Snowboarding

Jobie, Eric and I went to Soda Springs on Donner Summit for a fun day of snowboarding on Saturday.  I haven't been snowboarding since I went with Amber Fessler, then Amber McQuistion, in West Virginia when Joe was deployed to Afghanistan in 2007!  I wasn't sure how I would do... luckily, the snow was soft and I remembered how to carve.  Here I am looking nervous before my first trip down the bunny slope.

Eric was on the lift ahead of me, we are about the same skill level.

Jobie was on the lift behind me.  It was handy to have a skier with us, to tow us along when we got stuck in a flat spot.

Me and Jobie at the top of the mountain.

Me on the lift.

Me at the top of a run.

Jobie at the top of the mountain.  The views were awesome and really added to the whole experience.

Lindsay came over last week to finger paint with the girls.

They made a huge mess and I was glad Lins was there to help me clean up.

Grandpa took us to Chuck E Cheese on Sunday.  Allison fed Grandpa...

and Grandpa fed Jessica.

Jessica chased Chuck E around and Allison was a little scared of him.

Allison really enjoyed riding this pony for about 30 seconds.  Long enough for me to get a picture but not long enough for me to get a video.

Meema has mastered the double baby bounce technique.  They have to take turns a lot but, sometimes, it is just too hard to wait for your turn...

Jessica riding the pony at Chuck E Cheese, but telling me she's scared so I will get her down.

Here is a video of me and Eric snowboarding, Eric is in front.

Here is a video of me snowboarding.

Here is a video of the girls playing with Uncle Eric's cat, Pinto.

MLK Day

After a grueling start to this inaugural weekend, Jessica was throwing up most of Saturday and part of Sunday, we managed to sneak out of the house on Monday and have a little fun.  I wasn't feeling well, but that is easier to overcome than a sick toddler.   Allison got to enjoy two exciting firsts: feeding the birds at Ellis Lake and sliding down a slide all by herself.  Jessica was less interested in feeding the ducks and geese than she was in chasing and catching the poor creatures.  The duck below is truly earning that piece of bread in his beak! 

Allison seemed to know exactly what the bread was for.  Just like with Scrub and Oprah, Meema and Grandad's dogs, Allison wouldn't let go of the food/treat and it became a tug of war.

This duck outsmarted Allison, it waited for her to look away before snatching the bread.

The water at Ellis Lake is probably more disgusting than sewage.  Meema was extremely anxious the entire time because neither Allison or Jessica showed any fear of that water.  In fact, Meema looked quite relieved when the bread was gone.

After we fed the birds we took the girls to a cool park in Yuba City that we found on my last visit in May.  This blue boat looking thing is like a giant swaying teeter totter and Grandad is the engine.

I finally got the back of the bookshelf painted so the girls would have a chalkboard to write on.  Allison is taste testing all the chalk and here she is trying to get me to take a bite.

Doesn't Alli looked terribly guilty?  Jessica is pausing to watch some Little Einsteins on the TV.

Here are the videos of Allison using the slide all by herself, for the most part.  She made us send her down this thing at least twenty times.

Here are the duck/goose feeding videos.  Jessica grabs an unsuspecting bird in one of them and Allison trips and headbutts a bird in another video, pretty cute stuff here.

Energizer Babies

We've been sick a lot since we got to California, a couple colds and one really nasty stomach bug that hit Allison on Wednesday night and then waited until Friday night to hit Jessica.  The girls have been exploring their new stomping grounds and with that exploration comes exposure to new germs.  Jessica surprised me when she climbed to the top of this slide and went down all by herself.  She will do that if you don't make a big deal out of it, if you ask her to go down it she will say she's too scared.

We always have to test out the baby swings at all the new playgrounds we find.

 My best friend, Stephanie, and her daughter, Hannah came over last Saturday and spent the night to help me celebrate my 32nd birthday.  I don't know who had the most fun, probably Steph and I, we always make each other laugh.  Hannah drove Allison around our apartments for at least 20 minutes, it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

 Steph spun Hannah and Jess super fast in the tire swing, Jessica loved it.

 Allison is still too little for the tire swing, but check out that designer jacket that I scored for her at Old Navy for a whopping $4.

 Lady and Paw Paw bought the girls the entire Shrek DVD collection for the girls for Christmas.  Jessica fell in love with Puss in Boots on the 2nd DVD and now she pretends she is Puss in Boots all the time.  She made me make her a balloon sword and tie a belt around her waist for her to carry it.  The only thing missing is the boots.

She is pretending to be Puss in Boots while Grandad drags her around with his leg in this video.

 The girls love this giant plush dog at Meema and Grandad's house.

 Allison thinks it's funny when I say "oops", watch her crack up in this video.

Meema has been all in since we got here.  We've gotten her sick twice but she struggles through the sickness and still manages to spoil these little girls.  She's probably lost 5 pounds so far and it is because she has a really hard time saying no if the girls want to play.  And, just look at how they want her to play:

I don't have a video of Meema and Grandad bouncing them on the bed or spinning around really fast while singing Jingle Bells (I made that one up... and I regret it sometimes...).  And that gives you a pretty good idea of life these days with my little energizer babies.

Christmas in California

We haven't had a Christmas in California since before Jessica was born.  So I think the my parents were pretty excited... the girls had a good Christmas.  Grandpa Jim and Grandma Kari got them a new car.

Allison and Jessica got a big kick out of the present that Grandpa Jim got for himself: a remote control helicopter.  Jessica talked about Grandpa crashing it in the skylight for a couple days afterward.

Jessica derailed Grandpa's tree train.  Allison practiced death defying acrobatics on the living room fireplace.  She climbed up there herself and she was proud of that.  I took a quick picture and then ran over to get her down before she fell.

The girls always love Aunt Lindsay's glittery makeup and her jewelry.  Allison is trying to force feed Aunt Lindsay something, a closed mouth only makes her more determined.

Daddy tried to give Jessica driving lessons and she acted like a stubborn teenager.

Allison was in the Christmas spirit.

Jessica got a work bench with a working drill.

Allison got a discovery garden.

Christmas morning pictures.

Christmas can be exhausting.

I love the scowl on Jessica's face here.

A play date in the princess tent with daddy.

Cute pic of Joe and the girls in our new apartment.

Joe giving more driving suggestions outside our new apartment.

Playing in the closet in the girls' room at Meema and Grandad's house.

The Humpty Dumpty sandbox at the Caper Acres playground in Chico.  One time there were some kids around Nathan's age building an elaborate sandcastle and Jessica ran over and smashed it... I felt so bad, I said sorry to the angry mom and we left quickly.

Joe sampling the beer at the Brew House at Feather Falls Casino.

We have a really nice playground right behind our apartment, it's even closer to our front door than the playground in Florida was.  The pool is right next to our front door, closer than the playground.  Jessica throws a tantrum occasionally when I tell her it's too cold to go to the pool.  I have a feeling we will be getting our money's worth this summer.  Bring your swimsuits when you come to visit Lady and Paw Paw!

Here's a couple videos of the girls in the Escalade.

Here's a cute video of Joe pretending to play the saxophone.