End of April

Pictures: Kai kicking back at dinner time on the patio; Nina getting ready to look for bugs in her new fancy sandals; video of the kids with Collin, their dinner guest.
Another gorgeous weekend.
Kai and Nina had a friend over for dinner on saturday night - strawberry milk with the best strawberries I've ever tasted was a big hit. Nate treated the kids to a concert.
Hauled out the old pool and the kids went nuts. Nina particularly loved flushing out all the worms while we cleaned it.
Found a new park on the River Parkway, kids dipped their tootsies in the water and had a ball watching the ducks.

Finding flowers

It's my mission to find wildflowers. Visions of Kai and Nina running in meadows blanketed with poppies...
I found something at least. Jepsun vernal pools, a small piece of land recently preserved. 95% of California's wetlands have been destroyed; this represents what used to be. It was a short 1/2-mile path through some curious rolling terrain. We could see Mt. Diablo in the distance. Kai ran, ran, ran down the path while Nina plodded along and plopped herself down in the middle of blankets of what I think were golden nuggets. She could have entertained herself for a long time with the flowers and tall grasses. Kai just wanted to run and find water.
At the end of the walk, I was distracted by Nina eating gravel in the road, only to turn around and fine Kai trying to swim in a small puddle in the road. Gross.
We drove back to Sac along the levee, so reminiscent of Louisiana but instead of sugarcane we see vineyards, pear and almond trees. Drove through fields of wind turbines - one of the most awesome things I've ever seen. The things are gigantic.

April

Pictures: the boys, the girls, the snail race, and video of Nina trotting after the turkey.

"Mom! He's being so nice to me! I think he's in love with me!"

"I want to invite Colin, and George, and Rachel, and...I want to invite ALL of my friends over to my house for water balloon toss!"

What a wonderful weekend to be a mom; what a perfect weekend to be a kid in Sacramento.
The flowers are in full bloom. My morning run was permeated with the delicate scent of jasmine, freesia and honeysuckle and orange blossom. While I ran, Nate and the kids found a snail, named Superhero by Kai, to entertain them. Nina loves finding, watching, talking to snails and roly-poly bugs. She wants to lift up bricks and look at all the crawly things underneath.
Friday Nina and I strollered and Kai rode his bike all the way to Bertha Henschel park (such a perfect park we will surely miss). A man standing by his truck parked in the fab 40's looked as if he was going to ask me a question. He said, "When you have time, you have to take a picture of this." (pointing at the kids) "They are absolutely beautiful."
Kai wore his bike shirt, I filled his back pocket with TJoe's cheetos, thinking he'd snack all the way there. If food is around, he eats it, so he cleaned out those pockets, riding with his right hand from pocket to mouth, then we were on our way.
Nina held out until just before the park. She was ooohing and aahing at squirrels and sounds of dogs barking. Had to set her free for awhile in the 40s to hunt for ladybugs and chase flies.
Stopped on the way to the park for a bagel with pb and honey for kids; cream cheese for me. They didn't eat theirs but ate mine. Nina wanted creamcheese by the spoonful. Had no idea the kids liked the stuff.
On the way home we stopped at East Sac Hardware (another spot we'll miss...who doesn't love a neighborhood hardware store?!) and bought some cucumber plants. Kai is really excited about our mini-garden: a few tomato plants, one pot for zinnia, and one for green beans, and one for mint+basil. First thing in the morning, last thing at night, and throughout the day he wants to check on the plants. For several weeks now! It's exciting for me too, everything is actually growing, beans are sprouting.
Such was our friday. And a beautiful saturday followed with a parade in Davis. Nina and Arjun danced to marching bands, Kai went nuts too. (He still says his fave is the trumpet.) In the afternoon Collin and Elyse came over for water play, and I chatted with their mom (love her; straightforward, no-nonsense Dutch girl and Collin gives Kai a run for his money).
And a beautiful sunday followed. Kids played with neighborhood kids all day; had a very urban afternoon of biking to the hospital parking lot to play for a few hours. Kai FELL ASLEEP ON THE COUCH when we got home. Took a Roahenesque sunday evening drive and came across a bunch of wild turkeys in a very residential neighborhood. Nobody else thought it strange. Nina and Kai went nuts chasing one; Nina didn't want to stop.

Precious

Ahhhhhhh feels like summer. All flesh and bare piggies. My beautiful babies.

What a wonderful week. Met the Spenglers in Golden Gate Park so the kids could romp in our favorite playground, then we lunched at our favorite bakery at 9th and Irving. The BEST cookies. Awesome focaccia and pizza by the slice. Sure didn't seem like five years had passed since we've seen them. The girls were sweet; Kai and Grace ran around and squealed with delight, Sascha played big sister to Nina. It was a beautiful day in the city.
Friday it's like summer again. Kai's naked on the patio and Nina's in the water table, happy as clams. Got out the fingerpaint and the kids went wild. Followed that with a nice walk around the neighborhood to admire flowers - poppies! jasmine! gardenia! azalea! roses everywhere! some pretty amazing floral groundcover - and to see the tallest palm tree in the world a street over. Dinner on the patio. Ah life is good.
Saturday took the kids on a hike while Nate worked at home. Met up with the Sac Hikers with Kids group, an amazing drive through green pastures to a beautiful state park and a 2-mile hike along a crystal clear river. A nice group of people, the best part were two awesome little boys that Kai adored, the three of them played tickle fight and superheroes almost the entire time. Nina was happy perched in the backpack.
I'm feeling a bit desperate now to hit the must-see places, only four months to go.

Nina in Elyse's hand-me-downs. Kai reading Nina's Easter card from Meece and Fud. All of us discovering what the Easter Bunny delivered. Our neighbors - not sure which - sure made our day.

Watching toddler Kai on youtube

Crawled into bed with Kai tonight. He said, "Mom, I want to get out of here." So half-heartedly, the kid was so close to sleep. I said, "Can I just lay down with you for a few minutes?" He snuggled into me and said, "I really love you, Mom." ... A few seconds later, snooooooooooooore.
Wow.