Happy Valentine's Day!

Today the kids had a great time celebrating Valentine's day!  Anna gave away heart cookie cutters, Mason gave away small shovels (pencil sized - with a card that said I dig you!), and Olivier gave away little cars.  I for one, won't complain about not giving away candy.  It makes things easier all around.  

After they got home the boys kept asking Matt for "shoulder" rides and he decided to offer wheelbarrow rides instead.  Reminds me of the many rides I got as a kid!  And I think Matt got as tired as my dad did!  Whew!  

And short video to show how much they loved it!

After dinner we asked Olivier to go wash his hands.  This is the sound he decided to make while doing it.  This boy loves his cars!  He did get upset that Matt made a Lightning McQueen Valentine instead of Mike from Monsters Inc (Mason got Sully) but he wasn't about to give up Lightning either.  

Hope everyone got to spend the day with those they love!  

And in case anyone is keeping track, Anna lost tooth number three on Monday!  She has three more loose teeth (two are very loose).  Poor tooth fairy is struggling with it though, Anna has been trying to "catch" the tooth fairy which is making things "interesting".  :-)

Last of the Birthday Celebration!

The last (but by far not the least!) piece of celebrating was with family!  Almost everyone came over for pizza, salad, and cupcakes!  Now who wouldn't like that?  

Anna got one more round of Happy Birthday!  

It is fun to watch her open her gift now that she is reading the cards.  

 Edit:  I missed a very important picture last weekend when Anna had two amazing friends spend the night.  Anna is working on a scrapbook and insisted I get a photo of her with Lina and Julie (at Julie's party, they are almost birthday twins!) so she can complete her birthday sleepover page!  :-)

Anna's 6th Birthday!

Wow!  Where to begin on listing on the activities that have happened to celebrate a certain someone special who turned 6 today...  Anna has had many birthday celebrations over the last week and they aren't over yet!  She is one lucky girl and we are blessed to call her ours!  

It all began with a birthday celebration at school on the 23rd.  They celebrated all the January birthdays, and they had quiet a few!  They sang and got cupcakes and a few other snack.  Fun excuse to go visit her at school!  

 Then on Friday night Lina and Julie spent the night.  It was only the second time Anna has had someone spend the night and she was beyond excited.  But...bad Mom didn't get a single photo of the girls together!  It was such a whirl that it just escaped me!  On Saturday morning, Matt went out and decorated the driveway.  Anna was happy to help!

 Look who is turning six!

 Anna drew a birthday cake and Lina drew a snowman.  

 On Saturday afternoon we had a small fairy party for the girls (plus Mason and Olivier).  They all had a great time.  Of course we had to sing happy birthday when it was time for cupcakes!

Happy Miss Anna!

They girls made "fairy houses, got "fairy" wands, and we made necklaces filled with "fairy" dust!

And this morning, Anna was very excited to wear her "I'm 6" shirt to school.  We even let her wear a tiara.  Oh my!  

After school she was excited to open gifts from Mom and Dad.  

 Ballet slippers for dancing around the house.

 A decorative pillow craft project from the boys.  

 A rock tumbler!

 And a pink chair!  

Now for comparison to her 5th birthday, I asked her the same questions I did last year.  Here is how they compare with last years answer in the ():

Favorite Color:  pink (pink)

Favorite Book:  Rainbow Fairy (The Cat in the Hat)

Favorite Gift:  Wallet (Pop Charm Bracelets)

What do you want to be when you grow up:  Librarian (Librarian)

Friends:  Sydney from Cal Poly (Sydney and Brooklyn from school)

Favorite thing to do:  Read books (play on the structure at school)

Favorite thing to do at school:  Play on the Structure (write in straight lines)

Favorite food:  Macaroni (yogurt)

Favorite place to go:  Library (the secret forest - a place they trek to at school)

How old will you be when you grow up:  34 - same age as Mom (16)

How old will you be when you get married:  20 (17 - and she said she would marry Mason)

How old will you be when you have a baby:  40 (she said she didn't know if she would have a baby)

She is 44.5 inches tall and weights 42.4 pounds.  

This year has gone by in a blur!  She is becoming a little lady right before our very eyes!  So proud of her and can't wait to see what adventures are ahead!  

Happy Birthday to our sweet Anna!  We love you!

Snow day at school

Anna is very excited for snow day and wanted her boots, hat, mittens, and snow jacket. I hope she doesn't pass out in the heat since it is suppose to be 83 today!!

