Tide Pools

This afternoon, B and I went and checked out one of our favorite beaches. We needed some more sand for his sand box and it was nice, though a bit chilly, to get out of the house. We were surprised that the tide was out further than it had been the other times we had visited and there were plenty of tide pools to explore. We saw tons of hermit crabs and some anemones.



After exploring the tide pools for a few minutes and showing B all the hermit crabs, I went back up to the beach and collected just a few shells. B joined me and noticed that there were quite a few broken pieces of the type of shell that the hermit crabs live in. So he started collecting those.



Then we went back to the tide pools to look around some more and I took a few pictures with my phone. Meanwhile, a few feet away, B was busy collecting more hermit crab shells in his little cup- only these still had the crabs! When I went over and noticed what he was doing, I explained to him that we couldn't take the crabs home with us because their home was the ocean; they needed it and they wouldn't be happy at our home because we don't have the ocean.



He argued only a tiny bit and then immediately seemed to grasp what I was saying. I was a little surprised at how quickly he agreed and began helping me gently return them to the water. It was a proud moment.

All in all, a good day.

Sand Castle Day

B and I spent the afternoon playing at the beach today...and for the first time ever, after we had run around in some waves for a while and eaten lunch, he laid down on the beach towel and fell asleep!! Since this event was completely unexpected (but very welcome), I had no book or anything to do while he napped (for around an hour or more). So...I built a sand castle. Today was a magnificent day for sand dollars and shells, and I decorated accordingly.

And one more beach pic from last week...

No picnik effects. This one is au naturale.

"That's okay. I forgive you."

We spent another afternoon at the aquarium today. B immensely enjoys the kids' play area which has various activities. One of his favorite things to do there is to "shoot" the air guns that are under water, so they make bubbles and currents in the water. The aquarium stocks the play area with various plastic toys- sea stars, fish, anemones, and a few boats.

B was playing with one of the boats in the area with the air guns, watching how the boat was affected when he "shot" it. When it was time to go, I asked him to return the boat to the area where he had found it.

He promptly turned around and threw it into that pool, splashing the back of a little boy's head who was playing there. I was embarrassed, even more so because the boy's father and grandmother were standing right there too, so I said "Look, you splashed that little boy! That isn't nice. Say you're sorry." B was taken aback and didn't say anything, just put his head down.

Then the other little boy, who was probably around 3, maybe 4, said "That's okay. I forgive you."

Wow. How sweet was that? I was so impressed. I am grateful that other people are raising their children to be so respectful and mannerly.

I hope it was a good lesson to B, even though I know he didn't mean to splash another child; maybe he will be more careful in the future.

It is so refreshing to have an experience like this in a public place in today's society where it seems like rudeness is the rule.

And one more "for the birds"...

More photos...

I just don't have much to say right now, mostly the usual going on around here. Doing a lot of waiting for different things, but trying to enjoy life on the way. So here are a few photos, as they say, "a picture's worth a thousand words," right?

















I used Picnik for the effects again...I just love playing with that site.

A few more pics...

Otters playing. 2/19/10



Otter with ice. 1/16/10



Sunset over the bay. 1/16/10



Waves. 2/19/10



I used Picnik for the effects.

Just a few pics

Fish at the aquarium.



Playing in the sand a few days ago.



B's feet - aren't they darling?

Stealing Kisses and Making a Fast Exit

A few brief stories from this past week:

At the aquarium this afternoon, I was sitting about 20 feet away and B went up to a little girl about a year younger than him and planted several kisses on her! I thought it was just too cute. Of course when I realized what was going on I walked over and said "Have you found a new friend?" Her parents did not seem that pleased about it. Oh well.

Interestingly, for the past few days, he has been suddenly fascinated with "EXIT" signs, like the lit-up emergency exits inside stores. Every time he sees one he points it out and yells "Exit" and then he usually talks about the color of the letters. I am most bewildered about the origin of this sudden interest. We don't remember pointing one out to him. But they are apparently his new favorite thing.
In other news, he has a "doodle-pro" magnetic drawing tablet that we've been keeping in the car and the other day as GH was driving, I sat in the back with him and I was making letters with him. I showed him that "W" upside down looks like "M" and "Z" sideways looks like "N". He thought that was hilarious. Sometimes he draws a letter and tells us what it is - it doesn't always look correct, but I love that he tries. He did a "C" this afternoon that was pretty good!

Last night, GH asked B to pick up some of his toys, and he immediately responded "Papi, stop messing [with] [B]'s life!" We burst out laughing and made him repeat it because we couldn't believe what we'd just heard. Sure enough, the second time was more of the same! We were especially amused because neither of us say this kind of thing, so we have no idea where he came up with that.

I need to go get him in bed. I just wanted to catch up a little with the latest happenings before I forget it all!

Dinosaurs at the Aquarium

So, GH was desperate for some "alone time" this afternoon so he could get some work done at home...and B really needed some quality time outside our home. He just has so - much - energy!!! It is amazing really.

