Our Life Is A Circus

November 14, 2010

2010-11-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

You would never know it was the middle of November, today the weather was amazing. Almost 70 degrees on the beach this morning - blue sky, not a cloud in sight.

Of course, the second I tried to take a photo of Mr. Stubborn mule Jonathan this is what he did....

....but then I told him that I would swing him off the rocks unless he cooperated...

The last couple of days Ben's wanted to watch his skateboard movies, so, on the way home, we stopped at the skate park in Scotts Valley for him to get back on his board. I think he'd forgotten how hard it really is to skate. It took him a while to get his confidence. We really should try to go to the skate park more often, I'm pretty sure once he's been a few times and watched the other kids he'll be more inclined to skate down the bigger ramps/bowls.

Of course, not to be left out, Jonathan took his scooter....

November 13, 2010

2010-11-15T20:57:00.000-08:00

Today was Ben's final soccer game of the season....the undefeated Wild Coyotes won (again!) 3-1. We are the champions.

November 12, 2010

2010-11-15T20:35:00.000-08:00

Lexington School was closed for Teacher In Service Day....after a somewhat boring (for the boys) morning shopping at the various stores I go to each Friday, which, I have to say they were very well behaved about - granted, they were bribed.....if they were good, they each got a tic tac. I know, totally pathetic bribe, but, the love tic tacs, and it was there idea to "earn" one. Plus, we also went to the library for them to return old books and replace them with new ones.

After unloading all the shopping and lunch Ben wanted to go to the park to ride his bike. I'm still in shock about he new love of bike riding. After all those hours I spent running alongside him trying to teach him how to balance and pedal - after all those tears he shed - and after all the pent up frustration I felt about him not having the confidence - about 2 months ago he takes it upon himself to drag his bike out of the garage and learn to ride - and dammit, he did it.

Of course, not to be outdone, Jonathan also had to take a mode of transport to the park to ride on. Normally he takes his little 3 wheel bike, but halloween weekend, while friends were at our house, Jonathan decided to turn his bike over and show his friends how to fix it. Which meant he pulled out the bolt that held the seat in place. Of course, he cannot remember the special place he put the bolt, and until it's found, the bike is out of service. Therefore, Jonathan took his scooter, which, at first he wanted me to push him on, then he wanted to stand in front of it, walking backwards pulling it along.....finally, he decided he would ride it.

Bill and the dogs met us at the park, and of course, in typical Vizsla fashion, neither dogs were happy about having to sit on a cold concrete floor, and so Jasper decided to hang on to Bill and give him lots of Vizsla kisses.

Yes, Benjamin's hair is indeed red. This morning, he'd asked if he could gel his hair - no problem. But what he forgot to tell me, is he was planning to use the red hair gel ;-)

October 31, 2010

2010-11-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

In typical kid fashion, it took the boys a long time to make a final decision about their halloween costumes. After much online searching Ben thought he had found the perfect costume, a decomposing moster - then - just as I was about to hit "buy" he changed his mind and picked an Evil Emperor. Jonathan switched between Spiderman, Lightening McQueen and Sponge Bob Square Pants. His #1 priority was to not have anything covering his face, we found the perfect Spiderman costume - but then he wasn't sure he'd actually wear it - aaagggggghhhh. Then, the day Ben found the Evil Emperor Jonathan spotted a fire fighter costume - sold!

As in previous years, we went to the Houston's for trick or treating. Keeping up with the big kids wasn't easy, Ben and Bryant wanted to run at top speed from one house to another. At first Jonathan refused to say trick or treat and would only say "thank you" once the candy hit his bag; however, after a few homes he plucked up the courage....knock on the door, door opens "thank you trick or treat"

October 2010 = Soccer

2010-11-04T09:16:00.001-07:00

Ben was very excited to sign up for the Mountain Soccer League (and we were happy to learn the weekly practices are held at Lexington). His team is the Wild Coyotes.

Looking at these photos, it appears Ben is 100% focused on the game, eye on the ball...but...what is missing is the running commentary and action replay he gives every time he has contact with the ball ;-)

November 29, 2009

2009-11-29T21:13:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Ben wrote to Santa....

"Dear Santa,
I have been good most of the time.
I would like an electric guitar, a Wii, a Rubic Cube and a Nerf Football.
I will bake you some cookies.
From Benjamin Ross"

November 28, 2009

2009-11-29T21:06:00.001-08:00

The damned Christmas tree almost ended up thrown over the deck. While Bill cooked Ben and I set about decorating the tree. Ben's job was to hold the lights and walk behind me while I put them on the tree, all was going well, until I realized Ben had been walking in the opposite direction to me and at least half the lights were now tightly wrapped around the tree's trunk. Of course, Bill thought it was hysterical to listen to me bitching and moaning while I untangled the lights.

Ben did a great job putting all the ornaments on the tree...where was Jonathan while all this was going on....hiding behind the sofa repeating over and over again "I no yike the Christmas tree"

November 28, 2009

2009-11-29T20:54:00.000-08:00

Today was the annual trip to the Christmas Tree farm. As always Bill and I have this idea of the 4 of us arriving at the farm, selecting the perfect tree, loading it on the car, and this year, we also added a picnic lunch - and as always - it never happens.

Yes, we did arrive at the farm and set out to find the right tree, Jonathan in his usual stubborn style refused to walk with us and set off down a hill, then argued about walking back up the hill. The more we walked around the farm the more Jonathan whined, Ben, on the other hand, was loving every minute, picking out possible trees. After checking out lots of trees we head back to the first tree.

I had hoped to get a great shot of the Ross "men" stood in front of the tree, Bill stood in position, Ben stood in position, Jonathan had to be bribed (if you don't stand next to the tree you don't get the picnic)

I wanted both boys to point to our tree - well, 1 out of 2 boys doing as they were asked isn't bad....(no clue what Jonathan is pointing at)

Once Bill chopped down the tree he needed help to carry it to the car, Ben held Jonathan's hand to help him over the rough ground - in less than 10 seconds there was tears, Jonathan had fallen over....and he cried.....and cried.....and cried......

Oh, and as for the picnic - even that wasn't a success - it was really windy, Ben complained he was cold, Jonathan got mad because his Pringles blew away....maybe next year we'll have more luck

November 16, 2009

2009-11-29T20:41:00.000-08:00

Tonight after Bill picked up Ben from school he called me...the phone call went something like this...

B: Ben lost his tooth
L: Really, that's great
B: No, he really lost it
L: What do you mean
B: It fell out at school, he had it when he went to the office to pick up a 'tooth box', but by the time he got to the lunch room he'd lost it.

Hmmmm, does that mean the tooth fairy won't come. Ben thought if I took a photo of him and e-mailed it to the tooth fairy she would still leave him some money.

Shower time arrived, while Ben was in the shower I unpacked his backpack, there, at the bottom I found a crumpled box, inside was the tooth.

At bedtime Bill told Ben to not make a sound if he saw the tooth fairy - if he frightened her she may fly away and forget to leave him anything.

