Ocotillo

Yesterday Rachel and I headed out to Ocotillo to visit the Stephens family and were also joined by the Lewko family.

Rachel and Emma are riding in the back of Marie's new pink Rhino. As you can see by Rachel's hair, it was a bit windy.

I put her beanie on and it helped a bit. Rachel had a blast and at one point after everyone else had got out of the rhino, Rachel stayed in for at least 10 more minutes waiting for another ride. She finally realized that it wasn't going anywhere and eventually got out.

I opened my car door and it was so windy that her balloon flew out of the car. She saw it fly away and started chasing it. I had to chase her down and tell her it had gone bye-bye.

She was still looking for her balloon, but it was at least a half a mile away.

She was waiting for another ride and was willing to drive if that was the only way to make it move.

The girls don't seem too worried that Rachel is trying to drive.

Rachel was so happy that Marie took them on at least 4 rides. She couldn't get enough of it. That night when I was taking her to bed, I asked her if she had fun playing with Emma and Jillian and she responded with "car". It was definitely the highlight of her day!

In these 2 pictures, Rachel is blowing me a kiss good-bye.

Bye-bye mama. She didn't care at all that I wasn't going with her.

This was their last ride of the day. The wind had really picked up. Marie had to bring Emma and Jillian back because of the wind, but took Rachel back out because she was not getting out after such a short ride.

Here are all three girls playing in the dirt and really enjoying themselves.

My little girl really loves the dirt.

When it was too windy to be outside anymore and the girls hadn't had a nap yet, they needed a little down time and watched Blue's Clues in the trailer. Rachel's newest favorite show is Blue's Clues and she walks around saying "Coos-Coos" and says "Think, Think, Think" and does the hand motions, which is what she is doing here.

The 3 moms got to take a ride too. It was very peaceful out there!

Brrrrr!

Rachel and I went up to my mom's house yesterday. It was definitely chilly outside.

Rachel didn't want to wear her gloves but at least she kept her hat on. She was even wearing her ladybug rainboots.

She spent about an hour collecting, cleaning, and sorting rocks.

She walks around outside my moms house and has to touch and try out everything.

My little monkey.

Just like Grandma!

She started saying Grandma this week. Well actually, she says Gimma. We will see if she remains Gimma or if it will change into something else.

St. Patrick's Day

Rachel started off the morning at swimming lessons.

She is doing so well. She is finally getting her legs up behind her.

She even has a green bathing suit. It was perfect that swimming lessons were on St. Patrick's Day. She is really being a good girl at swimming (unlike gymnastics) and is progressing quite well.

She is so happy most of the time :)

Uh-oh! Don't let daddy see you standing on your bike that way!!!

Peek-a boo Mama!

I see you!

I just love her smile!

Yay!

Cutest Little Ringlets

I put Rachel's hair up in pigtails last Sunday when it was wet and when her hair dried, she had perfect little ringlets. They almost looked as if I had curled them...but there is no way she would sit still for me to curl her hair!

We went shopping at Kohl's and it was a little too much for her. She fell asleep while she was reading her book.

Bryce's Birthday

Last Friday was Bryce's birthday.

We did presents before we headed out to dinner.

Rachel was very excited that Papa has rain boots now too. When they go down the hill to the grove, now Papa's feet won't get wet.

We went out to dinner at the Elephant Bar in Rancho Bernardo.

I asked her to smile for me and this is what I got. This is the funniest smile I think she has ever done! What a little cheesball :)

She is representing San Diego State by wearing daddy's hat.

Puddle Splashing

On Monday afternoon, when the rain stopped, I took Rachel outside for some good old-fashioned puddle splashing.

She just loved stomping around in the puddles and making a big splash!

Have I Mentioned How Much I Love Weekends?

Rachel has been sick for the past week and a half (thanks Grant). I decided to get her out of the house last weekend and take her to the Wild Animal Park, just the two of us.

We spent at least an hour watching and feeding the ducks and the fish.

She was running back and forth to look at the ducks.

As you can see in this picture, I think the catfish was bigger than the ducks. They would come up from under the ducks and open their mouths and get the food that the ducks missed.

Rachel loved the tram (or choo choo as she called it).

She even said "Cheese!"

It is always so nice to spend this kind of quality time with her. We had such a good time together.

23 Months

In less than a month, Rachel will be 2 years old!

She is really becoming aware of herself recently.

She was walking around in Tim's slippers and showing off. Her favorite new saying is "I stuckkkkk!" We have to go and help her up and it is her new little game. She gets herself "stuck" in all kinds of situations and wants help getting out of various situations.

Normally, she hates getting her hair done. Well, not recently. I bought her some new bows, and she had me put at many on her head as I could. She would hand me one, go check herself out in the mirror, and bring me another until it looked like this.

She walked around the house like this for hours (until "baff" time when I had to take them out to wash her hair).

She is such a busy little girl and I enjoy every minute with her (well, maybe not the temper tantrums) and am loving watching her grow and become the beautiful little girl that she is!

San Diego Children's Museum

Two weekends ago Becky and I took the kiddos to the San Diego Children's Museum.

The first thing they enjoyed was the chalk. Rachel like to draw a little bit, but mostly liked to share the chalk with everyone.

Then we went to the costume area and I think Becky enjoyed the costumes the most :)

We colored with the crayons, but again, Rachel's favorite thing about it was sharing with everyone.

They really enjoyed the jumpy.

They got to take 2 turns in a row (only because they were the only 2 kids who did not get out when time was up). Becky and I had to climb in and get them out after their second turn. That was the beginning of the end for Rachel. After I had to pull her out, she was really not happy. We stayed away from it for the rest of the time so that we didn't have to go through that again. She would be happy for a few minutes, but would quickly remember the jumpy and was no longer happy with what she was doing. We did find a few bright spots though.

She really liked playing the drums.

She also loves anything that has to do with animals.

Grant would carry the "bug" up the step and ride it down the step. Ride 'em cowboy!

Grant had a granola bar on the way home. After seeing this, I decided not to give Rachel the other half :)

We had a great time, but the Escondido Children's Museum is more age appropriate for them which is really convenient for me since I live only 10 minutes away!