Christmas songs

Caroline has caught on to several Christmas songs. Her favorites are Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. I got her to sing Frosty on camera this morning so that is the latest video above... she mostly repeats the first verse.

Santa Playgroup Party

Our playgroup had a party last weekend with a visit from Santa. He was really good and the kids seemed to be mesmerized by him. He's the only Santa that I've ever seen do magic tricks and sing songs!
Even the kids like Caroline didn't seem terrified of him as usual and she even sat on his lap (of course, there was the promise of a candy cane and bag of goodies, so I'm sure that sealed the deal).

Nativity

It seems like it must be happening with all the kids Caroline's age but she's really into our nativity set this year. Josh's parents have been giving us pieces to this Fontanini set since we've been married and I always thought it was beautiful but I'm really enjoying the practicality of it too. All the pieces are plastic (although they are painted so nicely they look porcelain) so Caroline can play with them, drop them, etc and they don't get hurt. Just thought I'd share the website in case anyone is looking for a kid friendly, but also attractive enough to display, nativity set.

SeaWorld

We went to SeaWorld on Sunday for the first time. The dolphin show was great and they had a Sesame Street kids' area with rides that she rode with Josh.



We also went to a 4-D Elmo movie which she was really excited about and loved wearing the glasses, but we only made it through the first 3 minutes because as soon as Elmo sprayed everyone with a hose and we really felt water drops, she totally freaked out and we had to make a swift exit.


The arctic exhibit was spectacular and they had these white arctic walruses who kind of resemble whales with similar tail fins that we really enjoyed watching. Caroline got a souvenir stuffed white walrus to take home and we ended our day seeing the Clydesdales they have there since one of the major sponsors is Budweiser.

Christmas Party

We went to a family Christmas party for Josh's work on Saturday night which was a lot of fun. There were lots of kids and Caroline had a blast with them. Santa was there! However, Caroline was still unsure about him and rather than sit on his lap, she chose just to go over and say hi with a pat on the leg. Oh well... at least there were no tears... we're making progress.
I thought I'd post the picture that someone took of all three of us too. I feel like we have very few pictures of us together because one of us is always behind the camera.

Thanksgiving Update

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at our house with both sets of parents coming out to join us. Josh's parents came out the weekend before so we could go to the Colts vs. Chargers game in San Diego (which was exciting because they won it in the last 20 seconds!). Then my parents arrived on Wednesday and everyone was here through Sunday.

Caroline got LOTS of good grandparent time in to say the least. She had them all making all kinds of creations with her play dough, entertained them all day while I was cooking on Thursday and we all went out for a special dinner Friday night up in Laguna Beach (south LA) where this picture was taken at sunset.

A few from the group even made it up to LA for the Notre Dame/SoCal game - but that's really not worth mentioning the way they played. We've been decorating for Christmas the last day or so and Caroline is really excited about her very own little tree in the kitchen next to her table. We'll see Santa on Friday at a Christmas party (he's apparently making an appearance) so hopefully she won't be terrified of him this year if she's able to mingle with him a little bit first. We'll let you know how it goes!

Life is Good

Just had to do a quick post to say life out in CA is pretty good.

We went to a playgroup yesterday afternoon at the beach. It's pretty cool to be in shorts on the beach in November and have a playgroup that involves a beautiful sunset (especially after news from my friend, Karry, that Cincinnati got their first light snow yesterday)!

I'm excited for our family to come out next week for Thanksgiving and enjoy the beach with us. Here are some pictures from the play time.

Playgroup fun

Caroline has been especially busy with our two playgroups lately. We've found a lot of new parks in the process and she's made some new friends. Here are a few recent pictures...

Happy Halloween!

There has been much anticipation for Halloween this year and Caroline is REALLY excited to go trick-or-treating tonight. She's been working on little projects over the last few weeks and made all kinds of decorations for our front entrance. We worked on the pumpkins this morning - one traditional, two little not-so-traditional but very festive.


Happy Halloween everyone!

