BIG BEAR

This past weekend we escaped to Big Bear Lake for a few days. First some background. Kai badly wanted his own suitcase, after watching Daddy pack up and leave on a 2 week course. He went suitcase shopping with Grandma and Poppa Mike while they were here - an early birthday present. Kai loves his suitcase. It has remained beside his bed with his treasured Music Lion trapped inside since the day he pulled it in from the store. Whenever we would ask him when Music Lion was going to get out Kai would simply tell us, "when we get to the hotel." So there it was, with spring break just around the corner we had to book a trip. Kai would have preferred Hawaii, but he was pretty happy with the plan to go to Big Bear, particularly since Big Bear has a Go Kart track.

I think someone is quite pleased with Kai's latest passion:

I got to ride too when they decided that Teia was big enough. She was thrilled particularly since they had a pink Go Kart and she was lucky enough to score it both times. Our little thrill seekers also rode the Alpine Slide. I haven't been on one of those since my youngin' days in the Muskokas at the Gascoigne cottage (at least I think that is where I was). I have vivid memories of my cousin Caroline flying off the track and getting some road rash so I was pretty careful with little miss Teia on board. She enjoyed herself whooping "woo hoo!" while we rode down and Kai was all smiles waiting to see his sister's reaction to the "big boy" activities he'd been enjoying all weekend. 

Teia's big excitement at Big Bear was riding a pony. She was asking all week long about when she could play in the snow and when she could ride a "baby horse." She was not disappointed on either account. She proved herself a natural little rider and I agree with the lady who led her around the track that "we're in for it. " I can hear the requests for a pony of her own already. It is definitely in her genes as I was horse-obsessed for most of my childhood (until I became boy-obsessed somewhere in my teen years). On second thought, maybe horses are a safer bet for Teia and we should encourage her interest!!!

She really was happy in this picture. She just doesn't look it b/c she didn't want to look up from her pony. The surprise of the afternoon was when Kai decided he wanted to ride too! 

Other highlights of the weekend were feeding bunnies and llamas. Both kids really enjoyed that but the bunnies weren't so sure. We had to teach Teia the meaning of a bunny retreating into a cardboard box. She was loving and gentle but it was hard for her to contain her enthusiasm and her desire for them to eat was so great that when they didn't look too interested in the alfalfa she offered, she tried anything else around, including their own poops!

Now if that isn't the face of an animal lover, I don't know what is. (Notice the white bunny hiding under the bench. He had the misfortune of having pink ears which made him a little more popular than the brown and whitie).

We also hiked and drank hot chocolate, which was very popular with the kids.

The true "Starbucks Generation."

We attempted skiing but it wasn't to be. I am not sure why I thought a sport that requires hoisting a ton of gear through a crowded parking lot in the (sort of) cold, then standing in a line of chaos for tickets, then another line of chaos for rental gear (for Kai), then dodging a gazillion people to try and find the beginner slopes located as far away from the lodge as possible so the littlest legs have the farthest to go, was a good idea. Kai was his usual trooperish self but was pretty much done by the time we finally popped him (or rather pressed him down) onto his skies. If you're keen to spend 75$ in 10 minutes though, it is highly recommended. Note to ski resort owners (b/c I know they read this blog): how 'bout a parent ticket at a reduced rate for parents who want to reach their tots to ski?

I did do one run, in keeping with my average of about 1-2 runs per year over the past 8 years. Kai didn't mind waiting but Teia who was very happy building snow people, informed me that she did not care for the sight of "Mommy swiding down da hill!" 

Overall though it was a successful trip and our first local adventure since moving to CA. Big Bear was beautiful and while the high altitude (6-7000 ft) did not seem to make for sleepy kids, it was nice to smell and breathe the alpine air again. 

The Amgen Tour of California will be up there in a few weeks. Maybe time for a return trip?

San Diego SNOW!

It didn't exactly snow in San Diego, but close, about an hour away. Greg and I spent our first night away from the kidlets in 5 years thanks to Grandma and Poppa Mike. We headed East to see some of the countryside and stay somewhere with a slowed down pace. We picked Julian, a touristy little town known for its apple picking and historic gold rush mine and artifacts.

Shortly after we got there it started to snow and by Sunday morning the trusty Element looked like this:

Luckily I rescued an ice scraper from our garage sale last summer in MA. It came in handy!

Check out what is on this guy's rear tires. Yep, those are chains. And yes, the Canadian did laugh a little bit. And took a picture too.

It was actually pretty blustery and cold. We walked around for a bit and got a warm bevvie and were lucky to be heading back to San Diego around lunchtime in the opposite direction of the line of cars pouring into Julian. Seems that when it snows in the high country, half of San Diego grabs their mittens and sleds and head to Julian for the day. The snow was actually pretty wet and sloppy, intermixed with a little hail so I'm thinking they'd be heading back to their surfboards before dinner. 

Our Little Gardeners

Its been awhile since I've had a garden. Over 10 years in fact. My last garden was right beside the Pacific Ocean and while I learned that salt spray was not good for growing peppers, the sugar snap peas and butter crunch lettuce didn't seem to mind. We sort of thought about a garden in Bedford. There was the remnants of small strawberry patch in our yard which Kai named "The Bunny Bunny," not sure why. We did add a few new plants to it and we did get a few small strawberries but it couldn't rightfully be called a tended garden.

