First day of dance class

Yesterday, Caityn started a new dance class with a couple of little friends at a rec center dance program. I was a little worried about how the class would go with her not liking the dance teacher at the previous studio, and with her having had a rough start to the new preschool year. But last week she started to adjust well to preschool...no more crying at drop-off! Yay!! And she was excited to dance with her friends in her new dance shoes. I'm pleased to say that it went well! There were no tears or nerves about me having to leave the room during class. She paid attention to the teacher and was a good little student. At the end of class, the parents were allowed back in to watch what they had learned. So cute!!

The Wheat Project

Saturday morning we decided to take a walk to our local park to play, and we were pleasantly surpirsed to see that the library was setting up a project for families to enjoy that involved wheat. The kids quickly abandoned the park in favor of helping the man in charge of the project set up. The let the kids play with the wheat, grinding up the berries to make wheat flour. It was actually really interesting to see the life cycle of wheat.

I hadn't brought my camera with us, so these first few photos were taken from my iPhone. Apparently, I wasn't paying much attention to the man telling the wheat story, because now I can't remember the correct terminology each step in the project.

Separating the wheat berries from their casing.

Grinding up the berries to make wheat flour

Taking turns with a neighborhood buddy. Such teamwork!

Here comes the flour!

They gave each kid a baggie to take home the flour that they had made.

When we got home from the park, Caityn and Abel decided to bake cookies using the little bit of wheat flour that Caityn and Sean had ground up. Caityn is REALLY into the posing lately!

Our little baggie of wheat flour plus some additional wheat berries to plant.

Ready to bake!

The flour that she took home only amounted to about 1/4 cup, so it was mixed in with regular flour.

The finished product! I couldn't get the picture fast enough. One cookie is alreay missing!!

Yum! This was a fun educational project!

Museum Weekend

This weekend we took advantage of free admission to two museums while the Children's Museum is undergoing renovations.

On Saturday, we headed up to La Jolla to visit the Birch Aquarium. We'd been there several times before, but free is always good! The aquarium itself it pretty small and the kids like to rush through, so we didn't actually spend much time viewing the fish. I think the favorite thing they enjoyed was a water current tank with little boats floating down the current.

Everybody loves a fountain!

The reason why we live in San Diego :)

Then, on Sunday, we got to Balboa Park early and were the first ones in the door to the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. I had taken Sean just this past Friday, and Caityn was excited to check it out too. After spending some time inside the museum, we took a little walk to a nearby garden where butterflies were everywhere! I wished I had put a flower clip in Caityn's hair so I could have tried to get a picture of one landing on her head. Last weekend, at my grandmother's house, a butterfly actually DID land on her head! But of course I was too slow with the camera to get the picture :(.

Abel and his mini-me

Caityn has her cute pose down!

Sean...not so much.

Silliness and a Sleepover

Caityn decided to help me with laundry tonight by putting on a silly show in my jeans. What a nut!



Then, after bathtime, we realized we had a pretty bad backup in the plumbing, so a plumber had to be called. Well...the plumber arrived at 7:30, just as I was getting the kids ready for bed. Ladders, flashlights, climbing on the roof...was just too much excitement for these kids. Then the snaking of the pipe (which was between their bedroom and the bathroom) was so loud it scared Caityn. Sean just thought the whole thing was hilarious. So, Caityn chose to sleep down in the bottom bunk with Sean. And yes! Sean is now out of the crib and sleeping in a bed!! And the pipe is fixed!

Friday Flashback

Today, while Caityn was in school, Sean and I took a trip to the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. We hadn't been back there since Caityn was pretty little, and Sean had never been. HE LOVED IT!!! And not just the toddler area...he loved the whole museum. He wanted to touch and try out everything. We will definitely be going back (with Caityn)!

Caityn - September 2007

Sean - September 2009

Sean had a blast in the Kid City area. He tried out all the exhibits.

Let's see if gravity can keep this kid from falling in the gravity well.

First Day of School!

Today was Caityn's first day of preschool. It seems that everyone else has already gone back to school, so we were ready for today! I wasn't sure how Caityn would react to being in a new classroom with new teachers. Luckily, the class is mostly kids from last year's class, and her teacher from last year even popped over to say hi to her and the other kids to make them feel welcome. Caityn did great! No crying from her...or me! Actually, the only one who cried was Sean. He was so disappointed that he wasn't going to be allowed to stay and play in the cool new playground. And when we got back in the car, he kept pointing to Caityn's empty carseat and sadly said, "Titi...Titi...Titi!" That's how he says Caity.

All ready to go!

Waiting for the classroom to open.

There was some construction work going on nearby, and the look on Sean's face when a bulldozer drove by was priceless!

I had a fever...

...but I'm all better now!!

Poor little Sean had a fever for much of this past week. It spiked up pretty high Monday night/Tuesday morning, and now looking back, we think he may have had a febrile seizure. But neither of our kids have ever had such a high fever before, so it wasn't even a thought at the time. Pretty scary night seeing my baby limp and unconscious in my arms for almost an hour, but he recovered by morning. His fever lasted several days, until yesterday when he broke out in a rash. I think it may have been roseola, but the incompetent doctor (I could go on about this doctor, but I'll refrain) we visited diagnosed him with hand foot mouth disease.

In any case, he's doing much better now. His fever is gone, and the rash is starting to fade, so we should be out and about again next week. Caityn starts school again on the 14th, so she'll no doubt be bringing home tons more germs for us all to share! Hope everyone else is staying healthy!