This week we went house shopping, and the kids love to run around all the back yards, and up 'n down empty hallways. We clearly have no control over our kids. But we did find a new house, and now begins the application process, and planning the moving.

A friend of Isabelle had a birthday party at a new park this weekend, and the kids had a blast. It was a really nice park too, with a fence all around, so we could actually not watch the kids every second without worrying about one of them running into the sunset. It also had two sections, one for big kids, and one for not so big kids. They also had lots of good snaking food, and for lunch, pizza! Yeah, we love pizza. I think the kids have been talking about it all afternoon, well, at least Isabelle.

We also picked up a few second hand Disney princess dresses and a fairy dress with wings on Saturday. And dress-up soon ensued. Sometimes Isabelle calls herself Cinderella, other times Snow White. Even David gets himself in one and calls himself Cinderella, although Cinderfella would be more appropriate. He has no idea what he's doing, the way he's bending all the social norms. In a few years, he'll be embarrassed when he see the photos, but for now, its harmless fun.


And oh yes, ice cream!

So, most of you know that John and I have odd, alternate schedules. I don't always get to hear details of every day conversation that he has with the kids, so when he said he posted a new blog post about the "whys" I sat down for a read... It's funny how our perspectives on things can be so different.

No doubt that Isabelle is in her "why" stage. Most of the time I can't really even figure out why she's asking because she usually knows the answer to her own question. But anyway, back to John's post. I was amused and endeared (but not surprised) by his scientific approach to Belle's cloud questions. Certainly I take opportunities to teach her when things arise; like the time she told me that the steam from the espresso machine made her hand wet and we had a talk about the different forms of water. But here's our usual conversation addressing her whys:

"Mommy, look at those pretty clouds! Why are clouds white?"

"Oooohhh, those are pretty!! They must white because they are made from big puffy cottonballs!"

"Yes they are! Mommy, can we jump on them?"

" Of course we can! We could float up in a bubble and land on top and jump on them all day"

"Why would we float in a bubble?"

"Well, how else are we going to get up there if we're out of magic flying dust AND our fairy wings are at the cleaners?"

"We could use a biiiiiiiiiiiig ladder!!"

" Yes, we could, but who is going to hold the ladder if we all want to get to the clouds??"

" I don't know"

(Unexpected swerve to avoid an inconsiderate driver)

"Mommy, why did you do that? Was that person a doe-doe bird?"

"Yes sweetie..  a big one with a capital A."

"Were they talking on their phone?"

"I don't know, maybe... maybe they just don't know how to drive."

"Why don't they know how to drive?"

"Because they're a doe-doe bird. What does Mommy say about people who don't know how to drive."

"They should stay home."

"That's right."

Then on to the next why question...:>)

So this weekend was Easter weekend, and that means colored eggs and jelly beans. And an egg hunt. First though, came the coloring. We had a couple of coloring kits, and 18 eggs. Clearly, 18 eggs is never enough for two kids. I think they would have gone through 180 eggs if we had 'em. Of course, when anyone dyes eggs, it's important to give the eggs enough time in the dye to really absorb the colors, but when you are 4, that seems like an eternity! We did get lots of good colored eggs done though, and only a few broken shells.

After we dyed eggs, our friend Jen came by for dinner. Sometimes when friends come for visits, the kids have a hard time eating, because they have so much to show our guests. But after telling stories about the eggs, both Isabelle and David were glad to sit and have dinner. Especially for the desert, chocolate lava cupcakes!

Sunday was Easter, so the big egg hunt was scheduled. The kids got up VERY early with excitement, but we didn't have a chance to hide the eggs yet, so we told them we didn't hear the Easter bunny yet, so we had to wait. We did a little pre-Easter egg hunt in the morning around the living room which was great. Nothing like doing and easter-egg hunt in your pajamas. After it warmed up a little outside, Julie got both kids in the bedroom playing games, and I sneaked out the front door, and hid the eggs, plus a few plastic egg shells full of toys or fruity colored Cheerios. After I got back inside, and just before I closed the door, I rang the doorbell. I can only imagine the looks on their faces as they stopped what they were doing, and looked all wide eyed, with mouth slightly ajar, at Julie. Naturally, Julie surely gave them the same look back, then mentioned that the Easter bunny must have done that, and they'd better get their shoes on.



As a side, there are a lot of times when we do things with the kids, and then I remember doing the same thing as a child, but that memory was lost in the recesses of my gray matter. And one such event like that occurred during the Easter egg hunt. Now, it's not something so grand as the egg hunt itself, but a mall part of it, which I'll get to in a second.

The kids were very excited and ran around the front yard with their Easter baskets in no particular order. Go left, go right. Oh look!

And so it went. Then Isabelle reached into a bush to grab an egg, and here's where my memory was jolted out of its slumber. She was so excited, and focused on the egg, she didn't see the branch leaf sticking right out in front, and right into her eye. Ouch! Fortunately, it was a glancing blow, and probably just stuck her a little at the corner, but it brought an end to the smiles and giggles. After I got over all the guilt of putting an egg in a bush and the resulting eye poke, I remembered a hunt I was on as a youngster, and when I reached for an egg on a tree branch, JAB! Right in the left eye! Enough about me though, I clearly survived. As did Isabelle. Its all about the eggs and candy.

Later that afternoon, we picked up some new flowers at the nursury, and the kids helped play in the dirt and helped to plant the flowers in flower pots. And water. They love to water. We didn't overload them on suger, so the day was pretty good after that.

