4/29 - Weekend fun: Pickle edition

This weekend, we enjoyed the warm, sunny weather.  The kids came with me to derby practice, where guest coach Shadow Soldier whipped us into shape, and gave us scrimmaging pointers.

On Saturday, we went to the farmer's market and I went a little veggie crazy.  Turns out the kids are nuts for snow peas!  Between lunch and dinner, they ate them all!  I learned that orange cauliflower is orange all the way through -- stems and all.

Today, despite the racket from the neighbor's roofing project, we soaked up the sun in the backyard.  My favorite moments were reading with the kids on a blanket under the plum tree and chasing them on their bikes in my roller skates.  (Note to self:  Lil' Guy can run faster than I can skate.)

In keeping with our game where we pretended to be a bird family, I made the twins a "worm lunch," with worms of many colors and some grubs (brown rice).  They loved it!

Also, we made @RecipeGirl's bread and butter pickles with cucumbers from the farmer's market.  They are soooo good!

4/27 - Penguin Pete tries to catch flying potato chip fish

They were even faster once the van started moving!

At lunch, Penguin Pete gave Gio a peck on the cheek.  Not a real peck with his beak!  A little smooch, that’s all.

4/26 - Yellow Head meets the Bacon Man

Yellow Head and the giant purple rain drops...  OK, these were not really rain drops.  (Thank goodness!)  We had a team lunch at a place with lots of pretty glass decorations.  These were hanging like a curtain.

Apparently, Bacon Man and his friend Eggy are farmers…?

And then, tragedy struck.  You'll note that Yellow Head clearly has a head in the photo above.  Yet, when I pulled him out of my pocket at work... gulp... Somehow his head was missing.  I ran outside, retracting my steps... Nothing.  Poor Yellow Head.  My only hope is that I find another yellow head in the Lego bin when I get home, without Lil' Gal noticing.  In the meantime, here is headless Yellow Head, (not) looking at a bunch of bikes.

4/25 - Field Trip!

I am sorry to say that today's post does not include any toys in quasi-adult situations.  What we have here is one adult (me) in a child situation -- with animals!  They count, right?  I volunteered to be a chaperone for the kindergarten field trip to the local nature center.  Here are Lil' Gal and Lil' Guy and their posse.

Here is Ashley, the blind possum.  (Did you know that a possum's "pocket" is vertical, not horizontal?)

We got to pet a nice gopher snake.

And meet the tiniest grown-up screech owl.

And then Lil' Guy lost a tooth to a taffy lollipop.  (Lil' Gal's wiggly tooth is still attached -- she is NOT happy.)

4/24 - Dalmatian Dog flips his lid

Not sure what these workers were doing, but we were impressed with the size of that manhole cover.

Later, Dalmatian Dog posed for a black and white portrait.  He thought the zebras on my cup would make a nice background, and he was absolutely right. Gotta love a doggie with an artistic eye (and a handsome profile).

4/23 - CowCow's friend does not want to be labeled "trash"

I think the sign means she should be filled with trash.  No, that’s not a good thing to do to a cow either!  Poor cow!  Mooo!

CowCow tells Divya a moooving secret.  What do you think she whispered?

4/22 - Weekend Fun: Hot weather and Angry Birds edition

This was a hot weekend -- temperatures in the 90's.  (Didn't we just have hail last week?)  OK.  Time to bust out the sprinkler!

Lil' Gal's version of a car wash:

And we went to an Angry Birds birthday party!  Lil' Guy made some friends.

We also got our garden started.  Between "baby plants" and seeds, we're hoping to grow:  Italian green beans, red peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, strawberries, beets, carrots, Swiss Chard, and cauliflower.  They are all planted now and I was really happy to go to work and just.sit on Monday.

4/20 - Bouncy Ball springs into summertime

Lil' Gal's sign says “spring weather,” but it’s all summer out there today!

This strange plant had berries that were round like Bouncy Ball.

As much as I loved today's weather at lunchtime, it was quite another story to head back to the East Bay for my first derby practice in three weeks.  It was 80+ degrees at 7pm, and we had to "build a b*tch" for 20 minutes.  Oy.  No photos of all of that!  Move along...

04/19 - Ian finds angry birds and pretty trees

Ian thought the chicken in the fez might be an angry bird, but she wasn’t.  Phew!

We also liked this pretty tree.  It reminded me of the weeping willow at my childhood house.

Today is the 2-week anniversary of my ear infection.  I still cannot hear properly out of that ear.  Argh!!

