Visitors!

Ama and Adad, along with Great Auntie Janet and Great Uncle Tom, have been touring through the southwest with their Airstreams, and their route took them to Irvine this weekend. They arrived on Friday afternoon. Then, while Mama took Ama and Great Auntie Janet on an outing, Adad and Dada went on a super-secret mission to pick up Auntie Sally from the airport. Yes, that's right, we managed to host five adults in relative comfort - Great Auntie Janet and Great Uncle Tom in the guest room, Ama and Adad on the garage / playroom futon, and Auntie Sally in the Harry Potter nook under the stairs - and nobody had to sleep on the couch. We all enjoyed the Farmer's Market, the beach, yummy food, and cozy cuddles.

Auntie Sally!

Cozy reading 

Ama's cinnamon rolls

Beach fun

Birthday beach day

For Mama's birthday on Sunday, we headed to the beach for a picnic, lounging, reading, splashing, and sand play. We headed to Crystal Cove State Park, where we put our pop-up beach shelter to good use, enjoyed take-out from the Shake Shack, and explored the rocks and tide pools. 

After becoming sufficiently sandy, we headed home for some of Mama's favorites: taco salad and chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. 

Happy birthday, Mama!

Zot! Zot! Zot!

What's "Zot"? According to the B.C. comic strip, it's the sound that an anteater makes as it eats. And it's an often heard cheer at UCI. Prospective students are even taught to "Zot! Zot! Zot!" on campus tours.

Caden is a member of the Junior Anteaters Club, which gives him and his guests (e.g., Dada and Finn) free tickets to athletic events and other fun perks. So, on Saturday, Caden, Dada, and Finn headed over to the Bren Events Center for a pizza party and part of the men's basketball game against CSU Northridge. Finn's favorite part? Getting to meet Peter the Anteater. They bonded, and once we were watching the game, Finn couldn't understand why he had to stay in the stands while his new friend got to be courtside. Eventually, Finn's increasingly vocal protests about wanting to "see the anteater" and the fact that bedtime was approaching forced us to retreat to our car and home.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Trading off

Mama and Dada have been traveling a lot for work lately - Dada was at a meeting in Finland last week, and now Mama is at a conference in Tasmania - so  we are sticking to the routine as much as possible and aren't doing anything crazy or unusual.

Auntie Sally flew out to help with the kids a week ago, as Dada was gone and Mama had to give a symposium talk. While Sally was here, everyone braved the misty weather and went for a hike at Bommer Canyon. This winter has featured a bit more rain than we've seen the last couple of winters (normal weather? El Niño?), and the hills are greening up nicely. 

Sally also got to go with Finley for a rocket ship haircut. It looks like he was zooming around pretty fast. I'm surprised that the barber was able to give him a decent haircut. 

Meanwhile, Dada was enjoying a taste of winter. 

Finn's new obsession is puzzles. He *loves* building them over and over again.

And on Saturday, after Dada got back, we took Finn to his first "real" concert, a performance by the Pacific Symphony of selections from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance. We have season tickets for three to these special kids concerts by the symphony - Caden, Mama, and Dada have gone to Halloween and holiday performances - but this time, the babysitter called in sick. Finn did great! Between the music and the folding chairs in the concert hall (up, down, up, down), he was interested enough to stay in one place.

Birthday hike and a walk through California

Dada's birthday was on Monday, the 18th. It was a school holiday, and the birthday boy's one request was that we all go for a hike. Thus, after Mama and Caden made a delicious breakfast of crepes, we headed over to Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park. The trail followed a stream bed for much of the way, with lots of crossings. However, it hadn't rained in several days, so we were able to keep our feet mostly dry. There were lots of big oaks along the trail, which eventually led to some red sandstone rock formations similar to those in the desert southwest. And there was even a coffee shop a stone's throw from the trailhead.

Finn was sleepy and lethargic during the hike - he slept in the backpack on Dada's back - and ended up with a fever that evening that kept him home from school the next day. And the following day, he was only at school for a few hours before we were called in to pick him up because a rash was spreading on his face and hands. A trip to the doctor verified the cause: hand, foot, and mouth disease, which was spreading through his classroom. Finn got to spend another couple of days at home last week, and the "red dots" - as he calls them - are finally almost gone. 

The same day that Finn was sent home sick, we headed over to Caden's school to watch the 4th graders "Walk Through California". The students dressed in costume - Caden decided to be unconventional and went as a presidio - and participated in an interactive game about California geography.

Scooting

Finn decided that he could go faster with no clothes on.