Ben put the tooth in a ziploc bag and put it under his pillow....then Bill-who-thinks-tape-fixes-everything had the bright idea to tape the bag to Ben's sheet. Before I went to bed I had the job to play tooth-fairy, you try peeling the tape off a flannel sheet without waking a child who's head is about 3 inches away (let's just say, Bill heard loud and clear that there will be no more taping when the next tooth falls out).

Very early the next morning Ben was wide awake, I went into his bedroom to find him clutching the note from the tooth fairy along with 5 crisp $1 bills - the first thing out of Ben's mouth "hey Mom, she left me a letter and $5, I thought she'd have left me $6 though because I'm 6"

Oh, and Bill said he saw the fairy, well, he saw her wings. At school Ben told his class the tooth fairy came to his house - and, his Dad had seen her.

The Rain Forest Project

2009-11-29T20:31:00.000-08:00

Ben's class is studying rain forest animals. Each child has chosen an animal to research. Ben's animal is the anaconda, we discovered this is possibly one of the least known rain forest creatures - which meant it was a challenge to find any information either online or in books. The grand finale of the unit was each child had to create their chosen animal from modeling clay and also create a habitat for them. Yeah....Ben had chosen a snake, so much easier for him to make a snake than an eagle (which his best friend had chosen).

The snake was made in 2 parts, firstly Ben modeled the clay, then it was left overnight to dry. The next day he set to work painting the anaconda. Who knew making an anaconda was dangerous work, not only did Ben insist on wearing his painting smock, but he also "needed" protective eye gear.

Of course, if Ben has homework, Jonathan also insists on doing homework too

Halloween 2009

2009-11-29T20:17:00.000-08:00

Halloween started a day early, Ben's school had a huge halloween celebration. 10:30am there was a halloween parade. Each class took a turn to parade around the playground, not sure if Ninja Ben was happy we were there to watch him or if he was totally embarrassed.

Halloween night we went to the Houston's. The boys had a blast, running from house to house...but, just like last year, there was one house that scared them to death. Both Ben and Bryant pretended to be brave, and walk up to the door, but, the whole time they were looking over their shoulder as to what might jump out at them. What you can't see in this photo is the scary movie the homeowner was playing on a screen, complete with scary noises

Jonathan loved the night, (even though we thought he would never put his costume on, it took both Bill and I to force him into the skeleton suit) he was very confident walking up to each house, knocking on the door; although he refused to say "Trick or Treat" he did always say "thank you" when the homeowner put candy in his bag.

October 23 - 25, 2009

2009-11-29T20:01:00.000-08:00

It was my 40th birthday weekend. Our wonderful friends Bev and Arnold invited us to spend the weekend with them at their vacation home in Fiddletown. What an amazing surprise when we arrived at their home to learn, Bill and I would not be staying at their cabin, instead we would stay at the guest cottage of their friend and the boys and dogs would spend 2 nights with Bev and Arnold. It was perfect...Bill and I were across the street, we spent the days as a family of 4, but could relax each night in peace and quiet - no kids yelling, no dogs taking up all the room in the bed.

The boys didn't need the backpacks of toys and books - they had so much fun digging in the dirt, searching for acorns, pretending to make traps for the coyotes.

Saturday we headed to a local pumpkin farm - complete with corn maze (albeit a somewhat flattened maze thanks to a recent wind-storm). Ben decided to lead the way, he loved to know we were all following him, but, what he didn't know was Bill had hid behind some of the corn - the look on Ben's face was priceless when Bill started shaking the corn stalks, Ben really thought there was a "monster" lurking in the maze. When he found out it was Dad he wasn't sure whether to be relieved or mad.

Although the week earlier we'd bought the pumpkins we'd carve, we did pick out some mini-pumpkins to take home.

Saturday night Bev and Arnold had arranged a pizza party. Bill was head pizza chef with Ben as his Sous Chef.

Before leaving on Sunday morning, we all took a walk - it was definitely the best 40th birthday I could have ever had.

October 20, 2009 - Field Trip, San Francisco Academy of Science

2009-10-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

Today was field trip #4, this time we headed North to the San Francisco Academy of Science. As usual I had 5 crazy, loud, excited 6-year olds in my car. I am happy to say, all the kids were great, they all stayed together, didn't get too distracted, somewhat followed directions. We only had 1 casualty...at lunchtime a girl thought rocking on her chair would be fun - that was until the chair went over backwards and she ended up with a bloody lip. As she's laid on the floor in complete shock because what we had warned her would happen actually did, Caid, Ben's best friend asked me "is she dead?"

We started off in the Rain Forest Exhibit, which all the kids loved. The butterflies were amazing - so beautiful.

Then it was down to the aquarium...

By the end of the trip I could have fallen asleep stood up, but, it was all worth it - the kids had a blast.

October 18, 2009

2009-10-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

After walking the dogs on the beach we headed to "dino" park (we hoped if Jonathan ran around for a couple of hours he would tire himself enough to take a nap - we failed in that mission).

Benjamin has not shown any interest in his skateboard for a few months, but today he wanted to take it to the park

Of course, everything Ben does, Jonathan needs to copy....

We also took Ben's bike to the park, once he'd done a few laps with it, Jonathan decided he should take a turn. He has no idea he's not big enough to ride a bike "I can do it myself"

After playing soccer it was time for the swings. Today was the first time Jonathan had sat on a big-kid swing, and he LOVED it, not in the slightest bit scared. He squealed with delight and shouted "higher, higher"

Ben; however, takes after me, he knows there is a chance everything could pose a possible danger "Mom, don't push me too high..."

October 16, 2009

2009-10-16T21:18:00.001-07:00

Tonight was Movie Night at Lexington School. You would never have thought at the beginning of the week we had the worst October storm in over 40 years - the weather was perfect....warm, not a cloud in the sky....

It was a joy to arrive at school and watch Ben immediately run off to play with his friends. It's hard to believe he's been at the school less than 2 months.

The proceeds of tonight's event will help pay for the 4th and 5th graders Science Camp - the kids were busy selling glow in the dark bracelets, cakes, cookies, popcorn, pizza, etc.

We thought the movie was Toy Story, but it turned out to be Monsters vs. Aliens - a typical animated movie.

Ben watched the entire movie, almost glued to the screen the entire time. Jonathan was glued to it until he ran out of popcorn, then he was more interested in standing on his chair and trying to tip it over.

Both boys were exhausted by the time the credits rolled.

September 13, 2009 - Playtime after apple picking

2009-09-13T19:47:00.001-07:00

After apple picking we headed to the picnic area. Once we'd eaten lunch the boys played, and played, and played.

September 13, 2009 - Gizdich Ranch

2009-09-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

Today we went apple picking at Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville.

We got completely carried away and ended up picking 29lbs of apples!

September 12, 2009 - The Joys of Boys

2009-09-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

Leave 2 boys to entertain themselves for a few minutes and this is what happens - who needs toys when you can wrestle on the sofa....

