Hurkey Creek - Spring 2009

We woke up early Saturday morning and were on the road just a little after 7, headed for Hurkey Creek for Chris' bike race. He was competing in an 8hr relay race with his brother. The course is about 10 miles long and they take turn doing laps. Chris ended up riding 5 laps in the end, so almost 50 miles. They also had a kids fun race that Athena was really looking forward to (I pushed Rowan along on his trike). The race is put on by the "24 hours of Adrenaline" people, and Chris has done the 24 hour category before, but this time opted for the 8 hour category.
The kids got to spend a day out in nature. They loved playing in the creek! It was a pretty cold day, but warmed up between 1-3 pm enough to not need a jacket (and play in the creek). We also visited a nearby animal sanctuary which was cool. It rescues dogs and cats who are about to be euthanized in animal shelters. The kids' favorite part was going into the "cattery" where there were about 30 cats in a room and we just got to sit around and play with them all. Back at camp, we gathered pine cones, played in the dirt, watched the race, ate junk food vegan style. Our favorite snacks were chips with guacamole, pretzels and hummus, rice crispy bars from Trader Joes, and pistachios (Rowan calls them pi-cashews). We were originally planning to camp and set the tent up and everything, but in the end decided it was so cold that we wouldn't get much sleep, so we headed home at about 9 pm after the race. It ended up being 27 degrees that night so I am so glad we left! Since Athena was disappointed she wouldn't get to sleep at camp, I told her she could have her breakfast for dinner and that made her quite happy. She feasted on Panda puffs with soy milk for dinner! The kids fell asleep in a matter of seconds once we hit the road. Luckily Chris was still pumped up from his race because I couldn't keep myself awake on the drive home. You can click on the photo above to see more photos from our long day.

I will not

I won't be publishing any comments from loan application people. just so you know willy j. smitty or whoever you were. Thanks for commenting on my lizard, but um, no. Can someone please explain to me this phenomenon?

Backyard Fun

It was really hot today, like 90 degrees hot and the kids were pretty worn out from a BUSY Saturday so we took it easy this afternoon. We set up some fun water play in the yard and the kids had a blast. I was tidying up the toys and was quite surprised to find this little guy hiding under one of the toy bins. I am fairly certain I jumped about 20 feet before I realized it was just a lizard! The kids got a good look at it and I snapped a few photos.
I didn't feel much like cooking with the heat and all, but whipped up some pasta and veggies and everyone (except Rowan) seemed pretty happy. He didn't like that there were flecks of green on his pasta (broccoli). When did he get so picky!? So, it was a pretty lazy Sunday around here, and I feel pretty good about that.


"We won't need a bath tonight!" (Athena)

So as not to play favorites

Here is a post about my lovely Athena. She really is lovely. She is such a sweet girl, really has a good heart. She is learning about friendship and the power of words these days. I am proud of her recent accomplishments as she is actually making real friends now. Gone are the days of her clinging to my leg, hiding behind me whenever anyone asked her a question. She still ignores most adults who ask her questions, but occasionally will surprise me by giving them full answers.
Athena is still a true artist. She loves to draw and create and is so imaginative. She has a journal to keep her favorite pictures/stories, and an art box to file away old art pieces that she isn't willing to recycle. We still end up with a lot of Athena art clutter, but this is the best way I've found to keep it at a minimum.
Athena is working to over come some of her fears. Right now we are focusing on swimming. She started swim lessons this week and I will continue to do this for as long as it takes to get her swimming!:)
She really wants to take a ballet class. I've finally found one that looks like it will fit our needs, a ballet/creative movement class starting in June.
Athena is super independent at home. She gets herself entirely ready each morning and cleans her room every day. She sometimes washes the dishes now which is cool and she enjoys it. The only "chore" I require her to do is putting away her laundry when I get it folded. She usually loves doing this so it isn't a big deal, but I like giving her more responsibility around the house.
She still loves reading. She has a couple of little books that she likes to read to us. She mostly has them memorized but she can sound out words that she doesn't know now if they are easy words. Sometimes she'll pretend she doesn't know a word just so she can sound it out. It makes me laugh.

