WICKED!

Blake is such a lucky guy. I gave him the best gift for our anniversary this year--tickets to Wicked. He has been dying to see it. Seriously. He has. Well, maybe not dying, but he's definitely wanted to see it ever since the theme at some ADA reception was "Broadway Review" and "Popular" was one of the songs performed. He even got a little upset when he first saw the tickets, thinking I had bought them to go with a friend instead of him. Silly Blake. And of course, I didn't mind seeing it again. I love it! The night was perfect, even down to our close-by, free parking spot. And "Popular" definitely lived up to its expectations. I think I actually heard Blake singing along, "Just not quite as popular...as...me!" Now I'm just hoping I have someone come visit me who wants to see it so I can see it again. Green definitely does rule--especially green babies! (Max--12 months, Jack--15 months)

Attitude

Those of you who have been around Jack lately may be wondering what happened to that constantly sweet little baby. And for those of you who haven't been around him lately, consider this your warning. Apparently Jack has grown a little attitude. If something is bothering him, he will let you know. And when I say "you" I mostly mean me. He'll walk over to me, make his mean grunting noise and give me a dirty look, then will walk away, fling himself on the floor and throw a little tantrum. Stopping every once and a while to make sure I'm still looking at him, of course. When he feels like he's proved his point, he'll stand up and either walk to me and give me a hug or just walk away. It's too bad it's just so funny to watch that he has really yet to prove anything. Well, at least it's funny for now. And if I try to go over and tease him while he's pouting on the ground, he'll blow hard out his nose and turn his face away and put his nose up in the air like he's snubbing me. What a stinker! A cute stinker, but still a stinker!

{Thanks again to Regan for taking some fabulous pictures, even though she was also a recipient of said snubbing.}

California Academy of Sciences

The newly renovated California Academy of Sciences is finally open! Well, actually it opened at the end of last September, so I guess that first sentence should say something more like this: We finally visited the newly renovated California Academy of Sciences. You may remember that we used to visit the Academy with Caden and Jace over six years ago, and also made a stop at its temporary location just two years ago. But this new and improved Academy is A.MA.ZING. So, why did it take us so long to go? Well, don't think we haven't tried. The Academy is so incredibly popular that lines stretch all around Golden Gate Park with thousands and thousands of people waiting to enter. Seriously, thousands. And don't even get me started on parking. Parking is simply a joke and we have never actually gotten out of our car in an attempt to enter the building since we don't want to have to walk miles and miles to then just stand in line. So, today we made a plan. Before we left we purchased our tickets that also made it so we didn't have to stand in the general admission line, got lucky and found a close parking spot, and ended up arriving 15 minutes before the doors opened. While waiting in line we asked the employees what to do first and how to navigate the Academy. So, when the doors finally opened, we knew to follow the mad rush of people to get tickets to the Planetarium. After we secured our tickets, we headed to the aquarium. Jack was in fishy heaven. He walked from tank to tank, pointing at all the fish and making fishy noises. And he loved the touch tide pool. He went right for the sea urchin and picked it right up. We spent just enough time at the aquarium when it was time to get in line for the planetarium show. We were a little nervous about the 30 minute show since it is not recommended for children under 6, but both boys sat the entire time mesmerized. In fact, the "moon show" was Max's favorite part. He kept yelling out things like, "There's the sun!" "That's Earth!" And I didn't get motion sick at all. Success.

By now it was time for lunch, but we couldn't leave without seeing the famous penguins. Those little guys are so active and so much fun to watch. The Academy has so much that we didn't get to see--a rain forest, living roof, Early Explorer's play area, and much, much more. We can't wait to go back!

A Little Sick

We've been a little sick around here the past couple days. I'll spare you the details, but just know it's kind of been nice having some home time. We've been watching movies that are out of our regular rotation, so it feels good to be broadening the boys' movie horizons. Max even made it through all of Mary Poppins. Yes, even all the boring bank parts. Of course, Abu the monkey has been joining us. And it was so sweet to see Jack look at Max and Abu, walk into their room, get his dog, then come back and sit by Max and Abu on the couch with Doggie. What good brothers.

But the best part about being sick is all the cuddling. Yesterday Jack fell asleep while I was holding him, a very rare occasion nowadays, so I asked Max to take a picture of us. First attempt, needed a little aiming practice. Second attempt, a finger in front of the flash. Third attempt, success.

And maybe there was a few pictures of the ceiling and a couple self portraits in between there, but who's counting. He's been obsessed with the camera ever since and it's so fun to see the pictures he takes. Even if the lens is pointing nowhere near me, I am always instructed to say "cheese!" So, of course I had to get a picture of my talented little photographer, with Incredibles on the TV in the background. Another of his sick-time obsessions.

