Oakland Zoo

I was pretty certain I wanted to go to the Oakland Zoo one day this week since we get free admission with our Lindsay Museum membership. When I saw the forecast of rain for the next two days, I figured we better go today.

The last time I was at the Zoo, Sydney was about 2 years old. I remember not thinking too much of it at the time, there were several empty exhibits, the petting zoo area happened to be closed and well, at 2, Sydney was only interested in it so much. As I put on my big mommy pants and headed to the zoo with my two kids without my husband, I was determined it would be a good day. Of course even with free entry I still had to pay $7 for parking and we would soon learn that the only friendly zoo employee was the one taking my $7 dollars to park. The kids were super excited to arrive and were thrilled to see the Flamingo's just after you enter the main gates. I foolishly brought a stroller for Kylie who wanted to be independent and walk and ended up pushing my 6 year old most of the time in the stroller (note to self: next time both kids can walk).

The girls were pretty excited to see bears. I don't remember seeing bears in this exhibit before, but they were pretty cool.

 

As we made our way around I was sad to notice that they no longer had bats, bummer, the bats were pretty cool. WE did get to a meet a very large Tortoise who was right next to the railing and not bothered byt he children hanging over him, he was very intent on the grass he was eating. 

 

 

 

The one really great thing about the Oakland Zoo is all of the great statues and climbing apparatuses for the kids. 

I have to say, it's difficult for me to go to the Zoo, I feel sorry for the animals. I know that these animals would not survive in the wild but you still wonder what they would be like in the wild. The giraffe's in particular really made me sad. such beautiful graceful creatures. They seem to be really affectionate with each other, which just seemed so simple and sweet. 

Kylie wants to bring one home, I can't really blame her. 

It's great that my kids can see all of these animals up close and I'm glad that they had a good day and enjoyed themselves, so I hope that the animals at the Zoo aren't too sad about their living conditions.

 

Summer Adventures

Now that we have had some warm weather it feels like summer is in full swing. Yesterday afternoon we made a late visit to the pool where the girls were pretty well behaved (I say surprised). I must have worn them out yesterday because Kylie slept in until 7:45am and Sydney until 8:30am. Of course I was up at 6:30am, this could possibly never happen on a day when I really need or want to sleep in. Still, it was nice to have the quiet house to myself. In true Kylie style there is always some mischievous activity going on. When she did finally wake up, I heard her crying and went to check in on her. She was sitting in her basket of stuffed animals, apparently upset that her puppy had spent the night in the basket rather than in her bed. Of course, once the camera came out she hammed it up and was no longer sad.

I was super bummed to find out that the Moraga Library had to discontinue it's story time until mid July. Not sure why, I heard something about being short staffed, probably budget reasons. We've still been making our weekly trip to the library and I was pleased to see that they have summer reading programs for babies up to adults. Kids can earn prized based on how many minutes they read over the summer and adults are entered into a drawing for various prizes based on books they read and reviews they leave. Sydney is super excited about coloring in her sheet for every 20 minutes of reading but you can also create an online account for the kids and they can track it online as well.

I also wanted to share some Free Kids Bowling opportunities. Visit this website to check out a list of bowling alleys in your area that offer free kids to bowling. I haven't checked it out because I'm not sure about taking my kids to Paddock Bowl in Pacheco, not a great area that exudes family fun. But maybe you're closer to one of the bowling alleys.

Tonight (if my husband ever leaves the office) I'm making Paula Dean's Basil Grilled Chicken and in true Paula Dean fashion it calls for over a stick of butter! It's a great summer time meal and super easy to make. In fact I've even brought it to the pool and bbq'd it there. Pair it with an orzo salad and you are set!

Potty Training

I'm on day four of summer break and I must say that the girls were awesome on Monday, I've been under the weather a little and the girls completely entertained each other on Monday and let me take it easy most of the day. I think Kylie was so excited to have a play mate besides me and Sydney was just excited to not have to go to school. On Tuesday Scott stayed home because I had a doctor's appointment, it was hot and the kids enjoyed the slip n slide and a trip to the pool. I should have known better that the days were going to easy to keep it up any longer. the girls have been at each others throats for the past two days and are driving me insane. Add me not feeling 100% and loading our trailer for our upcoming camping trip and I've been a little crabby myself.

While Kylie seems to be for the most part napping again, we're also working on potty training. Sydney potty trained really late or rather just decided at what age she was ready to commit it. She could do it, but she wanted to do it on her own terms. Which was fine for me because when she finally decided she was ready we had hardly any accidents. So I haven't pushed Kylie and I'm just letting her do it on her own schedule. She loved going potty at Sydney's school when we would pick her up in the afternoons, so I figured that was a good sign. We clearly have had no interest in pooping in the big potty, again, Sydney was the same way, so I know in time she'll get there. I have used the excitement of the skip n slide to my full advantage. She does not wear a swim diaper for water play in the backyard, just her bathing suit, so she knows she has to come in and go potty so she doesn't have an accident in her bathing suit. On Tuesday she ran into the house saying she needed to go pee and poop! And sure enough she did both on the toilet. She was rewarded with a treat and so was very proud of her accomplishment. Yesterday she did the same thing, although didn't stay on the potty long enough and finished up in her diaper later, but it's still progress. So this morning she got on the potty and pee's and than decided to try and hang out and go poop as well. This is the end result.

