Children's Discovery Museum on a Rainy Day

 We visited the Children's Discover Museum on Saturday. Our last visit was mid-September last year and it was fun to see how much Ella has grown-up since then. She was discovering things very differently this time and several exihibits that she didn't understand at 2 1/2 she now understands completely.

 She loves this blower. It shoots air out of a pipe and you can balance a ball on it.

 The Water Works area is also a favorite.

 Learning about lathes with Daddy

 A trip to the Children's Discovery Museum is never complete for Ella without a rest in the ambulance. :-)

 Emma, taking a break from the Baby Bjorn to play with her toys in the stroller - I still think she looks a lot like Papa (my dad).

 This was one of the exhibits that Ella now understands. The objective is to make a disk role on it's edge on this spinning platform. She understood that this time and was able to get them rolling on their sides. She use to just slide the disks across the platform on their flat side.

 This is a new exhibit, Imagination Playground. It was a bit crowded and Ella was getting tired, so we didn't spend as much time there as we will on our next visit.

 Playing with pipes and balls with Daddy



Ella's First "Professional" Haircut

Ella had her first professional haircut (more of a trim) yesterday at Lollipop Kids. Up to know I've cut her hair, but it's not easy since it's really hard to get her to be still long enough to even everything out and I keep getting confused about where her bangs begin and end. Now that she's more confident with people she did great and really enjoyed their fun shop. She wasn't too sure about the hair blow dryer, but they were able to dry her hair quickly and I just held her hand for a support. :-) Wish I had had my camera at the shop, but here are some pictures I took when we got home.

 They let the girls pick a cute barrette and every child gets a lollipop (of course).

They have little cars mounted for the kids to sit in while they get their hair cut and a really nice playroom upstairs, which Ella spent about half an hour playing in after her cut. She left so happy I'm sure she'll be asking me soon when she can go get her hair cut again. :-)

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is Emma's first Valentine's Day. :-)

 Auntie Joy made the girls theses adorable shirts. Ella's says "Sweet" and Emma's has her name on it.

 Looking cute as always :-)

Having fun together

 Valentine's Day surprises for the girls

 Ella was thrilled to find the Sleeping Beauty soft doll.

 A Cinderella book!

 Emma discovers her treats!

 Chocolate!!!

 Not only is this book pretty, it tastes good too. ;-)

 So many chewable parts on this Lilo & Stitch Angel

A wood "sun" chewy by Haba

Tide Pools at Moss Beach

 We took the girls to the tide pools at Moss Beach just north of Half Moon Bay today. The weather was great and I checked to make sure we'd be there during low tide.

 Ella always gets excited about trips to the "ocean", but this was something new for her to be able to explore the little crevices and creatures that live in them. 

She wasn't too sure about touching at first, but then warmed up to the experience and was ready to check things out.

 Emma and I were there too, of course. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to safely walk out on the rocks with Emma, but they weren't very slippery at all with all the growth on them so I just took it slow and was very careful.

 One of Ella's favorite pass times, throwing rocks into the water. :-)

Couldn't talk her out of the paci today. I think she was still tired since I had to wake her to make the low tide.

 Daddy and Ella found some interesting things, like a shark tooth and a crab arm complete with pincher. :-)

 Harbor Seals soaking up the sun

 The cones and signs are set up to tell you to keep your distance from the seals. It's a protected area for them.



Snapshots Of A Day

Joy did this last month on her blog and it sounded like a fun idea. I thought mine would be pretty mundane with diaper changes, bottle washing, and picking up toys, but I'm surprised to see how it turned out. The idea is to take a photo of whatever you're doing or wherever you are on the hour for ten hours on the 10th of the month. I was actually able to remember each hour and to take the photos within a minute or two of each hour.

8:00 AM - Playing with Emma on her new Ikea play mat while Ella sleeps

9:00 AM - Making a pony tail for Ella

10:00 AM - Arriving at Ella's "make-up" dance class (she missed a class last week because we were all sick)

11:00 AM - Eating lunch at Togos

12:00 PM - Picking up a Latte and some Madelines at a Starbucks drive-thru

1:00 PM - Grocery shopping at Safeway while Emma naps in the carrier on the cart

2:00 PM - Watching and talking to baby Emma while she "tastes" her toes :-)

3:00 PM - Hand washing Ella's dance leotards and tights

4:00 PM - Helping Ella put her doll down for a nap just like baby Emma :-)

5:00 PM - Cooking dinner and no, I'm not this good of a cook. It's P.F. Chang's new frozen entrees. :-)

Looking through these photos made me realize how sometimes it's easier to remember the stressful or difficult parts of the day and not realize how many great moments there really are. I'm reminded of how fortunate I am to be a "stay at home" mom who is able to focus on her children so much of the day and how wonderful our days really are. Looking forward to doing this next month too. :-)