September 11, 2009

2009-09-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

Today's was Ben's field trip, in a moment of madness I'd volunteered to be a driver/chaperone. I ended up with 5 very noisy boys in my car (and another Mom). The trip was to ride on CalTrain to Palo Alto, go to a park for lunch/play, then the train back to the station. The night before we did a search online to check where the station was located, I quickly glanced at the directions and was pretty sure where we had to go - big mistake. We ended up at the Santa Clara Station, when we should have been at San Jose. Ooooops. Turn the car around, head over to the right station, lots of parking spaces (good sign), where was the machine to pay for parking? I was told it was in the station - OK - no problem - every machine I tried was broken, panic is setting in, this is my first field trip, I can't miss it. I finally found a working machine, went outside to join the kids - no kids. I ran to a train, wrong train, it was going to Los Angeles. Then another Mom ran to me - quick Lucy - the train is leaving - follow me. Not a good start to the trip.

Once on the train you wouldn't believe the noise level, 2 classes of very excited 6 year-olds, already some of the parents looked frazzled.

Trying to take a photo of Ben was almost impossible, he thought when I put the camera to my eye it meant he had to hide, pull a goofy face - you name it, he did it. Out of the close to 100 photos I took, these are the only OK ones - and even those aren't great.

Once in Palo Alto we walked a couple of blocks to a beautiful park. There was a great climbing wall, which Ben (with help from a Dad) managed to climb up.

I was terrified one of my 5 kids would wander off, and I soon learned trying to watch them all was impossible. Time for lunch, we walked to the picnic area - the sound level decreased dramatically (even if it was only for about 5 minutes while the kids munched on lunch). Back to the play area for an hour. Then it was time to leave, but before we left we had to do a final bathroom break. You have no idea how much fun a public bathroom is - almost every boy came out soaked - washing hands meant throwing water at each other. Not to mention, herding the kids from the furthest area of the playground to the bathrooms meant they had to stop at each climbing frame/rocker/spinning bars - aaaggghhh.

Back at the station the teachers produce lollipops for all the kids - very smart - kept the little people busy for a few minutes. Of course, the train was running a little late and as one of the teacher's said, 5 minutes for a tired 6-year-old is like an hour. Oh, they did all find one area to entertain themselves. Between the 2 ticket machines each kid insisted on sniffing the disgusting smell where the homeless people pee.

Back at school, I didn't realize how tired I was until my kids were back with the teacher. I don't know how teachers do it.

September 7, 2009

2009-09-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Shoreline to the kite flying park. When we arrived we only saw one kite - and that was wrapped around a lamp-post - not a good sign. We attempted to get our kites in the air - and failed in our mission, so we decided to take a picnic lunch break then try again later. It worked. The wind picked up, we managed to get not 1, not 2, but 3 kites in the air!!!

Of course at one point there was only Bill and I flying the kites, Ben was laid on the blanket whining that he was too tired to stand up and fly a kite, and Jonathan refused to go anywhere near the kite. After threatening that the 2 of them could go to the car and sit by themselves they decided maybe they should start to have fun.

When the boys were stood next to each other I asked them to point and show me where the kites were....notice they're both pointing in completely different directions.

September 6, 2009

2009-09-07T15:39:00.000-07:00

Each morning this weekend we've taken the dogs to the reservoir, which is now almost completely dry. This is good news for the boys...there's lots of sticks and rocks to play with.

September 4, 2009

2009-09-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

Jonathan agreed to help me wash my very dirty car - which he loved doing. He started off using a cloth, then decided it was more fun to cover his hands in bubbles and wipe them over the car.

Time to rinse he insisted on holding the hosepipe, yes, I also got soaked as he turned towards me (hosepipe in his hand) to say "look at me Mom".

This is what I got when I asked him to say "cheese" - next time I'll be more explicit in my request "say cheese with your eyes open"

August 29, 2009

2009-08-30T20:30:00.001-07:00

Today was the last day for Ben's summer soccer program - and also probably one of the hottest days of the year.

Even though each week he moans and groans about getting ready for soccer, once he's there he has a blast - I think it's the thought of having to pull on his socks and shin guards that makes him not want to go.

Of course, Jonathan also wanted to play soccer, and in typical Jonathan fashion, as soon as I tried to take a photo he sat on the ball and looked very serious.

After soccer Ben wanted to show off his tree climbing skills.

August 26, 2009

2009-08-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

The day has finally arrived, Ben starts 1st grade. He's gone from very excited about starting a new school, to getting more and more nervous as the big day arrived.

Ben looked so grown up leaving the house, with his backpack

He got out of the car looking very apprehensive, but trying very hard to look cool, calm and collected.

He was the first kid at school (for his class), which worked out great, he got to find his name-tag and hang up his backpack.

...and then check out his classroom. Of course Jonathan was right with Ben the whole time, he even insisted on taking a backpack to school.

Wednesday is a half day at school, I'd taken the day off work so I could meet him from school. He came out of his class looking shell-shocked, we checked out the clubhouse - which was completely overwhelming to him. It had been a long morning for Ben - so many new things and he didn't know any of the other kids. In the car he was quiet....he eventually told me what the problem was - and it was my fault. Apparently every single other kid at school had taken a snack for morning recess, except Ben (I had no idea he was supposed to have a snack). When I said "I don't think every kid took one, because some of the kids from his class didn't even have a backpack with them" his response "NO MOM, EVERY KID HAD A SNACK" - ooooops.

The next day I made sure he not only had a snack with him, but he got to pick what he would have - he chose a peanut granola bar...it was packed in his lunchbox along with his lunch. Thursday night "Ben, did you eat a snack at morning recess" "yes" "did you have the granola bar" "nope, I ate my sandwich instead" - aaaggghhh, so, that meant, for lunch he had a granola bar, a Go-Gurt and a box of raisins.

August 19, 2009

2009-08-19T19:24:00.001-07:00

Out of everything we grew from seed this year, the sunflowers were the most successful. Tonight we decided to take photos, in order to see how big the sunflowers grew we had the boys stand next to them. Benjamin cooperated 100%

Jonathan, on the other hand....

...screamed the entire time "no, I no yike sunfwowers"

August 16, 2009

2009-08-16T17:14:00.001-07:00

Today we went strawberry picking. We met up with friends from school, Bryant and Lleyton. The weather was perfect, warm, sunny, and a slight breeze. The farm was wonderful, rows and rows of strawberries - and an amazing view of the ocean.

Jonathan ate more than he picked, he thought once he'd filled his basket it was time for a snack.

August 15, 2009

2009-08-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

Today was Francis' 2nd birthday party. Both boys had a blast, playing, jumping, eating.....

August 11, 2009

2009-08-16T17:09:00.000-07:00

OUCH!Tonight after Ben's shower he ran from the bathroom, slipped and fell. From the amount of blood we thought he'd lost his front teeth (be careful what you wish for, on the way home from school he'd said "I wish my teeth would fall out") - luckily his teeth were intact, but his nose and top lip wasn't. One thing we learned from this....popsicles cure anything ;-)

August 9, 2009

2009-08-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

Today we hit the beach, not only to walk the dogs, but also to spend a couple of hours sat on the sand relaxing while the boys played.

August 8, 2009

2009-08-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Somehow I don't think Jonathan will be potty trained anytime soon, he did ask to use the potty today, didn't want to sit on it but stand up like Benjamin. He stood.....and stood......and stood....nothing happened, then, the second he moved away from the toilet he peed on the bathroom floor.

