Lowell Observatory

Last month we took a fun day trip to Flagstaff to visit the Lowell Observatory. The kids were great on the drive -- it is so nice to have good travelers. We stopped at Sunset Point on the way up, which I think has some of the prettiest views in Arizona.

The observatory was great. The weather was beautiful, and we had a good time exploring the little museum. We looked through a telescope and saw the sun. Rand especially loved the walk that demonstrated how far apart the planets were from each other. We peeked in old buildings and were fascinated by the mausoleum. Rand loved the informational video, which just had subtitles, and watched it three times. I think he would enjoy the guided tours, but Ella was much more interested in exploring then listening, so it was a no go this time.

Bowling!

We went to a bowling birthday party a couple of weeks ago. It was Rand's first time bowling (other than on the wii) and he had so much fun! He jumped up and down and bit his nails as the ball sllloooooowly rolled towards the pins. Plus, he looked pretty spiffy in his bowling shoes.

Technology

Rand: "Mom, can you please skip this song?"
Me: "It's on the radio; I can't skip it."
Rand: "But you can skip songs on the computer's radio."
True.

Ella can turn on her Dora videos on the wii all by herself. She keeps pressing "a" until it starts up.

She also loves Werner's iphone (she calls it "my phone") and is ridiculously proficient at finding games and playing them. I was watching her yesterday play a game and when it ended, she knew exactly what to press to make it start a new game.

They are completely unimpressed by video chats. It seems totally normal to them.

California Trip

Some long overdue photos of our California trip!

Drove out Sunday.
Monday: beach time!, an afternoon/evening at Zov's with the fabulous foursome
Tuesday: kids' photos, meeting cousin JP
Wednesday: visited the most fabulous Miss Jane who filled my kids up with dark chocolate and Cheetos. Drove to Ventura for some fun with Grannie at Harbortown! Went out to dinner where they both got macaroni and cheese and ice cream, then watched "Cinderella."
Thursday: Trip to Grannie's house, where they got to play with the toys that I played with as a kid. Katie and Elijah came up and we went to the beach and Andre's for dinner. Ella liked giving her dinosaur chicken nuggets a ride on the skateboard that came in her meal.Watched "101 Dalmations" -- so fun!
Friday: Took the kids to beach in the fog. It was cold but nobody else was there so they had a wonderful time throwing sand. Headed back to OC with a stop for lunch at Red Robin (more ice cream!) and then celebrated John's birthday!
Saturday: Head home. Fast trip, but it's always a little sad to leave.