Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Jenee Visits

I've been excited for months for my best friend Jenee and her family to visit from Hawaii.  The plan was to go to Disney Monday, the San Diego Zoo Tuesday, the wild animal park Wednesday, and Nick's 8th birthday party at the reptile zoo Saturday.  On the way to Disney on Monday, Violet vomited four times Exorcist style in my car.  We ended up sitting out Monday and Tuesday.  Two sick days (and one car detailing) later, we hit the Wild Animal Park on Wednesday.

Despite the 6 year age difference, Nick and Violet got along well.  We all had a great time at the Wild Animal Park.

Wow, that bat eats string cheese!

Violet really enjoyed Nick's birthday at the reptile zoo.

Violet hugging a skink

Petting a snake.

The visit was too fast, especially with us missing out on two days due to illness.   We miss them already!

Friday, March 15, 2013

San Diego with Jenny

Violet and I went to San Diego to visit Auntie Jenny.  We stayed in a neat hotel that had animal print robes.  They even had supplied a small one for Violet.


After a night of little sleep (Violet had some trouble falling asleep in the strange room despite the fact that I brought her nightlight, books we read before bedtime, and her special bed water cup), we went to Slater 50/50 for a hamburger that was 50% beef and 50% bacon.


Then it was off to the San Diego Zoo.  It was nap time and Violet was so sleep deprived at this point that we didn't stay for long.  We petted some goats, looked at some monkeys, and bailed.





Monday, March 11, 2013

Biking!

We just got a bike trailer for Violet and this past weekend the three of us went for a bike ride.  Violet loved her "bike".


We biked to a park where Violet played a bit and then biked to a candy store.  Shockingly we found out that she does not like chocolate gelato.  Even though we called it ice cream, she wasn't fooled.

We also recently received a balance bike from Auntie Deanna.  The bikes don't have pedals or training wheels.  The kids learn to balance on them and supposedly can transition from these to a regular bike while skipping the whole tricycle stage.





























This bike is still a little tall for her, so Eric had to help her out.

Violet has been having lots of play dates with her friends Emily and Grey, two friends she has met in the neighborhood.  We have been meeting them at the park for a while, but now Violet is finally old enough to actually play with them, rather than parallel play alongside each other but with minimal interaction.  There are a lot of shouts of "Mine!" but when they aren't fighting over toys, they have a great time.


Sharing a rocking chair

Playing in Emily's playhouse



















It's cool to have a friend with a bounce house!

Auntie D has been sending us some cute clothes.



















So much bling!






















As always, Violet is rocking the purple.


And if you made it this far, here's a funny story.  Often, during the day, there will be crows on the roof.  Sometimes we can hear them through the chimney.  Violet will now randomly walk up to the fireplace and start saying "Caw, caw!", sometimes even at night.  She must think that crows live there all the time.  It's so funny to see her walk up to the fireplace at 7 p.m. and just start randomly "cawing".