All in time, and I just can't wait until I'm free of diapers!

Is it wrong to share a recipe after all of that? I'm making my Mother-in-law's banana bread to take camping with us, it's super easy and really yummy! So I thought I would share it, the whole family eats it, which as we know is a small miracle in our house.

2 1/4 c flour
1 c of sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c margarine
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas (the riper the sweeter the bread will be)
1 tsp vanilla 1/2 c milk

Cream the margarine and sugar together, add eggs and 1 banana. Add all of your dry ingredients and mix well. Add the last banana, milk and vanilla. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

I like to sprinkle brown sugar on top of the batter before it goes into the oven, because sugar on your crust is just even better! Be careful how much you add, too much and the sugar may burn, so just keep an eye on it in the oven.

Maybe I spoke too soon

After a hellish 8 days of no nap and waking up at 6:15am on Tuesday, it was clear the youngest in our family would require a nap. To my surprise, she did! I don't want to jinx it or anything, but today is the third day in a row of naps and Mommy is feeling slightly more sane.

It has been an interesting week of transition prep for what will become Summer Vacation and I have to admit, it's hard not be giddy with all of Sydney's excitement (but I'm sure by this time next week, I'll feel differently). Tomorrow is Sydney's last day at school complete with parties in her classroom and at K-Club. This weekend we are hosting a slumber party for one of Sydney's oldest friends (really, since like they were 18 months) before she moves to Southern California. I'm not sure she really understands what this means and since they don't go to the same elementary school, I'm hoping it won't be too hard on her. In any event, at least they can have on last fun sleep over together.

It's been an interesting week of conversation at home with Sydney. Yesterday I asked her how her boyfriend Rowan was. She informed that she was thinking of breaking up with him. Hmm, not even sure she knew what that meant. I asked her why and she answered that he's weird. I pressed on and asked her why she thought he was weird. "He tried to fart on an apple" she responds. As I stifle a laugh I look at her and explain that this seems like something most boys Rowan's age would probably try to do. Sydney goes on to explain that "everyone" is telling er to break up with Rowan. I'll admit I was kind of shocked when she proclaimed that she had a boyfriend at this early age, I don't remember having my first boyfriend until 5th grade, but it all seemed kind of cute and harmless so I went along. However, I certainly felt like this was a good lesson to learn about not doing everything your friends think you should. So we had a nice conversation about not being influenced by what our friends think and making decisions on our own. A day later they apparently still a couple, but we'll see how they fair over the summer break.

In other interesting conversation Mom made a booboo by selecting a less than stellar choice of words yesterday which resulted in Kylie saying "Jesus Christ Sydney!", which really is quite hilarious in the voice of a three year old. After I laughed out loud I explained to Kylie that Mommy had used a bad choice of words and we wouldn't say that. It's going to be a long summer, isn't it?

I am fairly certain I have been neglectful in posting a recipe for you, so I wanted to share my a recipe from my amazing neighbor who happens to be the amazing woman behind One Family, One Meal. Her Autumn Minestrone with Turkey Meatballs is really good and really healthy and even my kids eat it. Okay, Sydney eats the broth and Kylie actually eats it, but in my house, that's HUGE! You might need to register to see the recipe, but it's free and she has two young boys at home and while I would say her kids are more adventurous than my girls, there are some great recipes here!

Enjoy your weekend and wish me luck for my first ever summer at home with the kids!

Naps no more

I haven't posted in a week because well, Kylie has not napped in a week. The first few days I tried to full myself that it was just a fluke and that I would get her back on track soon. I think I am past the denial and have moved on to acceptance. Sydney napped until she was about 3.5, even then she only stopped at school and I could still get her to take a nice nap on the weekends, she clearly still needed them but they weren't very vested in getting her to nap at school and she felt like she was missing out on fun when other kids her age didn't have to nap. I truly expected to make it through the summer with Kylie still napping and tapering off once she started school in the fall. So much for that idea. Her evening crankiness seems to be getting a little better but I do remember it being a month of hell with Sydney as she made the transition, so I'm hoping the rest of the month is not too terrible.

As I have been preparing for Summer home with the kids I have been stocking up on books, workbooks and crafts ideas. My hall cupboard has been busting at the seems with crafts and pens and books and play-doh! Last week I decided I needed some baskets to better organize all of the activities to make them easier to get to and easier to find. We went to Home Goods where I was pretty sure I would be able to find baskets to organize all of the activities. Of course in addition to some baskets we also found these.

If you've been to Mexico before these are chairs (in mini size) that they used to use on the beaches, so they bring back fond memories for me and they were just too cute to pass up. Too bad our weather has been nothing but rain and the girls are enjoying the chairs inside rather than outside.

One fun summer activity we were able to get in before all of the rain was a campfire. We bought this Fire Pit at Osh several years ago and we have for sure gotten our money's worth out of it. The kids love to make smores in the backyard, and to be honest we make them way more often at home than we do when we go camping!

Wish us luck, with naps gone and this being the last week of school for Sydney we're moving into new territory for me, an entire summer at home with both kids!