'Lil Kicker

Who's ready to take the soccer field by storm? This girl!

Mady started taking 'Lil Kickers soccer classes. The Bunnies class is full of cuties who are just excited to run around and sometimes kick a ball.

At the beginning of class the kids find a 'soccer spot' to sit at and stretch. Mady likes to sit on her spot..for a little while.

Bubbles are always a hit with the toddler set! The intention is to pop the bubbles with your feet, of course that is hard to do when they are flying at your face!

Building cone towers to kick over is fun. But wearing cones as hats is even more fun!

**After about a month of classes, Mady is understanding more and more about using her feet, and is following the coach's example during stretching time.

A Day at the Zoo

Mady and I spent the day at the zoo. The gibbons were having fun swinging around, and Mady considered joining them. Luckily she hasn't mastered fence climbing just yet.

The giant tortoises kept her entertained for quite a while. With all their moving around and crazy antics, who can blame her?

Whenever any of the kids go to the zoo, they want to climb on the tomato frogs. Mady doesn't look too happy in the picture, she might have been concentrating on not squirming.

After a few hours of walking around the zoo, Mady was worn out. She did have fun riding the carousel, I just wasn't able to catch a smile.

I don't think we even made it off of the zoo grounds before she fell asleep. Mission accomplished!

Happy 2014

Happy New Year 2014!

Usually when we go into the City, we are headed to an activity. Alex and Zachary have fun at said activity, but they always ask to ride the trolley. Sadly, we are out of time, or have the big stroller and can't easily take a ride. So, we decided to head into the City with the main intent being to ride the various forms of transportation! We parked near the Metreon, and walked over to Yerba Buena Gardens. Mady, Alex and Zachary all had fun exploring around the many fountains and running up and down the ramps.

Peek-A-Boo!

Soon, we were off to the start (end?) of the cable car line. The line was long and a bit intimidating, but we decided to wait it out. Overall, it didn't take as long as we thought it might and we were glad we waited. Since it was the end (start?) of the line, we were able to watch the cable car spin on the turntable.

When we finally got on board, we ended up on opposite sides of the car. Boys on one side and girls on the other. Mady really enjoyed her ride.  She was singing and clapping her hands. At one extra steep hill, she even reached out to grab onto the railing! By the looks of this picture, I'd say Alex and Zachary enjoyed their ride too! Our driver was very personable and his comments kept us entertained.

When the driver called last stop, we decided to look for a 'facility'. This search led us to a museum we hadn't known about. It is a free walk-through of the City's history, with many interactive exhibits for the kids to enjoy. (The San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park Visitor Center).

Notifying the City of an incoming ship.

Learning about liquid gold.

Lunch was up next. Mady continues to amaze us with her love of food. She had clam chowder, crab cakes, sand dabs, pasta, peas, bread and spaghetti! Oh, and don't forget the ice cream!

After lunch, we hopped on the street car to get us back to our normal car. Since it was later in the day, the street car was really full and we weren't able to get any pictures. Maybe next time!

p.s. for dinner, Mady devoured some pot stickers and wor won ton soup.

NYE 2013

We're getting ready to celebrate the new year. The toast is ready (both kinds!) and the poppers are filled.

Mady enjoyed her drink and toast, even if she wasn't really sure why we were standing around outside at night.

While Alex and Zachary were doing the poppers, Mady started to clap. She just loves to be involved and included in what her brothers are doing.

Best wishes for a wonderful 2014!

Go Dawgs!

The Washington Huskies are in the Kraft Foods Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco! We went to Union Square for the Pep Rally. Arriving early meant that we were able to get a front row spot to listen to the band and watch the cheerleaders and the majorette. And we even got a chance to have a photo with Harry Husky.

Alex and Zachary collected some of the ribbons that fell off of the cheerleaders' pom-poms.

Alex gave us a scare at the beginning of the rally. While I kept our spot, everyone walked to the street to watch the BYU band march into the square. Alex apparently fell in behind the band and followed them to the stage. Since he was wearing his hoody, and was crouched down, it was a scary 10-15 minutes while Phil searched for him. Luckily he was found and no real harm was done.

The next night, Phil and I were lucky enough to attend the game at AT&T Park. And the Huskies won!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

The day began early, as most days around here do. Alex and Zachary dove right into their stockings.

Mady was a little more tentative, but soon she was right in the mix.

Well, she liked shaking the presents, but still didn't understand that it is more fun to unwrap them!

After a break for a breakfast of cinnamon rolls, Alex and Zachary were ready to open presents. In the past, it has taken us many hours, but this year, the boys were so excited, they took very few breaks and just wanted to know what was in the presents. So they finished up, and Mady and the parents finished up on our own schedule. In fact, Mady's schedule involved opening her last gift a couple of days later. The boys received a set of 3 instruments, so everyone can play together. We only managed to catch two kids playing at a time though.

Mady wanted to put her new sweater on immediately. As soon as she saw it, she started trying to take off her jammies so she could try on her new clothes.

Alex, the constructor, whipped through his new lego set and moved on to building a car and a plane.

We want to thank everyone for the wonderful gifts and we hope you had a wonderful Christmas season!

Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve! My Christmas cactus bloomed right on time this year. We're still experimenting with our family traditions for Christmas Eve. The menu has stayed the same, but this year we tried more of a buffet style dinner.

Zachary, Mady and Alex enjoyed watching Christmas shows while eating.

Another steadfast tradition is the Christmas Jammies. Everyone's jammies are a little big this time around. They'll probably last until next year. At least they are cozy.

Our tree is all ready for the big day. Since we don't have a mantel this year, we thought it would be fun to hang our stockings on the tree. Do you think Santa will be able to find them?