Easter

3rd Birthday Party

We had a lovely birthday party for the kids on Saturday. We had such a great time at Lacy Park last year that we decided to go back again this year. Sadie made it absolutely clear that she was going to wear her new ballet dress. Jack dressed up as a cowboy. As per their request, we had lots of balloons. Jack and Sadie each wore two balloons on their wrists and each of their guests got a balloon.

We had lots of friends at the party, including a number of families from the kids' school. And, of course, our VIP guests: Grammy, Papa, and Pud. The highlight of the party were the two chocolate cakes (my best yet, if I do say so myself) and the gift of a play castle, which kept all the kids entranced for the last half hour of the party.

It was a beautiful California spring afternoon, perfect for celebrating two very special three year-olds.

THREE!!!

Let the birthday begin. My lovelies are three!!! Jack and Sadie celebrated this momentous occasion yesterday with an action-packed day. Grammy and Papa flew in from Florida Tuesday night to be here for the big day. We started out the day with a trip to the Long Beach Aquarium, where Sadie squealed, "Mama, that biggest string ray I've ever seen!" She was right, it was also the first string ray she'd ever seen. Jack had the most fun conquering a fishing vessel, which he immediately climbed and was at the bow before any of us could blink an eye. Fortunately it was landlocked. The big highlight was Grammy's communion with Australian parrots who crawled all over her hands, arms, and shoulders.

In the evening we took the kids out to dinner including ice cream sundaes. Thankfully many of the patrons at Twoeey's were won over by Jack and Sadie's birthday zeal and did not ask to have our boisterous crew thrown out.

After dinner we opened birthday presents. There's nothing quite like a three year-old in a room full of presents after having eaten a ice cream sundae, or make that 2 three year-olds. It was a big day to wind down from and it took a LONG time for the kids to get to sleep, but it was a great birthday and we're all excited for the big birthday party on Saturday!

My Little Koala

Three years ago Thursday I gave birth to a koala.

Sugar Salon

We've been struggling for some time to get Sadie a good haircut. I had dreams of growing her hair out and being able to try lots of different hair styles, but Sadie's hair was not cooperating. So we decided to give up on the kiddie barbers and just take her to the place where J. and I both get our haircut. We had no idea that going to an adult salon would be the most exciting experience of Sadie's life thus far. Sadie was over the moon about the experience of her haircut and the result. She sat through the entire hair cut with this blissed-out giant grin on her face, as if at two weeks shy of three years old she had arrived. She then proceeded to talk endlessly about the haircut and ask to look in the mirror a few hundred times. I guess our little girl may be a real girly-girl.

The Farm

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We had an action-packed weekend that began Saturday morning with "The Farm." The Farm is in a nondescript and very suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. It consists of a variety of ramshackle structures that appear to have been completely overtaken by goats. I have never seen so many goats in my life. It's hard to imagine that it is not a public health hazard to have dozens of goats in a residential neighborhood, but we will most certainly not be reporting the farm to the authorities as Jack and Sadie LOVED it. Jack could not get enough of the retired tractors all over the place. Just as public health is not a big concern at the farm, neither is child safety. The kids had the run of the place and were allowed to climb on anything they wanted. Sadie was thrilled with the ancient ponies, who provided pony rides and let us feed them apples.

We met our friends Dan, Ronite, and baby Maytar at the farm. Maytar was a very good sport about the aggressive goats who were much larger than he. It appears that these goats survive by getting food from toddlers, so they were constantly trying to nibble on anything, and anyone, who might have grain.

While it was far from an authentic farm experience, The Farm proved to be a true crowd pleaser.