Tide Pool Trip

We spent the day at Leo Carrillo State Beach for a family field trip with Madeline's first grade class. She has been studying tide pools, and we arrived at low tide for optimal viewing. The beach was so much fun, and there was so much to do and see! It was a great family activity, and this working mama loves the concept of a weekend field trip since my schedule allows me to go!

Look closely, there's Kent on top of that rock.

A star fish:

Madeline and Sarah Jane emerge from a cave:

Sophie preferred playing in the tributary where the water was much warmer. She took a little tumble in the ocean waves, and that was enough for her.

Self portrait. Too bad I didn't get all of Kent's head.

Art Show

Last weekend, Madeline decided she wanted to paint some pictures and try to sell them . . .

"The Tornado"

Her first (and only) customer:

A Birthday Party!

Ethan turns 6! We had fun at his Knight themed birthday party making shields and wearing costumes. Jenny, who always makes amazing cakes, made two this time. Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Swim Class!

We will be spending our Saturday mornings at swim class for the next 6 weeks. Sophie is definitely the most timid of the 5 little girls in her class. She needed some coaxing, but participated in the activities.

Here is a video of Madeline practicing her backstroke:

Pizza Night! TGIF!

We kicked off the weekend with a make-your-pizza-night. Daddy made whole wheat pizza crust, and the kids did everything else. They were up way too late but woke up at their usual time, of course. Why is it so hard for kids to sleep in when they are up later the night before? Oh well. At least they are pretty good at entertaining themselves in the mornings, and I can get some extra shut eye until their little bellies start to growl.

Monday morning, Madeline fell during recess and hurt her ankle. Although she mentioned it to her teacher, she didn't complain about it again during her school day. She was in a lot of pain by 2:30 though, and she told the after school program leaders that she thought her ankle might be broken, but they didn't even bother to look at it. When I arrived at 4:30, later than usual because I had to have a TB test done that afternoon, I found her crying and sitting on the pavement. I asked one of the leaders about Madeline's ankle, and she gave me the impression that Madeline was exaggerating and changing up which leg she was limping on. Well, when we got home, we removed her socks and shoes, and found her ankle to be about 3 times it's normal size and shades of blue. She and Kent spent the evening at the urgent care getting x-rays and crutches. The poor kid went though her whole school day, PE, lunch time recess, and two hours after school with a severely sprained ankle. Luckily, the x-rays did not reveal a fracture. Even today, 5 days later, she is still limping and has bruising along her foot and ankle.

Madeline finally gets some ice, 8 hours after the injury occurred.

Day Nine: Easter

Sunday morning arrived with baskets filled with candy and toys from the Easter Bunny, and some baskets filled with fun activities from Grandpa and Grandma, too. During the night, the Easter Bunny also hid 41 jellybean filled plastic eggs throughout the house.

In the afternoon, Carrie and Milo joined us for Easter dinner, more egg hunts, and a small earthquake (bigger in Mexico, but small for us).

What you shouldn't do during an earthquake: take a video. As you can see, not much moved except our kitchen light. Also a fun game with Leah and bubbles.

Day Eight of Spring Break

Well, I got a wee bit behind on my spring break blogging. I've been back to work for almost a week, and I am finally finding a moment to post pictures from last Saturday. The girls played in the morning, which they do a lot of these days. They argue for sure, but most of the time they are inventing games and enjoying each other's company.

In the afternoon, we baked! I made a cake from scratch (I usually use a mix, but now that we're staying away from trans fats, we're using less packaged/processed food) and I tried a new frosting recipe that didn't include crisco.

The girls sampled the goods and gave "thumbs ups" to the new recipes.

Day Seven: Strawberries!

Today was a great day. We drove to my favorite farm to pick strawberries. You can pick all kinds of fruits and vegetables depending on the season, so Kent picked some fresh spinach, too. The weather was perfect, even a little breezy, and the kids loved riding in the wagon and looking at the animals.

Only two more days of the my little break . . . It went by way too quickly. I am going to miss my two little ones terribly on Monday when I return to work. But, I am happy to report that I will be taking five furlough days before the end of the year. My paychecks will be a little smaller, but I couldn't be happier about getting more time with my little ones.