Hiking Upper Park with Grandpa

 We did a 4 mile hike (round trip) in Upper Bidwell Park on Labor Day with my dad.  The girls didn't do much hiking, they were way too distracted by digging in the dirt (Jessica) and putting rocks in their mouth (Allison).  This was the best "start of the hike" picture I could get.

 Allison tagged along with Grandpa for a few hundred feet before we got tired of stopping and making her spit out the rocks she was finding along the trail.

 I love this pic.

 Initially, I put Allison on my back and Jessica on my dad's back.

 A nice lady out for a jog with her black lab stopped to take a picture for us.  You can see the top of Jessica's head behind my dad's shoulder if you look closely.

 I took a video of Allison riding along on my back, check out the expression on her face, it's hilarious.

Hiking with Allison

After a little while we switched babies, because Jessica was whining about wanting me to hold her on my front.  She got her way... then she fell asleep.  The hike was more for me than for the girls anyway.

After the Switch

After the Switch 2

Allison rode along on Grandpa's back perfectly content leaning over and watching the delicious rocks go by the entire time.

 We hiked down into the creek and let the girls play for awhile so I could hydrate and refuel.

Playing in the Creek

The water looked good to Jessica until she felt the slime on the rocks between her toes, then she was not so much into the water thing.  But, I did let her pee outside like a dog and that was probably the highlight of her day.

After a short nap, when we got back home, we went outside and played around a bit.  My dad and I agreed that it would probably be best if Allison waits till she's 18 to get her license.  (She just puts her foot on the gas pedal and goes, steering is beneath her.)

Allison's Driving Skills

Other pics from this week.

Enjoying ice cream cones.

Trying to get a selfy of all of us wearing our Tennessee shirts for Joe.

I had to bribe them with chocolate and this was the best they could do!

You can't tell from this picture but Allison's belly pops out of the bottom of her shirt.  She will get Jessica's hand me down and we will get Jess a new one when daddy gets back.

Here are a couple cute videos too.  Meema did sustain a minor injury when Jessica stepped on her.

Climbing on Meema

Jessica learned to somersault, like the mean queen on Little Einsteins, and Allison didn't like Jessica getting so much attention for it.
Jessica's Somersault

Butte County Fair

We had a fun packed Friday last week with Meema.  But first, here are a couple pics of the girls modeling the Hawaiian dresses Grandpa got them.  

 

 Doing "Sasha Fierce" look for the camera.

 We met Meema at the Oroville Gymnastics for open gym first thing on Friday.  Parents are allowed on the trampolines in the Oroville Gym and there are no rules about one at a time nonsense.  Although, the little girl that almost got smashed in the second video was probably a prime example of why rules like that are sometimes necessary.

Here are a couple videos on the trampolines.

Oroville Trampolines

Meema Bouncing with the Girls

 After jumping around at the gym we went by Round Table Pizza for their lunch buffet, I always get a salad bar and make a nice picnic lunch for the girls.  Jess still likes chewing the tops off of broccoli.

 After nap, the girls had some snuggle time while they had their snacks.

 Then we headed straight for the fair.  Jessica LOVES these trampoline jumping things.

Here is a video of Jessica on the Jumping thingy.

Jessica Jumping

 After the jumping thing we let the girls have a nice mellow pony ride, this is the stuff Allison dreams about.

 Here is a video of the pony ride.

Pony Ride

 We found some goats too.

My mom and I discuss why a few of the goats don't have ears in this next video.

Earless Goats

 Jessica rode the purple dragon all by herself, she's in the very front.  It's hard to tell but the girl sitting next to her is a whole year older than her! My little preemie is getting so big.

Here is a video of the dragon coaster.  Jessica's mouth is wide open most of the time.

Dragon Coaster

 Allison was being difficult on the carousel again.  She kept changing her mind and wanting a different horse.  She yells, "not that one!" and squirms like crazy, it's really hard to hold onto her when she decides that she doesn't want to be held.

