LA zoo and a promise

About three weeks ago, Erik friend Rachel very nicely asked me if she, Elliot and Erik could all go to the zoo. I told her a strong yes, but the timing never seemed right to make it. My nap schedule is really hard to navigate, we have been sick, and life just gets in the way. Well spur of the moment I decided that today we would go. Right now we have landscapers working all over our yard only giving us inside space to play and soon it will be summer and the zoo will no longer be an option. So today we went.

I really love going places with Michelle and Rachel. They are becoming our really good friends and I love talking to Michelle, and while Erik and Rachel are each other's favorite people. One of the nicest things about having a good friend to play with is tag teaming that goes on. Here is an example of what happened today and why I love them being around.

The kids were pretty wild today at the zoo. I am pretty sure Erik and Rachel were feeding off of each other's energy and were running around excited to get to the next exhibit and just happy to be outside enjoying this beautiful day.

Well I forgot to strap Elliot into his stroller and I think he got inpatient while we stopped and started climbing out the bottom. It was pretty hard to maneuver him out because my new stroller doesn't have a front tray that detaches very easily. At this exact moment Erik started running toward the next exhibit in the middle of a group of kids. This is a situation where I am constantly torn lately. One child needs my immediate help and the other is closer to danger. Michelle is great help because he chases after Erik for me while I rescued Elliot.

I think we are a great team and all our children really respond to each other and likes spending time with each of us. So it really is a good match for me anyway by having some extra hands while we are out and about. Besides Erik and Rachel always follow each other and are together almost every second so it is a natural fit.

We are both really working on discipline and I am trying to get Erik to listen and roam a little less. He was doing really well the whole day, but when you add the enticement of ice cream the training gets even better. If Erik ran too far or didn't listen he wouldn't get his ice cream. Well anytime he start running off today and I told him to stop he did. We had an excellent listening day and an excellent visit to the zoo. There were some hiccups and boo boo, but when you end the day like this, life couldn't be better.

Today wasn't mamaless since Michelle so nicely offered to take our picture. Yay for capturing a great day and a fun and successful outing. I always know when we spend the day with Michelle it will be a mostly successful day.

A Trip To The Farm

This morning one of the mom's from our Thursday 2 year old class, organized a trip to Underwood Farms. This is a place I have been meaning to go to for months/years. As Elliot got older the harder I thought this trip would be, the more I wanted to wait until he could walk. Well when it was a planned trip and not just me deciding to go, I had to say yes. Besides it is a 30-40 minute drive which gives Elliot a chance to nap in the car. Granted it is a short morning nap for a guy who likes to sleep for 2 hours, but he definitely is making up for it this afternoon.

So this trip was a bit of a challenge like I suspected. I am getting tastes of what it feels like to have two walking toddlers. My attention is constantly being pulled in three directions, Erik, Elliot and photography. At one point we were in a park with Erik's classmates and I left Elliot on a fence standing, Erik playing with the feed and ran to get my camera. Forget about my bags which anyone could take because I am completely distracted.

Besides feeling like I was constantly battling between where Erik wanted to go, needing freedom to roam and meeting the needs of Elliot we did have a fun time. This is probably Elliot's dream field trip because he gets to just ride in a wagon. I have decided that if Elliot could be in a stroller or wagon for hours a day walking he would be completely content. The first time I took him out of the wagon he got so angry and threw a fit. Of course by the end he was climbing out, but what do you expect of a 13 month old.

Right now Elliot constantly wants to walk holding my hands. I was a little unprepared for this and only put him in socks and this place was full of wood chips. What kind of mom of two would I be if I didn't forget something? So he is constantly standing, cruising, and trying to play and be a part of the big kids. None of the other children had younger siblings so Elliot was on his own and stood up just fine to all the big kids. I guess it helps when you big brother is a bit of a bully and wrestler at times.

At Underwood Farms Erik got to go on his second pony ride, the first being over 7 months ago. All of his friends were going and I couldn't deny him the pleasure even though I suspected he would be afraid and want to get off. He stood in line with all of his friend anxious to get on announcing his name to the ticket collector and he was the first to get on a pony in his exuberance. As I suspected once he was put on the pony and moving he was a little unsure of the whole thing. Parents were not allowed in, which made me think this might go badly. The staff there must have a lot of experience with upset toddlers because one of the girls noticed right away that Erik was unhappy and stepped right up to stand by him and talk to him. I saw him saying lots of things to this girl so she definitely settled him down. I wouldn't say he enjoyed his ride, but he wasn't upset or scared as much as when he was alone.

In all this fun of new activities for Erik, balancing two toddlers and our first trip to the farm, I can't forget the pictures of just playing because that is what Erik does best. Here are some of his favorite places at Underwood Farms today.

Grandma doesn't realize it yet, but this place is half way between her house and ours so I have a very good feeling we might ask her to meet up there in the morning a few times this summer. Besides I really could use another hand chasing two toddlers at this place and focus more attention on each child.

The music lives on

It all started with a garage sale. After Erik's soccer practice him and daddy went to a few garage sales and found a guitar stand. As soon as they got home Erik demanded to be shown how it was used and then it started, the music, plays on.

Now I will admit that Carl isn't the greatest guitar player, but he gets the job done and to a 1 year old and 2 year old it is pure imagination and fascination. All they want to do the entire time is touch it and figure out how the music is coming out.

Of course for every musician there needs to be a dance floor and the box our joovy came in, served as the perfect stage for dancing. Oh and sippy cup picture had to be included.

Although Carl only knew one song by heart and played it over and over, he was a good sport and let the exploration of this instrument not dampen his playing and let the kids be fascinated.

By the looks of this picture, I wonder if Erik is going to be a rock star lead singer some day? He certain has the self serving attitude down right now so it might be a perfect fit. I think Elliot looks more like the classical musician type. Man, I am bad type casting my children already.