WHY?

It's here and it's in full force. "Why?" "Why?" "Why?" I used to think I was lucky. I only got a "why" here and there. But then, just yesterday, everything was, "Why? Why? Why?" I thought maybe it was a fluke. But nope. It's happening again today and I fear I'm in for a long ride. Only once during the past two days have I got an "oh." at the end of a series of why-questions. I know I shouldn't be complaining. I understand it's part of the learning process and I should be worried if he DIDN'T ask why, but it's just so exhausting thinking of answers to all those questions. I'm hoping {praying} that maybe if it's constant, nonstop, all the time, that maybe he'll run out of whys sooner? And actually, I like the first couple why questions. But why does every answer just lead to another "why?" Why?!? Why?!? Why?!?

{Photo courtesy of the lovely and very talented Regan}

MLK at Muir Beach

First off, a big thank you to Blake for planning our wedding on a three day weekend. I realized how beneficial it was for planning a honeymoon around school, but I never realized how beneficial that extra day off would be for the rest of our lives! So, after some very exciting anniversary plans fell through, we ended up having a very nice "staycation." (Blake's word.) Monday the weather was fabulous, absolutely fabulous, so we decided to go to the beach. Yes, the beach. In January. That's how nice it STILL is. We ended up at Muir Beach and started thinking about the last time we went there. The last time we went, Max was exactly the age Jack is now. It was fun to have the constant to compare the boys. Max, who played in the sand and ran straight for the water, and Jack who was quite timid of the sand at first and got scared every time the water even started coming close. And both, who love throwing rocks in the water and "oofing" while pointing at the dogs. We had the perfect, lazy, "staycation" day. Can't wait for next year.

7 Years and Counting

Did you know that for the first year we were married, whenever I watched my wedding video I cried? Yes, full-out cried. And no, I was not crying because my wedding video is so absolutely perfect and beautiful (which, actually, it is). I was crying because I thought it looked like I loved Blake more than he loved me on our wedding day. Sad, huh? In fact, I remember him saying to me sometime during our first year of marriage, "I never knew you cried so much." Ha. And I remember the day I told Blake this little secret of mine. And I remember watching the video with him and having him point out that he did, in fact, love me. Now this is something we laugh about. Blake's even told this story in an Elder's Quorum lesson. I don't know what point he was trying to make, but I sure had a lot of people comment on it to me after church that day. Anyway, I have a point. Now, seven long years later, I'm actually positive that I love Blake more than he loves me. Because I can't imagine anyone loving someone more than I love Blake. Happy Anniversary Blake! Thanks for marrying (and staying married to) me! I love you!

Sacramento Day Trip

I love that Blake has meetings in Sacramento and I love that we get to go along with him for the ride. Since the weather is still oh so nice, we decided to forgo our usual Sac-Town outing at the California Railroad Museum and ended up at the Sacramento Zoo. This idea was all thanks to my long-lost BYU roommate, Katie, who recently moved to the area. Really, there's nothing like catching up with a dear friend while watching giraffes and eating chick-o-sticks (Katie STILL has the best treats!).
After we left the zoo and took some quality car naps, we picked up Blake and surprised him with a little Sacramento history. Since Jack was still asleep, I dropped Blake and Max off at Sutter's Fort. And they arrived at the perfect time--right when admission was free! They saw covered wagons, learned how bread and blankets were made, and Max read all the numbers over the doors. After Sutter's Fort we had a yummy dinner at Spaghetti Factory and were contemplating trying out a King's game, even with two tired kids. But once Blake found out they were playing the Buck's, he decided he'd rather just head home. See you again, Sacramento!

Heat Wave

Today it was 69 degrees. (Is it sad I think 69 is a heat wave? But come on, it's January!) An all-time record high. It was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. And it's supposed to be like this for at least another week. So, we're living at the park. We really would stay there all day, but I start thinking about how if Jack doesn't get a snoozer, both he and I and probably his roommate, will have an awful night and then who knows if we'll make it to the park the next day. We're living it up since we know rainy season is just around the corner. We love San Francisco Januarys. (Or should I say Januaries? Hmmm...)