We thought if he saw his big boy undies it might encourage him to want to wear them....which worked, he wanted to wear them, but sadly, not on his bottom.

August 8, 2009

2009-08-16T16:58:00.000-07:00

Our weekly dog walking trip to the beach.....

August 4, 2009

2009-08-04T20:34:00.001-07:00

Tonight was our Community Family Night Out. The boys were very excited at the thought of getting up close and personal with various emergency vehicles, of course, as soon as we arrived Jonathan decided he was "scared" and refused to even look at the fire trucks. Ben, on the other hand, loved it.

We really hope this is the only time Ben sees the back of a cop car....

Here he is in a bullet-proof vest, which weighed about as much as he does.

August 4, 2009

2009-08-04T20:30:00.001-07:00

Today was Costume Day at school. Ben was Darth Vadar meets Batman, he wore his Darth Vadar costume from halloween 2008 and added a Batman bandana for creative effect. This was one of the few mornings we haven't had to nag him to get dressed, as soon as breakfast was over he immediately brushed teeth, let me sunscreen him (without complaint) and stepped into his costume.

Although Jonathan would have fitted into his 2008 halloween costume a fleece turtle costume is way too hot to wear in August, so, he wore one of Ben's hand-me-down costumes. Considering he normally wears clothes aged 18-24 months he has lots of growing room fro his age 3 Superman costume. Oh well, he didn't care, he was very proud to be a superhero for the day.

August 3, 2009

2009-08-03T20:35:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when you leave a 2 year-old alone for a couple of minutes. Jonathan was sat at the dining table, drawing pictures, I thought he was safe, I left him alone to get his clothes ready for school and came back to this.

August 2, 2009

2009-08-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took the pirate ship to the pool (one of Ben's birthday presents), the boys didn't play with it as much as we'd expected, instead, the bigger kids at the pool were almost fighting over who would ride on it - it actually lasted 1 1/2 trips to the pool, which was more than we expected.

Within the last couple of weeks, after much persuasion, Jonathan now loves the pool, he know when we arrive he gets to eat a snack (we normally arrive immediately after he has woken up from his nap), then he puts his swim suit on and goes in the water.

Ben is still our water boy, we have to almost drag him out of the pool. When it's time to leave we give him a 5 minute warning, which usually ends up being closer to 10 minutes, and even then he slowly makes his way out of the pool, moaning and groaning the whole time about how he really wants to stay just another 5 minutes.

July 25, 2009 - Ice Skating Party

2009-07-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

Today was Ben's birthday party, it was a HUGE success, everyone, including the parents had a great time. The party was at San Jose Ice Arena, where the San Jose Sharks practice (ooooooh!)

All the kids and parents skated, despite this been the first time on the ice for all the kids, they all did a great job, they were fearless. In no time most of them were zipping around the ice. Ben wore his ice-hockey jersey (even though it's an adult size)

Even Mom managed to wobble on the ice (what you can't see in this photo is I'm holding on to a pile of upturned buckets for balance)

The birthday cake (courtesy of Safeway) was Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Notice Jonathan's little face watching Ben blowing out the candles.

Jonathan had a blast at the party (even though he didn't skate), one of the highlights for him was the cake.

Notice the band aid on his finger, that was the only casualty - before the kids even got on the ice, they were all running around the party room in their skates. One of Ben's friends accidently stepped on Jonathan - he ended up with a gash the size of the skate blade - ouch. Amazingly, Jonathan got over it within a couple of minutes; unfortunately, Ben's friend was heartbroken, it took a lot of hugs from his Dad before he would calm down.

July 23, 2009

2009-07-23T20:31:00.001-07:00

Happy birthday to you
Squashed tomatoes and stew
Bread and butter in the gutter
Happy birthday to you

Well, I won't be giving up my day job, cake decorating is not for me....

Oh well, who cares what the cake looked like, it tasted sweet and completely unhealthy - just like a cake should...

July 23, 2009

2009-07-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

Today was a sad day.....the last day Ben will "Walk Around the Sun" at school. He picked out his best friends to help set up the sun, then (because he was the birthday boy) he turned of the lights (which apparently is a huge deal when you're 6 years-old, then everyone sang the song while Ben walked.....Benjamin walks around the sun, around the sun, around the sun, Benjamin walks around the sun and now he's 6 years old.

Before he blew out the candle he had to say something he wanted to achieve now he's 6 - his response "to practice riding a 2-wheeler", then I had to say something (which I managed to do without crying), I said we are all very proud of Benjamin and we will always love and support him. Then it was time to blow out the candle.

Last night we had to bake cupcakes for all the kids at school - all 75 of them - it took forever, but was worth it in the end.

Ben helped hand out the cupcakes (he gave himself 2).

Before the kids can eat, they have to wait for the teacher to say "bon appetite, now you may eat"....I was amazed watching Jonathan waiting patiently.

July 22, 2009

2009-07-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

The eve of Ben's birthday, once he was in bed we started to set up all the presents on the dining table. The plan was for Ben to wake up on his birthday and have a pile of presents waiting for him. Like all great plans - it failed. About 15 mins after Ben had gone to bed he decided he needed to get up (no clue why), then he saw the presents.....so....he opened everything a day early.

Jonathan also got a present from Nana and Poppa

Oh, and what did Ben like the best.....a musical birthday card.

July 13, 2009

2009-07-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

We thought Jonathan was fully recovered from the croup - wrong - 5 minutes into the drive to school he started coughing, by the time we got to downtown Los Gatos he'd thrown up 3 times....I turned the car around and headed back up the hill towards home.

Once he was cleaned up he was fine, but, he couldn't go to school - so - we had an impromptu stay at home day.

Last week at school the boys had made pine cone bird feeders - so - during a walk in the woods with Bill, Benjamin found an armful of pine cones. I added strings to them and the boys painted them with peanut butter and stuck bread to them.

The dogs were very interested in the project....

Jonathan was very proud of his pine cone (yes, that is peanut butter on his shirt)

Once they were done we hung them on the nectarine tree.

We filled the pool with water and added a bottle of baby wash - the boys had a blast playing in the bubbles and having bubble fights.

July 11, 2009

2009-07-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

With 2 boys, you never know what the day will bring. Jonathan has been sick since Wednesday night, yesterday a trip to the pediatrician confirmed croup - talk about a scary illness, we really thought we'd be taking a trip to ER. He was miserable, barking cough and a rough time breathing. He spent hours and hours sat on the sofa feeling sorry for himself.

Thankfully Benjamin didn't come down with the illness. This morning as I emptied the washing machine I heard "hey Mom, check it out", I turned around to find this....Ben had been transformed into a Ninja, complete with underpants on his head. Yes, his shorts and T-shirt are both on backwards.

Rika

2009-07-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

Sunday at the beach Rika had a blast chasing and retrieving the ball for Ben, I managed to snap a great photo of her, which is a first. Normally getting a good shot of the dogs running is close to impossible, not only are they extremely fast, but, they don't run in a straight line, they're all over the place. of course, I've yet to be as successful with Jasper.

