New mode of transportation: Wagon ride

Back on February 26th, we went to our back patio to get a stroller for Archer and Avalon said she wanted to ride in the wagon. Jarad and I thought, what a great idea! Archer is finally big enough to ride in the wagon. So we took our first wagon ride with both kids. And it was great!
Now we take the wagon out for a walk nearly everyday. It works great because Avalon can walk with me and then she can get into the wagon when she gets tired.
And the best part is that everyday, we get to enjoy this amazing view on our walks. Ahhh...Santa Barbara!

Archer loves to ride in the wagon as long as we keep moving or Avie is playing with him.

Avalon has a great time too. And she always likes to wear a hat now. A hat for Avalon includes her mickey hat (made my Mummi), her blue knit hat (made by Kiki Gore) or a hood on one of her jackets like the penguin jacket she is wearing below (given to her from her Aunt Libby and Uncle Chris), and is currently one of her favorite jackets!
And sometimes she even pulls or pushes the wagon for me.

Yoga..Update

Jarad and Avalon were practicing their yoga the other day and I captured some cute pics (March 6th, 2011). I definitely think that Avie has the best form, don't you?

Archie Walks...with the push toy

This Wednesday, March 16, at Avalon's PEP preschool class, Archie first walked with a push toy. Mummi and Ukki are in town and Mummi came with me and the kids to class. She was playing with Archer and gave him this frog push toy. Archer was so anxious to push it both Mummi and I were walking with him holding the toy so it wouldn't go too fast. We did this back and forth with Archer for a while until Jarad called me. Then, while Mummi and I weren't watching, Archer stood up and started to push the toy on his own. And he did it! It was amazing!! Way to go Archie!



Check out these videos. The one above was one of the last videos I took after Archer had been walking back and forth across the room many times. It was really impressive how quickly he caught on. The one below was on the the first videos I took while Mummi was helping him. Whenever he would get stuck, he'd look to Mummi and his look would say "Come on Mummi, help me out." It was so cute!



Mummi and I were so excited and had so much fun with Archer that day! We have a push toy at home too and Archer has been pushing it around the living room ever since. Here are a few pictures too.

Bentlyville

I'm going back a little bit here to the cold weather of this past Christmas. While in Duluth, we went to a really cool Christmas light display called Bentlyville. It started out at someone's house, but because so big that they now display it near the harbor in downtown Duluth. The lights are amazing and it's free. They also serve free hot cocoa and cookies.

On a side note, this tower represents Enger Tower, which stands at the park where Jarad and I got married.
This was actually the second year that we've gone to Bentlyville, but this year was a lot more fun. Last year, we went on a night that was freezing cold and we weren't dressed properly, so we were so cold. I swear it was the best hot cocoa I've ever had, but needless to say we went through it pretty quickly. And they have an area with fire pits to keep warm and toast marsh-mellows. Last year, we spent a little time here, but decided it best to steer clear of it this year.
The blue cone in this picture is very large and for some songs (music was played throughout the display), the lights would flash one and off in different patterns to the music.

This year was really fun! We dressed much better and it was actually quite a bit warmer, which is still cold, but manageable. Avalon was memorized. She walked the whole way just staring at all the lights. It was really fun!

Archer also had a good time. I think he definitely had the best seat, nice and warm next to daddy. He didn't say a peep the whole time we were there. He just took everything in. Archer loves to ride in the stroller, shopping cart, bjorn, etc. as long as he can see and we keep moving, he is a happy kiddo.

She was always excited to see the reindeer and snowman from far away, but then steered clear when we got too close. It's amazing we got close enough for these pictures.

She wasn't too sure about the reindeer last year either. It was so cold last year, that this is the only picture I took while we were there.

Avalon had fun with Mummi, Ukki, her Aunt Libby and Uncle Chris.

Tick Tock

When Jarad was out of town a couple of weeks ago, the Mullens invited me and the kids over for dinner. Ryan introduced Avalon to a new game that she thought was really fun! I'm calling it "Tick Tock." Avalon asked over and over to be the clock as did his girls. The entire walk back to our house, Avalon sang "Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Avalon is a Clock" over and over. It was really cute! Thanks to the Mullens for dinner and a fun night!

Marielle is two years older than Avalon and likes to be a clock upside down, so I gave permission for Ryan to try it upside down with Avalon. She definitely was not a fan of that version of the clock as shown by this picture. But I'm sure she'll grow to like it as well.

The REEF touch tank at UCSB

On Saturday February 12th, we finally went to the Research Experience and Education Facility, the REEF, at UCSB. It is an interactive aquarium that is open to the public on Friday and Saturdays from 11am to 1pm. UCSB students work there and will tell you all about the fish and let you touch and hold them if you want.

Avalon was very interested in the star fish and was eager to touch it. She even held one after a while. We kept telling her to be very gentle with the star fish. Now whenever she sees a picture or toy starvfish, she tells us that we need to be very gentle with the star fish. It is very cute! She definitely does not have any fear of animals at this point. She has held ladybugs, beetles and frogs thus far. And with her Dad and Grandpa Ukki, I'm she this will continue as they are always finding animals for her to see and hold.




When we first arrived, one of the tanks had leaked and there was water all over the floor, so they asked everyone to leave for about 15 minutes while they cleaned it up. As we found out later, someone had pulled the plug on one of the tanks. oops! In the meantime, we headed to the beach, which is where Avalon wanted to go right away when she the water. She immediately asked for her swimsuit so she could go in the water. Since we didn't have it with, we just let her run around with her diaper. Luckily, it was a beautiful sunny day in SB. Avalon had a blast running in and out of the water. The waves were very gentle that day and the tide was low, so there was a lot of beach to play on.
And a beautiful shot of a grebe in the water with the Channel Islands in the background.