Sick Day(s)

Claire wasn't feeling well over the weekend, but had Monday off of school and plans to stay home with Lucian. We hoped the extra day would be enough for her to recover, but a rough overnight led us to keep her home another day. Tuesday morning she said her throat hurt when she sneezed and I had a suspicion it was strep throat. A quick trip to the doc confirmed.

We stopped for ice cream at 10:30 in the morning (after the doc). It's right across the street from our pharmacy and it was fat Tuesday after all.

She rested...

and played from the couch

Lucian stayed home with them again on Wednesday. It was nice to get photo text updates throughout the day. They set up a viewing area in front of the sliding doors.

And packed suitcases to hop a plane to Florida. I think they have the right idea.

She is back at school today and hopefully doing well. Yay for antibiotics.

January Roundup

Both kids started rec classes last month. Kyle is in 3-year old gymnastics. He absolutely loves running around and is starting to grasp the concept of following directions and waiting in line. We stand outside the class giggling at the teacher saying "Kyle, get back in line", "Kyle, over here" and so on.

Claire is taking swim lessons again. She stood at the edge of the pool for the first class, but we convinced her to get in on week two and now she loves it.

I may have bribed Claire with a trip to the children's museum to get her in the water at swim class. They had a fun afternoon.

We hit up the Public Museum another weekend and enjoyed the butterfly exhibit.

We've had plenty of snow as of late. We have a resident snowman and the kids like to play in it. Kyle however, rarely keeps his mittens on.

We celebrated Lucian's birthday in January. I met him for a lobster lunch that day.

And we celebrated with family at our house that night.

And perhaps the biggest news of the month. Kyle has started potty training. He is about a week in and doing really well. Send good vibes that it keeps up.

Kyle is 3!

Amidst all the holiday chaos, out sweet little Kyle turned 3 years old. Kyle is extremely talkative, sweet and energetic. He loves all sorts of cars, trucks and planes. He is always fixing things with his tools and always making a mess.

We hosted a party with the fam and coaxed him through another round of presents.

 One of his gifts even had feet!

 I attempted my second homemade cake for Kyle's party. After 3 days of working on it, he didn't eat a single piece. I force-fed him a day later and he loved it;) It was a delicious cake.

Kyle is enamored with his baby cousin Henry. He was all smiles at a chance to hold him. Since then he carries around a stuffed bear he calls baby Henry and offers people a chance to hold him.

Claire was all about it too.

Holiday Recap

We are well into January and I am just getting around to posting Christmas photos. The holidays were great. We stayed in town, celebrated with Lucian's family, and hosted my family at our house. In between family get-togethers, Santa came! The kids had 2 days of marathon gift opening. They are very fortunate kids.

 Claire kissing Papa. They were here Christmas morning to witness Santa's gifts.

 This little guys sure loves his planes. I absolutely love these photos Lucian took.

 We stayed in and made our usual steak and lobster feast for new Years Eve. We had fun with these two party animals.

Welcome 2015!

All Aboard!

Spencer was home for Thanksgiving. We gathered at Lucian's parents for a fabulous meal, but someone in the family definitely stole the show. Our nephew Henry William joined the world on Thanksgiving. I wrapped up the meal prep and some dessert as Lucian's mom and siblings rushed off to the hospital for his birth. Welcome Henry!

The following Saturday was the annual pizza party. It's a great opportunity to catch up with family and allow all the cousins to bond and hang out. There are a lot!

We drove Spencer back to school on Sunday. Kyle entertained himself at the book store while Spencer and Lucian shopped.

And after dropping Spencer off, we headed to the Polar Express! The train traveled to the North Pole where a few elves got on board as well as Santa. Both kids had a great time and Kyle loved riding the train. 

This is Kyle guarding his cookie from Lucian.

Santa!

San Francisco

Lucian and I took a trip to San Francisco. For multiple nights. Without kids. This is an epic accomplishment. We have not done a couples trip since before Claire was born. It required some great helpers and a little planning. We had a great time.

I throughly enjoyed my first visit to the city. Lucian has been before on multiple occasions, but it's long been on out list of places to go together. The weather was high 50°s/low 60°s with a little rain. (It snowed and was cold in WI)

We enjoyed some fabulous meals, did a ton of walking, and tried just about every form of public transportation the city has to offer.

On our last full day we planned a trip to Muir Woods to see the redwoods. After considering many options, we decided to rent a car that day and drive up Highway 1 as well. It really turned out to be the best day ever.

This was our stylish ride. We left the top down and ran the heat. Yes, we looked like tourists. No, we didn't care. 

The breathtaking views of the bridge were a great start.

I'm so glad Lucian likes to drive. The winding cliff-side roads were a little intimidating for me and no problem for him. The smell of the eucalyptus trees was amazing. Seriously. I'd like to take one home with me. We stopped at beaches and look outs and wherever our heart's desired.

 Our furthest stop was a working oyster farm, Hog Island Oyster, that felt like something out of a movie.

 Our feast 

The only problem with our plan was that we didn't make it to the redwoods until around 4:30. The park "closed" at 5:00. We got in for free, but it was already getting dark so we didn't have much time for hiking. The trees are amazing and I would love to go back and explore more.

We really enjoyed this trip. We're so grateful to our parents for helping with the littles while we got away.