July 5, 2009

2009-07-05T19:55:00.001-07:00

Because the pool was closed yesterday, we decided to go today. Once we were signed in Ben immediately jumped in the water.

It was a first, I had to force him to have lunch (normally he starts asking at 10am how many hours it is until lunchtime), he didn't want to get out of the water. Jonathan on the other hand had no interest in getting wet, he was very happy to sit in his deck chair and eat lunch.

Even though each time he was asked if we wanted to go swimming he replied "no", we did manage to get him in the pool for a couple of minutes (which he was not happy about). I was surprised how miserable he was in the water, normally he loves water.

Even after we gave Ben a 10 minute warning before we had to leave, we still had to almost drag him out of the pool. He had so much fun, as we walked to the car he said "Mom, thanks, that was the best surprise ever".

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

2009-07-05T19:51:00.001-07:00

We're going on another Ross family adventure....

We headed to the beach with the dogs. Ben insisted on taking the "throwy thing" for the dogs, which Rika was very happy about, she loves when Ben throws the ball for her.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

2009-07-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

After walking the dogs at the reservoir we had planned to spend a couple of hours at the pool, but, the pool was closed today (which we couldn't believe, what community pool closes on July 4th)

Instead, we made a picnic and headed to one of the local parks.

After lunch was playtime...

Golfland July 3, 2009

2009-07-03T19:04:00.001-07:00

Ben has been nagging to go to Golfland, today we told him we had errands to run, Safeway, etc., he was moaning and groaning about it, little did he know, we'd planned a trip to Golfland.

Jonathan had no clue what we were doing, all he knew was he had to wait for his turn while holding a 'stick'

When it was Jonathan's turn Bill tried to help him, "no, I do it myself"

Thankfully we only signed up for 18 holes - it took close to 2 hours to get around the course, it was a long 2 hours - "Jonathan, stop throwing the ball....no Ben, wait until it's our turn....do you really need to go to the bathroom now....Jonathan, stop throwing the ball....I think the ball went behind that bush....Jonathan, stop throwing the ball"

At the end of the course we had planned (as another surprise for Ben) for Bill and Benjamin to spend an hour at the water park and go down the water slides, but we discovered, Bill could not go down each slide with Ben, nor could he wait in the pool for him to come down each slide...and the slides are big, very tall, and fairly fast. We told Ben it would be better to wait until next year, and instead we went to the amusement arcade.

Date with Ben - June 27, 2009

2009-06-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I had a date with Ben. We headed to Shelley's house, while Shelley cut my hair Ben played in her pool - which he loved.

Then the 3 of us grabbed a bite to eat before heading to an ice hockey game. Matt, Shelley's son, had a 6pm game. He gave Ben one of his old hockey shirts, which Ben wore with pride.

Fun in the Sun - June 27, 2009

2009-06-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

Today it was hot, hot, hot. As soon as we were home from the beach I filled the pool for the boys to play. Of course, Ben decided to be stubborn and refused to set foot outside, instead stood watching from the living room. Turns out he didn't want to wear sunscreen. After a lot of persuasion he agreed to join in the water fun and ventured outside (with a sunscreened body).

Jonathan is just like Ben - loves water - as soon as he saw Ben put his face in the water, he had to copy.

Lunchtime was a picnic outside....followed by more water play.

Ben and Jonathan - the Gardeners

2009-06-25T19:32:00.001-07:00

Poppa, I think Ben and Jonathan are the winners of the gardening competition. The cherry tomatoes have started to grow (yes, they're still very small and green, but, they're growing).

Tonight when Ben inspected the plants he discovered pea pods on several of the plants...I think that means we're the winners.

June 23, 2009 - Crazy Hair Day

2009-06-23T19:30:00.001-07:00

Today at school it was Crazy Hair Day. Benjamin planned his "style" several days in advance, he wanted to look like a lion (but with very short hair it was a tricky request). I wasn't sure if Jonathan would cooperate, but once he saw Ben's hair he requested "Mom, Jon-than's turn, blue hair".

June 20, 2009

2009-06-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

The boys love their doggies, between the 2 dogs Rika loves the boys the most. She's always willing to be hugged and loved by them

Jonathan the Helper - June 13, 2009

2009-06-14T19:41:00.001-07:00

Jonathan is always willing to help around the house. He goes around the house picking up anything he finds on the floor and throws it away, he cleans up his toys when he's finished playing with them, he helps with laundry. He insisted on emptying the washing machine and putting everything in the dryer "no Mommy, I do it, by myself".

Water Sprinkler Fun - June 7, 2009

2009-06-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

Today after re-planting a fruit tree and a couple of bushes we turned on the water sprinkler. Ben immediately ran and put on his bathing suit.

Jonathan being the stubborn boy he is insisted on staying fully clothed to play in the water.

Rania's Birthday Party - June 6, 2009

2009-06-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we were at Rania's 4th birthday party. The boys got to wear party hats....

As always, they both enjoyed the food...

Jonathan refused to join the other kids hitting the pinada, instead he watched from the sidelines with Daddy

Bug Hunting - 6/6/09

2009-06-07T13:38:00.001-07:00

While Bill and I worked outside, the boys were bug hunting - they found lots of caterpillars, roly-polies and worms

Pizza Party - 5/30/09

2009-05-31T06:39:00.000-07:00

Last night we were at Bev and Arnold's pizza party. Bill was the chef for the night (which he LOVED), you can't beat an outdoor pizza oven - da best pizza!

I got kisses from Jasper (I actually think he was trying to lick off any pizza sauce I might have missed with my napkin)

Fred and Mindy brought homemade ice-cream - yum!

Kite Flying - May 25, 2009

2009-05-25T15:45:00.001-07:00

Today we went to Shoreline in Mountain View to the kite flying park. We took a picnic and a selection of kites, we arrived to bright blue sky, warm weather and not a gust of wind. Bill tried to get one of the kites to fly, failed, so we had an early picnic lunch...

After lunch we tried kite flying (again), it sort-of worked, the kite stayed up for maybe a couple of minutes. In our defense, even the avid kite-flying-club (a very odd bunch of guys who take kite flying way too seriously) had trouble today and complained of the lack of wind.

Ben tried very hard to keep the kite in the air...

Jonathan found the business of kite-flying boring, but, he did find a patch of dirt to play in...

Lexington Reservoir - May 2, 2009

2009-05-24T14:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning we took the dogs to Lexington Reservoir, the ground was covered in thousands of baby frogs...today we decided to go back (and stay longer). Ben thought it would be a good idea to take a net - for two reasons, firstly if a coyote came up to him he would put the net over it's head, and secondly, he wanted to try to catch frogs.

Both boys had so much fun playing with their nets in the water

Ben caught lots of frogs and tadpoles, sadly, one tadpole "drowned"

Jonathan loved the mud, the water, watching the dogs....

Ben's got a great arm, he's way better than I am at throwing sticks for the dogs

The dogs loved it too - even Jasper swam for sticks!

Time for birthday presents....

2009-05-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

Closely following birthday cake, presents are the second best thing about birthdays.....

