's nice to visit a more wholesome Christmas celebration than the mall, right?! As you see Hazel was a little scared of Santa and Ava was doing her big sister job well. Hazel has her "Ho-ho-ho!" down perfectly now. With the tree and decorations up I know both girls are filled with anticipation and excitement. The advent calendar is almost finished. We're looking forward to having some fun around the house to celebrate together.

We watched the farm animals. Hazel's word for "animal" is "Elmo". I have NO idea how that happened, really.

We made sheep ornaments from the farm's own wool.

 

 The girls ran around and got tuckered out.

 

Ava couldn't part with her candy cane.

An adorable picture of the girls smiling together for our Christmas card was elusive. I wonder why?

Fall Leaves

Yup, we keep the girls pretty busy with chores. Really they were busy for about a half an hour pushing leaves around the front yard. They were both quite determined and focuses on the project regardless of the fact that Daddy kept shaking the tree to make it rain more leaves.

They aren't too happy that our yard that kept them busy all summer is now soggy and wet. But, now it's host to all other sorts of projects and fun.

Thankful

 

We were lucky enough to have Nanny Jane visit our house for Thanksgiving this year. The girls had a great time playing with her and Ava got to help out with lots of cooking projects. I think we cooked and baked more in one week that I have all month. Food always tastes better when Mom makes it.

And why my dear Hazel would you only eat raisins when you had a whole bounty of food? Yes, this babe is always thankful for raisins. She wouldn't even taste the pie, crazy girl.

Mexico pictures coming soon!!

Get us out of here!

We're shipping out to Mexico for some much needed R&R. We'll be meeting up with cousin Piper, Christine and Bill and to my happy surprise, more family: Joe, Stephanie, Wade, Kelly, Cole, Blake and Missy. What a gang we'll be! Hello beach - goodbye rain.

Halloween Fun

Ava and Samaliya after their preschool school Halloween celebration. They host a great non-sugar event for the kids with lots of decorations and a costume parade. Seriously they are adorable in their pink-fairy-fluff dresses. I can't tell you how excited Ava is about her new silver shoes too.

Our neighbors gave Ava this adorable kitty costume hand-me-down. Then a few weeks back we spotted the exact same one in Hazel's size at a kids consignment store. Ava insisted we get it so they could match. Easy, I'm sold. While I'd love to make beautiful handmade costumes for my girls I'm happy with good enough at this busy stage of our lives. Plus they are pretty dang cute, right!

And off they go! Our neighborhood is excellent for mellow trick-or-treating. We gather all the kids from about 3 blocks (there were about 15 of them), many parents come in costume (with beer in hand) and we roam around just a few blocks and then call it a day.

 

After the post neighborhood plundering Ava sat down to sort all of her candy which Erik and I can vividly remember doing as kids too. I think at this age the packaging is the most impressive thing. She was allowed to keep anything that wasn't candy (I wish more people gave out non-sweets) and 4 pieces of candy because she is 4-years-old. Of course she asked "Can I keep one more because I love you?" Jeez.... The "Switch Witch" came while she was sleeping and carried all the candy off to Mommy's office and left her a new Madeline board game instead. Ava couldn't have been more pleased. 

I love hearing how other people deal with this ridiculous sugar fest, comment please and let me know what you do!

Punkin' Patch

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch to run off a little energy. Hazel would have been happy for hours kicking, rolling and lifting pumpkins. For Ava it was an excuse to get to wear one of her many costumes and bounce around.

So guess who likes goats? At first she was calling them dogs but soon started calling them "go's". I love it when my kids aren't afraid of new things. Hazy quickly picked up some food and started feeding them, completely delighted at the nibbling of her fingers.

Climber

Ava is our little climbing princess these days. I'm amazed at how quickly she will tackle this rope and scurry right up to the top. Makes me nervous too but what are you going to do. She likes to sit up there for awhile and call out to the neighbors over the fence. We remind her to save enough strength in her arms for the climb down but she just gets stronger and stronger every time. Ava is in what I'll call a "princess lite" phase. She says she likes pink, purple, crowns, fairies and sparkles but funny enough she doesn't like skirts and prefers her regular old comfy non-pink yoga clothes and sneakers. She's just as much a tom-boy and I appreciate how she can embrace both sides. Prance around and get dirty little one.

 

Pretty high I know!