But we've begun work on our first family garden here in sunny San Diego. The little gardeners have been busy preparing the area:

Our kids seem to REALLY love dirt. 

Getting Rid of Susu

Both of our kids had their susus (also known as soother, pacifier, binky) until they were over two. With Kai it was a covert op as he agreeably left his in his crib whenever he woke up. The day we took it away, in typical Kai fashion, it was no biggie. With Teia, not so much. She even got some new ones a few weeks ago.

But today I would have missed a funny and precious moment with her had I done the "right thing" and taken her susus away already. She stopped on a walk and wrapped her arms around a streetlamp pole. I wondered what the heck she was doing. Then she gently bonked her susu against the pole; it made a pleasant tinging sound. "Mommy!" she said, "I'm making music." I thought this was pretty funny and since Teia loves to make people laugh she kept doing it. And then she moved onto the bumpers of parked cars!

See what I would have missed!

We are still here....

It's been awhile. We keep thinking things are going to slow down and somehow they just keep getting faster. But I'm determined to try and keep our blog from flat lining. The kids will thank me for it someday, right?

We realized the other day that we didn't take a single picture in January. Nope, not one. So for next year's calender January will have to borrow from some other month. That is assuming we get our act together and start taking some more photos. Is this a reason to buy an iPhone? Nope, not caving yet.

So I have been trying to snap a few photos over the last few days, making up for lost time. Teia is growing and changing so fast these days, it is hard to keep up with her. She cracks us up with what comes out of her mouth. She is quite the little adult these days.

Mom: Would you like some ice cream?
Teia: Yes, please, I'd luff some.

I luff you. You're my favorite Mommy.

I want Kai to rub my back. Kai rub my back make feel me better! (She hasn't quite figured out how to put her words in the right order for that one!)

We haven't read this book in awhile.....while looking at me earnestly as she bargains for book #7 of the evening.

Mommy, YOU eat YOUR lunch. (said to me in response to a request for her to do something).

Good gob (job) Kai Kai!

Mommy/Daddy did you have a good run?

The other day Teia found my plumeria hair clip. After I put it in her hair, she declared it "wonderful!" This is one of the few times that she actually lets me put anything in her hair. She can barely tolerate a hair brush, never mind anything girly in her hair. 

Teia has expanded her triumvirate of Puppy, Meow and Blankie to include more friends, a lot more. Her crib is now a very busy place and it is often hard to pick her out on the baby monitor there are so many stuffies surrounding her. Here she is carrying some of her crew. Many times her little arms can't manage them all so I become Mommy the Sherpa. She will wave her arms to indicate the friends she wants me to get and say to me "Mommy, carry ALL my friends." The upside to her new crib mates is that she no longer hollers to get out of her crib the second that she opens her eyes. She is actually quite content now to stay in there and visit with her buddies for awhile in the morning which means Mom and Dad can get up a little more slowly too these days. 

And Teia loves to get dirty, particularly on days when she is wearing white leggings. She has picked a little corner of our garden where she likes to ruin her clothes and get as dirty as she can. She still has her trade mark squinty smile. I remember when Kai used to do this. Sigh....they do grow up too fast. 

A link

No time to blog these days but here is a link to a great blog, very relevant as we are busy planning Kindergarten....

http://magicalchildhood.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/what-should-a-4-year-old-know/

Ice Skating in San Diego

What's the saying, you can take the girl out of Canada but you can't take the Canadian out of the girl???? Or something like that ;-) After a 7 year hiatus from ice skating I got back on the ice last Christmas when we visited my fam in Peterborough http://fennelladventures.blogspot.com/2011/01/canadian-christmas-trip.html. It was really, really fun. Greg discovered that he can actually skate and we discovered that Kai was pretty determined to learn too. We managed a few more outings on two blades last winter and Kai did really well.

San Diego is an unlikely place to continue Kai's skating tutelage but he is half Canadian after all so he's gotta be prepared! Several outdoor rinks opened up to celebrate Christmas so we decided to check them out. The first one we hit was in downtown San Diego. It was small and covered with a layer of water and more non-skaters than you've ever seen on one rink. There were two referees (for lack of a better word) skating around and scooping people up when they fell before they got too wet or caused a major skater pile up. This was quite a change for me b/c I'm used to those folks enforcing speed control during public skating at Canadian rinks. The boards around the side were covered in human barnacles, some of them wearing shorts. I actually had to shepherd some of them around Kai when my back needed a break and we were hanging out on the boards ourselves. And these people paid good money to do this, really, really good money. Kai was a complete trooper and was intent on getting around that rink again and again with a little help from Mom.

The week after Christmas we went again with Granddad. This time we headed to the island of Coronado where the fanciest hotel there had set up a beachfront rink. The scenario was pretty much the same: watery ice and lots of barnacles. It was expensive, stupid expensive, so Granddad decided to pass and took some photos of Kai and I making our way around the rink.

Kai had fun and we only got a little bit wet and kept our toes intact. It never occurred to me that flip flops were not a good foot wear choice for skating until I saw the sign "No open toed shoes beyond this point." This is not a problem I'm used to having. But seeing as we had driven all the way over there we weren't about to turn back so we carefully, and thankfully, safely picked our way through the people on skates stumbling everywhere.

After we were finished lacing up, we went shoeless on the beach to catch the sunset.

And I'm adding this photo b/c I think it is simply my favorite Christmas photo this year.