Erin's Opus No. 1

Splashing in January

Yesterday we went to the Berkeley Marina to go play at their park.  It was a beautiful day, about  54F.

Whatever the water temperature was, the girls didn't seem to mind.

House Moat

A storm drain got clogged yesterday morning during heavy rain, and our house was about 1/2" of water away from getting flooded inside.  Shit.  When you have to say "Keep the kids away from anything electronic,  unplug everything!" you know you're in trouble.

Water was on both sides of the house, washing out dirt and gravel everywhere, out onto the front lawn, in the garage, down the driveway, carving a gully in the hillside, putting an inch of mud on the deck.

There's a storm drain in the upper hillside that feeds into a buried pipe, but if it fails, this is what it looks like.  I think we'll just have to hire an intern to stand by the drain night and day to keep it clear.  However, even when the drain was cleared, water still shot over the drain and came down the hill.

Robin Gets In The Spirit

Goodbye, Summer

 A fitting tribute to the last day of Summer, 2012.

Need a laugh?

This video is audio-only.  Enjoy.

Diving Board

Erin and Robin got to go off the diving board today for the very first time.  Erin impressed us with jumping in excitedly, rising to the surface, bobbing and paddling back to the edge of the pool without assistance*.

   

Robin astounded us with her total fearlessness*.  

*These videos were of their very first jumps.  They went on to jump as often as they could until we had to leave.  Big thank you to Dad, Brian, for helping them on each dive. 

A Swingin' Good Time

We had another fantastically fun evening at the local park for a free concert, popcorn, hot dogs, ice cream, and play.

 The band was a local swing band, and had a guest singer dressed to the nines in a purple suit.

 

Raising a Reader

Robin loves books. She loves to read. As soon as she could hold a book she would read. To herself. It's hard to read a story to Robin because she's very happy just reading alone. Sometimes to a friend.

 

Robin Rides, Erin Instructs

There's so much going on in this movie, I won't spend time talking about it. Just will tag it with a bunch of things and let you enjoy!

Preschool Graduation

Friday was a big day.  Erin graduated from her preschool, and officially became part of the class of 2025 (boy, did that statement start the waterworks from all the parents/grandparents!)

Some pictures:

Waiting for the start of the ceremony:

Erin and some of her BFFs:

Robin enjoying the ice cream afterwards:

And movies: 

Again, I can't hear the audio so not sure what's up with vimeo and my computer.  Hopefully you'll hear some of the cuteness.

Open House

We went to the open house for Erin's Kindergarden school tonight.  Each grade showcased a dance.  The music moved Robin to heightened affection:

Tape part II

Remember this?

It's morphed into this:



Tape ... who knew it could be such a fun toy?

And man, I love the sibling play.

**** OK, don't know why there's no sound on the video.  That's part of the extreme cuteness because Robin is chatting away the entire time.  Will work on that tomorrow.  If anyone else is getting audio, let me know.

Because throwing stuff is fun.

Let's talk gender stereotypes here. I've watched boys grown men throw things for fun. I mean, stand in a line and throw rocks into a pond, rocks at cans, whatever.  But is it a boy thing?

I learned tonight that everyone thinks throwing things is fun.  This game lasted well over 15 minutes, an eternity in the world of Erin.  It might have lasted longer, but it was time for bath and bed.

Spring Rain

We've had a lot of rain recently.  The other morning brought a deluge.  I love the girls' reaction, and how even though Robin really didn't dig on it, the "monkey see, monkey do" in her couldn't resist Erin's glee.



Note: it's a little long.  Sorry, haven't been putting the effort into editing lately.

Robin and Calliope

EASTER!!!! (picture and unnecessary detail heavy)

How I love this holiday.  We're not the most pious of households so the day is really about finding eggs and eating chocolate.  Lots and lots of chocolate.

The hunt:

They ate nearly all the candy in their baskets:
3 peeps
2 Cadbury cream eggs
4 eggs filled with Jellybeans and Cadbury's malted eggs
1 - 5oz (the big one) See's Chocolate Easter bunny.

 Good thing first Easter bunny of the day wasn't very generous.

About half an hour later was this:

The Easter Hangover. After a 15 minute freak-out by the eldest, we sat them down for a much needed Bob the Builder/Banana/Potato Patty/cheese stick rest. Note: this is now 8:30 AM.  Erin requested the shades drawn tight, her sunglasses, and a cozy blanket.

Then it was onto the next event: brunch at Grammy and Papa's club.  The girls met the Easter Bunny with much glee.

There was a baby-animal petting zoo too.  The caretaker told Brian a story about co-sleeping with a convelescing cow.  Hard. Core.  One more egg hunt too, but the candy factor was minimal.

I wish we had more pictures of them with their Miller cousins, but we were not taking the pictures.  *ahemDawn* can we get those? The girls ate themselves silly with bacon, berries, and pancakes, Oh, other than the 2+ chocolate bunnies plus loads of chocolate kisses provided by the Miller Easter bunny. We enjoyed the company of Grammy, Papa, Great Granny, Aunt D, Cousin C and K, Uncle Heath and companion Katie , and N&N.  Good times.

Then back across the bay to Grandma and Grandpa's house for another egg hunt, more candy, more cousins, and more fun!  The girls ran these boys ragged, and the UOMcF boys were awesome, as always, with the girls.

A delicious ham dinner with scalloped potatoes, asparagus, and amazing Jello salad was consumed.  Followed by, you guessed it, chocolate cream pie.  Awesome. 

I think the girls were finally worn out.

Oakland Running Festival

Pre-run nap on BART.

Riding to the start line in style.

Aaaaaaaaaannnnd.... they're off!

Finishers!

All the finishers!!!!

Kids ran their races, Brian SMOKED his.  No rain, saw some friends, ate a lot of snacks.  Thank you Oaktown, for putting on such a great race!

Monkey Erin

A former monkey-bar junky, I'm so happy Erin can do this.  She's been able to go across for about 3 months now. She's starting to flip upside down and hang by her knees, which makes me happily nervous.

Just some Robin cuteness

Translation:
She sings, she twirls, she tries to eat a coffee bean off the floor, she makes jokes, she follows directions and tries out some potty humor.

Enjoy your day!