Saturday, April 13, 2013

Zoo time

 

While Clark has been finishing up the semester the kids and I have been trying to find ways to occupy ourselves without being too much of a distraction for him. One gorgeous Saturday we packed up and went to the San Francisco zoo. We lucked out with beautiful warm weather (not always the case by the coast) and we had a great time. Miles loved being outside and being pushed around all day and Lily really enjoys seeing all of the animals. I have really learned that in cases like these it is best to let Lily lead the way and to go at her speed. We met up with some friends and I tried to keep pace with them but in the process both Lil and I became frustrated. Once we parted and I stopped trying to drag Lil around before she was ready we again had a much better time. The two places she chose to spend the most time were at the gorilla enclosure and the giant replica of a meerkat  home. There were only two holes but she spent about 20 minutes running around in circles and roaring like a lion (possibly scaring a few kids in the process). I love that we have so many awesome things to do so close by and I love getting to spend time with the kiddos.

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Date Night

For Clark’s 32nd birthday I got him (us) tickets to see our favorite comedian, Brian Regan. We left the kiddos with my parents and had a great evening out. We ate a fancy dinner before hand and had a great time at the show. I had only heard one of the joke sets before so it was all new material for us (yay!). We had great seats in the 5th row and I laughed so hard I actually cried. Multiple times. Both of us have been a little too stressed out lately with school and the kids and our apartment job but we got some much needed relief at the show. Being able to laugh uncontrollably really is good for the soul. We’ll keep our eyes open for the next time he goes on tour so we can do this again!

Here are some fuzzy phone pictures Smile

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Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Frisbee Golf


Last week while Clark’s family was here his brother Hyrum was determined to find a disc golf course. We chose to go to the one in Santa Cruz which apparently is one of the higher rated courses in the country. When we first arrived I kind of wished I had stayed home with the little ones but I strapped Miles into the pack and off we went! It was a gorgeous day on a beautiful hillside and a nice opportunity to be outside- even with all 17+ lbs of Miles strapped onto me. The boys and Lily had a great time playing even if they soon realized it wouldn’t be a super serious game and keeping track of points would do more harm than good.
As usual, we were once again taught the lesson that when you try very hard not to do something, that is precisely what happens. On every single hole, many a frisbee hit the trees. The tiniest branches stopped their discs in mid air. If they had aimed for the branches with all their might they would have avoided them beautifully! All in all it was lots of fun and a great way to spend time with family. Lily especially loved it and can’t stop talking about it.
Here are a few pictures of Lily being adorable and playing with the frisbee…
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Me and the (not so) little man…

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On our way home we stopped at the beach so the in-laws could get a few minutes of exposure to the Pacific. We even had a dolphin sighting!

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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Beauty Lessons

  As much as I try not to make hair and make up a big deal, Lil is becoming more and more interested. Having been an insecure teenage girl (still working on the insecure part) I want to do whatever I can to help Lil feel comfortable in her own skin. I try not to make too many comments about my appearance nor to tell her she’s cute because of the things she’s wearing. I even managed to get through a whole season of Biggest Loser without using the word ‘fat’ but instead talked a lot about how we need to be active and eat good things to be healthy and strong.

Though she’s usually happy with a little chap stick and a once over with a blush brush containing no makeup whatsoever, sometimes she just needs to do more! This morning as we were about to head over to the park I put her hair up but she really wanted to do it herself. I told her I would teach her when we had more time but she was tenacious and had to do it right then! She grabbed the brush and told me to sit on the floor while she sat on the side of the tub. We first learned how to brush softly and then had some practice with bobby pins. Putting in a pony tail was a little bit trickier but she was happy just watching me do it over and over.

In the picture below I have about 27 hidden bobby pins in my hair. I had 3 little rubber bands too but since Lil was manning the camera they didn’t make it into the shot…

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A few weeks ago I found her playing with my eye shadow but decided to let her have a little practice on me instead of getting upset with her. I kept the picture small so you wouldn’t be horrified Winking smile.

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As I’m sitting here writing this Lily woke up from her nap and her little fingers are hovering over the keyboard. She really wants a chance to type so I’ll allow a guest author for this post. From the skilled fingers of Lillian…..

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