It's a Party

The second thing Alex was sure about, was that he wanted to have a giraffe party. He found a giraffe pinata in a catalog and was determined to have it. It is much easier to find safari or jungle themes than just giraffes. But, I think we did a pretty good job of creating a giraffe party!The giraffe pinata, with the giraffe print goody bags, made by Gma.
Friends, waiting through many table adjustments and pictures for cupcakes featuring giraffes, walking through the grass.
We weren't sure about the weather when we woke up, but by afternoon, the sun was out and it was a gorgeous day. With some help from Ms. Karen, we hung the giraffe outside to begin the festivities.
The kids all took turns pulling on the strings, trying to release the goodies inside. In an unexpected, but happy coincidence, the last string was the prize dumper!Alex and Zachary really loved their goody bags. As you can see, they carried them around all day. (And since I am post dating, I can say they still do!)
We also had a yummy lunch, and a birdhouse craft.

I didn't get a picture of everyone's completed birdhouses, but they were all great. Here are Alex and Zachary's creations. Sticking to his giraffe theme, Alex added a herd of giraffes.

Happy Birthday Alex!

Today is Alex's 4th birthday! One of the things he was very certain about was that on your birthday, there are balloons tied to your chair. When he came down for breakfast, he was excited that the balloons made it!
Since it was a school day for Alex and Zachary, and a special birthday too, Gma and I went to school to help out in the classroom, making Alex and Zachary the special helpers for the day. The special helper gets to bring the outdoor cars and bikes out of the "garage", flicker the lights at clean up time, choose friends to join them at the first craft table, and squirt the soap into everyone's hands before snacks. The boys did a good job of sharing the job and both enjoyed being the helper.
After Alex's requested dinner of macaroni and cheese from Panera (of course), we had a cake with a giraffe.
His balloon cheeks from swimming class came in handy for blowing out the candles!I have no idea what this look is about. Maybe because we asked him to stop eating cake?After cake, he opened his presents, with a bit of help. Here the boys are, sitting with Alex's swag.

End of January Fun

Here are some pictures from the last few days of January.

Little explorers, stuck in a tree.

Alex was wearing his cape, and changing his hat. For each outfit, he would ask "Now who am I?"

Rainy Bay Area weather is great for puddles. The roads flood within minutes of the rain starting to fall.

A nice foggy day for the City.

Swimming update

Alex and Zachary are continuing with their swimming lessons. Both boys are doing a great job of learning the skills needed to advance.
They both practice kicking with straight legs.

Zachary is perfecting his "monkey walk" and Alex is a master at the back float. The flags got in the way, but he is floating without assistance, his teacher's hands are out of the water.

One thing that Alex has been working extra hard on is getting his face in the water. And leaving the platform by himself. I think he did a great job on both!


I just watched this video, and it is a bit cut off. Check it out on my YouTube page.

Pizza Party

We decided to try our hand at making pizza. Since we all like different toppings, we each made our own pizza. Alex and Zachary had fun adding sauce and toppings.
They did have a hard time waiting for the pizzas to cook, but once the pizzas were all toasty and melty, they got to enjoy their creations. We might even try it again sometime!

Playhouse

One of the boys' Christmas gifts was a playhouse for the backyard. It arrived a couple of weeks before Christmas, and was in two (!) of the biggest boxes ever. (It took a couple of weeks of filling up the recycle bin to dispose of the cardboard.) Fortunately, the boys can't read yet, and there was only one picture on one side of the boxes. I threw a blanket over that part and tried really hard to ignore them in the garage. A couple of times, Alex asked me what was "in that box" and I managed to distract him. We finally had a combo of nice weather, and a free weekend, so Phil and the boys started setting it up.

Here's Alex inspecting the parts.

Many hours later, the construction workers were ready to relax and make a snack.

Zachary's 1st Day

Today was Zachary's first day of preschool! He has been waiting for this since school started in September.

On Tuesdays, Alex and Zachary are in school together, and on Thursdays, Zachary goes by himself. Zachary enjoys both days, but likes Thursdays especially. He says "just one boy goes to school today!" He knows where his cubby is, and just marches right into the classroom. He is really excited to show me his projects. When I picked him up today, he walked to his cubby and it was empty. He said "where's my project?" and then started looking everywhere for it. It was still on the drying rack, and we didn't bring it home until Thursday. He really didn't want to leave without it.