SF

I'm dividing our trip into 3 postings: San Francisco, Yosemite, and the wedding...and yes, it felt like we took three vacations in one! We were all totally exhausted by the time we got home but could not have asked for a better vacation!

A couple of days before we left Austin, Larkin came down with a nasty stomach bug. Of course just hours before our plane is supposed to leave for California, Willa wakes up at 3am and says that her tummy hurts. We decided to take the flight anyway and hope for the best. Once we get to the airport, her runs started-a-comin, and then I realize that I FORGOT TO PACK THE BABY WIPES!!!!!! AHH!!!!! And no, the Austin airport does not sell baby wipes--I checked everywhere! Luckily there were no "incidents" on the plane ride, but once we got to San Francisco she definitely wasn't herself...so we took it easy and did not see as many sights as we had planned.
We did make it down to the pier and saw some sea lions. Willa would not stop yelling, "ARR ARR ARR!" and was mesmerized by all of the (smelly) sea lions!

Despite numerous attempts at correcting her, Larkin insisted on calling this bird a "sea-eagle."

One of Larkin's highlights of the trip was the Bibles she would find in the drawer. The first time she found one she was incredibly excited and yelled, "Look! I found a recipe book!! Wow!!" and then she started "reading" it to us. At each hotel room she was shocked to find yet another recipe book!

From our hotel room we could see Alcatraz and Coit Tower, and we did a lot of walking around town with our baby backpacks.

The next morning after traveling we had a long list of sightseeing plans, but it was cold and rainy, so we decided to just head right to Yosemite.

snow!

It snowed here today! We were eating breakfast and then suddenly there was a ton of squealing, clapping, and little girls yelling, "I just can't believe it! It's so amazing! It's SNOWING!!!!" They ran outside barefoot and started grabbing snow off the table, chairs, deck, etc. and started eating it. Personally I was a little grossed out by this and I tried to persuade them to just catch falling snowflakes with their mouths, but they didn't go for that! Later that afternoon they even brought snow inside as part of their afternoon snack (obviously their idea, not mine!!).

I immediately dressed them in their snow bibs, waterproof mittens, and snow boots for a rare Texas snowfall! At least I'm getting some use out of these clothes before our trip to California.


I brought Larkin in an hour late to preschool because she was having so much fun outside. After I dropped her off, Willa and I went to HEB and then proceeded immediately to the backyard for some more "no" (snow). We made a snowman together and she was so excited to make it. Yes, that is dog food for his eyes! When we were done she tried to pick him up and said, "I bring no-man inside, ohhh-kay?" Here's a pic of her kissing him.

Couldn't eat enough of the stuff!!


Then after I picked up Larkin, it was time for Willa to nap and Larkin played outside for well over an hour. First she stayed on the deck and scraped/shoveled snow into bowls ("I'm going to bring this bowl of snow to Ms. Terrie so she can see it at school!"), then she went down into the yard and tested the waterproofness of her mittens by purposefully dunking her hand in any standing water she could find. She also explored around the yard, examining every inch while singing made-up songs about snow.

I did have about 1,000 things on my to-do list today, but didn't accomplish much because of all the outdoor play...but it was worth it! Very fun and memorable first snowfall for them!

future ski bums?

Our "snow clothes" came in yesterday, and the girls don't want to take them off!! We went to show our neighbor Susan next door and Willa knocked and then yelled, "I'm goin sedd-in (sledding)!" Then they walked up the street and said they were going to walk to California. Needless to say they are ready to go to Yosemite!!

McKinney Falls

This weekend we took the girls to McKinney Falls State Park. The girls love to hike, and Larkin always insists that she should lead the way while we follow her on an adventure. We were able to see a few waterfalls and the girls loved jumping over lots of vernal pools (Willa did fall into one though, so she had a wet shoe/leg for the remainder of the hike!).

They both kept saying "This is so amazing!" Can't wait to see their reaction when they see a REAL waterfall at Yosemite in a couple of weeks!


Tossing stones in the water

perching bookworms

Tonight Joel is away at an event for work, so I put the girls to bed by myself. We had a long afternoon (Larkin is starting to drop her only nap--so the afternoons can be VERY long!) and I was more than ready to get them tucked in their beds! We settled into Willa's reading chair-Larkin always sits on the arm of the chair, and Willa sits in my lap while we read. As soon as we got comfortable I realized that we didn't have Mr. Duck (Willa can't sleep without him). Willa jumped off my lap and said, "Wait here guys! I go get duck. I be right back!"

She looked for a few minutes, contstantly yelling, "Wait here guys! I get 'em!" but of course she had no idea where he was (he always seems to go into hiding at bedtime!!!). I convinced her to let me look, and she ended up running back to her room. Once I finally found him (stuffed in the dollhouse) I came back and found BOTH of them perched on the arms of the chair "reading." The first words out of Willa's mouth were, "I won't fall down! I'm okay!" I trusted her just long enough to go grab my camera.

Willa's face: "Can't you see I'm busy?"

Larkin loved reading this animal book because there's one word under each picture-so she likes to point to the word and say the name of the animal and "read" the book! Just in the past month or so she has taken off with her pre-literacy skills:
-loves to clap and count syllables
-counts words in a sentence
-notices what sounds words start with ("hey, potato starts with /p/!!")
-wants to know what letter everyone's name starts with, and then she tries to figure out what sound that makes by saying the word very slowly
-carries around paper and pencil a lot to write "messages"

Valentine sweatshop

Larkin's homework for her speech class was to make Valentine's for everyone in her class (10 kids) and try to write any letters that she recognized in her friends' names. This assignment was right up her alley-she loves arts and crafts and just recently has gotten very interested in letters and sounds in words. When I told her about her homework, I said that I would run to the craft store while she was in class and buy all the materials. She started to cry and begged to come with me so that she could help pick out her goodies. So, at 5pm in rush hour traffic and rain, we headed to the craft store! Talk about a wonderful mother!! :)

On one side of the card she wrote letters she recognized and also an "L" for Larkin, and then the other side she decorated profusely with with hearts, paint, and stickers.

If someone had an "N" in their name, they were guaranteed a whole slew of N's...that is her favorite letter to write!

We made Valentines for all the kids in her preschool class too (11 more Valentines)--so we've been busy at the craft table lately!!

indoor play pics

They actually BEG to wash dishes! Must find a way to keep this up for years to come.

Willa deep in concentration making a beaded necklace. Today was the first day she was able to get tiny beads onto her string. She was so proud of herself and worked on her necklace for almost half an hour.
Every time she puts on a necklace she says, "Princess me!" If she puts one on you she always says, "Princess you!"

Larkin drawing "beads" on her writing board. Notice the small dots for the holes in the beads!

Crafty girls!