Children's Museum

We got passes to the museum for Christmas this year and Athena has been dying to go again so today it was. It was a little crowded due to the vacationers, but we still had a lot of fun. It is really exhausting with 2 kids at very different stages but I still think they both had fun. Rowan just goes crazy due to all of the stimulation but by the end he spent 30 minutes painting the car and he wasn't done when I told him it was time to go. It was neat to see him so engrossed in an activity since a lot of the day he just flits around. Here are my favorite pictures from the day.
Paint face Rowan.
Athena in the pillow room.
Athena loved how she fit just perfectly on this cushion.

Big Balloon Parade

I bundled up the kids (should have checked the weather) and headed out the door early this morning to catch the big balloon parade downtown today. We took the trolley which was a little more challenging then I thought it would be due to transfers and no ramps with the stroller but there were plenty of nice people to help me along the way so it really wasn't too bad. We had a good time. Rowan wanted to run off a lot which was exhausting but typical for an active 21 month old. Their favorite part which I'm kicking myself for not getting a photo of, was a miniature like golf cart sized trash truck that drove down the street. I have to admit, I thought it was pretty cool myself! The fire trucks were a close runner up. Rowan seemed to really get into the marching bands and kept saying "drums" and then patting his arms on his legs. Oh, almost forgot to mention that it warmed up to the 70's so we were removing layers until Athena wound up topless. Only in San Diego. We also ran into a fellow mama blogger and another mama friend too which is strange since there were 1000's of people there I'm sure.

Athena on Ice

I took Athena to Ice Town today for her first time. She did really well and I think with a little more practice she'll be skating on her own quite soon (probably just 1 or 2 more trips will do the trick). We had a lot of fun on our girls only adventure. Rowan was napping at home the entire time with Chris so everything worked out just perfectly. I decided to put both videos up because the second one cracks me up (and why do I always forget that when you are taking a video not to turn it vertically?)

Here's what it looked like at our house...

This one is out of order but I'm tired of messing with it so I'll just leave it alone. The kids are admiring the new barn.
The night before.
Sporting their new helmets and noisy toys (Rowan, lightning mcqueen car, athena cuddle and coo doll).
Rowan in his "fire truck boots". He can't walk in them but demands to wear them everyday.

Athena's afternoon out

I took Athena to the Old Globe Theatre to see a performance of "The Grinch" today. We also went last year and hope to make it a tradition for as long as we can. She loved the show, and wants to go again and again. I could hardly lift her for the photos. She is getting so big. Yesterday she drew an awesome picture of Chris surfing and even wrote the words by herself "Dad is sfe" (Dad is surfing). It was cool because when she sounded out "is", I heard her say "i", "z", but then she wrote an "s". I don't know if it is because she knows that word now, or if she just made a backwards "z", but I'm liking to think that she just knew the word. Alright, mommy bragging over.

When we got home from the Grinch, we picked up Rowan for dinner and came home to some Morrissey videos playing on the computer. Rowan was really enjoying the songs, and he really started to channel Morrissey, especially the hair.

More picture pages

Athena went to circus class this month and loved it. She is surprisingly flexible (her genes wouldn't lend to this), has good balance, just needs more strength to do some of the exercises.
This is how Rowan felt when cousin D didn't want to go in the bouncy house with him. :(
Athena taking a break in the bouncy house.
My "twins". I walked the boys around the mall for a tiny bit and got to pretend they were twins for about 5 minutes. It was fun. Aren't they the cutest?
Trying to get 4 kids to look at the camera after posing with Santa. Athena looks repulsed by something.
Try again. (and again, I have about 8 of these and they are never all looking)

Picture Pages

Man with tree.
Kids in car. Athena loves her little tree (a branch she found on the ground).
Dinner at the Veggie Grill was pretty tasty. I was all worn out (getting sick) so I didn't enjoy it as much as I probably would on a day that I wasn't wiped, but did get a good impression from it. The kids meal was a hit (chicken tenders, sweet potato fries, and chocolate pudding for dessert).
Carousel ride in the OC after our dinner.
Athena with "lipstick" (it was just tinted chapstick) ready for the big kid only tea party.

Our holiday card. I just put the last of these in the mail today so if you haven't received one in a few days, then I probably don't have your address. Plus Chris handled a bunch of them this year because I was sick and delegating jobs but now I'm not sure if he sent some to old addresses, etc. If you want one, just send me an email at athenasage AT gmail DOT com and I'll drop one in the mail to you and update my darn address book.

Blogging Break

After posting every day for 2 months straight, I've been on a bit of a blog break. I thought I'd start up again but then got really sick this past week and wound up with pneumonia. I'm recovering and slowly have some strength back. Tomorrow will be my first day leaving the house (urgent care exception) in 5 days. I'm planning on taking Athena to school, even though I'm a little nervous about driving. I feel like I could do it right now though so I should be fine in the morning as well. I'm going to stay home the rest of the day (my mother in law is picking Athena up from school:) and take it easy with Rowan, who started with a fever today. So, someday I'll catch up on this blog but for now, I'm still on a break.