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!
    

School Stuff and Vasquez Rocks

One day, during our Joy School unit on trying new things, we read "Green Eggs and Ham", and had the associated snack.  I mixed frozen chopped spinach in with the eggs before cooking, and it turned out pretty great.  A little healthier than food coloring, right?  Oh, and the kids pretty much all ate it.
    

  
Connor had his Winter Celebration of Learning that same evening.  The main event was the set of plays that his class had prepared - a boys' play and a girls' play.  Connor got to be the mouse, who frees the hero by chewing through his ropes.  Note that the girls' play featured seven princesses and one butterfly (it was custom written by the drama teacher.)  Connor also showed off his Fossils project - he did most of both posters by himself.
   

  
Over Presidents' Day weekend, we took a day trip out to Vasquez Rocks - filming site of this epic Star Trek battle:
  

   
Evan was really grumpy and sleepy, so I waited in the car while he napped, and while Ryan took the kids on a hike.  I'm glad I didn't go - I would have been freaking out the whole time (plus climbing steep things pregnant isn't one of my favorite things.)  Ryan's goal was to take pictures that would make him look like the most irresponsible parent possible.
   

Ryan is especially proud of this picture.

  
Eventually, Evan woke up and we went on a second (and slightly less dangerous) hike.
    

Dolphins, a Two Year Old, and a Skunk

In the beginning of February, Connor, Elise, and Daddy went on a field trip with Connor's class.  They did a whale watching tour, but the highlight of the trip was the huge pod of dolphins that swam alongside the boat.  Ryan says there were at least a hundred.  They also saw a few whales, and plenty of sea lions.  I stayed home with Evan, figuring that he would be too much work on a boat to be worth it.  
    

Connor took his camera on the boat.

Good pictures, Connor!

   
Little Mister Evan turned two! 
   

Happy Birthday, Evan!

Time for his Morning Jump-Jump

    
 He claimed to want crackers for breakfast, so I indulged the birthday boy.  We spent the rest of the day playing, opening presents, and eating birthday cupcakes.  Oh, and he officially stopped nursing that morning - he'd pretty much lost interest by that point anyway.
   

   
That night we finally found out who had been eating the dog food outside and making Wiley bark in the middle of the night.  He was actually really cute and fluffy - I'd never seen a skunk so close before.  We woke the kids up and even took pictures, but they had absolutely no memory of the event the next morning.
   

She looks awake, but she really isn't.