Bed Time Dance

Just some girls dancing to music and getting some giggles out before bed. If you'll notice Hazel has just figured out how to spin round from watching the big girls and she gets a little too dizzy.

Tuckered Out

 The other day Ava and I came home from running errands to find this, one sacked out baby. She really didn't approve of Daddy waking her up when he thought she had had enough.

And here is one of the many reasons why this little one is so exhausted. She can simply not be contained anymore, the girl must walk. And while years ago I may have given up on an excursion to Target with a toddler who was hell-bent on thrashing her way out of the cart, now I let her walk, I chase her down and I play tag. Don't get me wrong, Hazel is not the greatest shopping partner at the moment so she wont be invited on so many trips, but we go with the flow a little better this time around.

Outdoor Movie Night

Last night we had 30 of our favorite friends over both big and small for an outdoor movie night in our backyard. It was sooooo much fun and the kids did so well. We're already looking forward to making it a tradition every Indian Summer. We introduced the kids to vintage Alice in Wonderland and most of the parents hadn't seen the film in ages. Everyone snuggled up on the grass in PJs, sleeping bags and blankets with oodles of popcorn. I love unexpected evenings like this where you show the kids a new experience and they are just enchanted - good times.

On a side note, our friends brought this insanely good dip that we're going to make again. Who would have thought?

Walkie Talkie

We have a real walker amongst us now. Hazel has been slow and steady on the walking front, taking her time and pacing herself. Around her birthday she was standing then taking a week to learn one step, the next week two steps and so on... until now when she actually prefers to walk over her very efficient and speedy crawling. When Ava learned to walk we just watched her one evening walk across the room and that was that, she was a walker. Siblings they may be, but such different little girls!

Hazel is talking a little more each day too. Here's what she has to say for herself:

Cat (More of a really dramatic "taaat". This was her first word!)
Pablo (He's a pretty important guy around here. He was her second word. She just calls Ruby "Pablo" too.)
Mama
Daddy
Hot
Woof-woof
Bock-bock (Every time she sees my collection of Barbara's chickens or when we go feed the hens next door.)
Agua
Uh-oh
Baby
Ball

We've been teaching her some sign language too since Ava is our teacher. Hazel can sign apple, water, milk, and more. And the one sign that makes my heart melt is when she signs Ava's name sign over and over - as in "Where did my sister go! I want to see her!" Ava insists she is making other signs when she is waving her hands around too. She'd know better than me.

So we're saying farewell to the baby days around here and welcoming toddlerhood. Where did the time go? She used to be so tiny - wait she IS so tiny. You are just too adorable little dumpling!

Bigger Girl

It has been a big summer for Ava. Not only has she learned how to ride a two-wheeled bike but she has also learned how to swim. That's right, she's a full fledged dog-paddler who can float. I'll tell you it's a relief to know she can swim on her own to the edge of the pool. She can climb our rope swing all the way up to the sky too! The thing about Ava is that she likes a physical challenge and she always has since she was a baby. She may have cried after falling off her bike and getting scrapped up and protested getting into a cold pool on a foggy evening but she she is completely undeterred from learning something physical. I've really enjoyed seeing her embrace a challenge, take it head on and say YES! I want to learn and I'm strong enough to do it.

She has also learned more about friendship and I know this will be a constant journey for her. Sadly, Ava has had a bunch of friends move away this summer and others will soon too as their parents move out of the Bay Area for other opportunities. Plus other little friends making the jump to kindergarden has made her feel a little left behind. We've fielded a lot of questions about "why" and "when will I see them again?" Chin-up little girl, you will always have friends and be loved. As we all learn, friendships have an evolution all of their own.

Waterfront

Down by the water this morning for breakfast. Hazel watching the birds, the boats and the water. Enjoying a bumpy ride on the dock.

Ava enjoying a lollypop at 9:30 in the morning. I curse every establishment that offers your child candy! Oh well.

Still Here

Don't worry folks, we're still here! August has been an unbelievably busy month for us. We've had a great time camping, enjoyed lots of house guests, slogged though a few sicknesses, and survived a month of working without Hazel's nanny (who happily vacationed in her native Peru for the first time in 10 years). We'll have lots of photos to share soon. We're looking forward to getting back into the routine that September and a new school year offers. Phew!

How High Can You Throw Us Daddy?

Needless to say, a very popular game around here and a very good workout for Erik.


Back down on solid ground.