Wearing Them Out

Carter has recently been staying awake during nap time.  This is not okay with us because nap time/ sleep is sacred in our family.

I realized that the problem might be that Carter wasn't getting enough physical activity in the morning to wear him out for his nap (and the fact that he has been sleeping in until like 8 on some mornings). 

We're doing "stuff"!  The kids aren't just sitting and watching TV all day (never more than like an hour and a half a day, and not usually that much), but playing inside the house is not as much of a workout as running around outside.

So, we've been making more of a point of taking Carter outside to use up some of that 3-year-old energy before nap time.  We've gone on walks around the block, we've done a mini-obstacle course in the backyard, and we went to the Arboretum.

Here are a few photos from this week's visit to the Arboretum:

Run kids!  Run!

Our Developing Reader

Ashlynn finished kindergarten as a beginning reader.  This summer I intend to help her maintain, and hopefully improve, her reading skills.

Ashlynn is not (yet) one of those kids who loves to read.  I'm sure a big part of it is that she's still learning, and it's hard to enjoy something that you're still learning.  Plus, she's like me and doesn't seem to enjoy doing things that she can't do super well.

So, until it all clicks and she really learns to love reading, we're doing all kinds of reading.  We're reading to her and she's reading to us (still trying to convince her to read to her brother).

I'm trying to find books she can read that are of higher interest then some of the super simple (boring) ones they read in kindergarten.  Some of the classics we've enjoyed reading are:
(Sorry, I stole the images from Amazon.  You can't click to look inside.)

And some fun new(ish) series we're enjoying:

 Here's to happy reading!

Griffith Park

 Today we went on an outing to Griffith Park.  For our first stop, the kids rode ponies and Carter and Eric went on the train ride.

This year, Ashlynn chose the medium speed track (you must be 7 to go on the fast track).  She LOVED it when the horse trotted around part of the track. It was so bumpy that her glasses fell off her face, but she giggled the whole time.

Carter went with the slow speed, but also enjoyed himself.

Carter and Eric went on the train ride, which was another winner in Carter's book.  Ashlynn chose to not ride so that she could go on the pony ride a second time.

Here's Ashlynn's second go on the pony rides.

We then drove to Traveltown for a picnic lunch and exploring.

What a fun morning!

Pasta Salad!

Yesterday afternoon I decided to make pasta salad to go with the pizza we were planning to make for dinner.  (BTW- we planned and pre-shopped for 6 of this week's 7 dinners.  Yep, we rock!)

 Ashlynn cut up the cheese.

We celebrated with a little dancing.  Carter and Ashlynn learned how to dance like a gentleman and lady.

Last Night

Last night I hung out with my friend, Katie.  Eric actually initiated it, sensing that I was about to go crazy if I didn't get a break from our house and the kids (especially the one who is not quite potty trained).

We met at the mall and decided to get some dinner at Cheesecake Factory.  We had a table outside (it was a lovely, kind of cool summer evening), we shared greasy onion rings, a salad and my favorite banana cream cheesecake, and we just talked for 3 1/2 hours. 


It was fantastic!

Arboretum with Ashlynn

 On Monday afternoon, I needed to get out of the house, so Ashlynn and I went to the Arboretum for a little while. 

I gave Ashlynn my point and shoot camera for most of our time there.  Here are a few of her shots:

Baby Peacock

Notice a pattern with the landscape(ish) shots?  We'll need to work on holding the camera level (which is difficult when you push down the shutter button on the right side of the camera).

 I took the camera a few times, so I could document the little photographer.

 It was a beautiful day!

The Fourth of July!

 Hip! Hip! Hooray!  Yay, America!

We had a fun Fourth of July.  The day included brunch at Eric's dad's house, the Sierra Madre parade, lunch and naps at home, swimming and BBQ at the Mo house, and fireworks display in Old Town Monrovia.

Waiting for the parade . . .

Tony and Eric

 The parade finally reached us

Carter and Sareen, two very cute 3-year-olds

 My (former) principal, Bill, marched with the Sierra Madre City College band.  They stopped and played for us. 

I'm going to miss Bill Card!

 Uh.  The firetrucks were coming.

Our annual family picture

 We had fun in the Mos' pool!

Carter enjoyed swimming around with Nana

 Carter was not happy that he couldn't go swimming after dinner.   Sareen tried to talk to him about it.

 After changing clothes (again!) we headed over to Old Town for the fireworks display.  We met Grace and Thomas, Thomas's parents, and the Boschettis there.

Ashlynn's annual photo of Grace and Thomas

Dancing before the fireworks

Our view (through a few trees) was still impressive

Great show and another reason why Monrovia ROCKS!