Allison was perfecting her growl on the way home, Meema managed to catch the end of one of her growling sessions on this video.

Growling Alli

Here's a bonus video of the girls playing and giggling together.

Silly Sisters

And here's another bonus video of Jessica spraying Eric's dog, Porter, with the hose.

Spraying Porter

Athletic Horizons

We've been going to the gym in Chico, Athletic Horizons, for their open play on Fridays.  I think I prefer the Oroville gym though, less crowded and less rules.  Jessica is anxiously waiting for them to open the floor.  I was anxious because I knew that I would have to run around the whole time keeping my two angels out of trouble and telling them to take turns on the trampolines,  I hate the taking turns rule at this gym.

Jessica is saying "moo" when she puts her head through the cow hole.

Jessi Cow and Sheep

 The girls played for about 20 minutes before deciding it was snack time.  But snack time has it's frustrations too.

Snack Time Goes South

Tiny Trampoline Dancer

I keep telling Allison to "go this way" because there is a rule to only jump one direction on the long trampoline.  Allison has a hard time with that concept, she just wants to dance, but all the kids under 4 have a hard time with that concept.

 Ok, ball pit time, I don't even want to think about how many disgusting things are living in these balls.

Ball Pit

.  The Oroville gym doesn't have a ball pit though.

Where's Jessica?

When the "hall monitors" weren't looking I let my girls "share" the trampoline.  They are sisters so they count as one!

Jumping Sisters

Little Boy Disrupts Sister Time

It's All Downhill From Here

Just a little note to say, it's a great feeling to be halfway!

Our Day with Grandpa

We drove down to Sacramento for a much needed Grandpa visit yesterday.  We had a wonderful fun filled day.  We are early risers now, Jessica woke up at 5 am, so we got to Sac a little after 8 am.  Jessica asked for a brown ice cream, she remembered them from the last time I guess, so we sat on Grandpa's front steps and the girls ate ice cream.  They had already eaten their breakfast in the car but there is always room for ice cream!  After ice cream we went to Chuck E Cheese's.  Allison isn't quite sure about the giant rat but for Jessica absence made the heart grow fonder.

 

Alli Driving

Following Chuck E

Allison is definitely into horses.

Mini Carousel

Well, into horses until it looks like sister is having more fun, that is!

Grass in Greener on Sister's Game

Allison on the Big Horse

Jess on the Big Horse

Playing Games

 After Chuck E Cheese we had a nice picnic in the park right next to the zoo.  Then we went to the zoo.  Allison dropper her duck, Ming Ming, on the walk in to the zoo but Grandpa found her on our walk back to the car.  I was prepared for the worst but was pleasantly relieved.

 The girls were tired once we got to the zoo so they stayed in their stroller most of the time.

Giraffe Encounter

 Our final zoo adventure was the Carousel.

 Allison was being indecisive and she kept switching animals (during the ride!)  First she rode the snow leopard, then the leopard and finally settled for a tiger (she was in a big cat kind of mood).  Here's a video.

Carousel

 I got to shop at Macy's while the girls napped in the car, Grandpa sat with them while I shopped.  After nap time we went back to Grandpa's house for a dip in the pool.  Grandpa showed us how he could do a back flip off the diving board.

Whirlpool

Slingshots

The girls had fun playing inside Grandpa's house too.

Playing in Grandpa's House

Playing in Grandpa's house 2

 The girls had dinner at the bar, on fun bar stools.

Dinner at Grandpa's

Dinner at Grandpa's 2

Allison's First Movie

It was dollar movie day at the theater in Chico on Thursday.  I figured it would be a good day to introduce Allison to the joys going to the movies.  Part of the joy, for me, is eating the delicious popcorn.  I think Allison likes the popcorn too.  I've realized that it is probably a good thing that Jessica can't sit through a movie, I would get fat from all the popcorn.

