The Missing Shoe

Lately, Nico has discovered how to remove his shoes. He's especially adept at removing his Tom's Shoes. Putting them back on seems to be a bit more difficult for many reasons, primarily lack of will but also lack of dexterity.



While visiting a friend's art gallery, Nico decided this would be the optimum time to be barefoot. Nico was having so much fun playing with his best friend that I did not discover his intent until unfortunately, one shoe had disappeared somewhere within Gallery KM.



We ended up leaving the shoe behind Cinderella-style after a fruitless search. Luckily our friends found the shoe a couple of days later and we had a match once again.

Tom's Shoes

As a diehard Amazing Race fan, I was intrigued when former contestant Blake Mycoskie started Tom's Shoes, a company whose mission is to provide a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased. One for One. I love the philosophy as much as I love the shoes. Not only are they stylish but also extremely comfortable. Recently I bought an adorable pair for Nico featuring koi fish. Spencer and I both have pairs as well, brown for Spencer, red for me. We're Tom's Shoes converts.

Easter Egg Hunts

Easter morning began with an egg hunt in the backyard to discover what the Easter Bunny brought.



The boys checked out each other bags to see what goodies they held.



Looks like someone or something got to this egg before the boys did. A hungry squirrel did some damage to get to the Easter Bunny's candy.



Later that morning we headed over to Dan and Lauren's house for round two. They decorated the backyard with each child's name written in chalk.



Spencer concentrated on dipping an egg slowly and carefully to achieve the right color.



The children listened relatively patiently as Dan explained the rules of the egg hunt.



Spencer proudly displays one of his eggs.



Nico has a full basket.

Nana and Marvin came to our house to finish our Easter holiday with a lovely ham dinner. The boys showed off all their eggs to Nana and were thrilled that she brought chocolate bunnies for dessert. Except for that damn squirrel, what a wonderful Easter! (We're watchin' for you squirrel...)

Whipped Creme Eggs

Grandma & Grandpa sent us some milk chocolate whipped creme eggs for Easter, a long tradition in Mike's family.



It was all the boys could do to wait until after dinner.



Love at first bite!



What a sticky face! Don't you just want to eat him up!

Secret Agents

Don't tell anyone but we have a secret agent living with us. He uses special ink and a decoder card to write messages. For some reason, the agent asks me to spell the words. Perhaps he's trying to recruit me. I would let you in on the secret but I've been sworn to secrecy.



Who's this guy?

The Archaeologist

Every month Spencer receives an envelope from Little Passports containing stickers and activities from a foreign country. This month was Egypt. Spencer was excited to unlock the secret of the pyramid. Very carefully he chiseled away the exterior.



With his loyal younger brother at his side, helping to chip away big pieces and scraping the little pieces onto the floor, Spencer chipped and chiseled through to the end. After brushing away the dust, he discovered a miniature figurine of the sphinx inside. His archaeological undertaking was a success!

Meeting Alice

Spencer recently was invited to an Alice in Wonderland birthday party for one of his friends from preschool. The birthday girl wore a blue and white just like Alice who attended the party and even posed for photographs.

Now that Spencer has had a chance to meet Alice, perhaps he'll be more interested in reading the book. He's been reluctant to do so ever since the billboards for Tim Burton's movie version were plastered all over Los Angeles. The queen seemed a bit too scary for Spencer's taste.



Rather than risk scalding anyone by serving hot tea, the hosts offered juice from pots with dry ice that gave the appearance of a steaming liquid.



The red velvet cake was absolutely scrumptious! It was almost a shame to cut into it given the beautiful illustration on the frosting.



Spencer's two best friends, Sophia and Raquel, were also at the party.



American Idol, here we come!

First Egg Hunt

The Easter Bunny paid a special early visit to our Mommy & Me class since next week we'll be off on spring break. Teacher Kathy read a story to prepare the children for the egg hunt that was to take place on the outdoor playground.



Once outside, Nico seemed puzzled at first about what he was supposed to do and why he was carrying a basket but he soon started searching for eggs with Mommy's encouragement. Each child was told to find two eggs, one for each hand.



Nico wanted to crack his eggs open but luckily we managed to get them home intact. All in all, Nico's first egg hunt was a resounding success!

Little Drummer Boy

Nico loves to bang on things so it came as no surprise that he made a beeline towards the musical instruments set out for the children at preschool. He picked up a drum and marched around the room, playing to his heart's content.



Bah, rum, pum, pum, pum. Me and my drum.

Disneyland

Spencer may have turned five in December but it wasn't until April that we finally celebrated with a trip to the "Happiest Place on Earth" over spring break. We were worried the park would be packed but we never waited more than half an hour for a ride, aided perhaps by the overcast weather and our handy iPhone app indicating wait times at the most popular attractions.



Our first ride of the day, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, ended up being one of Spencer's favorites since he was in charge of driving the car.



He also had a chance to drive at Autotopia. The two-person per car limit meant that I was driving on my own. You would think I was the one that didn't have a license as my car, which must have been a lemon, kept stalling. Spencer, heeding the instructions announced at the starting line, kindly refrained from bumping into the back of my vehicle. There was a back-up at the end of the course reminiscent of traffic on LA freeways complete with nauseating fumes. I hope they switch to electric cars sooner rather than later.



One of the things Spencer enjoyed most about the day was spending quality, one-on-one time with Mommy and Daddy. The teacup song was stuck in all our heads for a while.



By mid-afternoon, Spencer was starting to fade. The Storybook Canal boats seemed the perfect antidote. We floated into the mouth of the whale from the Pinochio story as Spencer rested on my lap while the adorable baby sitting next to us made eyes at Mike.



Spencer perked right back up during our ride on the Casey Jr. train, a ride new for both Mike and me. This expression says it all.



Not only did Spencer shake hands with Mickey but he gave him a big hug.



One of our last rides was It's a Small World where we tried to name all the countries along the way.



On the ride home, Spencer went right to sleep, exhausted but happy about his first trip to Disneyland.

Shaving Cream

Nico has often watched Daddy shaving and longed to try it out for himself. Although there were no razors involved, he did have the chance to experience shaving cream in all its glory at our weekly Mommy and Me class. Nico wasn't quite sure what to make of the ooey, gooey substance at first but he quickly warmed to the idea of smearing shaving cream all over the table.



"Brush it off, Mommy" says Nico. Not quite so easy my dear. But at least he had the chance to wash his hands at the child-sized sink, a favorite activity at the moment.

Sand Castles

What better to spend spring break than building sand castles at the beach on a beautiful spring day?



Nico was content to watch the waves from afar. He did not want to venture in even to dip his toes, preferring instead to stay safely envelopped in mama's arms.



Spencer befriended the teenage girls sitting next to us and agreed to let them bury him partly in the sand. Much giggling ensued followed by a mini-sandstorm when Spencer stood up.