Helpers

Ben had a brilliant idea today. Let's see if we can get Peter and Clara to do some cleaning for us.  

"Hold on a minute, let me just get these gloves on." 

Clara was a great supervisor. 

"OK, are we finished cleaning now?"

"I'm outta here, guys." 

"Whew! That was hard work!" 

Rite of Passage

Peter and Clara experienced a true summertime rite of passage the other day when their dad set up a sprinkler in the backyard. 

Peter loved it. 

Clara wasn't too sure. 

Peter couldn't get enough. 

Who needs shorts in the backyard? 

Or a diaper, for that matter? 

"I'd rather hang out here with the snacks, thankyouverymuch." 

Old Friends

We had a really fun play date at our house today. This is Peter's old friend, Anna. They met in babygroup when they were just a few months old. 

And this is Anna's mom, who is also a superstar blogger. 

It was really great to see them both! 

Peter insisted upon not wearing any clothes... 

And carried a chicken finger around the house with him the whole time... 

But Anna didn't seem to mind. 

These kiddos had a great time together! (Note the chicken finger on the table.)

Come back soon! 

Future Firefighters

Anyone want to guess who is behind the wheel in that fire truck? 

That's right, it's Peter and Clara to the rescue! 

Our neighborhood fire station had an open house today and we had such a great time meeting the real fire fighters and checking out the cool trucks. 

"Hmmm, what does this one do?" 

Peter's friend, Eyal, joined us, too. 

"Let's turn on the siren." 

"No, I'll turn on the siren!" 

"Hand me that hose, will ya?"

"I think I see a kitty in a tree! Let's go rescue it!" 

Clara and I picnicked with Eyal's parents while the boys learned all about fire fighting. 

And then it was time for the bounce house. 

Looks pretty fun, doesn't it?  

Spontaneous Adventure

On Saturday morning, our family was driving home after our regular Gymboree class. It was such a beautiful day that we decided that maybe we should just keep right on going all the way up to Santa Barbara. 

We told the kids we were going on an adventure and they were really excited. 

Our first stop was at a candy and soda shop on the outskirts of LA. We needed special treats for our adventure. 

Peter chose some delicious special treats. 

This lollipop made it for about 10 minutes before it was dropped on the floor of our car, covered in dirt and thrown away (which resulted in a pretty serious road trip tantrum, but that's another story). 

When we got to Santa Barbara, we stopped for a quick wine tasting. 

It was weird. We were the only ones with a double stroller. 

Peter and Clara didn't mind. 

Next, we walked from the winery to Sterns Wharf and the Santa Barbara beach. 

Peter LOVES the beach and the water. 

Later, we checked into our hotel. It had a pool. Hooray! 

Bathing beauty.

My mini Michael Phelps. 

We had dinner at the strangest restaurant that was next to the private plane section of the Santa Barbara airport. Peter had fun looking out the window at the airplanes. Clara learned how to drum on the table with her spoons. Neat. 

The best part of dinner? The grassy hill outside the restaurant. 

"I love this adventure!" 

You would never know there were airplanes 20 feet away, would you? 

This morning after breakfast, we were right back in the pool again. I think this picture was taken at about 8:30am. It was 55 degrees and the rest of the hotel was still trying to sleep. 

"1, 2, 3, JUMP!" 

After bribing Peter with shows on the iPad + special treats, we were able to drag him out of the pool and into the car for more adventure. 

We drove to Los Olivos, picked up some picnic supplies and headed out to Firestone Winery. 

"Give me a Fig Newton, please." 

What a beautiful spot, a fun trip and a great weekend! 

An Assortment

We have had a busy week. Clara got her first pair of shoes! 

Measuring. She's a size 5. (Why is she wearing her brother's sweats? Neat outfit.) 

"Do these shoes go with my pants?" 

On Saturday, we went to a friend's house for a real Louisiana crawfish boil. 

Yum! 

"Um, I'm not really sure about this, guys." 

"Are you kidding me? I'm staying right here with the toys." 

For my birthday, Peter shared a giant frosted cookie with me. 

Clara had to come see what she was missing. 

We ended the day with a Diaper Dance Party. 

It was a perfect birthday!