As with everything, when Erik decides he is done with an activity and still wants our attention, the music must end. This time it was with his new book from Uncle Justin. He loves this story and acting like his is going to the hospital for a broken bone. Oh imagination, such fun when you are almost 3 years old. Never grow up Erik, please!

Old friends are like family

I remember a long time ago when our very good friends Mike & Traci were pregnant with their first child and Erik was born we discussed names and what we would have our children call each other. Mr. and Mrs. just seems so formal for friends that are so dear to our hearts so we decided that we would all go with the "aunt" and "uncle." Since Mike and Traci live in Chicago we don't really get to see them that often so the term "aunt" and "uncle" are a little foreign on my lips, but it does feel better than first names or last names.

This weekend we had another "uncle" come and stay with us for a few days. Our very close friend came in from Salt Lake City to finally meet Elliot and just catch up with Carl and I. Carl and Justin have known each other since middle school and Justin and I went to college together. Basically Justin is the reason why we even have a Erik and Elliot.

It was an interesting experience sharing my children with someone who has been so close to me for so long, but has never seen me parent. Although I have seen him without kids in the last 2 years, the last time he saw me as a mom was when Erik was 6 weeks old so I barely touched the surface then. I have to admit that I was a little shy and embarrassed to be a mom in front of him because I am such a different person now. Justin gets it though and quickly adapted to our new lifestyle of babies first and even got Erik to finally play with him and miss him by the end of the trip.

Since my kids have been sick and they go a little stir crazy if we are home too much, our day with Uncle Justin was a series of adventures. The first night we all went out the dinner and I forgot to take pictures. I am sure he doesn't want to relive dinner with two toddler anytime soon. Especially, hyper, hard to control, Erik.

The next morning we were a little slow to get moving because of course we all drank a little too much and stayed up a little too late. It is unavoidable with old friends. Once we got our act together we actually loaded everyone up in Carl's van and headed over to Griffith Observatory. This was Elliot's very first trip in a car that wasn't mine and he was a little confused and upset, but adapted. I have been avoiding riding in this thing and pushing a 3-row car, but I have to admit that it wasn't too bad and we all fit very comfortable in Carl's fan. I guess I don't mind as long as I don't have to drive it.

So I decided late last week that I really needed a new stroller. It started off that I wanted a double jogging stroller to push up and down our hill much more easily, but we needed to kill 20 minutes one day on the other side of Burbank and headed to USA Baby to test drive double strollers. I instantly fell in love with the Joovy Ultralight Caboose and HAD to get it. Remember, I am gadget obsessed. I justified it because I am selling my old double stroller which will pay for half of my new one. Somehow the logic sounds better in my head. I knew this weekend we would probably walk a lot with Uncle Justin and decided to use my Amazon Prime $3.99 one-day shipping to get it here Saturday. I am so glad I spent that $4, because we definitely used it all weekend and I LOVE this thing. Erik is still having issues with the freedom and constantly sitting and standing and dragging his feet so once we work through that, this stroller will definitely be the perfection solution for the next couple years.

There were a lot of people at the observatory that afternoon so parking was tough and we had a long hike to the top. I didn't mind too much because we needed the exercise and hey, I had my brand new stroller to make it easier. Uncle Justin said he would give us a break and push it up the hill. Thanks Uncle Justin!

Here are all the boys at the top of the hill. I didn't realize until I wrote that down that I was the only girl on this entire trip. That somehow is so fitting, especially when spending the day with Justin.

Going to Griffith is so different with kids. Justin kept politely asking if we could see a planetarium show and Carl and I knew since we left so late, the kids would just go crazy and fuss the entire time so we just ran around, looked at a couple exhibits and left. When you have kids that is always what happens. You chase the kid, look at a few things and then leave. I never really enjoy the exhibits myself anymore, but I do like watching Erik explore and discover new things. On this particular trip he learned about telescopes and was fascinated with looking through them everywhere.

While Erik ran all over the place, Elliot calmly sat in his stroller and took it all in. Well he probably would have done that if he wasn't teething, instead he looked like this, so I had to bust out the ergo and the only way he was happy was riding on my back.

Here are a few more pictures from the observatory, Erik even had his only little viewing hole to look at the city. A perfect morning and fun outing for the parents, not sure how Uncle Justin felt about missing so much when you have to watch the kids.

We got home and while Elliot napped the boys watched a movie and rested, I went shopping. When Elliot woke up we had a few hours to kill before dinner so Uncle Justin suggested we head to the park and play frisbee. Of course we totally forgot the frisbee, but I have been meaning to go to the park with Carl. Elliot has been doing this new crazy thing on the slide I wanted to capture on film, but I needed him there to make sure Elliot was safe. Basically Elliot now climbs the steps of the play gym, crawls to the slide and goes down head first. He is really good at it and does it over and over and over. He has probably done it about 50 times by now. When we were there another mom totally freaked out when she first saw, but quickly calmed when she saw his talents.

And of course what Elliot does and we recognize Erik has to do too, so here is Erik going down the slide looking for the same praise.

It was a fun time at the park with lots of swings and chase. Each of the boys got some bonding time while I took pictures and bonded as well.

It was a fantastic visit and by the end of the trip I was feeling less self conscious of being a parent in front of my old friend and more like my new self. The visit did have one affect on me. I have been missing my close friends who have moved out of California like crazy and wishing I could spend more time and see them more. These people are like family and we might not talk everyday, but they are always a part of my life and experiences. Although I appreciate and love my new friendships I have made along the way to parenthood it definitely makes me value and cherish those friendships that grew with me along the way. I wish we could invent a teleporter so I could just be with my friends whenever I wanted instead of having to take a plane to get there.