California in February

How nice it has been to get out of the cold weather and into some warm sunshine! While Richard flew east into the cool temperatures of West Virginia for work, Daniel, Walnut and I have been staying with his Mom in Rowland Heights, CA. It's close to LA and not too far from the coast. And the weather has been really great while we've been out this week.

We've been to playgrounds, here with Richard's Dad.

We've built towers with Aunt Heidi and Matthew.

We went to the Fullerton Arboretum with Daniel's Oma and climbed trees, including one that turned out to be a great slide.

We went to Laguna Beach with Matthew, running with the waves and exploring tidal rocks.

Both boys crashed hard on the way home!

Richard comes back tomorrow (Friday). We'll have one day to chill out and then return to AZ on Sunday. Maybe it'll be warmer by the time we get back!

Snapshots and Snowballs

Daniel loves taking pictures. He has his own camera (thanks Amanda!) but still likes to play with Daddy's. Here they are taking snapshots on the couch. CUTE!

We had a crazy snowstorm the other day and Daniel finally got to use his snowball maker! It worked really well because this was such an unusually wet snow.

Amanda, Yuki, and Maya, February 2013

This month Amanda came down from Grand Canyon with Yuki and Maya. Such a fun visit! Yuki is only a year or so older than Daniel so they played and played. Yuki taught Daniel how to play "monster" - running through the house from room to room looking for the monster. Now Daniel will even play it by himself! A fun game, no scary monsters! Instead of the playground, we went walking amongst the rocks near our house. The kids loved jumping and climbing around the rocks. It's nice not to have to worry about rattlesnakes this time of year!

We live near the top of a hill. That's Holbrook and I-40 behind us.

Running, running, always running!

Daniel even makes me run! 

Looking for the horse bones at the bottom of this mesa. That's I-40 where you see the guard rails.

A rare moment of no motion.

Moment gone! Back to climbing and jumping!

Oma and Matthew, January 2013

Richard's Mom and nephew visited Holbrook in January. Daniel loves playing with his cousin Matthew! They played legos, climbed on the rocks near our house, and visited Petrified Forest National Park. Oma and Matthew braved some chilly temperatures this visit. They'll have to come back when it's a bit warmer!

Off the Giant Logs Trail

Loving the BONES!

Daniel's and Matthew's footprints in a light dusting of snow.

Racing the mountain lion!

Exploring the rocks.

Nice vantage point!

Kitchen, Kites, and Kickin' Back

We've been having a busy January and early February! Daniel has been helping me in the kitchen more and more. We make muffins and cookies, macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese and quesadillas, and today we even made play-doh!

The other day I pulled out Daniel's new kite. It was a very windy day....maybe too windy! Well, not as windy as the previous day when Daniel and I had to dodge tumbleweeds on our walk with Walnut. But  there was enough wind that we got the kite in the air, then it yanked free of the string and blew up the hill. I got it, tied it back on, then it yanked free again. Nothing was broken and now everything is duct taped on. We'll try it again when we get a good windy day. Soon enough around here!

Richard likes to snuggle on the couch with Walnut and Daniel. Here they are reading a book. All my boys!