A Tale of Two Artists

BOY ARTIST

Boy Artist is very neat and clean when it comes to art projects. At three years old, Boy Artist has developed his fine motor skills and drawing is a great activity that he really enjoys. Boy Artist has been tracing things over the last few weeks -- letters, words, objects, etc... Freehand drawing and tracing are activities that can occupy him for quite a long time. Boy Artist's mama also loves to draw so watching him in this activity makes her very happy.

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GIRL ARTIST

Girl Artist loves to experiment with her art media. Today's project is a good example of a Great Idea Gone Wrong. Girl Artist's mama thought painting rocks would be a fun, easy painting activity for Girl Artist. It started out well, but then Girl Artist accidentally (this is still questionable) touched her foot with the paint brush...

...and then the hand touched the painted foot...

...the paint brush was transferred to the other hand and painting of own body continued... [or, as she might put it "Rock? What rock?"]

Girl Artist was really enjoying this project!

After much painting of own body, Girl Artist's mama decided to exchange the yellow paint for a cup of clear water. Girl Artist was not fooled and immediately dumped out the water. That was the end of today's painting project for Girl Artist.

Legoland with Meredith

Today's visitors to Legoland were greeted by Meredith wearing goggles. Thomas was not interested at all in dressing himself at her age, but she's really started to show some interest. While waiting outside Legoland this morning for friends, she went through my bag trying on a couple hats and Thomas' swim goggles. The goggles must have been comfortable because she left them on for about 10 minutes -- or maybe she forgot she had put them on her head...

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Since we moved here, Thomas has talked about "Lego Man" off and on. During our three day drive down from Oregon he talked about Lego Man constantly. He really wanted to go visit him. Well, we've been to Legoland about two dozen times and have never seen anything resembling a man of Legos. Yet today, since Meredith and I went while Thomas was in preschool, we saw TWO Lego men. No kidding. Now I know exactly where to go and when that show starts so next time Thomas can meet and greet actual Lego Men and Women. Finally!

hair

After looking again at the last photo I posted of the kids this morning, I decided we need to come up with some new looks for Meredith's hair. It's super cute au naturale with large curls all over the back and straighter hair on top/front, but it is getting longer. I usually manage to get in one clip on the side and I love the "pigtails" but it isn't quite long enough for that. Tomorrow we will do the single pony tail on the top of her little head. Cute!

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Top: "pigtails" & a single pony tail on top

Bottom: a clip on each side & one clip on the side (our usual)

pool play + long naps = happy mama

the kids snack and dry off after playing in the pool

Of all the different kinds of playdates we do, by far my favorites are the pool playdates. Spending two hours in the sun and water (I love salt water pools!) and snacking on the pool's deck afterwards always adds up to wonderful, long afternoon naps. The kids have just gone down and I can already tell it's going to be a good one today! The pool is also relaxing and good for me, too. We came home to find one dog has diarrhea (...ooh, always a treat to find that in the house...) and it didn't phase me. Even with all that to clean up, life is still good...

super reader

Thomas' love for reading is perfect for the summer reading programs that libraries organize. Every summer he has participated and earned prizes, including great t-shirts. This afternoon I asked him if he wanted to go to the library to give his 7th book report. I told him I thought there might be a special prize for this report. He asked what it would be and when I told him a t-shirt his response was, "...the prize is a t-shirt??" He said he'd rather have another plastic bug like he's been earning. We were both pleasantly surprised when we learned that he'd be receiving both a bug and a t-shirt today!

Carlsbad Tri

I love the energy at race events. Usually it's me out there at a running event, but being a spectator is an entirely different experience and so much fun. So when a friend said she was competing in the local triathlon this morning, I knew we had to go support her and watch the event. From where we stood we were able to see the swim and caught the run twice. The bike portion of the event was further south so we missed that one. We made a sign for her and the kids each had a noise maker. It was fun to cheer on the participants, esp. our friend.

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The triathlon was a sprint -- 1K swim, 25K bike and a 5K run. The distances aren't difficult by themselves, but all three back to back and swimming way out there in the ocean and all the biking and running on hot Hwy 101 and the uphill finish at the very end of the run...? For someone who will never experience a tri (the swimming kills it for me), it all looked impressive. Helen did great and this guy with one leg made it all look easy... Wow!

chocolate covered strawberries

Meredith and I whipped up some chocolate covered strawberries this afternoon. She loved the strawberry I gave her to taste test and when she looked up at me, pointed to the counter and signed "more"...? Look at that sweet, little chocolate face -- of course I gave her another (okay, and a third!). Even after she was all cleaned up, she still smelled like chocolate the rest of the day. Mmmmm.

playgroup playdate

We're part of several playgroups in the area and they are all very large. Our favorite playgroup met up for an ice cream party playdate at a nearby sprayground/playground park. Twenty-five moms RSVPd for the event and many of us have two children. Yes, we took over the park, but it was great fun for everyone.

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Meredith loves to stand on the spot where the water shoots up, but once the water actually sprays she's like a deer in headlights. Totally frozen, crying and I have to go get her. Thomas somehow managed to play in the water and not get wet at all. Hmmmm...?

bike ride

Today I took the kids for a ride in the bike trailer. They've been in it together before but only for walks. Today we attached it to my bike and away we went! This particular Burley model is for two children, up to 100 pounds total. I was concerned at first that they might be uncomfortable together, but they actually seem to be okay. I can't imagine pulling the two of them when they total 100 pounds; we'll have to find Thomas something else then. Today we only rode for 20 minutes due to sun and hills, but we still enjoyed feeling the wind in our faces and going for a ride.

