To Capitola!

Hank enjoying the ride
It was blazing hot in Santa Clara on Saturday.  To keep cool we decided to head out to Capitola and do a beach day right after lunch.  We checked the weather to make sure it was going to be nice out there and the app on our phones said it was going to be 75 degrees.   Sounded a lot better than the upper 80's at our house!  We loaded up all of our gear and headed out for our first beach day of 2013! 

Ruby

Charlotte

The girls flinging their lovies at each other.  They were gifted these lovies by their Grandmama a long time ago and a couple of months ago we started using them solely for the car.  They reach for them right away when we get in the car and hold them.  

They kept playing footsie.  I had the hardest time trying to snap a picture of it but they kept touching their feet together and laughing hysterically.  They had the whole car laughing at them.

Ruby & Charlotte
As we crossed over the mountains on the way out there, we watched the outside temperature gauge drop lower and lower.  By the time we arrived in Capitola, less than an hour after we left our house, the temperature was 57 degrees!!  Yikes.  We didn't bring enough clothes to properly bundle up so we just layered on the girls' swim coverups over their dresses.  Hank didn't mind, he had a long sleeved swim shirt on anyway.  Although it was chilly as we sat on the beach we warmed up.  It turned out to be not so bad but next time we'll remember that the weather out there is unpredictable and the fog might come in on our way out there.  We'll start packing sweatshirts.

We've been looking forward to getting to the beach and also a little anxious as to how we'd manage the three of them near the water.  Last summer the girls hung out on the blanket or in the stroller so it was easy to watch them.  This time was super easy too!  The girls didn't even really notice the water.  I think we picked the perfect spot on the beach that was just far enough away from the water so they didn't get excited about it.  They played in the sand and walked around near our stuff the whole time.

Ruby

Charlotte

Ruby

Ruby

Charlotte

Hank's rock collection

Ruby snacking on Hank's rock collection

Hank and Brett played in the water while the girls and I hung out on the beach.  Hank only lasted about a half hour out there since it was pretty windy and he started getting the chills.  We went to wash Hank off at the showers then headed to get ice cream for Hank, snacks for the girls, and coffees for the parents to warm up with!

Ruby and Brett - she started flailing back because he wasn't feeding her a snack fast enough.  We got slices of banana bread at the ice cream shop!

Charlotte and Mom.  Charlotte thought I was too slow with the snacks too.  I finally broke down and just gave her a huge chunk and let her eat it by herself.  Even if I did have to pay with crumbs all over my chest since I was holding her in the baby carrier.

We had so much fun.  I hope we can get out there often this summer.  We can't wait to get back to the beach!

-a

Making cookies. One chair. Three kids.

 

This is making cookies with three kids standing on one chair. Completely terrifying but the girls were relentless and wouldn't let Hank and I do it by ourselves. All of their little toes were perilously close to the edge or hanging off the edge the entire time but they all hung on, no one was injured and everyone stayed happy.

We made black bean chocolate chip cookies from a recipe I saw on Pinterest. They are good, and taste even better cold. The kids stood on the chair eating the beans that were to go in the recipe. They ate so many that I had to open another can of beans and the three of them devoured the whole can in just a few minutes!

In these pics Hank looks as if heis just barely tolerating the girls taking over!

-a

Decorating a Valentine's cookie

Ruby, Henry, and Charlotte

We had a great little Valentine's Day even though all three kiddos had the ickies.  We met up with my friend Rachel and her son at a park and had lunch.  We were supposed to go over to her house to decorate cookies but with all my kids being sick and her son feeling sick too, we decided to bring the play date outside and let the germs air out.  Rachel sent us home with some cookies for us to decorate.  So...after nap time, I set all three kids up at the table and they got to decorate cookies.  Actually, Hank did all of the decorating while the girls watched.  And he only did one cookie.  Decorating session was cancelled once he sprinkled the entire dining room.  I knew that would probably happen but it was still fun to watch him get so excited about the cookies.  The girls didn't really care.  They just wanted to snack on O's and get to shake the sprinkles jars.

This is his smile these days.  Crazy and cute.

 

 

 

So excited!

Instead of picking up the cookie, he decided the best way to tackle it was with his tongue.  Did you see how he flooded it with sprinkles?  I wasn't paying attention when he started sprinkling.

Ruby

Charlotte

 

 

 

 

 

He said "Mom I need to drink a lot of water after eating that cookie."

 

 

 

 

And this is when cookie decorating ended and swiping sprinklefest began.  Yes, he is wildly throwing sprinkles all over the dining room!

-a

Sept 2012 - This and that

I have been hoarding pictures since last August.  I think I finally have them all organized and now I'm able to blow up the blog with a lot of goodies.  So many random photos.  So unnecessary to post them so many months later but I'm so going to do it anyway!

Here are a bunch of random little things from September that were on my cell phone...

Hank often crawled inside our Moses basket which is now a toy box. One day he finally put it all together and realized this basket looked like the basket in the baby Moses story in his little Bible picture book. He wrapped himself up and declared "Mom, I'm baby Moses!"

We had our first meal out where Ruby and Charlotte sat in high chairs and ate with us at the table! Prior to this I think we just tossed them food in their stroller. Going out to eat with this trio is always an adventure!

Ruby

Henry - who looks like he has ten plates of food in front of him

Charlotte

Until recently, I hardly ever shopped with any of the kids in tow.  It just made me all types of crazy to tote them with me.  I finally broke down and took the girls with me by myself to Target one day when I had child care for Hank.  I needed to get some serious shopping done so I was desperate.  This was the first time I had to wear one/push one.  Charlotte enjoyed her first time sitting in the shopping cart!  It was a wee bit stressful because the little one kept trying to stand up in the seat so I had to keep one hand on her at all times.  Ruby, of course, enjoyed riding with me.  The girls love to be worn!

 

Hank saw his first lady bug in real life!  Big deal around here.

Last, but not least, my precious babies had pancakes for the first time.  And they loved them!  This mama was so proud.  Also a big deal around here.

 

-a

Biggest blueberries ever and back to blogging

This week we had blueberries a few times and on this particular day he was so excited.  The batch of berries we got were very large and he was pretty sure they were the biggest blueberries ever.  So sure that he wanted me to check out every single one before he put them into his mouth.  He ate them one at a time and inspected each one and was in awe of how big they were. 

 

He was feeling pretty happy and even posed for pictures.  I am loving the fake little smile he put on for show in these pictures.
-a
P.S.  And with this post I am back to blogging.  I'll be getting the older pics on here a little at a time and try to put newer ones up too.  Brett has informed me that four month old pictures are going to bore the family who really only care about what we're up to right now!