Happy 2nd Birthday Jonathan

2009-05-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

Bill amazed me with his new talent...cake decorating, yes, Bill decorated Jonathan's cake, it was supposed to say "Happy Birthday Jonathan", but he ran out of room

I'm not quite sure what Jonathan's thinking in this photo - it's either "Mom, please stop singing, you have a terrible voice" or "take the damned candle out of the cake, I want to eat"

Here's the birthday boy, enjoying chocolate cake with mint choc chip ice-cream....

Birthday Celebration @ Buca di Beppo

2009-05-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

We began Jonathan's 2nd birthday celebration on May 17th. We had dinner at Buca di Beppo - the boys loved it....we started with pizza....

....followed by chicken carbonara...

...followed by cake. The waiter brought out the cake and candles, everyone in the restaurant sang happy birthday. The second the candles were removed Jonathan picked up his fork and started eating, at which point Ben said "Mom, is all that cake just for Jonathan or do we all get some?" (yes, we all shared it)

May 17, 2009 - enjoying the warm weather

2009-05-18T20:38:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful day, enjoying the warm weather.....started off walking the dogs on the beach, followed by a trip to a beautiful park in Santa Cruz. Once home we filled the pool with water, the boys put on their bathing suits for a couple of hours of water fun.

Ben immediately jumped in the pool (despite the cold water), Jonathan, on the other hand, wasn't as eager. As soon as he got wet "Mom-mee, shorts, all wet, oh no" - the good news, he soon got over the "wet shorts" problem, although he refused to go in the pool.

May 10, 2009 - "Dino" Park

2009-05-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday at the local park.....

Big Boy Bed

2009-04-30T20:37:00.000-07:00

April 26,2009
It was time to move Jonathan to the toddler bed. Bill set up the bed in time for Jonathan's afternoon nap - it took a few minutes for him to settle, but once he fell asleep he slept for almost 2 hours.

Bedtime came, we had made a huge deal of him now having a big boy bed, which he was very proud of. He climbed in by himself, jumped up and down, played with his toys....then it was time to sleep....

Bill settled him down - he did it, he slept all night (and didn't fall out - he waited until his 2nd night in bed to do that!)

April 26, 2009 - Beach

2009-04-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Today we decided to stay longer than usual on the beach so the boys could play. While Bill walked the dogs Ben and Jonathan played in the sand.

Bill had promised Ben he'd play baseball with him - I loved watching the two of them.

Beach - April 25, 2009

2009-04-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

Weekend trip to the beach

Afternoon at the park

2009-04-19T19:29:00.001-07:00

Today the weather was amazing - mid 80s. After Jonathan's nap we headed to one of the local parks. The boys had a blast...they ran, played baseball, basketball, soccer, climbed, played with bubbles, in the sand....ended up sweaty, dirty and stinky - just like boys should.

Local Community Egg Hunt

2009-04-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

Today was the local community Easter Egg Hunt. We started in the community center where there were crafts and games for the kids. Both boys got to decorate a cookie, here's Jonathan enjoying his....

Ben joined in a couple of the games, he actually won a teddy in a musical-chairs-like-game, then he ran in an egg and spoon race, well, he actually walked (looking thoroughly embarrassed the entire time).

Then it was outside for the egg hunt, the boys were in 2 different groups, Jonathan with the pre-K and under and Jonathan with the K through 2nd grade. In typical Ross/Rust fashion, both boys were the slowest at finding the eggs - oh well, they had fun (well, until a branch hit Ben in the nose).

Some of the eggs contained whistles, not sure if that was a good or bad idea - the noise was unbelievable with all the kids blowing their whistles. It didn't take Jonathan long to discover that candy tastes good.

School Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-10T15:24:00.001-07:00

Today was the school Easter Egg Hunt, and the rain held off. This was the first year Jonathan joined Ben for the hunt. We weren't sure Jonathan would know what to do - but he did. As soon as he saw the eggs he starting filling his bag (of course, he's no clue the eggs are filled with candy).

As one of the oldest kids in the school, Ben's class was the last to join the hunt, but, there were plenty of eggs for everyone, it wasn't really a hunt, there were so many eggs it was hard not to stand on them. Ben soon had a bag overflowing with eggs.

This afternoon, while Jonathan napped, Ben opened all the eggs - I can't believe some of the parents, they filled the eggs with cheerios, what were they thinking, what kid wants cheerios in their Easter Eggs (I bet it's the parents that drive the BMWs and Mercedes)

Park

2009-04-05T14:06:00.001-07:00

After the beach we headed to the local park to burn off some more energy....

Beach

2009-04-05T14:04:00.001-07:00

Ben had a sleepover last night with his friend Zach. This morning we headed to the beach, the weather was amazing. 8:30am - and both boys are playing in the ocean in their swim suits!

Home Depot

2009-04-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

This morning Bill took Ben to the monthly kid workshop at Home Depot. He made a wooden bird house. At the workshop the kids receive a free Home Depot apron. Ben, the ever thoughtful big brother decided he wouldn't wear his apron from last month, which meant today he received a second apron - 1 for himself and 1 for Jonathan.

yeah - feeling better

2009-04-04T12:23:00.001-07:00

Yeah, the antibiotics are working - Jonathan is feeling better; although he didn't want to eat breakfast - he does want to play, dance to music, read - it's so nice to have our happy little boy back.

Sick :-(

2009-04-04T12:18:00.001-07:00

Tuesday night was rough, we were up about 10 times with Jonathan. He didn't seem to be sick, so we put it down to teething. Wednesday morning he had a runny nose, again, we thought teething - so off to school we went. Wednesday lunchtime I got a call from school, he was running a 102 fever. Home we came. Wednesday afternoon, all day Thursday and Friday this is where he spent his time - on the sofa, not wanting to play, eat, look at books. Friday morning when I took him to the pediatrician the result was a double ear infection.

The Competition Is On....

2009-03-15T16:53:00.001-07:00

Poppa, the competition is on......our seeds have sprouted, here we have marigolds, sweet william and tomatoes. Yesterday we planted some peppers (doubt they'll grown, I found the seeds packets on the garage floor, chances are they've been there for years). Today we bought broccolli, beans and petunias. Once we've transplanted seeds outside, we'll start the next batch.

So - who's in the lead?

Oh, and when Ben read his letter (which he did almost entirely by himself), his first question was...."so, what's the prize, do you think it will be chocolate?"

Emma Prusch Farm

2009-03-08T19:22:00.001-07:00

Today we went to Emma Prusch Farm in San Jose, it's a very small farm with only a few animals, even so, the boys had fun.

The first thing Ben discovered were the old tractors, which he immediately wanted to climb on, and of course, Jonathan had to copy his big brother.

The first animals we checked out were the chickens and roosters, then we moved on to the barn to look at the cows. Jonathan was OK until a cow started moo-ing, then he wasn't so sure. Ben was brave enough to pet Rusty the cow.

We headed to the other side of the barn to look at the pigs, sheep and goats.