4/18 - Tad is all over new seats and milkshakes

This morning, we got to ride in a BART car marked “New Seats inside!”  I think they were the same old seats, but they had been spruced up with new slipcovers and cushioning. Here, Tad does his best to show off the new seat covers.  Drum roll, please!

Jeanine talked us into going for milkshakes today.  (She didn't have to try too hard.)

I think it’s been about 4 years since I’ve had a milkshake.  Mine was the stripey one.  It was yummy!!

4/17 - Sauci Dog enjoys some saucy pasta

Sauci and I are hanging out at my desk for lunch today, looking for relief from ear congestion (mine).

She has been a good guard dog, barking in my good ear when someone approaches my desk from the side of the Ear that Does Not Hear.  (I am this.close to pulling a Van Gogh!)

We had a nice playdate with Linda, who is seen here taking off on a different BART line than we take.

4/16 - Yellow Yoshi frolics in the flowers (and our new "pet")

These pretty flowers are at our train station.  It's starting to feel like spring around here.

Yellow Yoshi couldn’t decide if he wanted to take the yellow trolley or the yellow taxi.  While he tried to make a decision, the light turned green and they both drove off. Poor Yellow Yoshi.

Here is a photo of our new "pet," King Emmett.  We found him while weeding this weekend.  He is a red pupa that will either hatch a fluffy moth or some kind of stinging wasp.  Let's all vote for the former, shall we?  This pupa is actually King Emmett II.  King Emmett the first was tragically squished with a Spanish-English dictionary.  Pobrecito.

4/13 - Wario wishes his kart had pontoons

Our patio was a small lake this morning, after last night’s storm.  The little red bowl was overflowing!

Wario challenged an old-timey motorcycle to a race.  The motorcycle was glad he was behind glass so he didn’t have to smell Wario’s special gas power.  (Eeeeuw!)  Thanks to David for the special guest hand prop!

4/12 - Wheel and the surprise birthday party

Wheel (yes, just the one today) and I saw this truck with a big spool on our way into work.  She asked, “Who are you calling a spool?!”

Elizabeth didn’t tell anyone it was her birthday – the surprise was on us!  We managed to round up some folks and take her to lunch anyway.  Here’s Wheel and the flaming flan.

Happy one-week anniversary to my ear infection.  NOT.

4/11 - Hot Dog sounds the alarm

Hot Dog and I noticed a very large vent marked “Burglar Alarm” on a nearby building.  I guess it makes quite a loud sound if there are burglars?  (Yikes!)

Another building had a stern warning about playing with the gate.  (We did not play with the gate.)

Hot Dog and the great balancing act:  Here, Hot Dog perfects his lippy tiptoe skills.

Mama sent me this project Lil' Gal did with the hair stuff -- it's Mickey Mouse!

4/10 - Spring break doggie tea party

I was wishing I could spend some of the kids' spring break at home, but being out with an ear infection and pink eye wasn't exactly what I had in mind...  Still, Lil' Gal and I had fun having a tea party, for doggies only.

This ficus tree was not doing well, so I pruned him way back.  Lil' Guy asked me, "Where is his head?"  I explained that plants don't have heads, but the ficus *did* look somewhat decapitated.  So Lil' Guy offered up a ball, and suddenly the ficus looks much happier.  Please wish him well.  (And me too, before I consider decapitation as an option.)

4/09 - It's not just bunnies that have pink eyes

I am halfway through the antibiotics, but still have full cold and ear infection symptoms.  Yay me!  Added bonus:  I may be getting pinkeye.

Here I am trying to call out of work and send in last week's timesheet.  Only I forgot the attachment.  And then sent the wrong one.  Oy.  I blame it on hamsters (guinea pigs?) wearing Easter Bunny ears and drinking all the coffee.

But those hamster/guinea pig/bunnies can be so very cute, especially when you swaddle them up like little pastel babies.  Awwww.

4/08 - Weekend Fun: Easter edition

Despite my being sick, we pressed on with Easter plans, covering the children with more dye than any Easter egg, a last minute grocery run, and trying to cover for the Easter Bunny despite multiple pop-up children in the night.

Easter started bright (not yet) and early, with the kids up and egg-hunting at about 6:45am.  This was the first year they could read the note from the Easter Bunny!!  (sniff!)

The twins picked our dinner recipe -- Molly Katzen's "Enchanted Broccoli Forest" -- which turned out well. And then I collapsed into bed.