New Toys!

Our neighbors were having a yard sale last week of all her 24 year old daughter's toys. Everything was $1!!! We stocked up on some great "vintage" toys for the kids. We were able to get a little table and chairs for the kids too. The love to sit there now and have their snack and milk. Cameron just likes sitting the the chairs just her size. And she LOVES the little rocking doggie. It's the first thing she runs to every morning and after she wakes up from her nap. This little toy is also the cause of quite a few shoving matches between the two kids...at least they are learning how to work things out themselves...I hope.


I think it's funny to see the 1980's version of the Fisher Price school bus and the 2000's version. My how toys change over the years. Today's version even has a little wheelchair boy...so pc. And this little kitchen has been a huge hit with Timo, go figure.


Here is Cameron enjoying her rockin' doggie...until the end when she spots Timo drinking out of her sippy cup!

Sock Fuzzies

I know it's an odd thing, but the kids have a new fascination with picking the fuzzies from their socks out of their toes. It's pretty chilly here in SF right now so I'm always putting sock on the them. They now enjoy taking their socks off and hunting for fuzzies! Such concentration...

"I know there are some in there"

"Got one! Now how I just have to get my socks back on..."

"Hum, how do I get in between my toes?"

More Box Fun!

As if the kids don't have enough toys...they have to make a slide out of a box for some fun!

First Carousel Ride

A few weekends ago we met some friends of ours in the park to play and ride the carousel! They were passing through SF, heading home from their vacation up north so it was a good opportunity to get all the kids together. Just by coincidence, some other friends of ours were in the park at the same time and our playgroup expanded! The kids all had a blast playing together and ridding the carousel for the first time. The kids started out in a seat with me but Timo got adventurous and wanted to be on a horsey with Daddy! Such a brave little boy.

Timo making new friends at the park, I have no idea who these people are... and Cameron sticking with her friends...having a little snack with Jasper.

Cameron trying to decide if she wants to ride in the spinning bucket, hum, maybe not. Timo found the chimes and pretty much stayed there making all sorts of noise...um, I mean music...

riding with mommy on the carousel. Cameron just kept say "woha, woha, woha..." over and over again. We had time for one last slide down on the huge side at the park...Timo really loved it even though he doesn't really look it in the pic.

Night Away!

This past weekend, we had the luxury of spending some time together between just the two of us.... i.e., no kids. Sorry Timo and Cameron, we love you guys but it had to be done. We were blessed to have the Wohlers graciously volunteer to watch the kids and took them up on the offer without a second thought. For all of you other friends of ours, we're waiting for your offer too ;)

Sara entered a gingerbread house contest a few Christmas' ago and won a one-night ocean view prize at the Ritz Half Moon Bay. Needless to say, we were waiting for just the right opportunity to use it. We arrived Friday afternoon and checked in to our amazing room overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

We tried to partake in all the luxury the hotel had to offer. That said, the luxuries of sleeping in, leisurely reading the paper over breakfast, and not living on a kid-friendly scheduled were the most rewarding.

The kids had a blast with the Wohlers and didn't even miss a beat, or so they tell us. Thank you Gordon & Lea Anne! We owe you.

Roseola

How can a virus with such a sweet name reek such havoc on a little baby?? Cameron started with a high fever (102) on Sunday night and it continued until Wednesday morning at which point I took her to the doctor. She had no other signs of sickness, just this unexplained fever that wouldn't go away. The doctor suspected she had roseloa and wanted to wait a day to see if the fever would break before running all sorts of blood test. She told me to be on the lookout for a rash to start. Sure enough, her fever broke a few hours later and by bedtime she was getting red bumps on her chest. This morning when she woke she was covered in this rosey rash all over her body.

The fever was horrible! She was so hot, so red and shaking will chills most of the time. All she wanted was to be held constantly, which Timo hasn't liked one bit, and sleep a lot..our poor little baby. She also lost her appetite and lost a few ounces, uhg! But as bad as the fever was...the rash is worse!! The doctor told me she would be somewhat fussy and want to held a lot but that's an understatement with Cameron. She was up at least half the night last night crying, was fussy all morning and cried for 3hour after she woke from her nap today. It doesn't seem like she is in pain, just really sensitive. The moment Timo comes too close to her she freaks out or if I put her down to go pee she will scream or if I tell her no, no for whatever reason, like pulling my hair, she will have a complete meltdown.

