Daddy's Home!

Justin was in China for the last two weeks (well, 11 days, but it felt like foreeeeeee-ever!) I never post online until he's actually back (or at least on the plane) for safety reasons, but it was hard this time not to talk about it. It was extremely difficult to be all by myself with the kids this time. During the week, with our normally-scheduled activities, it's fine. A little lonely at night...but fine. On a long three-day holiday weekend....well, it was ridiculously difficult. The kids were crazy. I was a little lonely and a lot overtaxed. I was so, so happy to have him back on a plane last night. You'd think these trips would get easier, but they really don't at all.

So he's back today (and back at work, of course!) but at least in the same zip code. The kids are resting and we are headed to the pool in a few. We will probably spend all weekend there because they finally opened the diving board (yes! Jack is so excited!) and because it's going to be 95-100 degrees all weekend. YAY for having no A/C! Silly NorCal weather.

As the grand finale.... my parents come Thursday night and that Justin & I leave for Hawaii next Saturday!! That's the only thing getting me through! :) :) :) I am so, so very excited for our "second honeymoon" ... and I know the kids are super pumped about having Pop-Pop and SuSu to themselves for a whole week.

Here's some recent shots, mostly of Caroline because her facial expressions are so funny. I'll be sure to get some of Jack diving like a pro this weekend!

SMILE!

Our little doggie bringing me her shoes for a walk.

She looks so big here!

Her favorite climbing spot...the playplace at the mall. 

And doing it all with a binky and in a dress, no less.

More climbing.

Cheesing.

Stuck.

She knows how to change the channels on our cable box (to the
absolute frustration of all the rest of us.) She loves the Korean News channel.

"Hey, I just woke up. Cut me some slack!"

Crazy kids.

Do you know what this is?

Nutella handprints. On the carpet in Jack's room. 

Saturday morning, before 6:30am, before I'd had even one drop of coffee, Caroline sneaked into the pantry and got a jar of Nutella. Then she carried it, in super stealth mode, into Jack's room where they quietly shut the door and proceeded to eat it with their hands.

Then they touched literally everything in the room. All linens and clothes had to be washed, walls wiped, and toys soaked in the tub. This was the carpet after I'd started cleaning it, when I finally thought to take a picture.

I was SO. ANGRY. I had one of those out-of-body experiences and had to leave the room. Now in hindsight it's slightly funny... But only slightly! Did I mention that Justin's been in China for two weeks, and I was all alone?? C'mon kids, cut me some slack!! 

In other news....

Here's my little climber:

And here's my little Ninja Turtle:

Field Trip to the Aquarium

I had a four-day stretch of absolutely nothing looming in front of me & the kids this Memorial Day weekend, so I decided to start it off with a bang and take them down to Monterey to the aquarium. Jack has had an obsession with sharks lately (we've watched every episode of every Shark Week airing for the last 5 years on Netflix.) He really wanted to see them, and somehow convinced himself that Caroline was super interested in the jellyfish and those were her favorite. So we got up early (C @ 6am and J @ 630, sheesh!) and drove down.

We were a little early (go figure) so we stopped to have a little breakfast and check out the water...

looking for seals.

"maybe the seals aren't here now because it's too cold!"

We were the third people in line and entered just as they opened at 10am. The first place we went were the touch pools... Jack wanted to "touch the animals first!! Before anyone else's dirty hands!"

For Jack, they were touch pools. For Caroline, they were splashy splishy pools!

They each touched sea stars, abalone, kelp, decorator crabs, and anemones.

After that we stopped at the moving kelp tank. Caroline LOVED this tremendously. She could have stood there for hours screeching at all the fish that swam by.

She also loved the reef exhibit. We left the stroller most places, and she went walking holding my hand through the tunnels. I was so proud of her! She's come so far in such a short time.

Then we hit the Splash Zone (or as Jack said, "the baby play area!")

Jack was actually the one who remembered the aprons. He's more responsible
than me sometimes!

Oh, something to climb in, imagine that.

Another attempt at climbing. This girl is ridiculous.

 They have a new exhibit called "The Jellyfish Experience." It's actually pretty cool. It's all groovy 70's music and lighted hallways to neat tanks of all kinds of jellyfish. We spent a fair amount of time in here. Caroline really did like it :)

She was getting tired. It was almost lunchtime (and naptime.) But she was still
really interested!

You could draw and then see your "jellyfish"
on the screen swimming through the ocean. Jack loved this.

Only shot of the 3 of us...but it's proof I was there. Ha.

 We also saw the seahorses, which Jack didn't like too much, and spent a LOOOOONG time at the Deep Sea tank, which has the big fish and the sharks. He yelled out the name of every shark that swam by. Everyone thought it was really cute.

At about 1130, both kids were wiped and it was getting really crowded. All Jack wanted for lunch was crab (this kid has expensive taste) so we stopped at Bubba Gumps and ate crab legs on the water. It wasn't too bad. By the end, they were both super exhausted and fidgety, but they ate well and were relatively quiet.

As I was leaving, a family at the next table stopped me to say that my kids were very well-behaved and that I was a "rock star" for dining out with them by myself. I was so happy :) because it's true that they are pretty awesome (most of the time) - but it's nice to be appreciated for the hard work it is doing something like this all alone!

Of course we hit the gift shop on the way out. Jack got a (you guessed it) shark that he named Jaws, and Caroline got a pretty pink jellyfish that he named Terry. (??) She actually really likes it. The tentacles are super soft and she likes to play with them. She has Terry in her crib tonight too :)

Fast asleep before we were even out of the parking garage!

 Caroline took a great nap once we got home. Jack did not. Thankfully both kids fell asleep early tonight! (By 730! Unheard of.) I'm finishing one more episode of Downton Abbey and then hitting the hay. It's been a long day for Mommy too!!! But a really fun one. This gives me confidence to try other new places with them both now that Caroline is a little bigger and she is more interested in what's going on around her.

Jack hung Terry up in the backyard while we were playing
outside before dinner. This jellyfish is growing on me!

And I leave you with a few other random shots from my phone:

pool day!

My little climber. This looks safe...

She can run stairs like it's her job.

Baby play date with Bailey.

Binky: You're doing it wrong.

OMG!! INTO EVERY.THING. She broke a box of pasta open and
not only spilled it everywhere, but half-chewed a bunch of pieces
and left the sticky chunks all over the house. Sigh.

Because this is how everyone drinks their bottle.

At least she's CUTE...

Jack wanted to copy his sister (he has chocolate milk, silly boy)

BLONDIE C-SUE