Beautiful weather in the bay area

Yesterday was so hot, we spent a good part of the day in the yard. But before that, we did two new things... first, we went to Riley's first art class in the New 2's Studio, at the Purple Crayon. I was glad they give a free trial (each class is $25, unless you sign up for 8 classes, then it drops to $20 each), because I was pretty sure she wouldn't sit through it, and it would end up being an art class for me, which we all know I don't really need. BUT... it was awesome, and she LOVED it. She actually sat still through most of it, and when she did get up, it was to go add to her wall painting. Check out her focus while putting the beads on the pipe cleaner!








She ended up with a really beautiful project (and I'm not just saying that cause I'm her mom). We'll definitely go back next week, and possibly sign up for more after our trip to PA in September.




Then after art class we went to visit Tanner Kai Warne, the new baby in the gang! Steph and Jason had their little boy 2 weeks early. And thank goodness for me, cause I will be away on the due date. He's very healthy, and so is mom. Yay! Riley stared and stared at him when they took him out of the blanket to be burped. I forgot how small and fragile newborns are. He was just so snuggly, and Jason and Steph are totally new people because of him. I love it. Welcome to parenthood, guys! You're gonna love it. But not nearly as much as he's gonna love you.





Oh, and another breakthrough of the day... Riley kept her ponytails in ALL DAY!! This girl has never left anything in her hair (or on her head) for more than 3 minutes.

Last nite I said that if we woke up to a sunny day today, I would take Riley swimming. And that we did. We had a blast! She was so good, and she swam like a big girl! When we were in the big pool, she kept telling me to let go of her. She actually kept herself afloat a little bit! We swam for 3 hours. And only lost 3 out of 6 toys we brought. This is why I don't usually bring toys. But, she was the hit of the pool today, before the toys started disappearing.... And she fell asleep practically before we left the parking lot.

Right now, we're going through another no-daddy phase. I really hate this, because I love to see them snuggle (even though 98% of their time together is hardcore play time). I don't get it. Hopefully it won't last too long. It makes bath/bed time pretty difficult, when we usually take turns, and she won't let him near her! He claims it doesn't really bother him, but I can't imagine it doesn't. Anyone else have this problem with toddlers now and then? We'd love to hear about it, and how you deal with it.

Unfortunately, I have no photos of today's awesome swim adventure, since it's impossible to swim with a toddler and hold a camera. But I do have some photos from the super-duper dual birthday party a couple of weeks ago! Check out this blog.