Yosemite Valley

I think it's against the law for native Californians to go their entire life without ever having been to Yosemite. I'm happy to report that both Lila and Maya can now say they have been. This was my first time though. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Yosemite Valley

Curry Village Tent #990 and the bear box

Eating junk food on the bear box. No one got hurt.

So excited to see Bridal Falls!

Us girls at Yosemite Falls. Maya had to be locked down.

Eric & Lila at Yosemite Falls

Taking a break during our bike ride.

Very early one morning we were visited by a Daddy Buck.

Lila was pretty impressed.

Riding through the valley. Eric carried our precious cargo.

It would be unusual for Maya to miss a nap.

Lila demonstrating her newly discovered passion for rock climbing.

Lila providing rock climbing tips to the local boys in our camp.

One beautiful view from camp.

Hey, are you trying to take pictures without my mug in it?

Look! Another waterfall!

This one causes my heart to skip. I'm a goner.

Thanks!

Another Flagstaff Fourth

I know it's September and I'm blogging about July. This is how I do things now. Be nice.

Once again, to my delight, we traveled to Flagstaff to spend the Fourth with my family. It's without a doubt my favorite time of the year for a several reasons:

1. God bless America! I love my country.
2. Perfect weather, barbecued tri-tip, cornball Americana t-shirts and flip-flops and barrettes
   
3. Lila sings God Bless America perfectly. I don't have it recorded yet, but it's my current mission in life.
   
4. Purchasing, wrapping and shipping presents are not involved.

We drove from Oakland to Flagstaff this year. It was worth the 16 hour drive. I have a phobia of flying with two little ones, two car seats, a stroller, a pack n play and luggage for four. I also feel bad for the people who sit in front of us on the plane. I know I shouldn't. But it makes me feel really itchy and tense when my kids are screaming and harassing the man in front of us because he looks like Steve from Blue's Clues.

We had a great visit as usual. Here are a few pictures. Funny how they look like last years only now Maya is running and Lila is wearing a bikini (which she will never wear again until she's 14. Got it, Gigi?).

White Rabbit

It kills me to even write this. After nearly two years, Lila ended her stint at the White Rabbit Daycare. She started attending in September 2008 when she was 18 months old. I was only a few months pregnant with Maya and needed some help keeping my toddler entertained. Plus I was exhausted and sick of play dates. Anyway, enrolling her was a huge splurge especially since I'm a stay-at-home mom. I found Barbara (aka The White Rabbit) on a parenting message board and the rest is history. A lot of history. I was a nervous wreck about leaving Lila back then. I couldn't imagine that she would behave like the other little kids there. No way is she going to sit down for circle or lunch time. Good luck trying to get her to throw her plate in the garbage can. She'll never hold your hand on a walk. Forget about getting rid of her sippy cup and, by the way, it's craziness to think she's ready to sit on the potty. Well, obviously she ended up doing all of these things while Barbara and Gene rooted her on. It's so difficult to trust total strangers with your kids. If your lucky, they make it easy for you and eventually become like family. That's what happened for us. Today we all cried (well, mostly me) as we said good-bye. I thanked them for everything with a touch of overkill, but I couldn't help it. We are grateful.

We will miss all our friends at the White Rabbit especially Barbara, Gene, Betty, Skyler, Dyllin, Lola, Liam, Nora, Jade, Lorelei, Elise and Morgan!

Maya's New Doo!

My baby girl has had hair since day one and I love it. In fact, it's one of the first things I asked about when she was born: "Is she BALD? Does she have HAIR???" I'm definitely one of those mom's who, if I had it my way, would never cut her child's hair. The longer the better! Maya has a lot of hair though. Since she needs her eyes to see and enjoys eating barrettes, we decided it was time for a trim. She sat so still in the salon chair. She's only 15 months old! I was gushing with pride. The stylist called her a dream client. Well of course she is.

Before...

Mid-trim...

After!

Grandma, Poppy & Uncle Tommy

Thanks to the Hicks' for visiting us in April. It's not often that everyone is together at the same time. We are grateful when it works that way. There was lots of hugs and kisses, park time and a belated birthday celebration for Maya. Thank goodness for family.

Easter 2010

I'm so happy Easter is fun again. Lila now understands that there is something very special about this day. It may be all about Easter eggs, a magic bunny and baskets filled with candy, but hey, she's three and it's fun. Perhaps someday we will dress-up for Sunday mass. Until then, it's all about hunting eggs and chocolate rabbits. Maya was only a few days old when her first Easter came and went. She slept through it. This year was no different which is why we have no pictures of her hunting around with Lila. She did watch us dye eggs the day before but was none to pleased that she only "watched." Next year baby girl!

Kids N Dance

Lila Bean, our tiny dancer, has been dancing at Kids N Dance since January. It's a great little school that offers pre-ballet and gym for toddlers. She loves it. Many thanks to Gigi & Poppa for gifting Lila her first dance classes for her birthday! We signed up for another season because it's so much fun. This past Monday was the final dance recital of the season. The kids did three different routines plus a gymnastics session. You can check out out some of Lila's sweet moves below...