Irvine Regional Park

Today the kids and I went to Irvine Regional Park with some friends. Actually the same friends who went to Disneyland with us. I was surprised how good I felt all day. True I had to snack every hour, but at least I only felt sick right before I had to eat again.

The park is really great. There is a small zoo with indigenous animals and plants. We saw Bobcats, Ocelots, Coyotes, Bears and more. The bears were the best because the kids were eating apples and one of the bears could smell them and came right up to the fence and sat down. He stuck his nose through the links and licked the fence. I wonder if that counts as teasing the animals.

We also got to ride a train around part of the park. Very fun although all the kids were getting a bit sleepy by this time.

Here is Lauren the train conductor. She has a sucker in her mouth.And here is Spencer the almost train conductor. This picture just makes me laugh.The best part for Lauren and Spencer were the pony rides. They got to be Link and Lauren hummed Epona's song while she rode. We had to take turns because I had to guide each pony around as they rode. Lauren went first because I could sense a melt down coming if I made her wait. Spencer didn't mind waiting, especially when I let him take pictures with the camera. Here's his best shot.

My friend sat with Spencer and helped him take at least one good picture of Lauren on the pony. His name was Rocky.

This is what most of Spencer's 20 pictures look like. Nice fingers!

Lauren enjoyed taking Spencer's picture while he rode. His pony was named Dan. They both really liked riding the ponies. Lauren was a little scared at first, but when she felt how slow the pony went she really enjoyed it.

We brought picnic lunches to eat and even found a little playground to spread our fare.

Here is the peacock that invited himself to our lunch. He was not shy at all and sat right behind me and Mindy just waiting to snag some food. He went around eating up all the fruit that the kids dropped in the wood chips.

Latest Sewing Project

Here is the apron I was working on while the kids played Link. It is reversible. I love the pattern and will now have to make one for myself. The print with women shopping on it was just too fun to pass up.

The King of Red Lions

Lauren and Spencer love Windwaker Link. Recently I began some serious knitting and the first projects were Link hats. Now I am supposed to knit green tunics, brown leg warmers/boots, and gray bracers/wrist warmers. You can guess what the Halloween costumes will be this year. I like indulging the children's creativity, though. They come up with such clever, funny adventures to have and props are always helpful on their quests.

Last week I was sewing and the kids decided to go sailing. Lauren's birthday chair became the King of Red Lions, Link's boat in Windwaker. It was so funny listening to them as they played out the game's storyline. Lauren was the leader naturally. Not only is she older, but she is also far more articulate and well versed in the story. She did a great job of sharing with Spencer too. He got to hold the telescope, it was actually a kaleidoscope, and they both had swords and hats. They set sail in the boat after purchasing a sail from me. I got to be the shop keep. It is amazing to me how they have so much fun acting out these games and using whatever objects they can find around the house to be the items they need. As long as they have the authentic hats and swords they are set. The game went on for about two hours and the only scuffle I had to settle was when Spencer accidentally poked Lauren's eye with his sword while on the boat. It was a little cramped for both of them. Soon, though, Spencer will have his own boat. ;) It was so nice to be able to sew for two hours. I only had to stop a few times and sell them potions and heart pieces. As soon as I can I will put up some pictures of my sewing project.

Shots, Knives, and Brotherly Love

No! No one got cut with a knife so this is not about a tetanus shot. Just wanted to clear that up before some grandparents started freaking out.

Today Lauren had her pre-K check up and all the great shots and TB skin test that go with it. On Thursday we go back to have the skin test read and to get some blood drawn and pee into a cup. The fun just doesn't stop. As some of you know, Lauren has a very low threshold for pain and getting shots is very difficult. The skin test was first and, according to Lauren, it hurt the worst. She screamed and then was upset for the other three shots. Spencer became very concerned the minute Lauren got upset and came over to see what was wrong. The look of concern on his face was so sweet. What was even better was how he jumped back from the nurse when she looked at him and tried to pat his head. She was just trying to let him know Lauren would be ok, but he wasn't going to have anything to do with that lady and her needles.

