Nana and Papa's Pre-Easter Fun

We went down to Los Banos to visit Nana and Papa the weekend before Easter.  We had such a nice visit.  Gabriela and Easton spent lots of time with their cousin Andrew.  And Auntie Theresa and I decided that we needed to have a little Easter egg hunt in Nana's backyard.  

Easton, Andrew, and Gabriela lined up with their baskets, ready to go.  Easton knew exactly what to do.  He found the eggs and put them in his little basket right away!

 There were a couple eggs with dollar bills in them, and Easton scored them all.  We saw Gabriela pick one of those eggs up, shake it, and put it back when it didn't make any sounds.  I guess it's no surprise that she ended up with nearly all of the jelly bean eggs. 

 When I see this picture of these two, it reminds me of their egg hunt from two years ago, and how they looked like babies.  How are these kiddos growing so quickly, and why won't they slow down, already???

 Easton had so much fun collecting eggs, he was in for a real treat when he realized that they had fun things like bunny crackers and bunny gummies inside!  Nana's yard was the perfect place to relax and enjoy those goodies.

 After the egg hunt, Uncle Matthew graciously agreed to watch Easton while we went to see Oz with my mom and Auntie Theresa. It was really fun for the kids to see a movie together in the theater.

The next day, while playing outside the kids discovered a lizard.  They had fun checking him out.

 Lane caught him and held him so the kids could have a close look at the lizard and his belly.

 This lizard really wanted attention from the kids, and he sure got it.  He was jumping on them and didn't run away.  Gabriela admired him while he rested for a little bit on her knee.

 But then things got crazy and they decided the lizard needed some outfits, so they started putting flower petals on him.

 And then it was time for a wardrobe change.

 Look at my brave girl! I am so glad she was totally interested in the lizard, curious and brave, instead of scared around him.

 She even stopped so I could take a photo of the lizard after he jumped into Gabriela's hair.  Yeah, I would have freaked out.

Family Fun Night

Nearly every Friday night we try to do something fun together as a family.  We call it Family Fun Night! Sometimes we watch movies or play games, but recently Family Fun Night was actually Family Craft Night. 

Gabriela and I have so many fun projects we want to do together. The only problem is finding the time and digging my sewing machine and supplies out of our monstrous storage closet.  

We decided to make time by designating that Friday craft Friday. Daddy got to work mounting Gabriela's awesome USA map on corkboard while she and I worked on the baby doll diapers we have been talking about for ages. 

After a little while, Gabriela asked if she could use the scissors.  At first I told her no, but then I thought, what the heck! I gave her some small scissors, some pins and a bag of scrap fabric.  Gabriela was so excited to make her own project. She cut out a dress shape, pinned it to the fabric, cut out another, and then we sewed it together.  She felt like such a big girl. 

Just look at her concentration as she sews her dress together.  I love that the shape is uneven -it's totally her design and doing. What is more exciting than that??

Mommy Daughter sewing time!

And here she is, dressing her dolly in her creation.  And, it fits!!

Apparently, we need to hold another Family Craft Night because these baby doll diapers are still not finished.  Here is Gabriela, demonstrating how totally wonderful they will be once Mommy finally finishes them.

I am no expert on the sewing machine, but it is so heartwarming to share that craft with my baby girl.

17 months old

Well, I have been getting behind schedule. 

Easton's new signs last month were elephant, complete with sound effects, gorilla, caterpillar, butterfly, eggs, train, hurt and throw - a made up sign, complete with grunting as he completes his throwing action.  He also made up another sign for outside. He puts his arm straight up in the air and says "Ahh!" Easton does this and walks straight to the front door anytime he wants to enjoy the outdoors.

Easton quickly learned the signs for caterpillar and butterfly over the last month while we had our butterfly habitat and watched the complete transformation.

This little guy loves coloring.   He is always doing his color sign and will sit and concentrate for a very long time coloring at the table.  Easton also learned how to draw circles this month.  He will hold his pencil and draw circles, proudly display his drawings to us, flip the paper over to the other side and start all over again.

He also adores reading books.  Easton's favorites right now are Goodnight Gorilla, Little Gorilla, and From Head to Toe, which has a picture of a gorilla on the front.  I think this our baby boy loves his apes.

This month Easton started doing his "yikes" and "surprise" faces.  I adore when he makes these faces.  He picked up the yikes face all on his own and started making it whenever he'd drop something.  He soon learned his surprise face, and both come in very handy while he is reading Goodnight Gorilla.

And, he will drop everything for a ball.  All bets are off if there is a basketball involved.  Easton loves basketball, and will drop everything at the playground and boldy go up to anyone playing basketball, doing his "please" sign, politely requesting that they immediately turn over the ball to him.  He will stand in front of the hoop, and with all his might (and some sound effects), try to thrust the ball up into the air. It usually goes about an inch or so, but he sure is trying hard. 

This month Easton started jumping.  They are very low jumps when he is on flat ground, but the kid is fearless and will jump off of anything - parts of the playground, cement steps, you name it. He is our little daredevil.

San Jose Discovery Museum

We had some passes to enjoy the San Jose Discovery Museum so we invited Grandma and Grandpa to meet us there for some fun family museum time.  We are so glad they joined us for the day!

Grandma had fun explaining exhibits to Easton

 He got right to work testing things out!

 Gabriela and I built some structures out of giant tinker toys.

 Everyone had fun in the bubble room.

 Grandpa showed off his mad giant bubble making skillz.

 Lane took a go at it too.

 Gabriela was a quick study and may have made the biggest bubbles of all.

Easton watched very carefully while Grandma made some bubbles for him. 

Lane and Gabriela studied the iridescent colors in another giant bubble making section.

 And it was such a beautiful day, we had to enjoy the garden exhibit.  There was digging, painting with water (thank goodness I brought extra clothes for the kids), herb tasting, and lots of admiring of different plants, the bees and their hive, the compost area, and the airplanes.  That's right, it's right over the flight path to the San Jose Airport. There were no complaints from Easton about this!

 We took a little adventure out of the museum around lunch time, where we enjoyed a lovely outdoor meal and a ride on the light rail to get there.  When we returned, Gabriela got busy right away being a firefighter.

 Easton is fascinated by the exhibits that blow the balls up in the air on their own.

 Check out his hair!

 Gabriela did some water color painting.  First she drew with a white crayon though, and then it showed through on her painting. She loved doing this magic trick!

Gabriela and I made a corn husk doll together. She wanted her to have wings and a bow on her dress and in her hair.  As you can see, she was very proud of the end result!

I think Gabriela's favorite parts of the day though were chasing Grandpa around in the 5 and under room.  They played chase and hide and seek in there forever!  And, let's not forget about getting ice cream!  What a treat, thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

We hadn't been to this museum since before Gabriela was two years old. It was so much fun to return with Easton, and to enjoy it all with Grandma and Grandpa.  What a fun day!