A Catie Jessie Date in SF

Andrew left for "Grandma Camp" today so I only have the two littlest ones to entertain for the next week. We decide to team up with Jessie for a fun-filled day in Sausalito and San Francisco doing three of our favorite things... eating treats, playing, and running.

We started off the day at the Bay Area Discovery Museum at Fort Baker in Sausalito. The last time Catie went there she was only a few months old... so she mostly slept through the entire visit. This time there were things for both Ryan and Catie to do... so we had a blast!  

I need a padded climbing area like this in my house. Ryan could've stayed in the baby/toddler area all day long.

Catie is a woman on a mission for doing the next thing. Wherever she was, she was ready to do something else... so I felt like we kinda zoomed through several portions of the museum, but we still had a great time!

This is why we invited Jessie along- best aunt/buddy/little sister ever

Ryan was in heaven with all of the places to crawl and things to see and people to visit with.

All the other kids wanted to play with Ryan too... he was so smiley that he made friends everywhere

The Mona Lisa looks a little familiar...

I want windows like these in my house somewhere. Catie had a blast making a giant mess and spraying the wall and cleaning it.

She and Jessie also played with flart (which is what they called it at the museum)? I have never heard it called that before... I think it was actually flubber... but either way, it was super fun to play with. We need to make it again at our house soon!

We missed out on playing much in the outdoor play area because bees were totally attracted to Catie and Jessie in their neon colors and Catie got so freaked out by the bees flying by her that we opted to head indoors. I wish I had a train room at my house as cool as the one there.

Catie also made sure I paid my toll back across the bridge... if only it were $1.50--- ah... the good old days.

After the museum we headed down to the Marina to visit SusieCakes on Chestnut. I was super excited to check out a new-to-me dessert shop. I am very picky about the treats I will sacrifice calories on so had big plans to go and pick the perfect treat... but once we arrived I discovered Ryan finally fell asleep in the car, so Jessie went in and got us treats with Catie while I chilled with Ryan.

Jessie is a dessert expert and picked the perfect treat for me! I was so happy. The chocolate cake was AMAZING and so was the banana pudding and the pink cupcake that she and Catie ate.

We had a little sample while we hung out at the Yacht Club parking lot waiting for Ryan to wake up.

After our treat samples, we packed up the kiddos in my double jogger and we ran to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge and then back. Catie thought it was so fun to touch the little hands at the bottom of the bridge.

The kids were such good sports to tag along with us on our windy run and stay mostly happy. Ryan wasn't exactly thrilled to be there... but survived. We let both kids get out and play on the beach and in the sand too at Chrissy Fields. Ryan loved to attempt to put everything he found in the sand in his mouth but once we realized I wasn't going to let him... he just patted the sand and was happy crawling around.  

After we survived the run we said goodbye to Jessie and I trekked with the kiddos back home through Friday evening East Bay traffic. It wasn't too terrible and we got home in under 90 minutes. We got everyone clean and fed and in bed ASAP!

I'm crossing my fingers that all of our adventures will make for tired kids who sleep in tomorrow :) I won't hold my breath though! So glad that Jessie joined us for such a fun excursion today!

The Three Crazies

All of my kids are cute... and all of them are crazy. I can't really tell you anything special we've been up to lately... but it has been a wild few weeks.

The ring leader of craziness is Ryan who now climbs and crawls everywhere. Unless he is asleep or strapped into his high chair I am on edge constantly. He loves exploring and is so happy though, so I love it.

Ryan is like a little magnet. He is so cute and happy that the big kids are drawn to him and they love to play with him. Sometimes I wish they didn't want to play with him so much... because it stresses me out, but they are really sweet and cute together.

Catie is especially good at bringing him things to play with-- like marbles, acorns, small balls, etc. :)

Lately the kids love having Ryan climb on them. This morning they did this on the ground at the park too. Having their baby brother crawl on them is way cooler than the playground.

Andrew also loves to make a bridge and then have it collapse on Catie when she crawls under it. The aftermath isn't pretty... yet this is repeated again and again because it is fun?

Lately Andrew will play Legos in his room for 2-3 hours by himself. He also comes up with the craziest intricate craft projects and activities. He is really interested in doing his reading work in the evenings right now (maybe because I was a slacker all summer and we are just pulling it out now...). He is obsessed with Star Wars... everything else just isn't as cool. He has read two Star Wars chapter books with Kevin so far and that reading time before bed is the highlight of the day. Andrew will also clean his room if I turn it into a competition against me & Catie and usually I don't even have to help... unless it looks like this. Creativity = messy...

Catie is in a stage that I have a love/hate relationship with. She is very emotional but also very sweet. She has tantrums that are crazier than any ones Andrew ever had and yesterday she even head butted the wall. It freaked me out a bit. She also makes it a habit of screaming at strangers if they talk to her or try and tell her to do something that she doesn't want to do... or if they even look at her the wrong way.

On the other hand, the shoe saleswomen can boss her around and Catie will do anything she says immediately. Little Catie is smitten with shoes along with all things sparkly and girly... except toys. Her favorite thing to do is carry around toys in sets of twos- one in each hand... which makes her fall down extra hard. Her favorite toys are her baby Lightning McQueen and Large Lightning McQueen.

Two bouncy balls are in close competition to the cars... someday maybe she'll wear her cute princess dresses more often... but for now I am loving her cars, balls, and trains obsessions. She does like rocking out in my shoes though.

Catie is also the best little helper and cuddle bug. She loves setting the table, putting the silverware away, and cleaning up trash. She also loves cuddles and reading stories. Catie is also the family clown. She spends practically every waking moment trying to do something to make "Baboo" (Andrew) or Ryan laugh.

Never a dull or quiet moment around here. The main reason I think I stay awake way past everyone going to bed is just so that I can enjoy my house in silence. 

These three crazies are energetic and a handful, but are so fun! I cannot imagine how life would be without their spirited little personalities. 

Jelly Belly and Sonoma Train Town

We are continuing to check things off our Summer Adventures List as the summer winds down and the start of school creeps closer and closer.

On Wednesday we headed to the Jelly Belly Factory and Sonoma Train Town with the Balenas!

We left for Fairfield pretty early and arrived for a tour at the Jelly Belly factory around 9:30am. The lines were short, the kiddos were cute and adorable, and we all enjoyed some jelly bellies as a mid-morning snack!

Liz with the kiddos!

Ryan was not a fan of wearing his hat... but he sure did love to eat it.

Waiting for the tour to start...

Everyone was actually really well-behaved during the tour. It was nice and loud so any whining from Ryan was muted. Catie wanted to be pushed around in the stroller which made life much easier for me since I didn't have to chase her around.

After our tour we hit up the sample bar for tastes and then we bought a big bag of belly flops (the jelly belly rejects)!

The kids relaxed and stuffed their faces and then we snagged a few more photos at the factory before we headed off to Sonoma for Train Town!

Sonoma Train Town was adorable. I can't believe we've lived in the East Bay for almost four years and we've never been. Crazy! 

The kids were in heaven and Liz and I had fun running around after them.

Our hands down favorite part was when we got to go on the train ride around the park. It was the coolest train ride I've ever been on with a stop halfway through to get out and explore a hidden train town with minature shops and buildings so that the kids can do some pretend play. It was ADORABLE.

We ended the day with a scenic drive around downtown Sonoma and lunch at Subway (filled with lots of screaming and tantrums by my adorable 2 year old).

After that we drove home and then broke in to our big bag of belly flops!

What a great day! So glad we got to go on another adventure with the Balenas! Hopefully we have time to squeeze in a few more summer excursions next week!