I talked to one of my friends tonight, her daughter also had roseola, and she said her daughter wanted to be held constantly. Her daughter had just learned how to walk when she go the virus but by the time it was all over she had forgotten how to walk, she got held so much. The only downer about my situation is having two babies at once. Timothy is in desperate need of attention right now, he is acting out way more than normal. He gets so upset and just wants have mommy to himself. So tonight when Young got home he took Cameron for a bit and I got some good Timo time in with my baby boy.

Again??

I remember when the kids were just happy to pull the clothes out of the drawer! They just have to keep pushing the excitement level to the extremes. This is actually extremely dangerous and we took them out immediately (as soon as I snapped a picture). They are getting bigger so the dresser could fall over on them, yikes!! Looks like Daddy needs to put some baby lock on these drawers too...

Popsicles!

It hasn't really been hot enough here in SF for popsicles but I saw this little popsicles holder at IKEA and had to have it for the kids. I tried it out the other day, making mango coconut sickles for them. Coconut milk is a big food for Cameron's high calorie/high fat diet (yes, we are still trying to put some weight on her).


Their first Popsicle experience went over OK, but not met with the enthusiasm I had hoped for. I don't think they knew exactly what to do with them! They kept trying to bite them but couldn't stand the coldness for very long. And the whole concept of licking it was completely foreign to them. But I think they liked the flavor and ate about half...then we moved on to a much more manageable snack...blueberries and crackers!

Urban Recess

We took the kids to this indoor play space here in SF that I had heard about from a few other moms, Urban Recess. Your first visit was free...we like that! The space was great, just large enough for the kids to really run around but small enough to keep track of them. There were lots of activities for them and a great indoor slide(see video). Timothy found all the pull toys and pulled something most of the time while Cameron, our little dare devil, rode the coaster and slide practically the whole time. She has a total melt down when we had to let some of the other kids ride the coaster!

Oh, and Timo took over the train table...no surprise there!!

I had packed a lunch for the kids and they had a separate eating area just for the little ones. Little tables and chairs along with high chairs and a full equipped kitchen! I thought our kids did really well at sitting in the little chairs and eating their lunch. But it didn't last long...way too much going on in the room to distract them. Don't they look so big sitting at the table and eating??

Getting Too Big

When will the kids out grow this "can I sit in it?" phase. They try to climb in and daddy is right there to help them in. The only problem is they can't get out...

Arts & Crafts

I am so behind in all the photos and post I would like to put up! Luckily we have been super mellow the past weekend/week so I haven't taken very many new pictures...and I get a chance to go through all my older pictures and post. This is one is really old, from Father's Day, but I wanted to post it because it was the kids first arts and crafts! I know it's not that note worthy but since this blog is basically our baby book/photo album/journal of our family, I thought their first craft is a big deal...I mean, come on, are my babies really big enough to crafts yet??? The fact that they sat at the table the whole time, drawing and putting stickers on the cards...that's huge! And God bless all the great toddler volunteers on Sunday and help get the kids excited about art!



Since this went over so well, we are starting an arts and craft time for our Co-op on Thursdays. I need to think of something fun for the kids on my day to work in a few weeks...any ideas??

Chevron Cars

We have amazing neighbors living across the street! They have blessed us with so many toys and books handed down from their grandchildren who are now grown. A lot of the books are for when the kids are a bit older, paper pages, so we have a stock pile. Recently they they brought over a big box of cars!!! They are the cutest little Chevron Techron cars with the eyes and mouth. Timo especially loves them, of course, but Cameron really like the moving eyes. And I was in Chevron getting gas the other day and noticed a fire truck and pink convertible we might have to get to complete their collection...

Our Wagon

We finally broke down and bought the kids a wagon! I've been checking Craigslist almost everyday trying to get a used one but they sell so fast. Most were gone by the time I called or the wagons were really worn. So we were out a few weekends ago and saw the wagons on sale. Young had picked it up, paid and was on the way to the car before I realize we had just bought a wagon!
Needless to say, Daddy was very excited to have it but not as excited as the kids were. They love being pulled around in the wagon much more than the stroller. It's parked in the garage beside our car...every time we get in the car, the kids head straight for the wagon and climb in! We like this one because it has deep seats and seat belts. (Cameron doesn't quite get you have to sit down for the whole ride) But the seat also fold down to create a one flat bed wagon for more kids.

