Dennis

This is my cousin Dennis. He really looks like this...all the time! He is hilarious. He walks with Mayor Daley in the downtown Chicago parade (which I have never attended because, hello, the South Side Irish Parade is where it's at!) and leads the SSI parade as well. Dennis, you are a delight and I especially appreciate you for the explanation you provided for my 3 year old this year. 

St. Pat's '09

St. Patrick's Day was kind of a big deal this year. Lily talked about it a lot beforehand. I worked at her school the week before and we painted a giant shamrock. I started talking to the kids about leprechauns and it opened the floodgates. The kids started to ask me questions and it went like this: 

Kids: Who is the leprechaun? Where does he live? What does he bring me? Does he have a cat? Does he come down the chimney? 

Me: Ummmmmmm, yes, he lives in a tree. Wait, no. He lives behind the rainbow. 

Lily: With the unicorn?

Me: Yes, Lil. With the unicorn. 

Kids: And a cat?

Me: Yes. 

Lily: Is it Papa Mustache? 

Me: No Lily, but they're related. Wait, what do you guys think he does?

Kids: He flies on a unicorn through the sky. He flies on a cat. He comes down my chimney and goes on the potty and turns it green. 

So, yeah. It was a big deal. On the 17th, the leprechaun visited Lily's school. He left gold coins in the yard and played tricks on the kids. He messed up Lily's classroom and the kids thought it was hilarious. Lily was extra excited to call Papa Mustache to wish him a Happy Birthday. She had leprechaun questions. Luckily Papa M. IS related to a leprechaun (Dennis) and emailed photos for her to see. (I'll post one next) 

Silliest baby ever. Totally a tricky little leprechaun.

 

You knew this was coming! She was so excited that the leprechaun had visited our house!

Sea Lions

Note to self: Bring a red ball next time. The sea lions think that they can get it. If you roll it back and forth near the glass, they chase it. So cool!!

Aquarium

Took the kids to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach last week. We had the nicest time. The kids were so good. Ben actually stayed in his stroller for most of the trip. I loved exploring with them with no time restrictions. No schedule. Just fun. 

The divers interact with the kids. Lily was really interested and wanted to take a picture....with mommy there. 

This is outside where they have the most beautiful fountain. (except that one in Yokuska, Japan. That is THE most beautiful fountain)

That aquarium is so cool. The kids get to touch a ton of fish, rays, sea stars, and even sharks. There are indoor and outdoor exhibits. I'll post more photos of the sea lions.....

Evil Knevil

So Matt's gone and we've become a family widowed to the eco-cars. We know it's only for a few more weeks, so we're cool with it. Took the kids for a bike ride last night. (I walked, they rode) Lily rode that big girl bike all the way around the block, over bumps, down hills, she rocks! We played in the back yard when we got back. Ben dragged his little push bike into the house (his room) and worked so hard doing it. I remember asking Lil, what is he doing? She just ignored it and kept on playing red light green light. A few minutes later, wouldn't you know it, Ben comes flying out of the house ON HIS BIKE!! Who rides out of the house?!? Down two chunky steps?? My son, that's who. He totally bit it and flipped over the bike and scraped his hands. He was over it in a few seconds and off to the next adventure. Good thing he wears a helmet...all the time. 

Weekend without Mama

Cate went home to Chicago for the weekend and I was with the kids. It was long, but it was really great to spend time alone with them. I thought it was a good idea to take them on a little nature walk on Saturday morning up in Topanga Canyon - one of my favorite places here in LA. Bad idea. Lily was excited, but was a beast when we were there. She did love seeing some big horses up close though. Ben loved it. He laughed hysterically at two squirrels chasing each other and kept making crow sounds as loud as he could after hearing some crows.



The rest of the weekend was great. We just hung out in the backyard and played a ton. Lily LOVES riding her big girl bike "from santa" (i.e., Becky down the street who found it in the garbage). Ben just thinks Lily is the coolest and wants to do every thing she does. She's a pretty good big sister (most of the time). They both got so dirty and we had a lot of fun. But, we're all looking forward to getting Mama back though.

Up Early

Ben woke up pretty early, no sure why. Thought I'd post some pictures while we're sitting here. Heading to the aquarium with the kids today. I am SOOOO enjoying not having classes this week. Spring break could go on for.......a lot longer!!

The kids always want Gracie in the playhouse with them. It's so cute. They make her food.

