Branching Out!

Here are some pics of Piper and Polly wit their dear friends Etta and Sullivan. This is a fantastic little park where the girls played almost everyday in Hermosa. The girls all play so nicely together. Thanks Ro for the great pic!

Zak's Big Day

Today we were lucky enough to celebrate Zak's 4th birthday at Star Eco Station. Zak is a friend of Piper's from school. They have many similarities, both adore animals and conspire to catch lizards together! Today, they got to hold a snake, pet a crocodile, dig for fossils and learn all about animals. Piper had the time of her life she got her face painted like a fish (the blue is for ocean) of course Polly could not wait once she saw here big sister. Polly asked for an octopus, she sat patiently for at least 5 min (years in toddler time) while the woman created a fantastic octopus. The girls had a fantastic day and were thrilled to be celebrating with Zak.

Bye, Bye Birdie!

Today the chicks made the move from our house into their coop. Piper helped set up the coop just right. Our wonderful neighbors let us use their extra hot light and they are out there in the cold as we speak. Andrew is not sure how he will sleep with his chicks outside, we will keep you posed on our quickly growing girls.

Caila's 4th Birthday

Caila had a Jasmine and Aladin themed party. Complete with a visit from Jasmine, belly dancers and camel rides. Piper and Polly joined right in with the belly dancing, making mommy and daddy very nervous, those little girls sure can shake!

Kennedy's Party at Art Zone

Kennedy turned 2 today and Piper and Polly were there to celebrate with her. She had her party at this wonderful little place called Art Zone. The girls made lots of beautiful artwork. Polly's favorite part was dressing in a wedding gown, she stripped down as soon as she saw it. Thanks for a great party Kennedy!

Grampy Fixes the Roof

Today, Grampy helped take down our flags. For those of you who have never seen them before, it is very interesting. They are required by our city to show where the new house is going. Anyway, my dad was kind enough to help us take down the flags. Probably, not the best idea as it was a rainy day which made the roof very slippery. I was very happy when he was down safe and sound. Piper and Polly also wanted to help, you can see they are very good with tools:-)

Piper and the Python

Piper has been learning all about reptiles at school. Today, they had a reptile expert come, he brought lots of reptiles with him to share with her school. I was amazed to walk in and see them holding a 6 foot long python. They all seemd to love it, Piper just kept petting it and telling the python it was ok. What a fun school day!

Brookie's Visit

The girls and little Hap were so lucky to have a visit from Mommy's best friend Brookie. She was a real trooper, considering she is 6 months preggers, she flew here from Boston, to spend some time with all of us. Our days were filled with visiting our favorite local spots and eating lots yummy food. Thanks for visiting us Brookie!

Tia's 30th Celebration

Our Tia is turning 30, we feel so lucky to be celebrating with her.  Piper and Polly were there to help blow out her candles.  They love their Tia so much and had a fantastic day with her and Jonny making sock puppets and painting their nails.  They are so very lucky to be surrounded by so much love!

Mimi's Famous Putpie

Tonight, we had a chance to enjoy one of our favorite meals in the world, Mimi's homemade putpie and chocolate cake.  It is a PA dutch recipe and it is the most wonderful treat!  Polly could not shove enough in her little mouth, I must say I managed to put away quite a bit myself.  It was so wonderful and we all enjoyed a fantastic meal!

Photo Shoot

Last week, Gigi and Grampy had a little one on one time with Hap.  Gigi decided it would be a good time for a photo shoot.  He is just all smiles now and such a little treat.

Korean Bell

Today, Piper, Polly, Gigi, Grampy and Great Mimi had a fun filled day together.  First, they went to see the Korean Bel in San Pedro.  Followed by some whale watching with a tour of the whale museum given by tour guide Piper.  The day was culminated by a lunch at the Golden Arches and a romp in the wonderful indoor playground there.  I think Mimi was the only one who was not exhausted at the end of the day, she has more energy than all of us put together!

Valentine's Traditions

Today we had a chance to get together with celebrate Valentines Day with Stella and Marin.  I have included some pictures of our celebration from last year too, it is amazing how the girls have grown!  As always they had so much fun decorating cookies, eating heart shaped pizza and drinking out of their heart champange flutes.

Marine Mammal Rescue Center

Today, we went and checked out this little center close to our house.  Of course, it was a huge hit.  At this center they have rescued sea lions and seals.  We got to watch them feed and even got to see a very rare Grey Seal, the last one that was here was 10 years ago.  It is a great place for the girls to see these amazing animals up close and learn more about them.

Happy Hats for Kids

Today, Piper and her classmates made hats for children with cancer. When they come to the hospital one of the "hero hats" will be presented to the child to try and bring a smile to their face. The organization is called Happy Hats for Kids. It was so impressive to watch all the kids working so hard to create hats for children who are sick. Piper was very proud of the hats she made. I also got to stay and watch Piper and her friends at play, I just adore her school and am so happy we found a great fit for Piper.

Hap is 3 Months Old

Where does the time go, our little bub is already 3 months old. He has just been so happy, he smiles and giggles, just heart warming. His big sisters also adore him and have just been so sweet to him.

Hot Chicks!

Here are Barbie and Mary huddled together keeping warm. They are adjusting nicely to their new home. The other picture is Barbie in flight (probably trying to get away from Piper after an hour of being held). They are starting to jump out of their box when they want to be held, it is really funny. If you walk in the room and do not give them attention they get quite vocal about it. So far things are great on the chicken front.

Birds of a Feather...

Nap together?  Well we tried, these two insist they want to nap together, we try and it never ends pretty.  As you can see it does not look like much napping is going on. They think they have me fooled, they say they will go right to sleep, that has not happened yet, but a bit of mischief has.

Hap's First Giggle

It never gets old, the first time you hear your baby giggle, what a wonderful sound. No, he certainly was not laughing at his passport picture. It is very cute, just a tad silly. The girls passports are also quite amusing. We just received it yesterday and are looking forward to using it in March.

Crushes and Crushers

This is Piper with her friend Ethan.  I have never seen her hold a boys hand before, very cute.  She was very excited to see him after school and go play with him.  Ethan has schooled Piper on crushers, digging in the dirt and excavating, all very helpful.

Barbie and Mary

Much to Piper's delight, her daddy was ('kind' or 'silly'...you choose) enough to bring home two baby chicks he found at a store while he was out and about. Piper has been obsessing about getting chickens since most of our neighbors have them. Needless to say, she was beside herself when she realized after getting up from her nap that the box in the loungeroom was "cheeping". Piper and Polly got to name one chick each. Piper has named the black one "Mary" and Polly named the brown one "Chick". (Note: Polly was later convinced to change her mind and pick a more personalized name, and settled on "Barbie"). So we have Mary and Barbie. They are two weeks old and will be living indoors, in a box, until they are between 6-8 weeks. Then they will be relocating to the chicken coop in our back yard. Unfortunately, Piper is not the only one who has taken an interest in the chicks. Joey and Lollie have also been very curious, although it has been explained to both of them that staring at the chicks and salivating (and then licking their lips) is entirely inappropriate behaviour.