Flat Stanley Comes to Visit

My nephew Mason sent us Flat Stanley.  So we decided to show Stanley Monterey.  We ate lunch at our favorite place...Gianni's Pizza.  

Here's Isak holding Flat Stanley.

We couldn't find parking close to the aquarium.  So we ended up parking for free but about a half mile from the aquarium.  It turned out to be the best part though.  We all enjoyed the walk along the coast, cliffs, waves and we even saw Harbor seals sun bathing.

Coats in California.  Yes!  It does get chilly, especially with the coastal breeze.

Isn't it just a beautiful place.

We eventually made it to the aquarium.  It was packed with lots of people!  So we didn't stay long.  We saw the jelly fish and octopus.

Then we walked to the candy store.

The kids and Nels picked out a taffy.

And then we got our free sample of chocolate at Ghirardelli's.

Poor Kira wasn't feeling well by this point...she had a cough and was super grouchy.  So we drove home.

We mailed Flat Stanley back with pictures and a story of his adventure and a little souvenir.  It was a fun outing. And I love the pics of the kids looking over the bay.

9 Months - February 2017

Babies turned 9 months old on February 11, 2017.  And I only got 4 blurry pictures...  They are movers.

Here's a little about each baby that I wrote in my journal last year. 

Sofie - She is pulling herself into a standing position and sitting position.  She's letting go of her army crawl and crawling normal.

Sofie loves attention.  If Nels is around she crawls to him and climbs on him.  She is still smiley and slobbery and grabs everything.  I've had to remove books from the bookcase because she would pull them out and eat them!  Also Sofie loves to take her socks off and she loves to find other peoples socks and eat them.  haha.

I've been feeding both babies a ton of food during the day and it has helped both of them sleep better at night.  They both eat about 6-7 oz 4 times a day.  In between bottles they eat 1-3 oz of baby food, oatmeal and Sofie eats bananas and bread.  Noah gags on puffs so he's still learning to swallow.  It reminds of me Kira.

They both take pretty good naps - 2 a day.  Usually 1 hour or 1.5 or 2 hours.  They each sleep with a blanket and put themselves to sleep.

Noah - he crawls normal and he can get out of a sitting position, but can't get into it.  He pulls himself up onto his knees.  Poor Noah burps a lot and it sometimes wakes him up from his nap.  He has a cute giggle and loves attention.  But he is also content examining a toy and exploring on his own.

The older kids tried to hold the babies on their laps...it didn't turn out very well.  haha.  We love our kiddos!

The Mystery Spot and Santa Cruz Boardwalk Beach

Day 4.  Nels kept the babies with him which helped our day go a lot easier!  The rest of us drove to Santa Cruz.  Our first stop was the Mystery Spot.  

A little cloudy/rainy.

It was a pretty odd place!

No one really knows why, but in this area you naturally lean at a 17 degree angle.  When a ball is rolled it goes the up instead of down.  And things that are level appear slanted.

It was interesting and it made me a little nauseous.  haha.  Isak had to go potty during the 30 minute tour and Kira was super whiney.  But I still found it fascinating.

The Judson's were craving Chinese food.  So we ate lunch at Yon Flower.  I enjoyed the orange chicken.  Then we went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk Beach.

I didn't bring any toys.  I was a little worried about what Isak and Kira would do.  But they found sticks and drew in the sand...all their idea.  It was so cute.

See Kira's stick person? :)

They also liked throwing rocks into the ocean.  They loved our time there.

The Judson's liked it too.  Even if it was a bit chilly.

Then I drove them along the coast on Cliff Drive.  We saw the lighthouse and Natural Bridge.

Then we drove home.  Traffic was terrible and it took about an hour and twenty minutes to get home!
Nels grilled some yummy burgers.  We ate ice cream and bathed the kids.  Then after the little ones went to bed, we played Telestrations.

The last day.  :(  Sunday morning we made pancakes, sausage and eggs.  Then we went to sacrament only.  Nels made it home in time to watch the kids.  So I drove the Judson's to the airport.   It was such a fun week.  We loved having them here.

Thanks for coming Judson's!!!

Tech Museum, Cement Slides and More

Day 2 - We went to San Jose and spent from 12:30 to 5 at the Tech Museum.  We watched an IMAX movie called Extreme Weather.  Kira fell asleep.  When I asked her what her favorite part was she said the movie.  I said, "but you napped."  She replied, "Yep, it was a good nap."  haha.  

The kids liked building this robot.  The head even spins.

They also liked just building with different blocks.

Tyler with his robot.

They also enjoyed a program to build rollercoasters and dropping balls through a maze they made on a huge magnet board.

Day 3 - We had a slow morning.  Then we dodged the rain and had a lovely time at Brigadoon Park.  They have 3 cement slides and the kids had a blast going down them.  It was fun to watch.  

Isak loved to hold Tyler's hand.

The babies were pretty good.  We took a few pics of us holding the babies.  I love their hats!

I even let Sofie explore a little.

Noah was happy where he was.  :)

I was surprised at how much Kira loved the slides.  She became an expert and loved to show off.  Especially when some older girls came to slide.  She would say, "watch me!"  :)

Then we enjoyed ice cream at Baskin Robins!

At home, Abi and Tyler just played with the kids.  And Melissa and I talked and talked.  

See how helpful they were?!

After our kids went to bed we played Telestrations and uno.  That was a fun part of the day.