Crazy Couple of Weeks

The blog has been slow these past couple of weeks and that's because life has been moving fast around here. What have we been up to? Well, to start, the kids started a new daycare! Clare's first day was last Tuesday (Feb 25) and here is the outfit she picked out - all by herself! 

She has already charmed the pants off of everyone in the school and she likes her new teacher and has already made two new friends she likes to chat about! Sean had his last day last Friday and his class sent him out in style with a new customized t-shirt and a notebook full of drawings from his friends!

Friday was also Mommy's last day working at Liberty Place in Philadelphia - my office is moving to a new building a couple of blocks away...

and on Saturday, we took Seany for a haircut - doesn't he look sharp? :-)

On Sunday, Seany came into the city to help me unpack my new office. We also walked all around the building, checking out the views and then we went up to see the greenwall in the new cafe:

"It's a wall of plants!!"

Even the dreary weather (right before yet another snowstorm on Sunday night) couldn't put a damper on Sean's excitement on the train!

Kitted out with his new haircut and spiffy Star Wars sneakers, Sean had a great first day at the new school on Monday!  He's fitting in nicely with his class, participating in all the activities and dazzling the teachers with his stories.

Sea World San Diego

For two little Octonauts-lovers, Sea World was a major highlight of our trip to San Diego! First we headed over to Shamu Stadium to see.. Shamu! And Shamu's Mommy, Daddy, Brudders, and Baby Shamu.

Ready for the Shamu show!

After a spectacular show during which Sean cheered for all the neat jumps and splashing and Clare cooed over the Baby Shamu, we walked over to Dolphin Point to watch the dolphins play. 

And then we went over to feed and pet the manta rays! Sean thought it was so cool - he could have stayed there all day! Clare squealed each time a manta ray came near, but she worked up the courage to touch one!

Smile!

Next up was Pacific Point to see the sea lions. Clare really bonded with one sea lion in particular. Was it her squeaky little voice or the little fishies we were feeding him that kept him coming around? Hmmm...

We spent the rest of the day seeing more shows, going to the Shark Encounter, and trying to find the Polar Bears.  Sean thought this "under-the-sea tube" was pretty neat!

 

We found the penguins with no problems-

The penguin house was a good place for a churro break, actually :-)

We looked in on Snow World, a special Holiday-time attraction Sea World does that featured tons of fresh snow to play in. Thankfully we skipped that since we had plenty of snow fun waiting for us at home...

After exploring all the neat attractions, we let the kids burn off extra energy at the Sesame Street Bay of Play!

We took a spin on the Abby Cadabby Teacups:

And we flew around on Elmo's Flying Fish Spinning Ride before heading out for the night.

But not without getting Shamu huggies!

Big girl

Clare hit TWO big milestones in the past week - she now wears "big girl underwear" and ... sleeps in a big girl bed!  Clare has been kinda-sorta potty training for a few months now but she really kicked into high gear these past couple of weeks. We took a trip to Target and she picked out Little Mermaid and Rapunzel underpants and she was so excited to get them on. She is having a lot of success without the Pull-ups and we're so proud of her.

Just as we were getting used to the idea of Clare being done with diapers and Pull-ups, Clare decided she was done with her crib, too!  On Saturday morning, I woke up at about 7:30am and everyone was else was still sleeping, so I thought I'd let our temporary canine house-guest, Elly, out for her morning constitutional.  We came back in a few minutes later and I heard a lot of commotion upstairs.  I came up to find Sean fully-dressed (normal) and Clare out and about and totally naked - she'd gone potty already and was looking for something to wear!  Apparently Sean coached her through getting up and over her crib bars, thanks in part to her fluffy unicorn pillow pet being used to cushion her fall.  Sean was very proud that Clare got out, too.

While Sean and I were at a birthday party on Saturday afternoon, Daddy and Clare got to work taking down the crib bars. That was the easy part.  The hardest part so far has been the arranging of the dolls and huggies...

Each doll, bear, and huggie needs to be arranged just-so:

The first night was a little rough - Clare kept getting out of bed or she'd urgently plead for me to come help her rearrange her dollies. But she napped nicely in her bed on Sunday and went to bed okay tonight (Sunday night she had a sleep-over at Grummy and Pop Pop's house).

Here's hoping things go a little smoother from here on out - and that her Shamu huggie can stay in his spot!

Sweeties

With all of these snow days and ice days and days without power, we've been doing a lot of crafts. One day last weekend we changed it up and did a little baking!  Mommy baked simple sugar cookies and when the kids woke up from nap, the cookies were ready to be decorated!  We mixed up some icing in baggies - Sean wanted red and Clare wanted pink...

After squeezing icing on the cookies, the kids covered them in sprinkles:

Clare helped with some quality-control on the sprinkles...

Clare took hold of the camera for a few shots:

But Mommy got the camera back and got some snaps of Clare waiting patiently for the icing to dry so she could sample a cookie...

The Valentine's fun continued later on this week - we had a snowday on Thursday and the kids worked hard on their Valentines for their classmates and their teachers.  They made up "Frozen" and "Despicable Me 2" cards for their friends and we made "love bug" ladybug-type cards for their teachers.  Friday morning the kids had a delayed opening and they were excited to get to school for their Valentine's Day parties!

 *smooches*

Ships and subs and aircraft carriers oh my!

We spent a whole day in San Diego at the Maritime Museum and the USS Midway museum.  We started out on the Steam Ferry Berkeley - 

This boat was built in 1898 and houses the museum's main operations, as well as a neat exhibit on all sorts of different boats.  There was even a little office in which two older gents were building model ships - not a bad way to pass the time as a retiree in San Diego, I bet!

Then we toured the USS Dolphin Submarine - it's the deepest-diving submarine EVER!

We played around some cannons...

...before touring a B-39 submarine, a diesel-electric Soviet submarine which was in service from 1970-1990.

Then we boarded the Star of India, the world's oldest active sailing ship!

Inside the Star of India, there was a mini-ship in which the kids took turns being captain and swabbing the decks.

We pretended we were pirates and tried to climb some rigging:

Then we took a lunch break for some excellent fish n' chips, fish tacos, and black bean soup - all while sitting in the bright, warm sunshine!

Next up was a tour of the USS Midway:

First we explored some of the planes that are housed inside the aircraft carriers:

Then Daddy and Sean took a ride in a flight simulator!

And Clare napped...

Clare continued to nap while Sean and Mommy took a tour inside the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th decks of the ship:

Sitting in the Boss' chair:

Keeping a vigilant watch:

Steering the ship:

We also got to go inside planes and helicopters that are on display on the Flight Deck:

While Daddy and Sean listened to a neat talk given by a retired sailor who used to work on an aircraft carrier, Clare and Mommy explored some of the planes:

After we'd had our fill of the Midway, we strolled over to the park next to it to check out "The Kiss" statue:

"Cheese!"