Weekend in Nashville

We went to Nashville last weekend for a Vandy med school reunion and homecoming. It was really fun seeing old friends and Caroline got lots of time with her grandparents. We even overlapped our stay by a few hours with Joy so we got to see her too!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Caroline went to her first college football game and really enjoyed the tailgate and game (even though we sacrificed the nap for it!). There were lots of kids at the tailgate and she quickly made a friend to enjoy a cookie with in between playing.

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We visited Bates Nut Farm this morning in Valley Center, CA (about 45 minutes east of us). They had a spectacular pumpkin patch and all the fun extras for the kids - petting zoo, pony rides, hay rides, corn maze, etc.


It got a little warm seeing as I forgot it's 10 or more degrees warmer in the valley, but we were just there in the morning so it wasn't too bad.
I took her to the pony ride station first because I thought this might be a big hit. We watched one group of kids go and then it was our turn. She panicked and wouldn't get on. So, we left the ring and watched a little while longer. After about 3 more groups had gone and she had cheered them on excitedly, I asked her if she was ready for her ride. She told me "Maybe in the morning, Mommy."
So we moved on. We explored the pumpkin patch, went through the store and took a hayride. I was starting to get a little hot and it was approaching lunchtime so we walked by the ponies again with our ticket still in hand and she decided that she was ready to go. And she was! She LOVED it!! I took a video too - now featured at the top of the blog (which is not all that exciting, but it seemed monumental after all the deliberation).

Pumpkin Ballerina

Caroline selected her Halloween costume a couple of weeks ago (pretty much as soon as they were out in the stores). Since she has a budding interest in ballet, she said she wanted to be a ballerina and this orange costume was very appealing to her. She dresses up in it almost everyday and dances around. She was dancing this evening in it and I couldn't resist a photo - too cute.

Long time overdue

Well, things have been very hectic with LOTS of company and getting settled in our new town. We've had visits from both sets of parents, the McDowells and my sister, Joy - all within about a three week span. It's been great! Who knew all you had to do to get people to visit you was move to Southern California.

We've gotten into somewhat of a routine as well. We've tried to get to the beach once a week or so - either to play in the sand and water or at lest walk along the boardwalk (a nice, non-gritty alternative).

Caroline has started back in a Kindermusik class once a week which we're really enjoying. I've joined a large community playgroup (with over 130 moms) that has all kinds of great outings, including this concert in the park from Hullabaloo (a local folksy "band" for kids - very cute original songs) that we went to when Joy was here.



Here's another picture of Joy & Caroline - I love this because Caroline wanted to wear a headband just like Aunt Joy.





The budding artist has taken on new mediums ever since she met Ms. Linda (who keeps her every Wednesday morning for me to have a little mom's morning out). They have made bracelets with beads, a scarecrow out of wallpaper scraps that is taller than Caroline, all kinds of fancy drawings with paint, feathers, pompoms and even equipped with googly eyes. Our refrigerator is covered!



We had her crib converted to a toddler bed for a while. All went well for a week and then it totally back-fired on us. She didn't nap for 4 days straight, it took about 100 trips of us putting her back to bed at night and then we threw in the towel deciding that she wasn't quite ready. We received no resistance putting the crib rail back up so we'll try that again after Thanksgiving, I think.

We have made leaps and bounds on the potty training though! This is successful day two of big girl panties (no diapers!). And NO accidents!! This was MUCH easier than I thought it was going to be... I should have made the switch weeks ago, it was just hard with lots of company and outings. Yay for my big girl!

I think we're gonna like it here...

Caroline had a great week with Mimi & Pappy while I unpacked and Josh headed to work. She is already so happy having a real backyard and has discovered her new artistic endeavor - watercolors - which now adorn our fridge.
To all my southern friends - note the sweater on Caroline. It's August and actually chilly here at night. I think I can get used to this! ;)

Trek to California

Well, we made it! Our 2,200 mile trek to California went very well and we are starting to feel settled with just a few boxes left in the house and even have some pictures on the walls. Caroline has adjusted far beyond our expectations and Josh has been working for over a week now.
So far, adjusting to "Navy life" has gone smoothly. It took a while to get into the system with car stickers and id's, etc., but that was to be expected. Everyone is really nice and I'm still getting used to being saluted when I drive on base (the marines salute the car because of the officer sticker no matter whose driving).
I will have to send out a kodakgallery slideshow of our trip because we have almost 60 pictures, but will put some of the highlights here:


Our fist stop was a short drive to Indianapolis to Josh's parents' house for a respite after the 3 days of pack-out from Cincinnati. Caroline got lots of good cousin time in. We arrived there Thursday mid-day, spent the afternoon with the girls in the pool, then took a short boat ride down to the marina for an Italian dinner with Josh's parents, sister and her family. We will really miss being so close to family!



