Our Loves

It's so sweet to see the kids love each other and be so good to each other.... it helps to balance out the times when they push and fight over toys or our attention.

Kara is a sweetie, but Ben is the sweetest! He is so good to Kara, always thinking and asking about her. And he's so vocal now, he can say what he feels like "love you."

iCan't Believe It

Technology... Ben and Kara have been introduced to the iPad and they've become fast friends.



Uncle Ross showed Ben how he can play with the fish and make little water sounds with the touch of a finger.



Kara likes to "bake" and decorate cookies for everyone.... and no sprinkles to clean up!



Amazing... and thankfully, the kids still like low and no-tech things like drawing pictures on paper, dancing around the house and reading books.

Kara's Weekend

We did a quick visit to Japanese town where Kara looked at the dolls and informed us that the ones wearing pink were her favorites.



We went to Kidspace where Kara got to play and explore... and be among the dinosaurs.



I think her favorite part was the climbing towers which she was proud to climb up by herself. Do you see our little bug up there??

New Seat, New Look

Ben has decided that he's outgrown his carseat and is ready for a booster seat like Kara's. He decided to try on the sunglasses to complete his "mature" look.



But he can't help but show his silly side.



Our little Ben.... he's getting to be such a big kid.

City Kids on the Farm

We took the kids to see the packing shed and all of the farming equipment. Kara had no problems posing for some pictures on the tractor, even though they were a bit dusty for a princess.



Ben notices every truck, bus and tractor. It's really cute when he sees a truck and says "ruck.... ruck.... awwww" and then smiles.



Ben loves Pampa's grapes and sat with Pampa to eat a bunch all by himself. He did share a few with Pampa and Grandma 'Rene.



Kara was very interested to see what happens at the packing shed... she especially liked watching the pear apples get washed before they were packed. She observed Pampa moving large bins with a forklift and said, "wow, Pampa is a good lifter."

Our Cousins

We were happy to celebrate cousin Connor's first birthday and got to spend some time with our cousins. James taught Ben to do a chest bump and a fist pound complete with sound effect.



Kara hung out with her girl cousins... it's always fun for us to see what Elyse is doing and then we think, that's what we can expect from Kara next year!



It was definitely a treat to get the kids together...



Thank goodness for the kind wait-staff who saw the room go from a nice, sit-down dinner to utter chaos! We all understand why he is called "Fun Uncle Todd".

Pool Time

We spent some time in Parlier and took advantage of the pool. Surprisingly, Ben liked having the water come all the way up to his chin.



Kara was proud that she jumped into the pool and into the arms of Uncle Todd. Though she wasn't thrilled about it, she did go under water a few times.



Ben seemed to enjoy his boat ride from Tantie Miwa and also learned how to do some kicking. And even though we spent some time in the pool, Ben is still pretty pale in comparison to our tan little Kara.