The Naughty Chair

2009-03-01T19:19:00.001-08:00

Dinner tonight was a fight. Jonathan didn't want to eat. So, instead of sending him to his bedroom, we tried a new tactic....the Naughty Chair. Bill positioned the chair in the living room facing the fireplace. Jonathan was sat on it - 2 minutes "jail time" - yes, he wasn't real happy about it, but the tears were really crocodile tears. After about a minute the tears stopped, his back turned to us, swinging his legs....but....he did finish his dinner.

Making a Birthday Cake

2009-03-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Bill's birthday (albeit a day early) we decided to surprise him with a chocolate cake. OK, it wasn't that much of a surprise, I'd pre-warned him we were going to start baking and therefore please stay out of the kitchen, but, as far as Ben was concerned it was a surprise. While it was baking, Ben stood in front of the oven to "hide" the cake, and several time he whispered to me, as quietly as any 5 1/2 year-old can whisper "shhhhhh, Dad doesn't know what's in the oven" - yeah right.

As always, the highlight of the entire process was licking out the bowl...

Tomato Seeds

2009-02-28T11:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I stopped by $1 Store where I found 4 packs of flower and vegetable seeds for $1. Pefect for a science project for the boys. 12 packs of seeds later we headed home.

Today we planted the tomato seeds. I poured the seeds onto a plate, Ben started putting them on the soil, Jonathan thought the seeds were a snack and ate them.

My expectations are low on harvesting any fruit - it will be a miracle if the seeds/plants survive. Between the dogs and the deer, the chance of us picking a tomato is probably zero.

Lexington Reservoir

2009-02-21T12:19:00.001-08:00

This morning, instead of taking the dogs to the beach, we headed to the reservoir. The boys had a blast. Ben went off exploring with Dad and the dogs, they saw a red-tailed hawk while Jonathan and I splashed in the water.

Both boys loved throwing rocks in the water

As we were leaving I spotted a salamander, of course, Ben wanted to hold it.

May The Force Be With You

2009-02-21T12:16:00.000-08:00

Jonathan loves to play with Ben's light sabars - despite them being almost the same size as him. Of course, it usually ends in some kind of sibling rivalry. Notice Rika - she HATES the light sabars, almost as much as she hates the vacuum.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T18:12:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Valentine's Day - Friday, Ben had a Valentine celebration at school. All the kids exchanged cards followed by baking Valentine cookies.

Ben, Jonathan and I baked a chocolate/strawberry cake for Bill.

Tonight, after dinner, Ben tried one of his valentine lollipops (which he didn't like) and Jonathan enjoyed a piece of cake (oh, and once Ben's lollipop had been thrown away, he decided he'd prefer a piece of cake)

Rainy Weather = Painting

2009-02-09T08:26:00.001-08:00

The weekend was grey, dull, rain, blah. We stayed home the entire weekend, actually, we stayed in our jammies most of the weekend (except Bill, who worked hard shoveling and raking wood chips). The boys played, read, crayoned, wrestled, made play-dough monsters and painted.

Jonathan - you're crazy

2009-02-01T13:49:00.000-08:00

Jonathan found Ben's camera in the toy box - and - our little engineer immediately knew what to do with it. He held it up to his eyes (granted it was the wrong way around), said "cheese", pressed the button and took a photo.

Jonathan loves books, I know, most kids like to look at books, but he really loves them. 90% of the time he wanders around the house with a book in his hand, saying "a book, a book, a book", then, he'll sit on the floor next to where we are standing, open his book, and look at each page. The moment we walk away, he picks up the book, moves to our new location, sits down, opens his book, and looks at each page. I was getting the bath ready for the boys, and of course, Jonathan and his book had to follow me.

Water Boys

2009-02-01T13:45:00.000-08:00

Bath-time in the Ross household is always a very noisy and very wet (for the entire bathroom and Mom) affair. Both boys LOVE water, they would stay in the bath until the water is cold - and still say it was warm and could they stay longer. The only part Jonathan doesn't like is when his fingers and toes turn to prunes, he holds out his hands, gives me a very serious look and shouts "Mommy, Mommy, help"

Wood Chips

2009-02-01T13:39:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy weekend. Last weekend we planned we'd do something fun with the boys this week - but like all good plans.......

Friday morning we got a knock on the door, it was a guy from one of the local tree companies, he'd got a truck full of wood chips and wondered if he could dump them in our front yard - so Bill said "yes"......OK, they are the best wood chips we've ever received, completely dry and 100% wood (no leaves, etc.), but, this truck was a lot bigger than the usual loads we've received, which means, a lot more work for us.

Seriously, these photo do not do it justice, the pile (in real life) is HUGE. We've spent a couple of hours each day (which is all our poor backs/arms/legs can stand) over the last 3 days and we're still far from done.

Brownies & Pizza

2009-01-18T19:03:00.000-08:00

This afternoon was spent cooking. Bill made a HUGE lasagne, as soon as it came out of the oven Ben and I made brownies - the best part of the baking process, licking out the bowl.

Then, Bill made homemade pizza - which was da best!

Climbing up, and up, and up

2009-01-18T18:49:00.001-08:00

Friday morning, while Ben was at school, I took Jonathan to one of our local parks. He had so much fun, and the highlight for him was climbing. That's all he wanted to do, climb, slide, climb, slide, climb slide.

The Little Park

2009-01-11T13:12:00.001-08:00

This morning we went to the local park (the "little" park). The boys took balls with them, the plan was for us to play soccer....but instead, the playground area was more fun.

Jonathan loves the swings...

Then he saw Ben on the slide, and it looked like fun, I didn't think he'd want to go down the slide because on Thursday he'd taken a header down the school slide. He was a little apprehensive at first, but as always, Ben was a great big brother to him and sat with him so they could ride together.

In no time at all, Jonathan would land at the bottom of the slide, say "more, more, more", climb up the steps and slide down by himself.

Building

2009-01-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

Jonathan loves blocks, he can happily sit building towers, oblivious to whatever is going on around him.

....and the best part....he cleans up once he's finished playing. Today, I was unloading the dishwasher, the last time I'd checked I'd seen the above photos, I could hear him in his bedroom. When I checked for a second time, he was busy putting all the blocks away in the bag - hmmmmm - wonder which parent he takes after????

Edward Peterman Museum

2009-01-11T12:34:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we went to the Edward Peterman Museum, otherwise known as the model train museum in Santa Clara. Because both boys loved the Lego exhibit last weekend, we were sure they'd love this too - wrong. After about 20 minutes they were both completely bored, Jonathan didn't want to be held, didn't want to walk, he just wanted to whine. Ben would stand patiently waiting for a train, and look at us with the "this is boring" face. I have to say though, I had more fun watching the model train enthusiasts - it's hard to know exactly how to react when a fully grown man, walks by you, model train in his hand - and - he's making train noises.

Oh well, maybe when they're older we'll go back to the museum. At least once we left, it was cute to see both boys hand in hand walking to the car.

Museum of American Heritage

2009-01-04T14:23:00.001-08:00

Today we headed to Palo Alto to the Museum of American Heritage - they had a Lego exhibit. After standing in line in the cold it was finally our turn to check out the Lego. Both boys loved it, even though the Exhibit was small (and....it was free....so I guess you can't expect anything major) there was plenty of stuff to check out. Trains, boats, cranes, planes, etc.

