Opening Night/Day

Dan is now a baseball player!  He's had a few practices but his first game was this weekend.  The league had a big opening night ceremony on Friday night with the first games on Saturday.  So far, he really likes it and is learning a lot.  It helps that he has five kids from his class on his team, and another three that he knows from school.  It's hard for me to cheer for the Giants (especially after what happened in the World Series last year against my Royals), but I'm learning....

Beach Day!

While the rest of the country is frozen solid and dreaming of sunshine, we are living the dream out here in Southern California!  Oh, sure, some nights the temperature does dip down into the high 40s, but as soon as the sun comes up, the day is warm and beautiful.

Dan and Ben had a long weekend for President's Day, so we took advantage and hit the beach!  My friend Angie took her boys and everyone had a great time playing with each other.  Angie's parents are visiting from North Dakota so a beach day was needed to thaw them out from a harsh winter.  Four adults is just about the right number to watch six kids at the beach anyway.

Dan and Cael spent most of their time in the water, attempting to boogie board.  Ben and Coen dug a series of holes that would then fill with water for Hannah to play in.  She wasn't a huge fan of the big ocean, but she could handle small Ben-made puddles.  She also thoroughly enjoyed the snacks that are a mandatory part of any beach day--Cheetos, popcorn, juice boxes, trail mix, PB & J sandwiches.

If anyone wants to join us on our next beach day, come on out!

Birch Aquarium

Now that we know we're moving this summer, it's time to ramp up our exploration of the San Diego area!  There is so much to do here for families and kids that we'd probably never be able to do it all, but we're going to try.

The Saturday after Christmas, Zach and I took the kids to the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla.  They absolutely loved it, especially Hannah.  At each tank, she would point and squeal and say "Wow! Ooooh!" and it was pretty adorable.  Dan and Ben really liked the outdoor area where they could reach in and touch things.  Everybody had a great time and I'm glad we had a beautiful day to enjoy a really cool place.

Christmas morning presents

Santa (and all of our out-of-town relatives via Amazon) was very good to us this year!  In the weeks leading up to Christmas, our postal carrier said to me, "You're keeping me in business with all these packages!"  You're welcome, USPS.  

As usual, Dan was the first one up on Christmas morning.  He and Ben opened their stockings while Zach woke up lazy Hannah.  Then they all ripped into the good stuff under the tree.  I need to hire a professional photographer some year to take staged pictures of the kids opening presents because my efforts were a little sad.  Lots of pictures of shirtless backsides.  Rest assured that they loved everything.  Thank you to everyone who sent presents to us this year!