I Play Trucks #2

I posted one video of this on facebook but since I couldn't decide between these videos I am posting a different one here. Rowan loves to play guitar these days. He wants to bring it to the park because on Monday he saw a man playing guitar in the park. I thought that was pretty cute but haven't let him bring it to the park just yet.
Rowan is talking all the time now. He has a giant vocabulary and learns new words everyday. He used to call motorcycles "momos" but now is calling them "motor cycle cycle". He does this adding extra syllable thing a lot. Helicopter will become "helicopder der der". It is hilarious. He is very observant. On Monday he was trying to kick people a lot and when I asked him about why he was doing it he said, "Rowan big boy". I think he has been watching how some of the bigger kids play and picking up some of their moves. He can be aggressive at times, but recovers quickly and usually shows affection and shares apologies with his victims. He is learning. I kind of figure he is exactly how I remember little boys from my childhood. They may kick you or throw sand at you but what they are really saying is, "Hey, do you want to play?" He is mostly just a sweetheart though and a total clown. He is easy to get into fits of laughter. He really likes to sing the beehive song. (Here is the beehive, where are bees? Hiding inside where nobody sees. Take a look inside the hive. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!)
Today he had his 2 year old check up and he is quite healthy. He weighs 31.2 pounds and is 37.5 inches (although the way they measure their height isn't the most accurate so it could be off by and inch or so). He has a 20 inch head (BIG) and huge feet as well (8.5/9). His favorite toys are cars and trucks. He loves to ride scooters. He loves superheroes (even though he doesn't watch the cartoons). His favorite foods are sweet potatoes, tortilla chips, and almost any fruit.

Birthday Boy

Chris celebrated his birthday today and we had a family dinner at Sipz. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and the kids were super happy to give Daddy his presents (we got him a fuel belt for his upcoming 1/2 marathon and some probars) and eat cake! I have celebrated 11 fun filled birthdays with Chris now (yes, that means we've been together 11 years now!). Below is a group shot of our party tonight.
Athena with her cousin having some Grandma time.
Rowan helping Daddy blow out the candles.
The kids getting crazy after dinner, a ritual since the girls were very small. They run up and down the sidewalk of this strip mall, today with balloons. You don't know how hard it was to get a picture of all of them. The boys just kept running off!
These pictures were from earlier in the day at our Ant Sized Adventure class. Today we learned about ground squirrels and rabbits. The kids really enjoy this class but today Athena had a major meltdown and Rowan was being so ornery! The rest of the day went much better thankfully.

Fun stuff with Rowan

Rowan all set for the beach with Daddy on Sunday. He couldn't wait to wear the "Pidey" suit that his friend Hudson handed down to him.
Who is that under the mask?
It is Rowan! He wore this costume the entire day yesterday at his cousin's birthday party. Even wore it home and wore it some more today!
And now for the grand finale...What are they doing to that kid's hair?
I got a buzz cut like Daddy!
Now I got all the itchy stuff off. What do you think? I think I look just like my Dad now.

Storytime with Daddy/Uncle Chris

I couldn't believe the kids all wanted to sit and hear a story at the same time. They are too cute for words.

Crazy boys

My husband and my son both have the strange ability to suck in their stomachs abnormally far and then pooch them out equally as abnormally. Rowan thinks this is a really fun game.

Rowan still has a ways to go to catch up to his Dad's skills, but he is working on it.

White Broccoli

My kids have never been fans of cauliflower, and honestly, I have probably only offered it to them about 3 times in the past 2 years, but tonight Chris made dinner and we gave it another go, with surprising success. He used the VCON Red lentil cauliflower curry recipe, substituting potato for parsnip since I was pretty sure that the potatoes would lure the kids into the meal. They both gobbled up the potatoes first and then by accident, Rowan started eating the cauliflower. He really had no clue what he was eating. Athena was hesitant at first, but with a little encouragement, she tried it and liked it. Plus she was eating the lentils (which she claims to hate) since they had turned into mush more or less. It was a very successful dinner night and Chris and I were so excited. The kids kept asking for "more white broccoli". Athena made sure we knew that it wasn't REALLY called that, and even when we were all clear that we were actually eating cauliflower, we couldn't help but continue to call it white broccoli. Here are the kids with their looks of approval.

Rowan actually ate all of his curry, and just a little bit of his rice. While Athena decided to stir hers all up in the end.