18 Months

Today our baby girl is a year and a half!!!  How is that possible?  When I think of the timing when Caden was her age, I would be 8 months pregnant...that was crazy!  We love our little "dare devil" so much!  This is one tough and fearless little girl. 

Pulling everything out of the toy bins

And being a little dare devil - jumping off of Caden's little chair!

Dora Undies

Today I made 12 pairs of Dora big boy undies for Caden.  He loves Dora and of course there are no Dora undies that are made for boys.  I asked him what kind of undies he would like when he doesn't wear diapers anymore and he said, "Dora and Boots!"  So...I ordered plain white undies from Amazon and Dora iron-on transfers.  Caden helped me decide what would be on the front and back of each pair.  We had fun!  Tomorrow we are going with only big boy undies.  Wish us luck! 

Children's Creativity Museum Carousel

We went to a new (to us) museum on Saturday.  The Children's Creativity Museum was very fun!  Caden and Emma made a music video on their sound stage, we made a movie with claymation, and rode on the carousel.  A great museum, but geared more towards the K-8 crowd - we'll be back, but not in a few years!  However, the carousel was great and had the best prices in the city - so we'll visit again!  There's also a park I'd like to check out that is right there in Yerba Buena Gardens. 

Caden, Grandpa, and Emma

...take 2

Bikes and Kites

We had a beautiful afternoon in San Francisco!  We got out the bikes and our kite - as it was a bit windy.  Out neighbor Bruce said in the 15+ years he's lived on Liggett, no one has flown a kite as high or as successfully as I had.  He said we should make a plaque for the neighborhood that lists successful kite flying days in our neighborhood :)  I love our neighbors!

Emma on the Harley trike with her favorite "kitty"

Caden trying out his balance buke with Dada's help

Dada taking the reins of the kite

Emma girl watching the kite

Caden boy watching the kite - "way up high!"

Grandpa also watching the kite!

There it is - so high you can hardly see it!

Zoo with Grandpa

We had a great, but chilly day at the SF zoo!  I love that place and so do the kids!  Grandpa thought it was pretty cool too :)  Here are some pictures of our visit

Emma enjoying the giraffes

Caden chased down this peacock

...then it got too close and he is saying,"stop peacock!"

Saw some new monkeys I'd never seen before

...they were active and cute!

Caden is a peacock!
 
And finally, our favorite part, a ride on the little zoo train!

Hanging Out

Here we are just hanging out!  My Dad came down to see the kiddos...this is after they are up from naps.

Airplane Caden and also 3 years, 2 months old!

Emma girl hanging in the laundry basket!

So cute!

Caden and Grandpa - probably watching Dora!

"Good Spot"

A fun afternoon walk...and Caden stops by this log and says, "this is a good spot, Mama"  I asked, "for what?" and he said,"for fun...for a rest...for a snack!"  Too funny!  Emma seemed to think it was a good spot too!

Finding the "good spot"

 

 Trying to get up

 

Almost...

 

The perfect spot for fun, a rest, or a snack!

Raspberries EVERYWHERE!!!

This morning while I was taking a quick shower, I left the kiddos downstairs eating breakfast. This is what I came downstairs to - a huge raspberry mess! Oh Emma girl!!! Needless to say, Caden was a bit late for preschool this morning.

Oh...Emma girl!!!

 

Yucky!!!

 

Please help me get this stuff off!

Spider

Caden's first drawing on the chalkboard at home that actually resembled what he said it was - a Spider!

Vineman 1/2 Ironman

We had such a great weekend up in Guerneville, CA.  We stayed at a great lodge/campsite (we didn't camp!)  It had a wonderful outdoor space to play, a dock in the river - so we could see the triathletes swimming in the race on Sunday - and was a 3 minute walk to downtown.  What a nice little escape!  Chris had a great race, but it was super hot, so he ended up in the medical tent just for a short while so that they could help cool him down.  

Dada, Emma and Caden pre-race at 5:45am

Waiting for Dada to come our of the swim!

Coming in for the Finish!

Running towards the finish line

Hanging out waiting for Dada at the finish line

Emma girl waiting for Dada

Just getting off the bike in the transition area

 

 Everybody had a nap when we got there!

Emma girl on the dock watching Dada and Caden in a Canoe

Flowers

These were some flowers that Caden picked out for me while he was grocery shopping with Dada today. 

My boys are so good to me!

Peek-a-boo

Just thought this was cute of our Emma girl playing peek-a-boo!  This is one of her favorite games to play.

Golden gate park carousel

The day we got back from Jackson Hole, we headed to Golden Gate Park with our friends, the Kings.  We tried to play at the park, but there were so many kids we didn't want to lose ours, and we couldn't talk with Jennifer or Dave! 

Emma loved it!

Caden, Dada, Emma, Dave and Ainsley

Caden loved it!

Ainsley wasn't so sure (at first)!

Jackson Hole

We were able to spend a week in Jackson hole with Chris's dad for his 70th birthday!  We had a great time hanging out with his family - his two older sisters and their husbands and our two nieces.  We stayed in a condo in Teton Village!  We loved going to the little park, the swimming pool, and Caden and Maren even got to go to "kids Camp" for a day.  Great memories!

I thought this was funny - Jackson Hole is very Western!

Maren and Caden eating dinner

Fourth of July Dinner and Uncle Endre's Birthday

The view off our deck in Teton Village

Taking the candles out of Uncle Endre's brownies for his birthday

Watching the "fireworks" from the deck
 

Funny story...I thought we were getting fireworks and was so excited since the big ones had been cancelled.  To our surprise...the fireworks turned out to be poppers.  The kids still liked them, but we were unimpressed! 

Emma and Dada - so sweet!

Family picture

The whole group!

Caden, Chris,Emma, Jamie, Mark, Jennifer, Andy, Maren, Clay, Endre and Liv

Two hot air balloons in the morning

My little "nature girl

Looking at the stream while Caden and Dada rode the alpine slides

Playing mini-golf

Caden "addressing" the ball

"hole in one!" just kidding :)

Caden and Dada on the alpine slides

Emma loving up Dada

 

On our way home - airplane loves!