Anyway, we headed once again to the Aquarium. Our yearly membership runs out at the end of this month and we aren't planning to renew, so we are trying to pack in the visits.

We enjoyed a walk along the shoreline before we headed inside. The weather was just so lovely it was impossible to resist. Then we had to move our car because we were at a 2 hour meter- which also meant we had to find change - which in turn meant we had to find cash, something that rarely makes an appearance in my wallet.

This meant a lot of walking back and forth and back again. Advantage- used a lot of B's excess energy. Disadvantage- required a lot of energy that I was rapidly running out of.

Eventually, we made it to our original goal, with only one tear-shedding incident- that was me, when B mercilessly yanked my hair in both hands as he was "helping" feed the meter. Yeah.

Anyway, we made it, and I was mercifully not bald (I double-checked in the bathroom).

I asked what he wanted to see first and he immediately said "otters," so we headed that direction, with a slight detour at one of the large tanks that has several sharks, rays, tuna, etc. Very cool.

When we got over to the otter area, it was the end of their feeding/play time, so we watched for a few minutes. As we walked back downstairs, B said "Dinosaur!". Huh? I turned around and spotted this whale skeleton.




So I explained that although it resembled a dinosaur skeleton, it was actually a whale skeleton, all the while going over in my mind how he had even drawn that conclusion. He has never been to a museum with a dinosaur skeleton that I remember, certainly not in any recent months. The only dinosaurs he's ever seen that I am aware of have been either on "Curious George" - who does often go to museums with dinosaur skeletons - cartoon dinosaur skeletons, and on "Dinosaur Train," another PBS cartoon, but it does have a paleontologist at the end, and perhaps shows skeleton photos sometimes?

In conclusion, my mind was pretty much blown away by this little incident. It was without a doubt the highlight of the past 2 days for me.

More Funny Moments with B

Driving home this afternoon from the aquarium, we were stopped at a red light.
I turned around and blew B a kiss and he said something, but I couldn't catch what he said. In the meantime, I noticed the light had changed.
As we drove on I kept asking him to repeat himself because he had said a phrase that I hadn't heard him use before and I was interested to know what it was. I had him repeat several times...
Finally, I translated what he had said: "Light is green!"
I burst out laughing.
I asked him, "Mommy turned around to give you a kiss and you were telling Mommy that we needed to go because the light had turned green?"
And he's like "Yes!"
I just thought it was hilarious.
:-)

Weekend

Yesterday, I took B to the Aquarium. It was wonderfully empty and quiet on a Friday afternoon. Quite a contrast to the previous Saturday when we all went. Although that was an awesome time too- but I was glad DH was with us!

This morning, we walked down to our little community center and attended the pancake breakfast to benefit our fire department. It was nice to be a part of a community event like that and be around other families, even though we don't actually know anyone and didn't speak to anyone else. Which caused us to discuss this very fact as we ate, how we grew up in the opposite way; if our families had gone to such an event, our parents would have known at least half the people there. We concluded that whenever we do get more settled, we will have to make much more of an effort to be community-involved.

This afternoon, we went to a local park that we hadn't explored before. The scenery was quite nice and since it rained a lot this week, the little creek that runs through was fairly high.

I have been feeling more hopeful lately than at the start of the year. I do not necessarily feel like following our doctor's advice to wait one cycle to start trying again...I don't really see why it is necessary and I am so anxious. I think the main reason doctors advise this is so that they will have an easy way to estimate due date, based on your LMP. Anyway, we probably won't "try" but we may not do anything to prevent either.

In summary it has been a great weekend so far. I hope tomorrow is nice too.

Beach Time

Spring

Spring is here!

Aquarium Saturday

So, we went to the local aquarium last weekend (and again yesterday, as a matter of fact).
B had an awesome time.
The admission fee however is outrageous! They wanted $60 for my husband and I for 1 visit!! Crazy.
The membership fee for one whole year for our family was only $120, so it wasn't a difficult decision to go ahead and do this. Thus the second visit yesterday- B and I went; what a great way to spend the day! Now I have another fun option to spend time with him.
The aquarium we visit is world renowned, thus eternally packed on the weekends. The trick to going during the week as I discovered by accident yesterday is to get there around 2-2:30pm (or around 1ish if you're planning to eat lunch there like we did). That way, the school kids on field trips are all headed out already. It seemed as crowded as on the weekends when we first arrived around 1pm, but by the time we finished our lunch, we had the place to ourselves!! We spent time at several exhibits completely alone; we absorbed all the fishy goodness at our leisure.
It also helps if you find a "miraculous" parking place like we discovered last Saturday. We happened upon a 12 hour meter only blocks from the aquarium (and hey I don't mind walking a little-nice bonus exercise!) that is apparently broken and is forever "green"!! Wow. And yes, it still worked yesterday. We paid not a cent for parking.
All in all, we have been thoroughly enjoying our watery outings, and highly recommend you go check out your local aquarium as well!