What have we been up to?

On Christmas Eve, in the afternoon, we went to Sea World. We saw the dolphin show and special holiday Shamu show. It was pretty fun. Clare did great! It was the first time she ever sat on the bench and watched the animals instead of burying her head in my lap. She talked all night and is still talking about seeing the dolphins jump! I was surprised that Sea World was so crowded because I figured everyone would be home doing holiday stuff. This picture, below, I thought would be fun -- to send warm wishes from San Diego! Also, you can see how big I'm getting. (I'm now just starting the third trimester).


Christmas morning Calvin woke up at 4:15am. This is something he has been doing a lot lately, so we had known it was quite possible. We stuck a little TV in his room with a few movies, snacks and a drink for him. He watched Jungle Book and Toy Story 2 before even trying to come out at around 6:30. Pete and Jessica arrived about that time and were waiting for the kids upstairs. They though it'd be fun to see the kids' reaction to their Christmas morning! The kids were shy of pete and jessica and also in some kind of daze so they didn't react the way we imagined. Calvin was silent and very timid 'til about 7:30 when he was finally excited about it! (by then we were done)! I didn't take many pictures but the one below is of Clare opening the present Calvin gave to her. He helped wrap it in white paper and then colored on the white paper instead of using christmas wrap.




We have a fireplace in our living room that we haven't used much but it recently occur ed to us that we should try it out and see if it helps warm up the house. It seems to help a bit so we've been on the lookout for firewood. The other day we were driving by a house and saw some small pieces of wood out by the road. The man of the house was in the garage so I asked him if he was trying to get rid of the wood and if we could take it. He said, "yes and I have a bunch more in the back, come and take a look." Dave filled up the back of the truck with some wood. The wood was chopped into bick circular blocks but Dave had to chop it all into quarters to burn. He was excited to go get an ax, especially since all men should have an ax!

Calvin!!!

Calvin brought home a craft from school that is supposed to be hung up as a Christmas decoration. It is very cute -- a wreath using their hand print as the greenery. Anyway, Calvin really wanted to hang it lower than some of the options I gave him of nails already in the wall. I was busy doing dishes and not that excited to put another hole in the wall to hang the craft at his eye level so I sent him on a mission to find the hammer out of the car (where it had been left the week before). So, he went away for quite a while and I continued to do dishes. when he came back he was talking about other things so I figured he had been distracted and moved on to something else. I asked him where the hammer was and he said he already hung up the craft in his room. He has some hooks for coats/hats in his room so I figured he hung it up there and told him good job. When I went to bed last night I saw that he had actually hammered a new nail into the wall (and his eye level) and put his craft there. INTERESTING!!! I guess he figured if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.

Dave!!!

This morning we went to the playground and when we were finished I helped Calvin get into his seat and Clare walked around to Dave's side so he could help her into the car. I said, "Dave, here comes Clare, can you help her into the car?" He was distracted reading a book while at the same time opening up the car trunk to put in his sweatshirt. When I finished helping Calvin and went to sit in my seat I saw Clare was not in her seat still. I figured she was still standing on the other side of the car waiting for Dave's help. "Dave, where's Clare?" He looked at his left hand and saw his sweatshirt - "Clare?! Oh, I meant to put my sweatshirt away, I must have put Clare in the trunk instead!"


Disclaimer: Clare did not ever complain about being put into the trunk. She thought it was great fun!

Quote from dave on the event: "It could happen to anybody."

Zoo Trip and Driveway surfing

This week we went to the Wild Animal Park with Calvin's friend Davis (along with sister Hope (2 years old) and Mom Amy). They had a sledding hill that they set up during the Christmas festival. on the way to the park I asked Calvin, "do you want to play in the snow there?" He said "No mom. it doesn't snow here. only in Ohio." I explained that they make fake snow here for people to play with and he thought that sounded pretty lame! As it turned out, it was only open in the evening so it didn't matter much anyway!


Calvin loves the petting zoo -- he is not at all afriad of the deer they have there. He likes to pet them and feed them leaves off the ground.



This afternoon we went to play outside with some balls on the driveway. The kids found the boggie board in the garage enjoyed pretending to boogie board and making silly faces.

Surfer Dave

Dave got his Christmas presents (surfing stuff) a little early this year so that he could make good use of them while he is on an easier rotation. Once Jan hits, he'll probably be lucky to make it out to the beach once a month. This month, we've gone several times. Here is a picture of Dave in his new wet suit and with his surf board. It gets dark pretty early -- sunset at 4:30 and on this day we were there only a few minutes before sunset. It was beautiful and pretty chilly. Calvin wouldn't get out of the car. Dave was funny to watch - on his first day. He couldn't even sit on the board and wait for the waves to come without falling off! He has heard from others and is now learning for himself that surfing is hard to do! It is really good exercise and has beautiful scenery so hopefully he'll enjoy the journey, even if it does take him all 7 years!


It was too late and too dark for a good picture of Clare (on my camera) but the sunset in the background is beautiful!