Melt Downs

Ah, the mind of a 2 year old...I'm not sure if I will ever be able to figure them out. Let's just start with what Cameron is wearing...she insisted she wear this little short sleeve jacket and was having a total melt down over it. It was too chilly outside for short sleeves so we needed to reach a compromise...a new fashion statement! She seemed prefectly happy to be wearing the jacket, regarless of how she looked!

While playing, the kids got into a tug a war over the yellow dump truck...never mind the fact they each have one, they both wanted the yellow one this day. Cameron lost the tugging battle and threw a tantrum on the ground. She laid flat out and rolled back and forth on the dirt. I wouldn't think this so strange if I didn't already know that Cameron HATES getting dirty. She is constantly pointing out messes on her clothes, hands, table, anywhere. It's always "uh oh Mommy, mess...clean it" I guess she was really upset if she wanted attention by getting dirty.

Getting Creative...

So we have this ongoing battle in our house over the baby doll...yes, I said baby doll. Technically it's Cameron's doll but with twins, nothing is exclusively anyone's. I REALLY didn't want to get another baby just for the simple reason we have a ton of toys already. I just needed to get creative and find Timo something babyish to take care....and voloia! His monkey named Papi!

Once I told him to put Papi in stroller, he was so excited to "take care of his Papi." Ahhhh, there was peace in the land again...for now....

And....they even managed to..ready for this...share! Wow!

Go Fly A Kite!

This past weekend we took the kids to the beach to fly a kite! The weather was super nice with a slight breeze...I bundled everyone up because the beach it typically cooler but we were totally over dressed, it was really warm out.

There is a little story behind this kite...we got it about 5 years ago while walking through Chinatown. It was a total impulse buy with our friends Daryl and Mindy (they got one too). We had in our car for a few years, never flown. We moved it to the other car one day because we were going to fly it but never made it. Then it got moved to our storage a while back when Young stated, "we'll never fly the kite, why did we even buy it?" We tried liftoff about 6mo ago but that day was too windy to fly anything. Well my friends, our 5 year old purchase finally got used last Sunday!

Young did a great job of getting it up in the air and let each of the kids have a turn at the reigns.

Because it was slightly windy, Young could really control the height of the flying. He kept swooping it down toward the kids and Cameron kept trying to catch it.

Like most everything, eventually the kids list interest and only wanted to play in the sand, but Young didn't. He stayed out there flying our kite for a while. Just goes to show you, never give up on a project!!

Hot Day!

It was a hot, hot day last week so we hit the water area at the Discovery Museum. I love this museum because of the wonderful views from all around the grounds. (Makes for a more pleasant view while tending to a tantrum) Jasper joined us the the boys headed over to the dump trucks!

It was really hot outside so we ended up spending most of our time inside the craft room playing with the sand. I think Cameron could have stayed here for another hour...she really gets into the creative play...whereas Timo is more into action. Guess it's a boy/girl thing.

Spring Planting

Well, we haven't actually planted anything yet...just clearing out and digging up to get everything ready to plant. These pics were taken over a few days last week. We were in the back yard every day, digging in the dirt, shoveling, raking, clearing out weeds and checking out all the live action going on in the dirt! A worm spotting was a highlight!
I got the kids a shovel and rake at Target so they could "help" me with the clearing. Cameron was all about the helping...she kept saying "Cameron help, Cameron help" the whole time...over and over...

But soon they tired of their little plastic tools and had to get their hands on the real thing...

Once we got all the weeds and clover cleared out, it was time to load it all up into the compost bin...Cameron was a pro! I have to say, Cameron was much more into the yard work more than Timo. She wanted to help out with everything.
We also had to move some dirt out of one area to help level a new area I'll be planting this year. I had the great idea to use their dump trucks to move the dirt across the yard...and use the child labor to move the dump trucks! It worked perfectly!! What great little helpers I had...

But in the mix if all the work...the kids did find some play time for sand box fun and golfing!

Sunny Days!

