Splash Pad

So I have finally caught up in the blog and this post the activities really DID occur in October. Our weather has still been hitting triple digits so Sunday evening we took the kids to a local splash pad. It was the 1st time for Mae and she just loved it!
The following 3 pictures are of Ben just being Ben :) It is so fun to watch that boy sometimes living happily in his own world!

Preschool Year 2

Since there is no JK in the states, Benjamin is going to pre-k for 1 more year. We are sending him to the same school (Bethany Learning Center) and he just loves it! They had a "Welcome to my world" 1 Friday morning where the parents could come in and stay in the classroom so I left Mae with the neighbors and went to school with my boy. I had a wonderful time seeing him play with his friends he talks about all the time, and following the teachers rules and instructions so well!

Our Little Imp

Mae has discovered the doggy door. So now we have to keep it shut at all times as if she ever sees it open she beelines for it so she can go outside to eat rocks or climb up on Ben's water table.
We also have to keep her car seat against a wall as she loves to climb up on it and stand and has flipped it over on herself once (which didn't stop her from repeating the action!).
I have given up hanging up laundry while she is awake as she just sits under the drying racks and pulls off everything I put up :)
She loves anything to do with water - sprinklers, splash pads, the pool, the shower, she even laughs at Benjamin spraying her directly in the face with his spray bottle.

Mae - 11 Months

Our little girl is getting big! She barely crawls anymore and if she's not walking it's because she's climbing. One of her favorite activities is climbing onto our fire ledge - and then jumping off it! Her other favorite activity is making a mess - especially if she thinks she's not allowed :) She'll amuse herself for an hour or 2 going through the house finding things to destroy (pulling books off the bookcase, spreading the newspaper over the kitchen, or emptying the tupperware cupboard) or she'll get her hands on 1 of Ben's toys and just walk around holding it. She also now has 3 molars in and says 'dada' for Sam, 'da' for the dog and 'mama' for me!

Soccer

Benjamin has started his 1st season of soccer practice and is LOVING it. Although his team is all 4 year olds, I have to say it's pretty serious. We have 1 hour practices every week (with real drills!) and then the games on Saturdays. The 1st game Benjamin just did a lot of running - he would wait at 1 end till we would shout to him the ball was at the other end and he'd just speed run over there and catch up to the player with it!) . The 2nd week he scored a goal (which I have on video if I can figure out how to put that on here!), the 3rd week he scored 4 goals...and this past week he had to stop and cheer for himself every time he kicked the ball so by the time he was finished doing that the ball was usually at the other side of the field :) It is just so much fun to watch these games!
Mae also goes to all the games and most of the practices. She screams/cheers just as loudly as the parents at the game and when she gets bored she walks around on the grass kicking and holding Ben's soccer ball.

Mae - 10 Months

Mae's 10 month photos were not overly successful as she did not want to look at the camera or sit still. She is turning out to be even more active we think then her brother was! She learned to walk shortly before 10 months (did some of her 1st steps in Tahoe). She never cruised along furniture but would stand holding a toy she was playing with, and then see something else she wanted so just take a step towards it. Usually that other item she wanted was something her brother was holding as she always wants whatever he has :) So far she has her 4 top teeth in, 2 bottom - and 1 top molar!

Tahoe part 3: Grandparents

Tahoe part 2

There was a small but wonderful community pond a 5 min walk from Uncle Ken & Aunt Barbara's house. We spent a lot of our time there playing on the grass and sand with mostly just Benjamin braving the cold water.
Mae spent most of her time on the grass, not the sand as she just wanted to eat the sand.

Tahoe part 1 - Aug 2011

In August we spent a week in Tahoe at Sam's Aunt Barbara and Uncle Ken's house. Nana, Grandpa and Babushka met us there as well and we had a wonderful time. Benjamin went horseback riding (on a real trail - 1st led by me, then a 2nd time by Sam)
and wading in Lake Tahoe,
we went swimming in a really cold pool at the top of a mountain
(the grandparents were smart and watched from the pool edge),Ben went trampoline jumping at the base of the mountain,
I think Benjamin played a bazillion games of sequence,
and we all just had a wonderful time hanging out as a family.
The flight home our camera was packed so the following was taken with the iphone. The kids were great entertainment for each other!