They also had a small area of 'machinery from the olden days'

Here's the Ross men checking it out....

California Academy of Science

2009-01-03T08:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to San Francisco's California Academy of Science, unfortunately, half the Bay Area had the same idea. Bill bought the tickets online, despite leaving home 15 mins later than we'd planned, we made great time on the freeway - everything was looking good, until about 2 miles before the museum. The traffic ground to a halt, we slowly inched our way towards the parking lot - and arrived 2 cars too late - lot full. We drove around and found free parking on the street and set off walking (in the rain) to the museum. There was a very long line of people, Bill suggested we wait in line and he'd go and find out where we'd should go with our e-tickets - it turns out - the line was were we needed to be. We stood in line for about 30 minutes (and remember, it was raining) - ugh! Once inside though, the boys LOVED it.

Here's Jonathan at the aquarium....

Ben checking out the stingrays....

Because the place was so packed there were a couple of exhibits we didn't see (the lines were at least an hour long) - but we promised Ben we'd check them out next time.

On the way out, we found a play area - both boys played for a while before heading back to the car.

Once in the car - within about 15 minutes, I turned around and this is what I saw...

Christmas In The Park

2008-12-31T16:24:00.001-08:00

Last night we headed to downtown San Jose to Christmas In The Park. Of course, the first thing Ben wanted to do was ride on the Ferris Wheel

We (quickly) walked around the park. It wasn't the same visiting the event after Christmas. Not as many people were there - and it felt like the magic of Christmas had already closed for the year.

As we left the event, Ben had a ride on the carousel. He looks so big all of a sudden.

Jonathan watched while Ben rode the carousel - next year hopefully he'll be able to ride too

Hello Mr. Sea Lion

2008-12-29T15:55:00.000-08:00

Today we went to Santa Cruz. We started off on the wharf, the boys loved watching the sea lions. The a pelican arrived on the scene, by which time my camera battery had died (damn). Then we walked to the boardwalk. We started off at the arcade, where I think Bill had the most fun - playing a Family Guy pinball machine, then we headed to the rides, but unfortunately, almost all of them were closed for the winter - all Ben got to ride on was the carousel.

Christmas Morning

2008-12-28T20:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas last exactly 26 mins 47 seconds (well, maybe not exactly, but close enough). That's about how long it took the boys to rip through the presents. Jonathan didn't fully understand the whole process but Ben was like something possessed - he whizzed through his Santa sack in record time. Then came the "it's not fair, Jonathan got more presents than me" look - which wasn't the case, it's just Ben thought he was competing for the world record present opening time.

Ben really wanted a Nerf Gun - and Nana and Poppa made his wish come true - the funny thing is, the gun is almost as big as he is, but luckily it splits into 2 parts - much easier for a 5-year old to handle

Every present Jonathan dragged out of his Santa sack, he brought to me to help him open

Christmas Eve

2008-12-28T20:33:00.001-08:00

We were completely disorganized this year. We were in the midst of painting the kitchen cabinets and before we knew it, it was dinner time Christmas Eve and the cookies hadn't even been baked yet. I made a batch of chocolate and white choc chip cookies, the boys were bathed, new pjs put on and it was time to track Santa's progress around the world. We watched the Santa web-cam - flying over the pyramids, the Great Wall of China, Big Ben....Santa was in South America, he was getting closer, then he was in Canada...time to set out the cookies for Santa and carrot for Rudolf. It was raining outside and so Ben suggested Santa might prefer a glass of whiskey to keep him warm instead of cold milk - good thinking - and Bill didn't disagree.

Once the photos were taken I noticed Jonathan hovering around the plate of cookies....then....Caught You.....

It wasn't until the next day when I realized he'd taken a bite out of 3 of the cookies.

Once the boys were in bed....the fat guy in the red suit showed up and this is the result....

Overheard conversation

2008-12-22T16:38:00.000-08:00

Saturday we were on the beach, a fellow Vizsla owner (who we see almost every weekend) asked Ben if he knew the names of Santa's reindeers....this is Ben's response:

"I know some of them, there's Rudolf, Blitzen, Dancer, Prancer and Puking"
"Puking?"
"yeah, Puking"
[I shrug my shoulders, I've no idea what he means, then it clicks....]
"Ben, do you mean Cupid?"
"Yeah, that's it, Cupid"

Uh Oh

2008-12-16T13:56:00.000-08:00

Last night, on the way home from school, I asked Ben about his day....the conversation went like this....

M: What did you do at school today?
B: We had to write a letter to Santa
M: What did you write?
B: I wrote a list of things I wanted
M: What did you ask for?
B: A blue cat
M: You already have a blue kitty that you sleep with every night
B: [duh] I know, but I want another one
[OK - so far so good, fingers crossed I'll be able to find a blue toy cat]
M: What else did you ask for?
B: I asked for lots of things for Jonathan
M: Really, like what?
B: Just lots of stuff [fingers crossed, when Christmas morning arrives Ben will have forgotten about asking for "stuff" for Jonathan]
M: Did you ask for anything else for yourself
B: Yes, just one more thing, a black bat
M: A black bat - what kind of bat?
B: You know, a black one
M: A bat that flies in the sky? [Now I'm thinking cheap rubber halloween bat]
B: [insert giggle] no way Mom, a bat
M: Bat as in bat and ball?
B: Mo-Om [insert giggle again] - no - a black bat, a giant one, like this big [opens arms as wide as they'll go]
M: So, is this a big baseball bat?
B: nope
M: Oh, is it an inflatable bat?
B: No, you know, Jason has one, except his is Spiderman and I want a black one [we've never been to Jason's house; therefore, never seen said Spiderman bat].
M: Ben, I really don't know what the bat is.
B: That's OK Mom, you'll know what it's like when Santa brings it
[crap!]
M: Errrrrrr, well, Ben, if I don't know what it is, maybe Santa doesn't either
B: [insert eye roll] oh yes he does, remember, Santa knows everything.
M: [trying to think as fast as possible] errrrr, but Ben, remember, you wrote a letter to Santa last weekend, and like I told you, you can only ask Santa for 3 things, and your list already had 3 things on it, a soccer ball, a nerf gun and I think you'd asked for Star Wars Star Fighters, remember, those really cool toys that you really want, so, now you've got to decide, do you want cool Star Fighters or a bat?
B: Hmmmmmm, maybe Star Fighters

YES!!!!!

Dear Santa

2008-12-12T19:55:00.001-08:00

Today you wrote your letter to Santa. You started "Dear Santa" - then what should you write??? Ben have you been good? "hmmmmmm, errrrrrrrrr, [the real answer is, recently - no] well, today I was"

The first item on your list was a soccer ball, then you couldn't think of anything else. So you dug out one of the many Christmas toy catalogs that you've been drooling over and proceeded to check off all the toys you wanted. We'd told you Santa could only bring 3 toys per child, and you'd already listed 1 item, so that left you with 2 things.....

a Clone Wars Starfighter
and
a Nerf Gun

then...just before you handed the letter to me you quickly added an "s" to the Clone Wars Starfighter[s] - smart kid!