Shaving Cream Fun

Last weekend, we held a shaving cream extravaganza in our backyard to entertain the kids. They had an absolute blast! They all started out with a little bit of trepidation as they were not quite sure what to do with all of that white fluffiness. Mom, what is this stuff in my hands?

Here, Will stirs it up with his bat.

Amanda holds her frog and duck masterpieces!

But they wasted no time diving right in. After just a short while, they had covered their little bodies from head to toe!

This is really fun!

I think my knees need some shaving cream to help my boo boos heal...

Mom, are there any spots not covered with shaving cream?

Will sports his new white cap!

oooh...oooh...my belly...

After they were plastered with shaving cream, we got the sprinklers out to rinse off. They thought that was great fun too.....

Help Mom, it is spraying everywhere!

And Will's favorite line these days, "I will get it."

After about an hour of this, we had three blue-lipped, shivering little beings who had to be convinced to dry off and warm up. Round number two is coming soon!

Good Times!

We are thankful that the weather was warm this weekend (after lots of rain and hail last weekend) so the kids could get lots of play time in outside. We had a great time visiting the farmers market, pretending to be animals, playing at the park, and just being downright silly!

Here are a couple of shots taken during the week. Natalie and Amanda posed before heading off to school to send daddy good morning wishes since he was traveling. What a wonderful way to be greeted in the morning!



While the girls were away at school, Will pretended to be a monkey. He was getting ready for our trip to the zoo this weekend!

Here we are at the zoo. Mom and Will look for the sleeping snow leopard who hiding behind the water fall.

Natalie and Amanda love their brother, Will, so much, and they love playing Mommy...not wanting their little brother to wander off on his own, they both asked to hold his hands as we walked past the flamingos.

The monkeys at the zoo were playing to the audience screaming, hollering and swinging all over the cage. They were so entertaining that we all stopped at the bench to watch for a few minutes.

Here is a great photo of Amanda and daddy.

And one of our little model, Amanda.

Will loves climbing on anything that comes within reach. These are bleacher seats in front of the giraffe exhibit. Obviously, the bleacher seats are more entertaining than the lumbering leaf-eating long neck beasts.

There is also always time for a quick slide. Here, Will tries his luck at the spiral concrete slide in the zoo kids park.

Here is our little butterfly, Amanda.

And our safari expedition leader, Will.

Natalie give the safari expedition a try...although, it seems it is a little scary.

Another shot of Amanda from her model shoot.

Will was certain he saw a troll under the toadstool, so he went over for a quick look.

After the Sundays farmers market, we stopped across the street to visit the enormous kids playground. There are so many fun activities for them to enjoy, it is always a huge hit. Here, all three monkeys hang from the circular monkey bar, and hang on for a long time.

Will gets ready to go down the big slide solo!

Guess how long can I hang on the monkey bar?

Twin fun belly sliding down the double slide.

Natalie gives a smile and shows just how much she loves the kids park!

Saturday Fun

Northern California's weather has been all mixed up this year, and the weather forecasters are all going back to school. Today, there was a chance of rain, sun, wind, overcast skies and cold temperatures...but no earthquakes, so a perfect day to head out to the Saturday morning farmers market. We brought the camera, as usual, and managed to get a few good ones of the kids, who really don't mind the weather at all!

Here is Natalie watching a dog walk in the park.




Here is a photo of Amanda standing in the base of the tree in our front yard as we began to load the family bus. What a smile that girl has -- she's such a little poser!

If you look closely, you can see all three kids as Natalie is waiting her turn to come down the crooked ladder.

Will loves doing everything his big sisters do, and here he is giving a quick glace after he crawls through the elevated tunnel.

Amanda sliding down backward with static electric hair and all!

We found these tasty tamales at the farmers market, so we now make a plan to stay long enough to eat lunch whenever we visit. Here is Will sitting down nicely waiting for Dad to return with the tasty treats!

The merry-go-round is not operational every week, but when it is running, the kids are sure to ride. Here is Natalie having a great time on the frog.

And Amanda riding the seal.

And here are several action photos of the kids playing in the grass, having a blast.

Natalie...

Natalie and Amanda....

And, Amanda and Will being silly rolling down the hill!

Happy Mother's Day.....

.....from our little munchkins to all of you! We had fun today playing dress up. Here is Natalie as a ladybug/kitty cat/bumblebee/ballerina. Wow, what a combination!



Amanda got into the action too, but she was a little more subdued with her princess shoes and tutu.

This is how they all pose now....it makes picture taking a little challenging.

We were feeling adventurous today and decided to venture out for brunch. Here, we were waiting to be seated when dad caught mom and her mini-me making the same face!

Will had fun playing around while we waited.

Thank goodness we ate outside as there was a fair amount of yelling and screaming during the meal. But, all in all, it was fun. And at the end of our brunch, the kids showed their affection for each other with a group hug! First, just Amanda and Will.....

.....but they were quickly joined by Natalie.