The 'Whys' have started.

Daddy, why does that horse have brown spots?

Mommy, why does she have red hair?

Daddy, can we sleep on those clouds?

I'm afraid not dear.

Why?

Well, those clouds are not strong enough to hold us up in the air.

Why?

Because they are made out of water?

Why?

Well, sometimes water takes that form instead of water like we can drink, or ice cubes you can hold.  ( I thought I should wait until she has high school chemistry before discussing the temperature and pressure points. )

Why?

Well, everything can be in one of many forms.  (Again, I have to hold off the physics discussion. )

Why?

That's the way it is, Hunny.

Why?

And so it goes.....

Last week was a busy one for the kids.  On Saturday we went over to our friends Jen and Jay's house for dinner.  They always have a great dinner for us, and the kids love the added bonus of three dogs.  Isabelle is always a little bit afraid when she first gets there, and three dogs are putting their damp little noses on her, or trying to lick her face, but she loves the attention anyway.  After we leave, she talks about the dogs trying to say 'Hi' to her all the way home. 

David just loves to put his hand out and let the lab and the shorthair lick him.  He also like to run down the hall and get chased, but only for a little distance.  In a couple of years, I think he's just gonna wrestle the dogs all night long. He had a very hard time leaving that night and all the way home we heard a sad little boy..." it's not time to go.... it's not time to go..."

Then we headed to the East Bay for the third of our spring birthday parties.  We met at an Il Fornaio, which actually had a good kids menu.  Well anything in the French Toast variety is always a winner with them!  They enjoyed visiting with the family, as they always have a lot to say on the way home about who said what, or who did what with either of them.

There is a big fountain out front, and on this day, we also had a lot of wind, so the fountain was spraying anyone who got within about 8 feet of the edge.  But it was still the best thing about leaving the restaurant.  Until it was time to open presents!  The kids always want to help open gifts, and Isabelle was right in there.  David wanted to help a little too, but by then he was very tired, and was having a hard time focusing on anything for more then a few seconds.

Later that week we had Isabelle's 4 yr wellness check.  She was very good for the visit with her Dr.  She was a little bit upset that there were a couple of shots at the end, but I guess that's to be expected.  Isabelle continues to grow, and be one of the taller girls of her age, as she is in the 95th percentile for her age in height, weight, noggin circumference; but her Body Mass Index is right on spot, so she's not too big in the wrong direction.

She also got her first hearing test, which seemed to go OK.  It was a little difficult for her to focus on the directions when there was all this neat stuff to look at, and headphones on too!  She also had her first vision test, and we think she can see OK.  There was also a bit of trouble following the directions, so the results were not as expected.   But, rather then worry about it, we scheduled an appointment with her eye doctor for a proper eye exam.  She'll get to see the same Dr that fixed her eye duct problem from a few years ago.  I wonder if she remembers?

And David watching the watchers.

Also during pig day, all the activity brings out a lot more people then usual, so it was a bit crowded.  But the crowds also warranted a visit from a local farm that has ponies for the kids to ride!  Here's Isabelle.

So two weekends ago, we were all feeling better, and the sun was shining, so we headed out to the farmers market on Saturday morning.  We try to frequent the market when the weather is nice, as the kids always like it, and we can get some good food too, so it was a welcome event that day.  That day also happened to be something called 'Pig Day.'  Apparently, the first weekend in March is National Pig Day.  Really.  Look it up.  But in any case, the market gets a very curious, surreal feel to it.  There are pig balloons and pork chops, clowns and a petting zoo, sausages and pig costumes.  And the usual organic fruits and vegetables.

We picked up a couple of pig noses for the kids after they visited with some baby goats and baby pigs, but Isabelle just wouldn't wear it.

A couple of weeks ago, I took the kids out to the same construction site we visited earlier. And is there ever a big hole now! I bet it's 20 ft (6 meters) deep, and a couple hundred feet long (60-70 meters). We parked nearby, and the kids, and I, got to look through a chain link fence at all the action going on. We visited on a Friday, I think, so everyone was in full swing. The kids were all excited to see all the coordinated action, as bottom dump trucks brought in gravel, then a water truck sprayed it down, then a grader smoothed it out, followed by a compactor. Then it all happened again. And David was sure to tell me about each truck that came down the road, each and every time.

All of a sudden, 4 weeks have gone by and we haven't posted a thing. But we have been busy, as always.

Let's see, 4 weekends ago we went down to Walnut Creek for a gathering with the family to celebrate birthdays for both Julie and aunt Susie. We met at a pizza place that made good big pies, and they also had a children's play area in the back, which was the greatest thing ever, as far as the kids were concerned. They didn't want to sit at a table all day, after all. Even if it was yummy pizza and presents. In fact, they didn't even want to help open presents for the grownups, which is really unusual. But this place did have a big play structure, and superballs, and other kids running and screaming.

Also that week, we started with the flu. Boo-Hoo. Julie got it first, and she didn't get it that bad, but it still was no fun. Then the kids got it. They also didn't get it too bad, but they had to stay home a few days and never really slept well for about 4 days. Then I got it, and boy did I get it. I'm trying not to be wimpy about it, but I had a really bad cough, and then when I started to feel better, I got an ear infection. It was a bad one too. When I went to my Dr. to get it checked out, he said it was the worst ear drum he'd seen in February, and warned me that it might rupture. Ouch!

So not blogging for those two weeks. And no pictures. Oh well. More on the way!.