Sillies

We had a really fun time with Grandpa Don and Grandma Pam during their visit to LA. They gave Peter and Clara a gigantic bubble set with all sorts of wands and bubble blowers. 

Have you ever seen such a big bubble?

The kids did lots of coloring with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Peter, where are your pants??

"One for me. One for you." 

Before bed, we worked on getting all of our sillies out. 

It took a while. 

There were lots of sillies in our house. 

Sorry, ladies, he's all mine. 

Thanks for your visit, Grandpa and Grandma! Come back soon! 

Special Guests

We are lucky to have some special visitors for a few days of fun. Grandpa Don and Grandma Pam are here from Nebraska. 

Peter has been calling them Grandpa and Flower Grandpa.  

Yesterday, Peter took them on a tour of his favorite park. 

 "Do you like these swings, Flower Grandpa?"

There is nothing like a mid-afternoon jam session in the living room. 

Maybe she'll play the drums in school band, just like her mom. 

A harmonica duet. 

We're having a wonderful time with our guests and can't wait to show them more fun and cool things in the coming days. I see a dance party in our future. Stay tuned for more pics!

A Little Philanthropy

Yesterday, we went to a super cool charity event called Milk & Bookies. Our friends, the Peiers, invited us and we had the most fun time. There were tons of celebs there, and I swear Peter and Kingston are pretty much BFFs now.

Luckily, we got there pretty early and were able to stake out some bean bags in the front row so that we could watch story time. Curzon and Quincy were obviously pretty happy with their spot.

Ben kept an eye on Atticus and Clara. 

Peter was enthralled. 

These dads and their girls are pretty cute. 

Self-portrait with my Mister. 

Crowd shot. 

This is Julie Bowen reading "Knuffle Bunny", a favorite. 

I think Peter was more excited about seeing the Cat in the Hat than about Eric Stonestreet. 

Chris Pine was there, too. 

Source: Getty

If you look really, really closely, you can spot my friend Lisa in a coral jacket. Ben is just to the right of her. 

Source: Getty

During the event, the kids got to do some fun crafts and also learn about philanthropy by inscribing and donating a book. They loved listening to the stories and really loved eating lots of cookies. 

Some more pics here... 

Happy Easter!

We are having the nicest Easter Sunday in Iowa. This Easter egg hunt on the front lawn of the Country Club was a pretty great way to kick off the day. 

These are the two littlest girls, Clara and her cousin, Grace. They are 17 days apart. A favorite activity for both of them is practicing their walking. 

Clara found an egg! 

Peter found LOTS of eggs. 

This is my brother, Sam, with his daughter, Grace. Everyone says that Peter and Sam look alike. Do you think so? 

Vivian and her mom, Sarah. 

It was pretty cool to meet the Easter bunny. 

Peter couldn't be bothered to stay for another picture. 

"I love Easter!!" (Peter had eaten an entire chocolate bunny by this point.)

My sweet girl. 

Here are my parents with their four grandchildren. It is tough to take a picture with two two-year-olds and two one-year-olds.

Family Easter portrait. Thank goodness the llama trailer (there was a petting zoo) is in the background.

We took a walk on the golf course after brunch. 

Two cousins hugging it out. 

"I think I'll run down this big hill..." 

Going. Going. Gone. 

Peter would have ended up in Iowa City if not for his dad. 

Happy Easter, everyone! 

Iowa for Easter

We are in Iowa right now visiting family for the Easter holiday. We are having a great time, but getting here was pretty crazy. It was my first time flying with both kids by myself. Yikes.

This was in the airport before we even took off. Notice how they are both kind of blurry. That is called Constant Motion, and I don't know many 1 and 2-year-olds who do not fit that description. 

This one slept for about 20 minutes. She must have been worn out from all that crying. 

Thank goodness for snack time. 

Untitled Self-Portrait by Peter Apley

We survived the trip. Barely. And now we are enjoying our time with family here in the midwest. 

Our first stop on day #1 was to see Nanny. She has a pretty fun house with lots of breakable toys, as Peter will tell you. 

Staring contest. 

Peter really likes reading with Nonnie. Jack the dog is an excellent storytime companion. 

Peter and Clara's cousins from Chicago arrived yesterday. Hooray! Now there is someone to join Peter on his pink tricycle rides. 

Cousin Vivi is the sweetest. Here she is giving Clara a smooch.

I think Moe has pulled Peter around the yard in this wagon about 750 times. 

We had a big, fun and very chaotic dinner last night. 

Peter sang every song he knew. 

We celebrated Grace and Clara's first birthdays at dinner. There is baby Grace with her parents at the dinner table. 

We are having a really fun time here and are looking forward to lots of Easter festivities in the coming days. I am also have a great time seeing some old friends. Today, I got to spend a little time with one of my oldest friends, Katie, and her FOUR kids. I didn't get a chance to take any pictures, but if you check out her blog, you can see the ones she took.