Sacramento Zoo

The kids and I ventured downtown a few weeks ago to check out the Sacramento Zoo. It's a perfect little outing for us and they always really enjoy it. They had a fun time running around and seeing the animals (the giraffes were the big hit this time) and then we stayed for lunch. The big highlight for the kids was that they used their very own money to buy these stuffed animals. Cole picked out a tiger and Olivia wanted a purple giraffe. Cole had been bugging me since we walked in the door to buy him one and I kept telling him "no!" While we were eating lunch he kept asking and I finally told him that if he used his own money, he could buy it. We ended up sitting in the store for 20 minutes while Cole weighed his decision. He was soooooo concerned about using his own money and kept asking me over and over again if it was alot of money. While Olivia made up her mind in about 20 seconds. So true to their personalities. Any hoo here are some pictures of our little adventure!





The infamouse stuffed animals!

2011

Well apparantly it's been a somewhat slow start to 2011. I went to download the pictures off of my camera the other day since I haven't updated my blog since Christmas and there wasn't a whole to download :-( We've just been keeping busy with our normal routine and activities and hanging out locally on the weekends. Cole has been keeping busy with preschool and really starting to enjoying it. It's no longer a tear fest when I drop him off, which is really nice. We've also decided to start Olivia in preschool next year so she will be joining Cole 3 days/week which leaves me KIDLESS for 3 hours on those days :-) He also started T-Ball about a month ago but since the last 2 weeks have been rained out, he hasn't had a whole lot of practices. Their first game should be interesting!

Olivia is still my little shadow. I seriously can't leave the room without her yelling, "Mommy, where are you?". She likes to help me with the laundry and the cooking. She usually goes to the gym with me while Cole is at school and has done really well with the daycare there, so that gives me some hope that she will do just fine at preschool. We also enrolled her in Little Gym in January and we go once a week while Cole is in school - she LOVES it. She loves the bars and the balance bean and gets the biggest kick out of playing with the bubbles and receiving her stamps at the end of each class - it never seems to get old to her. Maybe we have a little gymnast in the family??

As for me - not much to report. The weeks seem to come and go faster than I can keep track. Jim has been traveling quite a bit this year so there is never a dull moment for me!

The only person that seems to have had an eventful kickoff to 2011 is Jim! And he has had so many things happen that he is even going to get his first official "blog post", so stay tuned!

New Year's Eve

We decided to host a last minute New Year's Eve party for some families in the neighborhood. Somehow I took my camera out once in the beginning of the night, snapped a few pictures of the kids and never took another one. It could have had something to do with the amount of drinks I was drinking :-) We had a great time hanging out with our friends and ringing in the new year! Here's to 2011!!

Sydney, Bailey and Olivia
 

Will! So cute!
 

Bailey and Cole
 

2010 Christmas

We decided to spend Christmas at our home in Rocklin this year for the FIRST time ever. We are at the point we want the kids to be able to wake up in their own home and see if Santa came. It was so nice to stay here and the kids loved being able to play with their toys all day long and unwrap everything. Unfortunately they both got a little sick with fevers on Christmas Eve/Day so they weren't 100%, but we still managed to have a great time. Jim's family drove up to spend a few days with us and were able to see the kids open up all of their presents Christmas morning.

The kids with Aunty Kathleen on Christmas Eve
 
Olivia and Aunty Lisa
 
A toast to Christmas Eve
 
The kids putting out milk, cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer
 

Cole hanging up his stocking
 
Nanna hanging up her stocking
 
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
 
Our family tradition....Daddy reading "The Night Before Christmas" to the kids
 

I totally forgot to take a picture of all of the loot Santa brought everyone and I could shoot myself. So here are the pictures I got after the kids starting going through their stuff.
 
 
 
 

This Christmas was all about STAR WARS for Cole
 
 
Love this one!
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Thank you to all of our friends and family for your beautiful Christmas cards and letters. We loved seeing your pictures and hearing about your year. Keep them coming!
 

Pajama Party

We had our annual pajama party/book exchange party with our playgroup in December. The kids were very excited to wear their pajamas out of the house and into the car and were even happier that I let them stay in them all day long. The kids came home with some great Christmas books and had a fun time running around with all of the other kids.