Happy Birthday Connor! (and Other March Stuff.)

The same weekend as Vasquez Rocks, we took a day to bundle up and visit a snow park near Big Bear.  Yes, there is such a thing as a snow park, for those poor sun-addled masses in Southern California who will pay money to go sledding.  Anyway, this year that included us.  Connor, Elise, and Ryan took a conveyor belt to the top of a hill, waited in line for awhile, then got to tube down.  Babies and pregnant ladies were not allowed on that one.  Then we did the alpine slide a few times, which Evan (and everyone else) loved.
  

   
During the first weekend in March, we got a visit from my brother Kyle, his wife Kelli, and our favorite cousin Felix!  Saturday morning we went on a field trip with Connor's school to look at tide pools down in San Pedro.  It was really amazing, I don't think I'd ever seen tide pools before.  Connor wanted me to take pictures of every tiny snail and crab, but I was busy trying not to fall off the slippery rocks with Evan on my back and pregnant belly in front.  Felix was also having a hard time, so Kyle and Kelli took him to the sandy part of the beach while we explored (Ryan had to miss this one, since he was on a camp-out with the scouts.) 
  

Limpet

Boring Clam (They bore into rocks - Connor isn't bored.)

Brittle Star

Sea Slug

   
We also got to celebrate Connor's birthday while the Murrays were here!  Connor still claims not to like cake, so I convinced him to let us get an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.  Sorry, but a bowl of ice cream with a candle in it just seems sad to me.  He also had plain ice cream, just in case the cake wasn't adequate.  Happy birthday, Connor - seven seems so grown up!
  

 
While Kyle and Kelli did their Catalina/Ensenada cruise, we got to play with Felix!  He was pretty low-maintenance, actually, as long as Evan was far away.  The problem was that they enjoyed all the same toys.  At the same time.  Oh, and they're both one, so they didn't get that whole "ask politely" thing.  I was surprised at how easy it was to add an extra kid into our routine, totally different than it would have been a couple kids ago.  I guess that bodes well for having number four!
  

  
Sometime that week, Connor did these birthday-present related projects.  Oh, and Kelli did a great job of accomodating Elise's request for "three braids braided together".
   

Learning about pH.

     
On the day the Murrays left, I tried to get a picture of the cousins, but it wasn't meant to be.  Nobody would look at the same time, and the shot turned out kinda blurry.  Cute kids, though.  It was a fun visit!