Pine Cones!

Last week we had sunny skies and warm temperatures so we spent our afternoons outside. Some days we kicked the ball around, other days we blew bubbles but the day I enjoyed most was when Anna collected the pine cones.

 We counted them and lined them up by size...

Then we discovered the frisbee made a great way to collect our pine cones.



Dinner anyone??

Spring Break 2012

Anna was on spring break from school last week so we took off to California to meet Anna's new cousin Logan and to soak up some California sunshine! Here is Anna with Logan - this is the closest she got to him the whole week we were there! While Anna likes to talk about baby Logan she was very wary about going anywhere near him!

A swing with a view - no trip to Santa Monica is complete without a trip to the beach....

A perfect day for running in the sand...

And practicing our yoga!

Anna loves the beach!

We also took Anna to the La Brea Tar Pits while we were in LA. This was probably the highlight of the trip for her. Ever since that visit every time we get in the car Anna asks if we're going to see the dinosaurs.

 Anna's favorite dinosaur was the mastadon which she called an elephant. In front of the museum there is a display that depicts the mastadon stuck in the tar. The other day Anna was playing with the toy mastadon she got by laying it on its side and pretending that it was stuck. She kept telling me the elephant was stuck! Who got to to rescue the animal? Barbie!

 Anna comparing her hand to a dinosaur footprint

 Inspecting the dinosaur bones....

After the dinosaurs we went to The Grove where Anna practiced her shopping...

And enjoyed her first ice cream cone from the LA Farmer's Market!

Proud parents Lyn and Ryan with baby Logan

A priceless view from Malibu

XOXOXO

When I picked Anna up from nursery school today the teacher told us the kids had their hands full and had quite a load today. Wow! The teacher wasn't joking...here is what Anna got at her Valentine's Day party.

In addition to Valentines's Day cards, Anna got 3 tubs of play dough, stickers. a heart necklace, candy, and a homemade cupcake wrapped in a box with a pretty red bow! School should always be this fun!

Last week in school Anna's class made a candy necklace with fruit loops as the candy. This was a big hit with Anna. Here is a before shot....

Anna ate every fruit loop loop in no time at all...

What was left of her necklace when the "candy" was gone!

And what did Mommy and Daddy get Anna for Valentine's Day??? Her very own red heart balloon!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

 

Tunnel of Fun

Last week our music class was unexpectedly cancelled....faced with a day with no activity for an active toddler I tried to think of something fun for us to do. We could go to the park but it was cold (okay it was too cold for me)...we could color but we do that every day....finally I came up with the perfect idea. It was time to build our first fort! Here is our first fort which turned into a tunnel of fun!

Off into the tunnel Anna goes...

Peeks through the cushions....

Say cheese!

 Anna also liked to hide around the side and jump out and say, "Surprise!"

Gong xi fa cai, hong bao na lai!

Happy Chinese New Year! This is the year of the dragon...a very lucky year! Tonight we celebrated with a traditional chinese dinner. We had noodles to represent a long life, dumplings to bring luck since the first banknote in China was called jiaozi (the chinese name for dumplings) and we had oranges to symbolize abundance and luck (the chinese word for tangerine sounds like luck). It is also traditional to have eight dishes to eat at dinner since the chinese word for eight is lucky....we did try our best to have eight dishes too!

There were many Chinese New Year celebrations happening around Toronto. The Royal Ontario Museum had chinese dancers, a dragon dance, and arts and crafts where Anna got to make her own dragon!

 Anna's name in Chinese and the kite she made at the museum.

The Toronto Harbourfront also had a Lunar Festival where the world's first lantern aquarium was on display. The lanterns were made by Taiwan's top lantern maker and it was quite an impressive sight!

There were sharks...

 Fish floating above us...

 And of course Nemo!

 Anna loved this exhibit. She kept looking around and saying "WOW!"

At the end of the exhibit the kids got to spin a wheel for a prize....Anna got a red envelope with a piece of chocolate in it. She liked that much more than she like her free dragon hat!

The title of this blog is in Mandarin and translates to:

Happy New Year! Now give me a red envelope!