Timo would not let go of his popper toy this day, so it came right along with us...popping all though the park!

The kids ridding with their buddy Parker.

Saying Goodbye and See Old Friends

This past week we attended the memorial service of our good friend and pastor, Phil Busbee. It was an awesome service with lots of great memories shared by people from different periods of his life. We had the pleasure of having Phil as our Senior pastor at FBC for 10 years. Needless to say, he had a profound effect on the people of San Francisco and the people of our church. It was so moving that so many friends that have moved on from San Francisco came back for the service. In the mist of our grief, we were able to turn to these good friends as a source of comfort and find celebration...it was Phil that brought us all together as a family.

I wasn't able to take a whole lot of pictures with our friends because I was chasing the kids around. There was child care provided during the service but the service lasted WAY past their nap time....I had two very hungry and cranky babies on my hands by the time the service was over. The kids were trying to eat and run all around while I was trying to visit and catch up with different people.

One family I definitely wanted to get a shot with was the Kapics and their triplets! Danny and Emily came down from Sacramento, bring all three of their little ones with them. The twins were born just a few weeks after the triplets so Emily and I have been in constant contact over strategies on raising multiples. All the kids were playing so well together when we went to pick them up in child care...but needless to say, once they all saw Mommy, complete melt down. We tried our best to get a good shot but all the kids were at their limits. Here we are, 5 on 2!! It was so great to meet Fletcher, Parker and little Bailey! We keep up with their blog as well (http://www.thekapics.blogspot.com/) but so it was fun to meet everyone in person. I feel like I knew each one of them even though we just met them for the first time. We definitely have to plan a road trip up there for a major play date!!

Young's best friend, Daryl, came up from San Diego and stayed with us for a few nights as well. It was great to catch up with him but we missed his wife, Mindy, dearly. Some other friends came up from Half Moon Bay and we were able to all have dinner together...John, Susan and their son Parker. John was our youth minister while at FBC. We had a great time sharing stories of Phil, laughing and catching up over dinner.

I wanted to include one more picture of Phil. Over the past weeks, I have been remembering and trying to hold on to each memory I have of Phil and the impact he has made on our lives. One thing I'm most sad about is our kids will never get to meet such a great man of God. Phil was such a man of prayer and taught me how to have the most intimate relationship with Jesus through that...I only hope I can impart that on to my children. As I thought about that, I remembered their Baby Dedication Day and how Phil spoke profound words for our children and prayed blessing on them and us as a family. I quickly shuffled through all our photos to find some of that special day. Here is one I really like, showing Phil praying with a smile on his face! Glory!!

I Can Pull It

Now that Timo has discovered the joys of pulling objects behind him, that's all he does. Anything he can pull behind him becomes a toy!

Timo loves phones...so I pulled out an old phone for him to play with. He figured out you can pull the phone with the long cord!

This one speaks for itself.

Bay Area Discovery Museum

We got a coupon for a free visit to the Discovery Museum so we decided to go check it out even though I thought the kids might be a little to young for it. As it turns out, they have a separate Tots Spot just for ages 0-4...yeah! we spent the whole time in that area but the rest of the museum looked like so much fun. We can't wait to go back!

The inside area was divided into two parts...wetlands and woodlands. The kids had fun trying to stand up and walk on the "water" bed area. Cameron was climbing all though the "tree house" area. (We went after church on a Sunday so Cameron was still wearing her dress...not the best attire for climbing but she made it work!)

if you pushed these plates on the wall they made the animal noise of the animal pictured. Timo loved to press and press and press the plates. I'm sure this very nice man was over the cricket noise after about 5 mins.

Outside there was a water/stream area. Timo had a blast throwing all the fish around and splashing in the water. Thank goodness for the little aprons they supply. Cameron was just fascinated watching all the other kids playing...I think the rubber fish kinda scared her.



Then we hit the outdoor wooded area to look at bugs, rats, raccoons, and spiders...all fake of course. They had a puppet show area with all kinds of bird puppets. Young put on a little puppet show for the kids, such a good Daddy, but Timo just had to get his hands on the puppets!



The final stop was the xylophones. We were treated to a little concert my Cameron and Timo!