Note to self: Inflate all tires on both trailer and bike before next ride. This will make the outing much easier and more enjoyable. Also, find a FLAT area to ride when pulling the kids. Leaving directly from the house and tackling the hills will only cause super sore and tired muscles. It isn't necessary.

"Hi Grandma!"

As all babies and toddlers do, Meredith loves talking on my cell phone and going through my wallet. This afternoon she was "talking" on the phone when it suddenly started to ring. I don't know if it was ring tune or the vibration of the phone, but the look of surprise on her face was priceless!

flying

fun with laundry

Thomas and Meredith really enjoy helping me with the laundry collection. We work together to strip all the beds, pile up the dirty laundry and toss it over the stairs to the floor below. The reward for all their hard work is the movement of dirty laundry from the stairs, down the hall, through the kitchen and into the laundry room. They climb aboard piles of sheets and blankets and I pull - sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly, but always with a little swerve here and there. They would agree that doing laundry is great fun. But for me, I get the added bonus of an easy and quick sweep of the floor (at least the path we're creating anyway!) ~ as well as their smiling and laughing little faces.

learning to save $$

Well, I don't know if they are necessarily learning to save money, but they sure love to put coins in their piggy banks. Thomas said he's saving for college (we sure have him trained well, don't we?) and Meredith, according to Thomas, is saving to buy the girl next door a cactus. Huh?? Either way, it's a good activity that keeps them both busy and we get an opportunity to talk about the different coins and the images on them. And they are both starting to have a nice little pot of $$ for something someday...
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[note: The red stuff on Thomas' feet is ink. He's been drawing all morning. He really gets into his drawings -- laying across the table, standing on the paper...]

Laguna Beach

MTV aired a wildly popular faux reality show titled "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County" a few years ago. The show followed the lives of rich teenagers living in Laguna Beach and attending the local high school. Needless to say, teenagers everywhere really enjoyed this show and one of our favorite teenagers was no exception. She recently celebrated her birthday so we were delighted to find a small gift to send her from Laguna Beach, the real Orange County. I have a feeling she's going to love it! [K ~ It'll be in the mail Monday morning! Happy late birthday!!]

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Meredith hangs out for a second... and then runs away!

Happy Independence Day!

We celebrated the 4th with a trip south to Coronado. It's a peninsula off San Diego (but feels like an island) that is home to several resorts, a golf course, two naval stations and roughly 26,000 residents who are lucky enough to call this community "home". The older residences and tree-lined (flat!) streets reminded me of our old Portland neighborhood, but much nicer. Coronado is a fantastic vacation destination with beautiful beaches, a long main strip of quaint shops and everything one could want or need to have a memorable stay. We were just there for the day today, but definitely will be returning for a long weekend sometime!

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Today we arrived just in time for the annual Fourth of July parade. With over 150 floats, bands and groups, this was a long parade. Two hours of full sun and not the most comfortable seats left us seeking shade, food and somewhere to just sit. After the parade, we made our way over to the Hotel del Coronado which is as beautiful as I had heard. There we found some yummy ice cream, some live music playing on the deck and great views of the busy beach scene. The day was very enjoyable for all of us!

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As for fireworks, we were back home long before those started. Meredith went to bed at her usual time, but Thomas got to stay up and watch the show at Legoland from our 2nd floor deck. After the display he went to bed and about 10 minutes later all the shows in this area began. From the deck, we were able to see shows in three neighboring cities and from the front of the house we watched the display at the Four Seasons. They are only a mile away so those were quite loud and impressive. It was a nice (quiet?) way to end the day after such a busy morning and afternoon in the sun and crowds.

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above: approaching Coronado and looking back at San Diego

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the military was well-represented

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left: old (little) cars with old men - always a favorite!

right: Meredith directs the parade participants

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left: enjoying the parade

right: enjoying ice cream at the Hotel del Coronado (yes, our family is very serious when it comes to eating ice cream!)

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Hope your celebration was enjoyable, too!

dot to dot

It's always fun to see the kids do something I didn't know they could do. I explained to Thomas what connecting dots is all about, drew a line from 1 to 2 and was distracted by Meredith... A few minutes later he said, "Mommy, look! I'm all done."

art gallery

Late this afternoon we were at the library so Thomas could give his "book report" and decided to step into the art gallery adjacent to the main library (but part of the library complex) to take a look. I hadn't taken the kids into an art gallery before and thought this small, one room gallery would be a great first experience. Before entering we talked about appropriate gallery behavior and I reminded both several times that we do not touch anything and we keep our voices down...

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The exhibition featured a local metal sculptor and included more than 40 pieces of his work. All quite industrial and simple in form, but beautiful and interesting just the same. And all were things that looked like great fun to touch or drive Hot Wheels cars on. However, Thomas did a great job standing over them and looking and talking but never touching. Until the last, large piece that hung on the wall. He raised his foot to step on it (the form was similar to a street lamp with a large base) and both myself and the curator gasped. I guess it was a little loud and it definitely echoed in this small space which scared him so that was the end of our art gallery visit.

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Between Mr. Active I-want-to-climb-up-on-and-jump-off-of-everything Boy and Miss Shrieking I-love-to-hear-myself and I'll do whatever I want because I'm a princess and being a princess is hard work Girl, it may be awhile before we go back. Not a long while, but a little while.

WHY the quad is in the garage

fearless toddler

testing her balance and skills

smiling, laughing

finger paints

left: Meredith's creation - I call it "twister"

right: "Strawberries in a field" by Thomas

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The kids love to paint. Meredith hasn't spent as much time painting since she also likes to taste (read: eat) the paint, but Thomas really enjoys the activity and does a great (mess free!) job. He paints at home, at preschool and at the botanical gardens. Sometimes he'll title the piece and talk about what he's painting as he goes. I love that he loves to paint and do art projects. It's fun for me!