Edit:  Here is a story from the local paper about the snow at Pacheco and the fact that San Luis Obispo had the highest temperature in the NATION today at 91!  Yikes!  And the low this morning was 39.  Talk about a crazy swing in temperature!

SLO was the hottest spot in the U.S. on Thursday

BY CYNTHIA LAMBERT

clambert@thetribunenews.comJanuary 16, 2014

Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/01/16/2880084/hot-temperature-record-january.html#storylink=cpy

While bundled-up children sledded and played in the snow at Pacheco Elementary School, other San Luis Obispo residents shed layers and sweated as the city posted the highest temperature in the nation on Thursday.

The mercury at the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport reached 91 degrees,according to the National Weather Service, earning the day’s top spot.

Across town, Cal Poly experienced the hottest January day it has seen in the more than 100 years that records have been kept. The temperature reached 89 degrees on campus, which broke the all-time January record of 88 degrees set on Jan. 17, 1976, according to PG&E meteorologist John Lindsey.

“It’s unprecedented,” Lindsey said. The cause, he said, is a strong and persistent ridge of high pressure over the state.

The previous record for Jan. 16 in San Luis Obispo was 80 degrees, set in 1948, he said.

By about 4:30 p.m., Paso Robles had reached 82 degrees, but the temperature was still rising.

Slightly cooler weather is anticipated through the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Farther out, a low-pressure system could develop off the California coastline Wednesday and produce gentle southerly winds and marine low clouds with some areas of drizzle, according to Lindsey.

Then, dry and warmer weather could return through the end of January.

Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/01/16/2880084/hot-temperature-record-january.html#storylink=cpy

Anniversary Weekend!

This weekend we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary!  Wow!  Rather amazing to think that it has been twelve years and we are excited to see what the future has in store.  To celebrate we went to Ragged Point.  There is a crazy trail that takes you down to a small strip of beach.  This photo gives you an idea of what the hillside looks like.

 And I took a few photos of the beach.  I wasn't able to figure out a good setting for the crazy sun followed by weird shadows due to the cloud but I think you get the idea of how beautiful it was.

 Looking down from part way up the path back up.

 There was also a bit of fog that was rolling in slowly, and in small patches.

We enjoyed some of the beautiful surrounding that we call home!

Elephant Seals and Zoo!

Today we went to see some animals!  We started by driving up the coast and checking out the elephant seals.  The kids were excited to see them being lazy on the sand, protecting their section of the beach, nursing the baby seals, and making lots of weird noises.  

 I think the more we said don't climb the fence the more they wanted to.

 One alpha male protecting his turf.

Not thrilled about taking a photo but if you can zoom in you can see a lighthouse in the background.  (And yes, the boys are wearing their rain boots even through it wasn't rained basically at all in 2013 and not projected yet for 2014.)

 Then we were off to the zoo.  The kids were very excited to see the Christmas decorations that were still up.  They wanted to check those out before the real animals.  Silly kids.

And to finish the post, there was a turkey that I had seen follow a fellow zoo visitor who was trying to take a photo.  When the turkey came over we had some fun.  Check it out.

New Years Day is a great day to...

...go to the beach of course!  :-)  We got there around 10:30 a.m. and the weather was beautiful, no wind, and warm but not hot.  Perfect!  Olivier, Anna, Matt and Rufus went straight to the water while I shuttled water to Mason who is not a fan of the ocean.  Olivier and his pose for me.  

 Anna loves splashing in the shallow water along the shore.

 Mason was more than happy to stay with our things and play in the sand.

 Anna, Olivier (fell and is laying on his belly in the water), and Rufus going out for his ball.  He just wouldn't stop.  He whined and barked (which is VERY rare) if Matt wasn't throwing the ball for him.

 Anna and Olivier running from the waves.

 Did I mention the weather was perfect?  :-)  Oh yeah, I think I did!  :-)

 And Olivier made his first polar bear plunge, which would be his last, into the water.

 Mason was happy about that though, he had some company to make castles with him!

 Enjoying lunch outside!  As we were wrapping up lunch the wind started to pick up just a little and it was a cooler breeze.

 And after a lot of work trying to get Mason to go into the water, the closest I could get was to carry him and dip his toes in.  And I had to do it one foot at a time because he really did not want any part of it.  Once I got both feet he said "enough!"

 By the time we left the kids needed long sleeves and pants because of the breeze.  Odd for it being 1 p.m. but it was time to head home so no complaints!