Just a quick note to let you know we're still here...the weather has been amazing this past week so we've been outside 98% of our day. That leaves about 2% for everything else so blogging kinda moved to the back burner. I typically will blog while the kids are napping but I've been digging out our backyard/garden getting ready to plant. Most of it's done so I'll try to get back on track next week and post some of our sunny days pictures.

See you all next week...

Crissy Field

This was the first of our sunny days last week...Sunday afternoon. I've been wanting to go to Crissy Field so the kids can play in the marsh area and see some sea life but they had little interest in that once they saw the open water to throw rock in. There are few bridges you have to walk over to get to the water which was most exciting. The kids are really into going over bridges and into tunnels right now. Oh, and there were kites flying too...

Timo was on a mission looking for rocks to make a splash with...

Cameron was just happy throwing the sand up in the air and watching the wind carry it away...ah, the simple pleasures of a 2 year old...

Haircuts and Sand!

Monday we got hair cuts and then hit the sand box at a near by park! Timo did great during his hair cut...it's all about the car. But Cameron got a little scared and had to sit in my lap. Only after we were done did she want to sit in the car...go figure!

We stayed at the park a long time because the weather is so nice this week. I was trying to build a sand castle for the kids but Cameron kept calling my mounds of sand "cupcakes". So I guess we were a little sand bakery making sand cupcakes! Like mommy like daughter! (sorry, the video is a little black and white...Young was playing around the functions over the weekend)

Showering Daryl & Mindy!

I had the pleasure of going down the San Diego last weekend for Mindy Bryant's baby shower. She and her husband Daryl are dear, dear friends of ours who used to live in SF and attend our church. They heard the call from God to church plant in San Diego about 3 years ago and have been blessed with an awesome church plant in their community, Mission Valley. God is good! They are expecting their first baby the beginning of May and couldn't be more excited. Baby Joshia is a little miracle baby and it was amazing to be able to be there to shower Daryl and Mindy with gifts, love, prayer!

But back to the trip...I flew down alone for two whole days!!! Yes, alone! (it was going to be a family trip down but Young got crazy busy at work and couldn't take the time off) But Young did an amazing job taking care of the kids and I was so grateful for the time away. Mindy and I had such wonderful girl time together...we had lots of girl talk, ate, shopped, ate, enjoyed walks and ate some more! It's hard keeping up with an eight month pregnant friend's appetite! Her shower was so much fun with lots of games and scrap booking. I didn't really take any pictures except these with my cell phone. I guess I was just so relaxed, taking just a few pictures seemed like work!

Young had some adventures with the kids and I think he will be posting pics and stories in a few days...after he recovers...

Feeding Duck and More

We are getting more sunny days than rainy days lately but still have to contend with the wet weather every so often. I'm learning to "make hay while the sun shines!" The kids just don't nap long, if at all, if they don't get outside in the morning to run off their energy. So if it's not raining, head outside until the rain starts. One morning we explored Golden Gate Park just after a bad night of rain and it was about to start raining again. We had a small window of play time and boy did we make the most of it.

First we headed to the duck pond to feed the ducks. I've started saving all the ends of our bread so we can feed the duck every so often. There weren't that many duck around until the bread started landing in the water...then the masses came and feeding ducks got really fun!

Then the kids heard a noise around the bend so we walked over to see some road work happening. Timo pretty much camped out here watching the jack hammer, dump truck and digger. He only looked away once at a helicopter flying over...

After that excitement, we stumbled on a flooded area of the park that was being pumped out. Who knew watching water come out of hose could keep them entertained? Not to mention all the puddles they wanted to splash in...

After a long walk, many mud puddles, lots of picking up sticks and unexpected excitement, we saw the most thrilling thing of all...The Mounted Police! They were so nice to stop and talk to the kids. Timo and Cameron were a little overwhelmed by the horses and didn't want to touch them but the police were so nice to offer...and even gave them silver star stickers! What a great way to end our rainy morning in the park!

We got home just in time, the rain started as I was putting the stroller away. Whew!