2012/11/18 Sunday: The Playground Across the Street from Church

 

2012/11/17 Saturday: Photo Safari

 

I went on a guided photo excursion with a local company.  The photo instruction was more rudimentary than I hoped for, but I still had a nice time.  The rest of the people on the tour had likely never taken their camera off automatic before, and kept asking things like "What does this button do?"

2012/11/16 Friday: Dressed for Family Pictures

How would you bet our pictures turned out?

2012/11/15 Thursday: Library Story Time

 

2012/11/14 Wednesday: We Earned a Movie Break

After teaching preschool this morning and watching a friend's kids for a bit, we earned a movie night.  The Pixar short, Hawaiin Vacation is adorable, and the kids wanted to watch it over and over again.

2012/11/13 Tuesday: Ready to Fight Crime

 

2012/11/12 Monday: Super Kids

I made Henry a new cape, which allows Georgia to wear the old one full time.  She has spent a lot of her day running around in it.

2012/11/11 Sunday: The Most Annoying Toy in the World

This is Penguin Race II, the most annoying toy in the world.  The penguins slid down, then are lifted up an escalator to do it all again.  One problem with the toy is that in order to work properly, you can' let the kids touch it.  We know that's not happening.  It's less of a toy and more of moving sculpture then.
The real problem is it squeaks.  A lot.  I timed it.  It squeaks 270 times a minute.  I believe that is excessive by any standard.  Grandma bought them this toy, as you may have already assumed.  They loved it, which means we will be seeing a lot of it.  Mercifully, someone included their instructions for disabling the squeaker as part of their amazon review.  It will be undergoing a little surgery before we set it up again.

2012/11/10 Saturday: Happy Birthday Liz

Happy Birthday Liz!

 

To celebrate Liz's birthday (without her), we took the kids to a brand new train-themed restaurant right by our house.  You sit at a bar and the food is delivered via model trains.

Gigi has refused to ever put this coat on.  Nick tried to show her that he is in charge, and wrestled her into the coat.  But then she just cries and screams, so you can't take her anywhere in the coat, so who's the boss, now?

2012/11/09 Friday: Zoo and Imagination

We ran into our next door neighbors at the zoo.  Henry and the neighbor kids pretended this was an ice cream truck, and bought and sold ice cream treats.  Here, Henry is pictured serving Gigi an ice cream cone.

Henry petted this rooster, named Dexter, which I thought was a bad omen.

Gigi seemed to make friends with a goose.
Our next stop was the family play zoo, where they kids painted their faces, pretended to be fish, and designed their own zoos.

2012/11/08 Thursday: Kara's Cupcakes

Jo Ellen bought this "Kara's Cupcakes" onesie in San Francisco almost three years ago. 

I love watching my kids play together.  For about thirty seconds.  Then they start fighting over something, and the spell of enchantment is broken.

2012/11/07 Wednesday: How to Use 100 Stickers in 1 Minute

Henry and Gigi demonstrated how to use a whole booklet of stickers in moments.

Gigi goes to my closet and digs out this same pair of very uncomfortable heels.  This time we recorded her, and Henry then wanted to be part of the fun.  Sorry about the vertical video.  I never learn.

2012/11/06 Tuesday: Election Day

The kids came with me while I voted.  I used a paper ballot, both because it's faster, and the kids couldn't press anything on a screen that would change my vote.

Gigi wanted to sit on a toilet at a friend's house, but she's missing a few steps in this process.

The kids got to see Nick for the first time since he came home, since they slept through his return last night.

Gigi now demands bubbles at bedtime.  She can clearly say "bubbles", but just in case you didn't understand her, she will climb up to get them for you, whether you like it or not.

2012/11/05 Monday: She's Almost Like E.T.

 

 We picked Nick up after midnight, with both kids asleep in the car.  We transferred them back to their beds and thankfully they stayed asleep.  Nick was gone the next morning, so Henry was upset, thinking that we had missed Nick at the airport.

2012/11/04 Sunday: Bedtime is Getting Wild

With Nick gone, we have had a quiet weekend at home.  It was nice to have some down time after all the wild partying leading up to Halloween.

2012/11/03 Saturday: No Pancakes

Saturday has become pancake day.  Since Nick wasn't here to make them though, we had special cereal instead- generic Cap'n Crunch.

2012/11/02 Friday: World's Most Expensive Produce

This is the yield out of our garden, and since the red pepper is rotten, I figure it's about $200 a pound.
We also had lots of herbs, and really enjoyed our fresh basil.

2012/11/01 Thursday: Mad Scientist in Car

I took Nick to the airport.  This is in the car as he explained some problems he's been having with equipment related to some plasmapheresis gels.
I only ever ran one plasmapheresis gel, in the summer of 1997.
 He will be meeting my dad and a crew of family in Nevada to attend a fire arms training program.

2012/10/31 Wednesday: Happy Halloween!

Sir Henry and Snow White in costume.
Georgia would not let me put her costume on, but she finally let my friend Jamie dress her in it.  Still refused to wear the headband.  We went trick-or-treating just on our block face, and the street to the east.  Georgia was tucked in warm in the stroller, but still expected candy in her bucket.  She started eating candy, wrappers and all, starting at the first house.  Even though we didn't go very far, Henry was so tired by the end, he stepped up on the stroller and laid across the tray to get a ride home.

 Since we get about 400 trick-or-treaters, Nick just sets up outside. It started off a little slow, but at the peak there was a rotating line 10 people long waiting for treats.  When the kids and I came back, they helped pass out the candy.  There were way too many adults collecting candy.  It wasn't just a few adults, but several dozen.

2012/10/30 Tuesday: Pet Store Window Shopping

I think they want a rat for Christmas.  Not happening.
We took Caesar for a haircut at the big-chain pet store, and they did a really nice job.

Henry insists on "helping" me cut apples in the kitchen.

2012/10/29 Monday: Another Halloween Celebration

 

We decorated our house a little to hold the preschool Halloween party.  We decorated individual pizzas.  I had games and things planned, but the kids were far more interested in unstructured play.

I ran to the store early in the morning to grab something for the party.  As a approached the mausoleum/crematorium there was a hug amount of smoke.  It was very dramatic looking, but was actually coming from construction vehicles.

2012/10/28 Sunday: Colder Than It Looks

This is my friend's toddler, at the park by my house.  The cold has come in force just in time for trick-or-treating.