Field Trip

Alex's school took a field trip to China Town to celebrate Chinese New Year. We hopped on the city bus, right across the street from school and rode into Oakland, then walked a couple of blocks among the Chinese grocery stores with all of their exotic offerings. All of the kids were intrigued by this. We entered a very nice restaurant and they had set aside a special area for us and started bringing out yummy foods for the kids (parents) to try.
A couple of kids actually tried the fried chicken feet. Do I really need to say that one of them was Alex? He gave a piece of his to his friend Seamus, but I think Alex was the only one who tasted it at our table. Afterward, we took the bus back to school. Alex, Seamus, Zachary and Fiona all sat in the very back. The lighting isn't the best, and everyone is looking at Karen who was trying to keep them from falling, but it was still pretty cute!

Boys Day Out

Phil and the boys went to the science center today for learning and fun. I'll just let a few pictures tell the story.

NERD! Wait. What?

This is an accurate example of what is usually decorating our driveway.

Ah, yes. Completely nerdy equations. However, I also spied this in Alex's favorite "big, big letters" for all the neighborhood to see.

Valentine Crafts

I'm either getting braver or crazier, but I opened up the paints and and gave the boys paint brushes. We worked on some Valentines. Here are their presents for Daddy.

ok, maybe I helped with the red paint.

We made some other items too, they aren't quite done yet....

Party Time

Alex had his birthday party at our gym. We had our own Coach, Cozette, to keep the kids active and entertained. (And it was great for all of us adults to have the chance to chat while all this fun was happening!) For the first half of the party, the kids had a Lil' Kickers class: kicking balls, red light/green light, bubbles, and some other games too.

Next we had the Kids' Zone to ourselves for lunch and more play with basketball hoops, hula hoops, a jumpy house and a treehouse with a slide. Even though it was Alex's party, I can't resist posting this picture of Zachary and Julia. Finally it was time for cake. Alex picked 3 colors for the frosting in honor of being three. Some of them had candy Lighting McQueens or Tow Maters on them. I don't know how long Alex sat behind his cupcakes waiting so, so patiently for everyone to get ready, but he did a fabulous job!

The new thing is for the kids to open their presents after the party, instead of in front of their friends. I can see both sides of this theory, and in this case, it worked out for the best, as we ran out of time. But rest assured, Alex LOVED your gift!
I'd also like to thank our wonderful Coach Cozette! She kept the fun rolling, and kept me on my time targets too!

Someone is 3!

Alex turned 3 today! As he likes to say "'we had a busy day". This morning he was the perfect, supportive big brother. Zachary was trying to climb up onto the bed and I could hear Alex calling out to him: "You can do it Zachary. That's it! You did it Zachary! You climbed up!" It was the first time Zachary accomplished this goal. I was so proud of both of them!
Alex's next big task was to decide what he wanted for his birthday meal. He chose pizza with pepperoni, sausage, olives and peppers. He was too excited to eat it though, because he had spotted the presents. I had wrapped them while he was napping and when he saw them he yelled out "there's presents in there!" I asked him who he thought they were for and he said "Me!"
Here is a sampling of birthday photos.




Alex made his crown at school. I'm not sure why they made crowns at school, but the timing sure worked out great for us!
Thank you Auntie Nichole for the awesome hat!
Happy Birthday Alex!