And Even More Children's Garden Playtime

More playtime at the garden--romping on dinosaur eggs and dino statues.

More Children's Garden

I think that this is Parker's favorite part of the children's garden--a cool natural sand area filled with big plastic dinosaurs and a big turned-over tree's root system. He loves to position all of the dinosaurs in the tree roots :)

Seeds of Wonder

Thanks to Grammy and Grandpa Mark, we are enjoying our Christmas present early this year--passes to Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas! They have a FANTASTIC children's garden for preschoolers, with so many fun things for kids to do--a playhouse with books and a pretend kitchen, a natural sand pit with dinosaurs, a veggie/herb garden, a model train, blocks, a place for them to pot their own plant, and crafts and story times on different days of the week. There are little trails for kids to explore, funny little plants and pots and fountains and statues, and awesome tree trunks and roots all meant to be climbed on. It's so cool to take Parker there for an hour or so on any given day, making for a great alternative to yet another trip to the park! Here he is showing off the little succulent that he potted himself--and working on his fake smile :)

In The Zone

Watching Caillou and Clifford the Big Red Dog videos on YouTube...I just thought he looked so sweet. I've never seen him lay like this before, with his chin in his hand...it seemed like such a natural thing to do :)

Bath Time

O Christmas Tree!

Yay!! We got our Christmas tree today! Part of me feels like it's still a bit early, but I just couldn't wait any longer, especially now that Parker is really able to engage with all of the fun Christmas activities and oddities. It was a perfect day here for tree shopping--"cold" by San Diego standards, and grey. We got a great deal on what turned out to be--in our house, at least--a HUGE tree! It seriously still startles me every time I see it--it's like Rockefeller Center in here or something. Parker "helped' to decorate the tree, which means that he stuck as many ornaments as he could get his hands on on the same two-foot square area at the very bottom of the tree--and then most of them proceeded to fall off! I managed to do some "rearranging" once he gave up. I also fulfilled my Christmas tree-decorating requirements with Christmas music, home-made hot chocolate, and a giant bowl of popcorn. Now if only it would snow...

Mommy's Birthday

We recently celebrated my 32nd birthday! The festivities began over the weekend and continued on Monday, my "real" birthday. Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes, and to my mom and dad for this amazing and very chocolaty, delicious cake! Parker could not wait to get his hands on it!!