Two Year Old At The Beach

The last is a photo of a sand birthday cake. After we sang the birthday song, Vincent blew out the driftwood candle. 

Day Before Birthday Cake

There was another preschool birthday party today, which Zoe and David attended. Zoe brought home a beautiful green balloon, which both children love. 

Vincent's birthday is tomorrow, but in order for David to participate in the festivities, we would have had to do birthday cake for breakfast or just before bedtime. So today was cake day. Presents started on Saturday and will extend until all packages arrive in the mail. 

Vincent blew out his candle on the first try. Unfortunately, the candle wouldn't stand up on the cake. 

We got Vince a Little People tractor. I tested the sounds yesterday while he was out of the house, and decided to remove the batteries (which were so conveniently included).

Checking out other birthday presents with Daddy and Zoe...

Blowing Bubbles

Gak

Measuring, stirring, kneading, ooey-gooey fun. We made gak this afternoon for the first time. Zoe stirred Elmer's glue into room temperature water. Vincent (under careful supervision) stirred borax into warm water. When the soap solution was poured into the glue solution, there was an instant chemical reaction. Gelling and clumping and sliming. It was hard to stir, so we poured the mess into a ziploc bag to knead it into a cohesive mass. Finally, it was ready to play with:

Vincent didn't care for the feel, and maybe for the soapy, gluey smell. He read books and played with Grandma Pat while Zoe messed with the gak for more than an hour. 

Wednesday Sunshine

It was a perfect day to welcome Grandma Pat, and also for a preschool field trip to a dairy farm. Zoe got to put her fingers in the sucking part of a milking machine, and she carried a big bottle of milk from a wagon to a calf pen. Vincent was most impressed with the big tractor. 

Good Thing They're Cute

Planning Ahead

This photo was taken before she added a sweater and hair accessories.

Zoe is excessively interested in her attire. Choosing an outfit in the morning is usually painful. It is only slightly easier if she chooses the outfit the day before, as the world ends if her careful layout gets mussed. I try to be somewhat flexible, but no, she can't wear shorts to the playground when it's 45 degrees. She wore the above ensemble hiking in Fern Canyon, minus the crown and nice shoes. I had to throw away the tights with sparkly dots (and snags and holes and mud stains); I'm hoping she won't notice.

Gray Whales

On the day David was in Oregon buying the car, I went to a vista point just a few miles from the house to look for whales. They were spouting intermittently in the far distance in a vast expanse of ocean, so Zoe couldn't quite catch sight of them. Vince was asleep, so he didn't see them either. I didn't know what color car David would be bringing home (he didn't either - other features were more important). When I saw the VW, it brought to mind the sleek gray whales.

In His Element

Yesterday morning, David backed his Honda Element out of our driveway for the last time. The Element was kind of a goofy looking car, but it served us well. We sure hauled a lot of stuff in that  boxy interior! It also ran great, never a problem in nearly 180,000 miles. That's right - nine years old, and it had nearly 180,000 miles. That annual mileage falls a tad above average!

Maybe a guy who drives so many miles should have a more fuel efficient vehicle, yes? Through work, David has had the chance to drive both Honda and Toyota hybrids. Aaaaaand...nope. Once upon a time, he thought he wanted a hybrid. Glad he got to learn the easy way that a hybrid was not for him.

Instead, parked in the Element's place is a car that runs on diesel: a sleek gray VW Jetta SportWagen TDI, also known as a Golf Variant. It's rated at 42 miles per gallon on the highway, yet it accommodates our family plus a trunk-load of junk. It is also comfortable, and according to David, fun to drive. I did sit in the driver's seat for a minute, but didn't lay a hand on that stick shift. No plans to do so at this time, either!

Today we went on a little road trip to break in the new car. Paved highway, check. Unpaved road, check. Curves. Hills. Loose gravel. Mud. Stream crossing. Another stream crossing. Egad, what were we doing in this brand new car with five inches of clearance?!

We were going to Fern Canyon, in Prairie Creek State Park. It was lovely. The freakishly vertical canyon walls are covered with verdant moss and ferns. In the bottom of the canyon is a stream meandering back and forth over rocks. It was shallow enough to splash across today, but it looks as if the water could roar through there under the right (wrong?) conditions. David took pictures with his phone and posted them to Facebook.

After our walk, we cleaned up a little (complete change of clothes for the kids) and zoomed into Arcata for a sushi dinner. It was a good day, and all together an interesting weekend. Hope you can say the same. Happy Mother's Day!

Sprinklers

Temperatures on Saturday were record-breaking, passing 80 on our thermometer. Sunday, when Zoe fixed on the idea of running through the sprinklers, it was much cooler, though still sunny. David mowed the lawn, then we turned on the irrigation to give the yard its first good soak of the summer. The kids got soaked, too. 

I had a jury summons for Monday morning, so David stayed home with the kids while I went into town. Their hugs goodbye were delicious - I'd like more of those!

At the court house, there was a little bit of paperwork, some instructional lecturing and videos, and lots of waiting around. After about two hours, I was excused on the basis of being a primary care giver for our two small children. As I understand it, this is not a guaranteed basis for excuse from jury duty, but they must have had plenty of other qualified jurors. 

More Than One Way To Ride A Bike

Vincent usually wakes in the morning in fine form, full of pep and smiles. He was enthusiastically telling me about the "di den den" on his shirt. He is eager to communicate, but his repertoire of consonants is still quite limited.

Birthday Breakfast Eclairs

Strike A Pose

Vince dressed up in old boots and a new jacket we found on the clearance rack. That's a 4T. It's spacious, but it fits! Once he was dressed, he perched on the ottoman looking very pleased with his colorful self. I asked if I could take his picture, and he readily agreed. 

Zoe had to get in on the photo action, too.