More Adventures

Each day I feel thankful to have two curious, imaginative, fun-loving three-year-olds to explore the world with. Our recent trip to visit family was no exception. Traveling with Lucie and Ryan is so much more fun than I ever expected. They are thrilled by the smallest details -- an orange shuttle bus at the airport, a lollipop to help an upset stomach on the plane, or a chance to play a silly game of "go through the window!" to get in Grandpa's truck once we landed.

Though we live far away, it's so important to us that Ryan and Lucie are close to their extended family. R & L are thrilled to reunite with beloved grandparents, uncles (and uncles' girlfriends), Aunt Rach and cousin Tate. They now recognize and warm up to their relatives instantly. With each visit, I see their relationships with family grow stronger, to the point now where they talk about their relatives constantly, even when they're far away.

I was particularly proud of Lucie this trip. Like so many kids (and adults), she can sometimes be tentative and unsure in situations she's not familiar with. At her Grandma and Grandpa's house, she wasn't very comfortable splashing around in the hot tub on the first days of our trip, and only stayed in for a short time. But after a few nights of giving it a try, she could not wait to jump in the hot tub for "night swimming!" (really, more like late afternoon/evening swimming) with Ryan and her Grandpa.

When we visited the beach later in the week, Lucie was confronted with one of her least favorite creatures -- seagulls. After a day of running for cover whenever a seagull showed up, Gigi encouraged Lucie not to be frightened, and even to shoo them away when they got too close. The next thing we knew, she was running around the sand, shovel in hand, warding the seagulls off. And, after that, she'd happily run around with them, without the slightest hesitation. She developed a soft spot for a seagull with a hurt leg, gently encouraging it to get along its way when it came too close for her comfort.

Ryan impressed me this trip with how sweet and caring he was with cousin Tate. From showing him how to use the potty to collecting pumpkins with Papa, Ryan made sure Tate was always in on the action. This did mean that nap time and bed time were crazy, with the three of them bouncing off the walls together. They must have spent an entire hour jumping, making up crazy songs, and throwing loved ones out of their cribs each and every bedtime. And, they were up at the crack of dawn, ready to greet the day with play, play, and more play.

Parties 2 and 3

Lucie and Ryan loved telling everyone that they were having "FREEEE!" parties for their birthday. (No, not free parties, but three parties. The "th" sound is a tough one for these guys.) After a celebration at home on their actual birthday, the next two parties were at grandparents' houses on a recent trip to visit family.

First, at their Grandma and Grandpa's house, Ryan and Lucie enjoyed presents and their own cakes, each decorated with all their favorite things. Ryan's digger cake was a hit, both for his love of construction vehicles, and his newly discovered soft spot for blue frosting. Lucie dug in with the same gusto, licking off every last drop of ice cream from her ballerina's tutu. Yum.

The next weekend at Gigi and Papa's, celebrations included October birthdays for cousin Tate (2 years old) and Uncle AJ (the big 2-5). The little guys helped Gigi make an entire plate of cupcakes, which they polished off (or should I say licked the frosting off?) in no time.

Horses in the City?

We discovered a small horse ranch not far from our house. Discovered is probably too strong a word since we're not exactly the Swiss Family Robinson here in the middle of suburbia. But there it was, and after a few drive-by visits in the car, Megan, Lucie, and Ryan trekked to the ranch a few weeks ago. Now all the horses have very creative names like "brownie", "blackie", and "burro".

An while it may be too early to tell if L & R have lost their fear of large animals, if you can pee in front of a horse, can you really be afraid of one?

Birthday Party (1 of 3)

I suppose it's fitting that our three year-olds should have 3 parties. Number 1 was at home on their actual birthday. As far as Lucie and Ryan are concerned, the most important part of any birthday is what kind of cake you have. And they like ice cream cake. However, they were very clear on wanting their "own cakes". Luckily neither one of them noticed that their "own cakes" were actually one cake cut in half...

After cake, it was time to open presents. Actually Ryan stopped opening once he discovered that Gigi and Papa got him a remote control recycling truck. It's just his speed and even matched his shirt.

Meanwhile Lucie wasted no time in hosting her first tea party. The set from Rachel, Jason, and Tate was put to good use as some of her favorite people joined her for a party.

Finally, in one of those moments that reaffirms Lucie is her mother's daughter, Lucie makes a birthday wish.

Boys Weekend

While Megan and Lucie were dancing the night away at the wedding, Ryan and I took advantage with a boys weekend. Ryan is easy to please and I figured we would spend the day shopping at the hardware store and doing a little yaadwork. But once I told him we were only dropping off mommy and Lucie at the train station, his disappointment was palpable. Fortunately, Megan remembered seeing signs for a petting zoo at the San Juan Capistrano station on a previous trip. A quick search and we found Zoomars which sounded like the perfect destination for us.

It was a great day — combining two of Ryan's favorite things: trains and animals. After a short train ride filled with games and snacks, we said goodbye to Megan and Lucie and hopped off. After finding our way to the zoo, our first stop was the bunny and guinea pig pen. Megan has lingering guinea pig issues left over from a childhood incident, so it was a good thing she wasn't here :>

After that, he rode the small train where there was little competition for the coveted "engine" seat.

Then it was on to the goats and sheep. Ryan (and Lucie for that matter) isn't real comfortable around animals that are bigger than him. But he did like the little goats who came to sit with him in the shade.

To my surprise, Ryan wanted to ride the ponies. Even greater surprise, Ryan picked the biggest "pony", actually a sizable horse named "Chex". Here he is strapped in and enjoying his brief turn as a cowboy.

It took Ryan all of 5 minutes to fall asleep on the train ride home. We spent the rest of the afternoon rehashing our morning and making Ryan's favorite food — macaroni and cheese. We mixed in the corn and chicken that I like and ended up with a meal that is still talked about to this day.