More Dancing

Here are a few clips from Alia's most recent dance class. I just took them on my phone, so the quality isn't the greatest. She is the absolute youngest in her class and has already learned so much and made so much progress. She truly loves it and we love watching her. Jason was even able to skip out of work early this week to make it to the studio to watch!

Thanksgiving - Video

Here are some random clips from Thanksgiving morning at our house this year. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a very nice Thanksgiving this year, until that evening when we all came down with the flu (expect Max). My mom joined us this year which was wonderful. We woke up and had our traditional "special breakfast" (cinnamon rolls) then decorated the Christmas tree. Jason and I managed to squeeze in a pre-feast work out at the gym too. That evening after naps, we went over to the Helbling's house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious. The kids had a fun time playing together and with Charlie the dog :-)All was wonderful until about 10:45pm when Alia woke up sick. Then it was rough going for all of us for a solid two days.

Alia's turkey project from church

Enjoying yummy "special breakfast" and looking for "deals" in the paper

Yay for matching Christmas pajamas on Thanksgiving morning .... mommy's favorite!

Max enjoyed helping decorate the tree this year. He was very good about getting ornaments out and walking over to the tree, but not so great about leaving them there!

Alia was an expert decorator this year!

A random funny moment from the day ... My mom and I got out the old infant car seat for Max to play with because he is currently obsessed with buckles, however things got interesting when both kids tried to play with it at the same time!

Last Day in San Diego

On our final day in San Diego, the kids woke up nice and early. So, we managed to get up, get everyone fed, showered, bathed and all packed up and out of the hotel by 9:00am. After that we headed downtown to do a little walking along the waterfront to see the sights. Karen and Katya met up with us too. Then we did some playing and resting at their house (notice I didn't say sleeping) before heading to the airport. Everything appeared to be on time and we boarded on schedule ... THEN, we sat on the plane for 45 minutes due to some mechanical problem. Then, they made everyone get off the plane and, long story short, we left 3.5 hours later than planned. The kids were fantastic and handled it all very well. Other passengers even complimented them. We were very proud!

Stopping for a snack by the fish market

USS Midway and an absolutely awesome statue

Jason, Alia and Katya stopping for a little break along our way

In Katya's defense, I said make a silly face :-)

Our attempt at getting a picture with all 4 of us in it!

Sea World - Day 2

The big excitement on our second day at Sea World was that Jason decided to take Max on the "Elmo's Flying Fish" ride. Max was pretty laid back the whole time and then as soon as they came off, it was clear that it was a big hit. He'd point and clap his hands and generally get very excited every time it started going again. They ended up going twice. Alia was a little concerned about the whole process. She gave them both a big hug when they came off of the ride. She also clearly stated that she MIGHT go on that ride when she's 4, but right now she is just 2 so she won't.

Daddy and Max on Max's first amusement park ride

Lunch break ... lots of fun makes for hungry kids

Daddy decided to go on a grown up ride too ... Alia, Max and I watched.

Alia and Daddy way up high checking out the view

Max enjoying a little snack after a stroller nap

We ran into some friends while we were at Sea World! What are the odds?!

Playground Fun

The third day in San Diego was a complete rain out. It poured all day long! We went over and played with cousin Katya in the morning, napped and then went downtown for dinner that night. The following day was absolutely gorgeous. We went back to our day one plan and spent the early morning playing at the park and then went back to Sea World for round 2.

Kicking and playing and being silly

Some climbing with a little help from Daddy

Daddy had fun at the park too ... (I managed to try this and no one took a picture :-)

Both kids love to swing ... Alia likes to hardly move at all and just hang out. Max craves a little more action. You can tell just by looking at the faces in this picture. So funny!

Max and Daddy on a funny little rotating seat thingy

How cute is that look on his face? Seriously!

Taking a break to shake the sand out of Alia's shoes

Riding the purple dinosaur, with a little help from Mommy. Alia was happy just hanging out on there. Max was bouncing and making all the movement happen.

Chasing after the pigeons signing bird and yelling "bu!"

San Diego Zoo

On Day 2 of our trip we went to the San Diego Zoo with Karen and Katya! We met up in the morning, Zoo-ed for a while and then attempted to go back to the hotel to take naps. That didn't work out so well, so we went back to the zoo in the afternoon. We saw lots of neat animals that we don't have at our zoo and even rode the Skyfari. Alia wasn't wild about it, but she did it and we were really proud of her!

Aunt Karen, Alia, Max and Cousin Katya checking out the Koala bears

Silly girls with Jason eating rice cakes under the elephant statue at approximately 11:11am on 11-11-11. Pretty neat!

Our little monkey, being a monkey in front of the monkeys

It's hard work walking around the zoo. Sometimes you just have to sit down and take a break ... right in the middle of the road!