Friday morning we got an early start for our longest day of driving... through Indiana, through Illinois, into Missouri and to our final destination of the day, Tulsa, Oklahoma (which I really wouldn't recommend for a stopping point for anyone not needing to stop there!). Our stay was fine but not noteworthy. Caroline and Maggie were troupers... no meltdowns, NO videos (can you believe it?!?) - we counted cows and windmills a lot. She took a good 2-hour nap mid-day. A very happy day of driving.
Saturday we made a quick stop in Oklahoma City to see Josh's cousin, Dawn and her family. Caroline enjoyed playing with Marian and Miranda - this picture is of the three girls making silly faces.

We ended our short 400 mile drive that day in Canyon, Texas at my aunt Janice's house. I got to visit with my cousin, Tamara, and Caroline played with her youngest child, Josh. It was a very nice stop and we got some good food, nice company and a good night's sleep.





Sunday we had another long day of driving all the way to Williams, Arizona (just south of the Grand Canyon and in the mountains near Flagstaff). That was one of our more interesting drives through New Mexico (which has to be the most beautiful state we drove through) and through Arizona. A lot of desert and mountains with stops far a few between. We stopped in New Mexico and the gas station also served as the post office, there was a rooster at the pump which "cock-a-doodle-dooed" quite a bit AND Caroline decided that was the place to go to the potty which had to be the most disgusting bathroom we visited along our journey (but she still went potty..yay!). I think I actually Purelled her backside that visit even though I had lined the toilet with about 6 layers of toilet paper. Eck!
We spent the next day, Monday, resting from the road. We visited the Grand Canyon that morning and spent the afternoon at our ranch resort letting Maggie and Caroline have some outdoor time just running around the extensive grounds.
Our last day on the road, Tuesday, we drove into California and to our new home! The funniest thing was stopping at the first exit in California for gas and a restroom break. We saw our first palm tree and in the same shot, the exhorbitant gas prices! They're actually not that bad on the coast but it was a shock to see at the time.

Quick update...

Well, the camera is packed so there won't be any pictures to accompany this quick update but just wanted to say that all is going well on the move front. We're doing our "lasts" in Cincinnati and running around like mad getting everything done while Josh is still working these last few days and the movers are doing their thing. They packed 80% of the house yesterday (they are so fast!) and just have the finishing up to do today before the loaders come tomorrow. Then Thursday we're off!
We will get to Oceanside on Tuesday night so we have close to a week of travel in the car with some fun stops along the way visiting family and seeing the Grand Canyon. Should be interesting with a dog and potty-training toddler. We'll have lots of pictures to post on the other side. Wish us luck!!

Coney Island

We went to Coney Island (a water/amusement park along the banks of the Ohio river in Cincinnati) for the hand surgery group's annual picnic on Saturday. We got there about 10 o'clock and had a couple of hours to do whatever we wanted. Caroline wanted to go swimming first.

They had an enormous pool (they boast that it's the largest in the world, and it might be). It was mostly a shallow wading pool but had a big water slide in the center and then a deep area at one end with about 6 diving boards. Caroline wanted to, and DID, go down the giant water slide in the picture by herself! Josh walked her up the giant ladder while I waited at the bottom with my heart in my throat. She went down all by herself (with her little tube float on) and I was at the bottom ready to grab her. She came down without any hesitation but I think she had second thoughts about half-way down when she twisted sideways a bit and got pretty wide-eyed. No tears or anything, but also no requests to do it again. I still can't believe she did it. What can I say, the girl can't resist a slide!


Then we got into dry clothes and took her to the kiddie rides. She had only ridden carousels up to this point but she really liked all the rides (turtles, trains and rocket ships). She looked like such a big girl riding the rides all by herself and waved to us every time she came around to where we were.