Nummy.

Mama broke down and got the Mickey Mouse shaped chicken nuggets. Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes have long been a favorite weekend breakfast, so why not bring him into lunch or dinner as well? :)

Someone finally got another haircut

I would never tackle such a task. But Dad did and it didn't turn out bad.
I had to laugh though, as it was looking like a bowl cut. :)

  You have such nice straight hair, buddy.

 I suppose I should comment on the outfit below...

Zoe wanted to dance. Zoe wanted her tutu. Once she got hers she suggested Roman wear one too. He didn't fight it.

Hair raising experience? Ugh.

Watching American Idol auditions tonight on tv, Zoe heard the judges ask a contestant how old she was. Almost simultaneously with the the contestant, Zoe answered for herself. "I'm two" (two fingers up in the air). Used to be this took effort. Not now, autopilot.

I just about fell out of my chair when I saw this one that Grandpa Jon emailed. Seeing the resemblances...

"I want to feed the piggie"

Your dad's aunt Tina has been visiting you guys when your Grandma Candy (her sister) is here. Often there are treats (cupcakes with decorations that are rings - doubly cool for you!, cookies -ah, yum).  Last time she brought each of you a piggy bank.  Dad has placed these out of reach, but the other day you wanted to "feed the piggie". So dad rounded up some change, and away you went.

You think the tutu and tiara wearing pink pig is appropriate?!

Lucky, fortunate and blessed

Your Dad tagged along  on a trip that I took for work (thank you frequent flyer miles and rooms that are paid for no matter if it's just me, or me and you, daddio). Destination: Sausalito, CA, just across the Golden Gate bridge from San Francisco.  And mega Thank Yous to Grandma Candy for taking some of her precious vacation time to spend 3 nights with the kids. Your Dad tells me this really isn't a sacrifice to her as she enjoys spending time with you, but it is a huge favor to us, so I bow down and thank you Grandma Candy.

We arrived in the evening and were impressed by the view of the bridge from our hotel. I was up before sunrise and was able to catch this picture before heading off for the day.

Spectacular. Truly. The location was amazing. I was glad you Dad came along and kicking myself that we didn't finagle another couple days (post work duties) out of this trip. Oh well. We made the most of it.

Your Dad spent day one heading north and taking in some public trails. Or some public trails that traversed private land. Private land near what monumental location? Skywalker Ranch? George Lucas territory?  Maybe.  Maybe the graffiti he found in a tunnel will help solidify the answer to that question.

Meanwhile, back at the fort (somewhat literally).... This was the view from our room.

I mean, come on. Really? WOW. And look at that room. Complete with fireplace.  After taking a short walk at lunch the first day I realized your Dad and I needed to get up before sunrise so we could watch the sun come up over the bay. We did and we ended up down by the water. Photo op! Who hear thinks this was happenstance? Yeah, no.

And even though we had to get up at 4am to get to make our flight out the next day we made some time to go down to the water and check out the bridge that last night.  I just kept thinking "who knew a bridge could be so beautiful? .....That's a beautiful bridge!"

And some fun with zoom. Like I said, we were across the bay, but I could zoom in and read the Ghiradelli sign. Even using a tripod didn't make for  a steady picture though!

And a final  stop at one of the outdoor fire pits (the view!) before we headed back to you two.

Home.

Your Dad had the opportunity to travel with me on a work trip. I had a room at a very nice place and we had the frequent flyer miles and a generous Grandma Candy willing to watch you two while we were gone. We were gone 3 nights - pictures to follow, I am sure.
I'm still trying to re-situate myself, but I was just looking at pictures and thinking about Zoe's serenade when we got home. You both got very excited that we were home, but Zoe was singing and very humorously, for lack of a better word in my brain at the moment, baying the chorus. We had no idea what she was singing, but she'd pause, lift her head and sing as high as she could. The little performer. Last week I tried to work those curls, above is the result. They were gone as soon as we put a hat on, but we tried. :)

Two

Grandpa Jon sent this one to me at work this past week and my first reaction was to laugh. Then I thought of Roman. It's the same agonized look.
Zoe, I think, has mastered the art of producing tears to elicit sympathy. It works.

I feel like I've been negligent of the blog and it's not because nothing is happening, it's just gotten more exhausting! You guys! You are exhibiting two year old developmental behavior. Let's say that. And make the face above.

At play..indoors

Over the Christmas/ New Years "break" (me lucky to have vacation time left and your Dad not so lucky to have time away from work) we took you two to the Eagle's Nest in New Brighton. It came highly recommended by Shawn. Wow, we'll be back!

There's a large two story area, but a little quieter toddler area as well. We headed there.

It would have been a nightmare to keep track of you in the big kids area. And it was pretty darn chaotic. We'll get there. But not yet. Here, you had some bridges to cross...

A tree to explore, a fire engine to visit.

And, probably most popular, a ball pit to play in.

I must say, though, that you enjoyed going in and out of the ball pit as much as the ball pit itself. Not a problem. Burn that energy,kids!

It was just nice to let you wander around and explore.

We lucked out, because the day we were there it was "Pirate Day" and involved some extra activities in the gym. Including a bouncy house.  Always good for some fun.

And face painting. Roman wouldn't go for it, but Zoe sat nicely while the pirate put a butterfly on her cheek.

And later she  pondered the wisdom of this.

(Tangents on Grandma's blog: this and this)
Even a little time to check out a book with Daddy.

Good times.

All around!