The last month or so

We traded in our Rav 4 for a minivan

We took Bob the Builder and a ladybug trick or treating

We rode the hippo statue at the zoo.

 It snowed and we tried to catch snowflakes on our tongues.

 We went to Delaware to visit Pop Pop and Nana.

just some photos

Words and lots more photos later

Redwoods

No trip to CA would be complete without walking around in a Redwood Grove.  We went to Muir Woods and Harry Colwell woods.  It really is breath taking to stand around with 2000 year old trees.  It makes me really glad that there have always been environmentalist willing to fight to preserve beautiful places for all of us.

 A lot of the trees are inaccessible, but this one was open to the trail.  The kids loved playing in it.

 Mark is being a backhoe.  Notice the scooper in the front and the back digger just digging away.  He is very into construction and really enjoying being a construction worker- or in this case construction vehicle.

The first day we were at Harry Cowell State Park we went to the gift shop.  Mark was busily taking all the plastic insects out of a jar, lining them up, and counting them.  I was wondering around with Lilly and the woman behind the counter was trying to engage Mark in conversation.  I overhear her asking if he would like to see their very cool train set, and then Mark says "yes, but I have to put all these away first".  And then HE DID.  The woman was amazed and told me about it twice- how wonderful and well behaved my son was.  I wanted to say that not all days are like that, but I decided to go ahead and just bask in a few minutes of happy motherhood instead.

San Jose Children's museum

The second day we were in CA we bought a pass to the San Jose Children's Museum.  We spent 5 days a week there in the afternoons.  The museum is large and has a ton of rooms.  We had a lot of fun there. Our two favorite rooms were the Bob the Builder traveling exhibit room and the water room.  For as many days as we spent there I should have more good pictures, but here are some of my best.

Mark could not have been happier about playing Bob the Builder.

The kids got soaking wet every time we went into the water room.  After the first day I bought an extra set of clothes with us.  The room had a lot of fountains (that Lilly was sure were for drinking) and a lot of ways to move plastic balls around.

 One day, while Lilly was napping in the stroller, Mark spent close to an hour playing with this magnetic board and the movable troughs.  Water comes out of the two round nozzles at the top.  He made many different configurations for getting the water to the bottom.  It was really fun to stand back and watch what he was doing.

 This is an actual old stagecoach.  The first time we walked by it Mark went right in and started playing house.  Lilly liked climbing up and down the stairs.

There was a hole room filled with these large blue building blocks.  Mark built lots of things with them, including helping another family build this fort.  Lilly loved knocking down whatever I would stand up for her.

The museum has an old fire engine for playing in.  The kids didn't spend too much time playing in it, but because they were contained in it I could get some photos of them.  

 Look at this cute boy!  Those blonde curls are so adorable I can hardly stand it.

Mountain View Park

 We went to Cuestra Park in Mountain View to meet my friend and her kids.  It was the nicest park I have ever been to.  The kids and I went back there every few days for our whole stay in CA.

The kids are getting fast, it is hard to get photos of them looking at me- but there are lots of opportunities for photos of them running away :)

 Lilly loved this turtle, she climbed in it, she climbed on it, she rocked it, and stood up on the seat.

 Lilly is a pretty snugly kid and has taken to attack snuggles from behind.

California here we come

 The first few hours in the hotel the kids were so happy to play with the mirrored closet.

 My sunglasses are also always a huge hit.

 Tim managed to get a day (mostly) off and we went down to Santa Cruz.

 You can't go to the ocean and not play chase with the waves.

 Or eating some sand.

Busy Busy

Well, just after my last post Tim got sent to Sunnyvale for an emergency work trip and pretty much didn't come home until last weekend.  After a few weeks the kids and I packed up and went out there to be with him for three weeks.  I didn't bring my computer along so now I am way behind on the blog.  I will try to get some up in the next few days.

Here a few from Pop Pop, Nana, Aunt Beth and Uncle Jim's visit for Lilly's birthday

 Lilly was pretty happy about the cake :)

 This one is their yearly Dr. visit.  Two healthy kids :)

Happy Birthday Lilly

Lilly is one year old today. It is hard to believe that it has been a year already- it has gone by so fast.  The first year of change is so remarkable to think that a year ago she was just 8.5 pounds and totally dependent on us for everything.  And now she is walking (exclusively) and talking (a little) and able to communicate many of her needs and wants.  Someone told me that your first child never seems to grow up and your last child grows up way too fast.   Pictures to follow.