 The movie we saw was Alvin and the Chipmunks.  The girls have been playing chipmunks ever since.  Jessica is always Alvin and Allison is Theodore which would make me Simon.  If we dress up as chipmunks for Halloween we could stick a name tag on Joe that reads, "Dave".  We sat in the handicap aisle, and Jessica used the space to start a break dance routine when the chipmunks put on a concert.  The dancing was adorable, I wish I could have gotten a video!  We lasted an hour into the movie before the girls went crazy and started disrupting other placid children.  It was good timing because we got to call daddy on skype and let him in on the experience.  He saw the girls running up and down the hallways outside of the theater and asked why we weren't being asked to leave, ha!  The girls made little cots with the booster seats and I knew then that they were probably tired so we went home and they took a nap.

Here's a video of the girls watching the previews.

Allison's First Movie

Here are some cute videos of the girls playing at Meema and Grandad's.  Jessica found a pregnant tree frog in her sandbox.  It was either pregnant or really fat from eating all the spiders out of the sandbox.

Sandbox Frog

Sandbox Frog 2

Sandbox Frog 3

Allison really wasn't into the slimy little frogs, she was busy petting the dogs and giving them water.  Allison loves playing with the hose.

Allison's Antics

Bumpass Hell

What a name! Right?  Bumpass Hell is the name of the destination spot of our first hike with Jessica and Allison, hopefully first of many.  Bumpass Hell is a group of sulfa pits near the base of Mt. Lassen in Lassen Volcanic National Park.  The brochure describes the hike as "Moderate hike over rocky terrain with grand vistas.  The trail drops into an active hydrothermal basin where you can view mudpots and fumaroles."  It was 3 miles (round trip).  I can hike 3 miles in my sleep but when you add 40lbs of Jessica to the front of me, along with hills and loose gravel, it gets a bit tricky.  Let's just say I earned the two Krispy Kreme doughnuts I ate that morning.  The drive up to Lassen was about two hours from Chico, we stopped for a potty break and found a creek to throw rocks in and an old water pump too.

 

Old Fashioned Water Pump

Scenic Drive

 The girls hiked about 200 feet before deciding they would rather be carried.  You can see the peak of Mt Lassen in the background of these pictures.

I was trying to get the girls to laugh and look at Meema for a picture in front of Mt Lassen but Meema had the camera on Video and so it just looks like I am shaking my babies.

Shaking Babies

Meema started off with Jessica in the blue hiking backpack and I carried Allison on my back with my old trusty baby carrier (I've sure gotten my money's worth out of that thing!).  

Allison on My Back

The First Quarter Mile

 We made it less than a quarter of a mile before Jessica decided I had to carry her and not the easy way, the hard way, on my front.  Luckily, for Jessica, I was thinking that 3 miles wouldn't give me enough of a workout so I conceded.  Allison was perfectly happy riding along the trail on Grandad's back.

I was glad to unload Jessica for a while once we got to the Sulfa pits.

Allison Saying Hot Lava

 Allison's hair was as interesting as the Sulfa pits that day.

Bubbling

Touching the Water

 You can see little people walking along the boardwalks of Bumpass Hell in these next photos of Jess and me.

 Here's the whole group.

Grandad Recording

Grandad's Pan

Walking the Boardwalk

 Allison doesn't just ride along.  She pulls ears and takes off your hat/glasses and throws them on the ground.  Grandad was a good sport.  Watch this video.

Torturing Grandad

I am really surprised that we didn't lose Grandad's hat or one of Allison's shoes in the Sulfa pits, not for lack of trying on Allison's part.

 All loaded up for the hike back to the car.  I was surprised that I wasn't too sore the next day, but I did have trouble on my run, I hobbled along at a 12min/mile pace rather than my usual 11min/mile.

Jess in the Front Loader

 Both the girls fell asleep in their carriers, I was ready to be carried at that point.

Girls Sleeping on the Way Out

Food always tastes better after you hike, a wonderful phenomenon, and we snacked in the car all the way home.