A Sunbeam

I have a Sunbeam. And although I didn't cry as I walked him into his class, I probably could have. But that would have been silly, since I then went to sit just two rows behind him with my own class. He loved sitting in the big chair and stood so proudly in front of the entire primary with the rest of his class while everyone sang the Sunbeam song. The meltdown came when it was time for the junior primary to go to class. He held on tight to his chair and would not let go until I came over to get him. He didn't want to go to class. So instead, I sat out in the hall with him, another child who didn't want to go, her mom, and a leader and ate fruit snacks. When he was on his last fruit snack I said to him, "After you eat this one, let's go to class, okay?" He said okay. No questions asked. And in he went. I sat with him for a minute in class, then told him I was going to leave. Again, okay. So, I left. The report I got back was that he was a pretty good boy. He was good for the rest of class and then sat on his chair and wasn't disruptive through sharing time. That's all I could ask for. In hindsight, I never told him he'd leave and go to another room for class and I guess I probably should have.

WOW--I don't even want to think about what kindergarten's going to be like. For him OR me!

It's fun to stay at the...

While Max and I were on our date, Jack and Blake were having some fun of their own. Blake decided to sign up for the free trial membership at the YMCA. I think they did almost everything the YMCA has to offer. And Blake captured all of it while testing the camera on his phone. Not too shabby.
They shot hoops. Jack just needs a little more umph and one day that ball will get to the hoops.
They tested out the gym and got in a little work out.

And they were even lucky enough to go on family night and jump in the big bounce house.

But it sounds like the highlight of the night was the swimming pool. At first Jack wasn't quite sure about it. Like not quite sure about it to the point where he was crying and very loudly screaming. The other swimmers were giving Blake dirty looks, so he almost got out, but then Jack calmed down and they had fun bobbing around the pool. Especially if they were bobbing around the heater!


Blake even topped off their night with a tastey treat. Spinach drink. Yum.

Today, Jack and Blake took me and Max to show us everything the YMCA has to offer. We were a little early for "open hours" so we snuck in the basketball court and shot hoops, then played in the the little pond across the street from the pool. When the pool opened, Max was ready to go. Lately Max has been freaking out when he has to lay down in the bathtub to wash his hair, so I was totally surprised to see him go right in, dive for rings, and even jump off the side and come up all by himself since he could touch. Jack was a little unsure again at first, but loved floating on his back, looking at the fish kites hanging over the pool, and making fishy faces. We love the YMCA...too bad it's so pricey!

Boys' Night (with their moms)

There is so much to do with little girls. Like going to the Nutcracker or Disney Princesses on Ice. Not that there's nothing to do with boys. But just no girly things (that Daddy Blake wouldn't frown upon) for me. :) So, enter Playhouse Disney Live. The perfect solution. I love shows and Max loves Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse, and Handy Manny. We found a couple friends who can also sing and pat along to the Little Einsteins song and made a night of it. We ate dinner at Fenton's, where Max's dinner consisted mostly of blue ice cream and mine of toasted almond ice cream with lots of caramel sauce. Then, on to the show. Max didn't like it as much as I thought he would. The Little Einsteins were real people, instead of characters like Mickey and Donald. He kept yelling, "Those aren't the Little Einsteins!" He liked the other parts, but with about ten minutes left, he wanted to go home. However, I had fun the entire night and it's always nice to be with friends. I think this quenched my show thirst at least for a little while. Thanks for being my date, Max. You are a fun boy.

Jack's Book Club

Jack is finally a little reader. He loves reading books. He used to not be very interested and we usually ended up just letting him roam around the house after giving up on forcing him to sit and read. However, to find him sitting, reading peacefully to himself like this picture is a very rare occasion. The book must have been sitting close to the chair and it just happened that when his bottom fell down it landed in the chair. Only a handful of times have I seen him read a book by himself. He needs someone to read to him. Usually, Jack grabs one book from the shelf and walks to either me or Blake, backing up into us as he gets closer. When he's done with the book, he'll get off my lap, hand me the book, then go get another. It's nice to have a reader. Here are Jack's favorites--

This book is his hands-down favorite. No other book even comes close. All it is is pictures of animals and the name of the animal. He just loves animals. It's fun when he gets to a page of an animal he knows the sound and makes the sound before we can say anything. He really loves any animal book.



After his Baby Animals book, it's hard to decide what his other favorites are. He always picks different books, but these next two are the ones I'd say he picks more often and gets more excited about.

What is it about Goodnight Moon? Seriously. Like Max, I think the initial draw is the change between black and white and color pages, but what keeps them coming back? I thought Jack would like the balloon, but I think it's the kittens that keep him more interested. Since we lost the board book version with Max, we've since replaced it and lost it again with Jack. Luckily our paperback, with its pages ripped in half, doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

It's the food that draws Jack to the caterpillar book. Definitely the food. And being able to stick his finger through each hole in the food as I try to read fast enough to keep up with his finger. I love this book and I'm glad there's someone in the family who likes it as much as me.