Family Trip

We went to Disneyland! (Well, we spend most of the time at California Adventure Park.) We were there for 3 days. 

The kids always have fun in the hotel room. Samuel sleeps in a pack and play, and Elena slept on a crib-sized inflatable bed. For the first time in a looong time, Jorge and I had the bed to ourselves all night.

Both kids love to play on the bed. Jorge wrestled with Samuel for a long time. 

Samuel takes this stance every time I ask him where something is. I love it. I can ask him for something that's close to him, and he'll still bend way over and twist his head to look. 

Naps are the hardest part of being at a theme park all day. The middle day he only took one super short nap, and he was pretty fussy, but the next day was a lot better.

We were there on St. Patrick's Day.

 

 

On the choo-choo train

 

 

 

Thank goodness for the baby care centers! Spoons, microwaves, highchairs, changing tables . . . love them.

 

The kids loved playing in the water. I didn't think to take their bathing suits to the park, so when Elena's clothes started getting wet we took her clothes off, except her underwear. That worked for awhile until a worker told us she needed clothes on . . . so we ended up putting Samuel's stretchy shorts on her since I had extra pants in the diaper bag for him, and she put her shirt back on. Next time I'll definitely take bathing suits.

 

I'm hoping to take them again soon, before it gets ridiculously hot and miserable.

Two Fun Kids

Here's a quick re-cap of our last few weeks:

Elena had Superhero Night at Pioneer Club. She was super-cute, but she is very shy so when we walked into the sanctuary where all of the groups meet, she began to cry. I think she felt pressure to go onstage in her costume in front of a big group of people (even though she didn't have to). So she ended up taking off her mask and that helped her feel better, and then when I picked her up she didn't have her cape on either. I'm glad I got these pictures of her before we went there.

 

Samuel has little curls on the back of his head. That's how Elena's curls started, too.

He gives kisses now.  I love them, but he's not always willing.

The weather has been nice. This picture is of the kids playing with water beads in the backyard. They both love them, but they're really bouncy, so not ideal for indoors unless you want to be finding them in random places for the next week. The downside to playing with them on the lawn is that Samuel will drop or spill them and then he'll get upset that there are some between the blades of grass, so I spend a lot of time gathering the ones he would point out to me.

Here they're playing with foam blocks. Samuel gets focused on putting the cylinders through the holes, and when he's concentrating he opens his mouth really wide.

Coloring with creamy crayons. 

Elena was drawing different shapes, then she would ask me about them. "Does that look like a heart? Does that look like a carrot?"

This was Samuel's first time using the creamy crayons, and he really enjoyed it.

He had stopped coloring, so I asked him if he was all done. This was his response.

So then he colored some more. This was his finished product.

Then Elena and I did a little experiment with shaving cream. She's so much fun.

Samuel's talking more and he has such a fun personality. And Elena's so creative with her play, it's amusing to see where her imagination takes her. 

As exhausting as the days can be, Jorge and I get in bed and smile while we talk about the things the kids have been doing.

Say What?

Samuel is talking more and more. I love this stage! It's so much fun to see his speech take off and to communicate more with him.

(Note: The videos don't work in emails, they only play on the blog website.)

Samuel saying his favorite word, "Daddy"

 He loves making animal noises. So far he'll do elephant, duck, dinosaur, lion, seagull, and owl. 

On the swing in the backyard

It's so amazing how quickly they learn. I'm just trying to enjoy it because it passes so fast.

All Croup-ed Up

Our household was finally hit with croup. Elena got it first, and luckily she only had the seal bark-sounding cough the first night, and then it just turned into a regular cold. The doctor said this is because she's older so her airways are larger. She's been sick for 6 days now, poor thing, with constant fevers, a relentless cough, and congestion. Today's the first day I haven't had to medicate her to bring down her fever. Samuel just got sick two days ago, and when I took him to the doctor they gave him one dose of a steroid to decrease the inflammation of his airways. I'm glad because the croup cough sounds so painful. He's doing better, just has a runny nose and a mild cough. He has the immune system of a champion. This is the first time he's really been sick; up to this point he's only had the sniffles a couple times. We're all tired of being stuck at home.

And I'm sick as well, which is no fun. Luckily, it seems like my body is fighting it off. Now I'm just hoping and praying that my babies get well very soon.

Love my Family

My mother-in-law came over to visit yesterday.  It's so funny because Samuel stares at her when he first sees her, I think because Jorge resembles her so much. 

Elena was excited for her to come.

This is not a great picture, but since I'm always the one behind the camera, most of the pictures of the kids don't have me in them. So here I am with Samuel.

I love when the kids play together, or at least close to each other.

 

My little guy, with a mouthful of goldfish.

 

Elena's such a beautiful little girl, inside and out. She's so loving and has a tender heart.

 

At the end of a long day I'm tired, but I get in bed and think about how sweet my babies are, and I'm very thankful.

Noah's Ark

I've been wanting to take the kids to the Noah's Ark Exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center for awhile now, and we finally went. It was awesome!

When we first got to the ark, Elena seemed pretty amazed.

She played with a miniature one for awhile.

The animals were neat.

 

Samuel loved the animals, especially the plush ones he could carry around and put in the little rooms.

 

 

I think this was my favorite part of the exhibit. By cranking the lever you make it rain and then the water level and ark rise up. Elena's doing it here, and Samuel was pretty mesmerized by it. He also liked looking at the lightning that was produced by turning a wheel. 

 

There's also a section where the kids can help build up the side of the ark, and Elena did that for awhile. It was a great afternoon and so much fun for the kids. We'll definitely be going back at some point.