Washer/Dryer

So we get home from the whale watching "adventure" and our dryer craps out. Papa Mustache watched the kids while we went to get a new one. I had to brace myself against them as I was still spinning from the boat ride. The person who owns this house bought it for his daughter to live in and rent the other rooms to her friends. The daughter got kicked out of LMU and then the house sat vacant for two years. The previous owner to that was a custom cabinet maker for yachts in the Marina. I now feel that the word "custom" equates "ghetto." Everything is built in and if you replace it, it has to fit perfectly or it's a massive project. The washer dryer was the latter. The man somehow made the exhaust for the dryer escape through the floor, rather than the wall. All dryers have a space for the exhaust hose in the back, not the bottom. PLUS, the front load washer door only opens from the right, meaning we would have to stack them or have "Go Go Gadget" arms to get clothes in or out of it. Matt and my Dad built a pedestal to fit under the unit in order to snake the exhaust hose down underneath. Everything seems perfect until the w/d starts walking around the kitchen! It was like the movie "Requiem For a Dream" when the fridge comes after the diet lady. We decided to take it off the pedestal, which was a nice demonstration in leverage. It's working out great and we love that they use so much less water and energy. Thanks to the CA DWP for the $300 rebate for being earth friendly too! SWEET!!

The kids "helping." Notice the pedestal. Poor Dad and Matt worked so hard on it! :( Did I mention I could barely reach the buttons on the dryer when it was up there?!





Lily helped Papa Mustache build a shelf to go in the space where the washer used to be. It houses our laundry baskets, re-usable grocery bags and my purse!! It's making a huge difference in the clutter in our kitchen. Thanks Dad!!



That's what I call a full load!!

food art

Lily wrote her name with her food. I thought it was pretty cool! She's getting so good at writing letters. She asks me to write people's names all the time and then she copies them down. The letters are HUGE and the names often have to be written in rows. :)








Ben is highly amused by his sister!

Bad Batman

I have a lot of stuff to put up here, but I wanted t write about last night before I forget. We were playing in Lily's room (before I fell asleep on her bed at 7pm) and Lily wanted to put on the cape from her Superman costume. We said that she makes a great superhero. She then informed us that she's not a superhero, she's Bad Batman! She makes her stinkiest face and tells us that she lines people up and sprays them with the hose.

Whale Watching

Who thought this was a good idea?!? Oh yeah, I did.
We went whale watching on a field trip with Lily's school. Papa Mustache was in town, so we thought it would be a really fun thing for all of us to do. WRONG! We left out of Redondo Beach on a foggy, but otherwise nice day. The kids and I took dramamine. I have terrible motion sickness and I didn't want the kids to be miserable for 3 hours either. We got to see some beautiful animals swimming around. We saw pods of dolphins and a sea lion chasing after them. There were a bunch of sea lions laying on the buoys and more in the water, sticking their fins out to regulate their body temperature. About an hour into the trip, things went south. Ben wanted to get out of his stroller. He ran around and kept falling over and cutting his hands on the non-skid deck. Lily started to snap and I started to get sick. Woohoo, big fun. Both kids fell asleep and I laid on the back of the boat ready to barf. Of course, of the middle school group that was there, 2/3 of them came to throw up right next to me, so that helped. We did see a whale and it was really cool. I got to see the whole tail in the air thing, but after that, he just came up and went under, only showing his back a little bit. At that point, I was sending the whale messages, please just go away so that the boat will get moving again. That sitting and rocking part is the worst. Note to anyone who does not get motion sickness: If you see someone who is green and feeling terrible, don't ask them if they're feeling ok. Isn't it obvious?! Also, do not give us suggestions of how to feel better. How would you know?! Looking at the horizon does NOT help!! What would help is if you get the #%@^$ out of my face and get me off this boat! I don't know why I always forget how bad it is and then assume that dramamine will work. I'm not too bright. I felt hungover until the following night. I waited until I got off the boat to throw up. Matt felt this was best in order to avoid a Stand By Me domino effect. (Lard-ass, Lard-ass). I'm a loud puker. I'm just glad that the kids slept, rather than getting sick. On the way home, Lily was all groggy and said, "I was dreaming about dolphins." I hope she knows that she really did see them!






Little sea lion......

Fashion Forward??

Lily is so in charge of her wardrobe. She insists on dressing herself. She often lays out her outfits on her floor, complete with shoes and accessories. I think her goal in life is to put on as many patterns at once as she can. She layers, doubles up on shorts, shirts, pants, whatever. She always thinks she looks great. I envy her confidence. :)

This photo was taken in Panera. I looked at her and realized, she's wearing pajamas! She was rockin those jammies though!