Aquarium Fun With The Balice's!

Riding on Daddy

Checking out the fishies

Having fun with "Auntie Amanda"

Climbing around outside

Trying to get two toddlers to pose for photos...

...is not too easy.

"C'mon guys, just one photo!"

"But we MUST keep moving!"

"Let us go right NOW!!!!"

"FREEDOM!"

Not quite playing together, but interacting

"Done with that, now on to the next thing."

"Ah yes, my stroller buckles! What an amazing invention!"

Climbing on to the stroller to get a closer look

We finally got them sitting still for a minute!

We had such a fun playdate with the Balice family today! We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, and then out to dinner at Chili's. Although it was crowded at the Aquarium, the kids had a good time looking at all the fishies. Jake was very excitedly pointed at the fish and saying "fishies! fishies!" Kyra and Jake also enjoyed the Lorikeet bird area, and Kyra started signing "bird" and "fish" to us today! Trying to get two toddlers to sit still and pose for pictures is basically impossible, especially in a new environment where they want to explore and roam around. Someday we'll manage to get some pictures of these two kiddos happily playing together! But in the meantime, we at least have photographic evidence that they were together and having fun! "Auntie Amanda" loved holding Kyra (and Kyra enjoyed it too!), but Jake wasn't too thrilled about seeing his Mommy holding another child! Don't worry Jake - you're still Mommy's favorite!

Balice Family: thanks for a fun afternoon! We can't wait to get together again soon!

New Ball!!!

"I LOVE my new ball!!! Now I'm all set for the park!"

And just like that, Kyra's got her very own ball to play with!

A Swinging Good Time!

Can you tell that she likes the swings?

"Higher Mommy, higher!"

Such a little sweetie!

Wow, she looks like her Mommy in the photo above!

Such a happy little girl!

The spitting image of her Mommy when Mommy was little!

"My Mommy loves me SOOOOOO much!!!!"

Kyra LOVES walking all over the playground...

...and climbing on the play structures

She's a very good climber, and can even climb backwards/down!

A new playground recently opened near us called Playa Vista Court Park, and Kyra absolutely LOVES it!!! She can walk (a fast walk, nearly a run!) all over the place, and climb on the structures. There's a big kid area, a little kid area, little kid swings, grass, and picnic benches, and she loves to explore everything. The park at the end of our street doesn't have swings, which I've always been bummed about, so it was a really nice perk to discover this brand new park with swings! Kyra really likes to swing, as you can see from today's photos! We've had a few warm, sunny days this week, so she and I have been making great use of this new park! We're definitely keeping the sunscreen industry in business right now!

Today we brought a picnic lunch with us, and Kyra happily played for a couple hours...and then almost instantly fell fast asleep within a minute or two of starting our stroller walk back home! Kyra really enjoys interacting with the other kids at the playground, but she could improve a bit when it comes to sharing toys! Today, I learned that I apparently need to go buy her a big, plastic ball! She discovered a little boy's gigantic "Batman" ball, and that was it! She had to have it! And when it came time to share, forgetaboutit! So, needless to say, we may be heading for Target this afternoon when she wakes up from her nap in order to buy her a cheapo plastic ball for future park trips! I'll really miss this new park when we move down south in a couple months, but luckily there's a really great, similar-style playground near Grandma and Grandpa's house, where I'm sure we'll be spending a lot of time!

What's up next for us? Well, Kyra has her Friday playdate with Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow. Then, on Saturday, we're excited to head to the Aquarium of the Pacific with the Balice's (including Kyra's "boyfriend" Jake!). It'll be so much fun to watch the two of them run around and explore! With all this sunny, warm weather, I think the first pool day of the season may also be heading our way soon. It's a good thing Kyra's got a basket full of new swimsuits to wear! She's going to get pretty sick of Mommy slathering her in sunscreen! I think we might have to try the spray-on sunscreen just to make the process a little faster for her. But I think her baby-soft/baby-white skin may be a thing of the past soon...I think I can handle it, just as long as she doesn't get sunburned ever!

Summer, here we come!