The Grass Family Chronicles

On Wednesday morning, Grandpa, the boys and I headed off to the Sea Life Aquarium. Okay, this was the best kid-friendly aquarium we've ever been to! It should be, as it is part of Legoland. What was great was how low everything was; it was all at their eye level!

They had all these "bubbles" the kids could crawl under to see in the middle of the aquariums.



There was a fun 10 question quiz for the boys to do; the questions were scattered around the aquarium. We had to find them then figure out the answers to the questions. Caleb and Andy were really into that.



There was a little tide pool area where the kids could touch starfish and anemones. Jakey really liked putting his hands into the water!



There is so much beautiful sea life there; they really know what kids are interested in. We all loved the seahorses, and Jakey's favorite was the blood shrimp.

Posted in: on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at at 8:51 PM 2 comments  

I've decided to break up the blog entries for our trip into distinct categories, from beginning to end. So, the beginning is the plane ride, but I don't have pictures. The kids have become amazing travelers. Ipods and Game Boys have a huge part to do with that, I think. :) It was smooth sailing and we got our huge rental Suburban and went to the hotel. It was a fancy one, The Omni San Diego. Turns out, we really like fancy hotels. Imagine that! We didn't spend a whole lot of time there, but the time we were there was spent looking out the window or swimming. We were on the 16th floor and had a view of Petco Park, the train yard, the ocean, and the swimming pool. The kids loved it!

Posted in: on at at 8:51 PM 0 comments  

We haven't been to OMSI for a long time, and since they have $2 Sundays once a month, we decided to take a field trip out there. There were LOTS of people there, but we had a great time. We took Mindy with us as well; Mindy is our babysitter that is living with us for the summer. She loves OMSI, too!



The boys loved all the ball exhibits; you all know how much Jakey loves balls! He was in heaven!



There were bottle rockets, ball mazes, and all sorts of other fun things.




My favorite part, however, is the Gravitram (mistakenly known as the Gravitron). I remember watching all those little metal balls when I was little, and it was fun to watch our kids carry on the tradition. They didn't want to leave!

Posted in: on at at 8:10 PM 1 comments  

I don't really remember where this purple hat came from. I think from some charity poker tournament that we went to. Maybe not. However, what I am certain of is Jakey's undying love for it. He's been wearing it EVERYWHERE! Today we were on our way to pick up Caleb and Andy from school and he insisted on wearing it. To the bus stop. In the car. In Andy's classroom. In the play area and ball pit. It's so big on him and he can hardly see with it on, but it doesn't seem to matter. He loves it.

I wanted to take a picture of him with it on, so I asked him if it was okay. He said yes, then promptly took it off and said, "Cheese!" (that's yellow gum in his mouth, not a nasty tooth!).



Then I said, "With your hat on!", and he said, "NO!" and hid behind his hat.



Having somewhat learned what how his mind works, I just sat there and waited until he peeked out.


And finally, he put his hat back on for me. Silly boy!

Posted in: on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at at 9:46 PM 1 comments  

We've started down that slippery slope of parenting known as video games. We purchased a Nintendo Wii at Christmas, and while Paul and I are still trying to find time to play with it ourselves, the boys have really taken to it. We decided to instigate a weekend-only rule and so far it's worked out pretty well. They get time taken away if they don't behave and can earn time back with good behavior. Let me tell you, it's great currency in our house! Their favorite game right now is Lego Star Wars. Big surprise, huh?

Posted in: on Sunday, April 26, 2009 at at 2:49 PM 2 comments  

Grandma spent the day with us yesterday and we had lots of fun gardening! I had purchased a bunch of plants and the boys really enjoy picking them out and figuring out which pots they want to plant them in. We also started working on the side bed. I think it's going to look great!

Posted in: on at at 2:45 PM 2 comments  

Last week, Caleb said that his mouth felt funny. We took a look inside, and imagine our surprise when we found a new tooth had cut through! His baby tooth in front of it is a bit loose; got lots looser today, in fact. We took him to Dr. Tom, our dentist, who said that we could just wait to let it fall out on its own. Caleb is surprisingly not scared about the whole thing. I don't think it's entered his mind that his tooth coming out could hurt at all, and we'd just as soon leave it that way. He's a bit of a worrier, as you know, but one of the toughest kids I've ever seen! He is excited about the tooth fairy, although he asked me if I was the tooth fairy. Smart kid. :)

Hope it falls out soon. He has another tooth about to come in right next to the new one, and the other baby tooth is a bit loose, as well!

Posted in: on Monday, April 20, 2009 at at 10:22 PM 2 comments