Lauren was fine minutes after the shots so no trauma there. She received several fancy princess stickers for pitching her fit and was quite pleased. We also went and got some ice cream cones afterwards because I don't think I've ever taken the kids out for ice cream cones, I felt bad for Lauren, and I wanted ice cream. The last reason was the most deciding factor I think. While getting the ice cream Lauren said she hoped Spencer gets 5 shots at his doctor's visit next month, so much for sisterly love. Fortunately, Spencer won't be getting any, but I didn't tell Lauren that.

Now on to the knives. I finally used my anniversary present tonight. Yesterday I wanted beef and noodles, but I didn't have the ingredients and I felt too crummy to actually fix the recipe. Today I felt better and I had a tummy full of mint chocolate chip ice cream so I was feeling ready to cook dinner for the first time in 2 weeks. It was amazing! The onion just diced itself practically. It was so liberating to not have to saw the meat into cubes. It literally fell away from my knife blade. The power! Once the morning sickness has completely passed I know that preparing dinner will be one of the most satisfying parts of my day.

Pregnancy update: The morning sickness isn't as bad as it was with Spencer and Lauren. I still feel pretty crummy, but I'm able to eat. I'm slowly losing weight, but nothing like with the other two. I seem to alternate good days and bad days pretty regularly. Nights are awful. Even if I have eaten all day long by the evening I just want to curl up in a ball and die. I hope I have only 3 more weeks of it and then things will look better.

Happy Birthday Lauren

First a montage of Lauren over the years. Five days after she was born she finally got to come home from the hosiptal. She looks so tiny, especially since the outfit is too big for her, but it was just so cute!
First year birthday. That's exactly how you are supposed to eat your cake.
Second birthday. She was very good and didn't attack the cake I tried to make until after the guests arrived. I was very pregnant with Spencer at the time.
Third birthday. This one was celebrated three weeks before we moved to California. Fourth birthday. When in California you might as well celebrate at least one birthday at Disneyland. . .but just one.

It wasn't just Lauren's birthday yesterday. When she was born she had to be transferred to a NICU at a different hospital and Ben bought a guardian frog for her to keep her company. His name is Ribbity and we celebrated his birthday yesterday. Above are the presents Lauren made for Ribbity. She hid them about a week and a half ago in anticipation of his birthday. Below is the gift Ben and I got for Ribbity.

Here we have Ben's gift to Lauren. It's a Wii game called Link's Crossbow Adventure. It's supposed to increase her hand eye coordination. Right now it's kind of tricky for her, and for me. Ben really likes it.
This is the chair Grandma Snow made. Grandpa Snow furnished the materials. It is a huge hit and so far the kids are sharing nicely. I believe we can all guess what Spencer's birthday present will be and I say his birthday can't come too soon.

Here is a dress and little pendant from Grandma and Grandpa Stanley. Lauren loves the dress and necklace. She also decided to ham up the photo.

Grandma and Grandpa Stanley sent many gifts, but the favorite was the play foam set. It's pretty weird feeling stuff and the kids love it. Spencer's favorite present is the little microphone and speaker set. He likes anything that is loud.

Lauren celebrated her birthday at Fuddruckers last night. She, Spencer, and Ben loved it. I barely survived. After dinner we picked up the last present. This was my gift, a Betta fish. We initially thought a goldfish would be good, but then Lauren say the blue Betta and said that was her fish. He looks kind of redish in the light here. She is going to help feed him and clean out his bowl. Hopefully he will have a long and happy life.

For the record, here are Lauren's 5 year favorites.

Song - Book of Mormon Stories, Follow the Prophet, Puff the Magic Dragon

Food - hot dogs, broccoli, ham, macaroni and cheese, chicken pot pie, french fries

Color - blue

Game - Super Smach Brothers Brawl, Windwaker

Character - Pit from SSBB

Cartoon - Danger Rangers

Plant - rose

Animal - blue bird, lion, penguins

Day - Christmas and her birthday

Daddy activity - playing the frog game, oddly the kids won't play this game with me it's strictly for them and their daddy