Lily Vanilli

Further proof that Lily is the coolest chick I have ever met:

Camping fun

Lily riding down the hill

This was our third time around the block, so she had built up some confidence :)

Biking progress....sort of

Ben is kind of (really) lazy. He wants to be carried a lot or wants to ride in the wagon. I'm hoping he'll grow out of it. (Please!) He won't pedal the tricycle, he still makes me push it around, but he can pedal Lily's bike, no problem. Hmmmmm.

Oh yeah, when I washed the Flash off of his face in the bath, he got soooooo mad. He told on me (to Matt) and cried for 10 min. about it!

This was also the day that Lily went down the hill around the corner all by herself! She was so proud! (Video to come)

Wish Library

We've been helping out at Lily's new school. Matt spent a day moving furniture and I've been in the library with another mom, trying to set it up. We ordered software to keep track of the books and spent all day Saturday working on the space. We're pretty proud of the progress!

Starting with a blank slate

Parents helping with the mural and shade tent

It's looking like a real library!

Kidspace

Went to Kidspace and had a blast in the river. Surprisingly, Ben was kind of cautious and kept telling me, "be careful Mama!" (what a gentleman).

Lily was soaked! (and got changed all by herself in her own stall)

Um, is that Auntie Molly?!

Little old man

Seriously kid?!?

Connor's Visit

Matt's cousin Connor came to visit from Colorado. We did the usual touristy things, Hollywood, Venice Beach, surfing & hope he enjoyed it!

Big Bear Zoo

There's a small zoo full of rescued animals just below one of the ski resorts. It was a little creepy because the fences were not very thick, but fun to see the local animals from the other side.

A really BIG bear!

A super fat mountain lion

One: this deer kept sneezing

Two: We finally captured Ben walking around with his hands like Grandpa George.

Looking for trouble

Heading down the mountain

Yeah, it's still Big Bear

A fish, I tell ya!!

Happy campers :)

Pals

You guessed it.....moe Big Bear

The only bear we saw was named Ben. He was constantly rummaging around for snacks. Eh Boo boo!

Matt used to play a memory game like this with his Grandpas. It kept them both busy for a while!

Even MORE Big Bear!

This was at the nature center near our campground.

Ahhhhh! A bear!

Even more Big Bear

Doesn't everyone need goggles to eat lunch?

Matt got a disposable camera in a swag bag from a conference and saved it for Lily. We gave it to her during our trip and it was the best 24 photos of her life. She used them all in about 5 minutes. Some of them were really great photos, and some were hilarious. "Quick mommy, do a ninja kick, I'll take a picture."

More Big Bear

Lily was feeling thankful :)

We just took a walk to the lake, didn't expect to swim, hence Ben in a pull up. Of course, Lily was prepared and plunged into the frigid waters. She is a fish!

Big Bear '10

We went camping up in Big Bear for 3 nights and had a blast! It was Ben's first time camping and he loved it. Lily has been asking us to take her camping for about a year and we finally went. Our tent is about at big as our house and the kids spent a lot of time just playing and coloring in there. They never said, "I'm bored," which is pretty impressive! We will be camping WAY more often!

Fun with tent box:

Our view

Smores!