March in Pictures

RJ started taking Gymnastics, which basically just taught him how to climb around the house more effectively.

Logan unfortunately learned some of his tricks.

We took the kids to Zeum in San Francisco on Free Museum Weekend. We spent the day making music and dance videos and building with blocks and making pictures on computers. It's a cool place and fun was had by all, but I think our children will definitely enjoy it more when they're a little older.

RJ and Madeline had a date at Happy Hollow.

Logan and Dylan had a great time too.












Although Logan was definitely tired at the end and took it out on Dylan in the Granny Bugs.

We spent some time working on learning about the ocean, which included working on our (somewhat) Yellow Submarine.

The kids also got into playing dress-up.

February In Pictures

February was a pretty calm month in terms of major events. The weekdays were pretty low-key for the boys and I and we only had a few weekend plans that I managed to snap pictures at.

We relaxed.















We played.




















We went to the Stockton Children's Museum with our friends Erika and Ethan (Logan is seen here wandering into the giant eyeball.)















We went on play dates and to play groups.






















We made art.















We cooked. (The boys helped make lasagna, and RJ has had a few baking projects with me too. He has gotten very into wanting to help cook lately.)















We got outside when we could. (There were some really gorgeous days between the rainy days.)































And last weekend, we went to Patrick's 40th Birthday party, where RJ and his friends took over the backyard on probably the coldest day we've had here in February.

Logan's First Hair Cut

Logan was growing a little mullet, so we figured it was time for his first haircut. I was a little apprehensive because he had the cutest little curls, only in the back (of course), but I also don't like mullets and it will grow back, hopefully with more on top, so that it's not a mullet!









So, it was off to All About Me Kids Salon in Livermore. For your viewing pleasure here is Logan getting his hair cut in Thomas the Tank Engine.














He was surprisingly good for the whole thing - even the clippers!















RJ also got in on the action since it's been over a year and a half since he's had a professional cut his hair. (I usually do it myself, and endure all the whining, crying, and negotiating). I think he really enjoyed getting his hair cut while sitting in Lightning McQueen and watching a Thomas on their plasma. Maybe I need to set him up in his Lightning in front of our TV instead of clearly torturing him in his bathroom.







Both boys got bowl cuts (although Logan's is not as defined as RJ's since he has a lot less hair). She went a little shorter on top than I would've liked on RJ, and faded the bowl part into the short part a little more than I would've liked, but it will grow back

Nighttime Stories: Thomas and the Titanic

Yet another example of Lance's wacky nighttime stories.

Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt went on a cruise.  On the cruise, they played shuffleboard, and saw a glacier.  The Captain of the ship told them to watch out for it, so they steered around it and went merrily on their way.  Then they talked about how long ago, some cruises were not so lucky, like the Titanic hit an iceberg, which is like a giant ice cube in the water, and sunk.

I'm not sure that telling our three year old about ships sinking before bedtime is a good idea, but he didn't have any nightmares about it, which was good.

Happy Valentine's Day from the DeLancey Boys

RJ and Logan wanted to say Happy Valentine's Day.














RJ started Valentine's Day Weekend with a dinner date with his friend, Ashlan. They shared pizza and frozen yogurt popsicles, followed by a bubble bath, tv, and a nighttime story. (Her mommy and daddy had a date of their own and picked her up once they were asleep). Not bad for a Valentine's Day date!














All the DeLancey boys, big and small, woke me up with chocolates, cinnamon buns, and flowers. RJ was very sweet and waited at least 30 seconds before asking me to share the chocolates!

Then RJ and I made Chocolate Valentine's cupcakes and a yummy tri-tip roast for daddy.














We hope you all had a great Valentine's Day too.

January in Pictures

After returning from our Winter Adventures, we settled back into our normal routine and in addition to all the preparation and planning for Logan's First Birthday, we also managed to do some interesting things close to home.

The kids have been enjoying playing with their Christmas Gifts of course.

Our first weekend back in town, we took RJ to the Hiller Aviation Museum since it was Open Cockpit Day. RJ got to sit in some cockpits and pretend to fly airplanes, which he absolutely LOVED. He loved the simulators that they have there as well. RJ and I should never try to fly a helicopter together though. We kept crashing.


The next weekend RJ and Hayden had a great outdoor play date. We had been out a few times in the snow in Buffalo, and January has been very rainy here, so I hadn't been getting outside with the boys as much as we were used to. It was great to get outside and active. Plus, RJ enjoyed having Hayden to run around with since Logan can't really keep up yet.

Then of course, we had Logan's Birthday Party and AFC Championship Weekend (Go Steelers!).

And we ended the month with getting RJ involved in his first volunteer experience. We all went and helped clean up the trails at Muir Woods for a morning. Our group was responsible for flossing deck, which meant that we poked all the mud, needles, and leaves out from between the planks of wood that made up the bridges and wooden walkways through the National Monument. We had to get up really early to get there by 8:30am, but it was well worth it. The volunteering started out a little rough because RJ approaches anything new with obstinateness. But once given a choice to sweep or use the dust pan (he wanted to sweep and the broom was unavailable initially), he warmed up to the idea and quickly switched over to the dust pan (the tool originally intended for him) and stuck with it for the next few HOURS. He quite happily scooped up piles of the flossed organic matter and plopped it in bags (they use it for mulch in other areas). He would hold the dustpan for sweepers or just pick up piles left by them. Either way, he was quite helpful and I would argue an indispensable part of the team. He was really proud of himself for being a good volunteer too. Logan also helped by riding in the Ergo, happily, the whole time. At break time, I nursed him and let him run around a little, but otherwise, he bopped around with me, looking at all the trees and then after break, he fell asleep on my back.

Since we were already in Marin county, we took the kids to the Bay Area Discovery Museum in the afternoon. We changed out of our dirty clothes and moved on to the important task of playing. The kids loved it and so we converted our admission fees to a membership. Now we can go to it whenever we want and get deep discounts at other museums (even across the country). Here, RJ and Daddy play with sharks that RJ named Bruce, Stew, and Dinner.
And Logan is getting to the age where he can join in the fun too!

It was quite a busy month! As always, click on the pictures to see the whole albums.

Nighttime Stories: Cat In the Hat Meets Lewis and Clark

It's no big secret that our children are difficult sleepers and that we, as parents have some pretty extravagant nighttime routines to adhere to in order to coddle the children to sleep.  RJ's evening routine is currently:

• Dinner
• Play (if he doesn't dawdle through dinner)
• Clean Up Time
• Bath
• Watch an episode of something while I'm nursing Logan to sleep
• Daddy (usually) reads 1 book
• Daddy makes up a story
• RJ makes up a story
• Hugs and Kisses Goodnight
• Make a tent with his sheet
• He finally lets us leave the room and goes to sleep.  He actually believes that Daddy sleeps right outside his door with Boca, and well, we really haven't done anything to make him believe otherwise because the routine is already too long and we don't want him dragging it out even longer.

I'm not really sure how this whole "making up a story" thing started, because once Logan came around, Lance has almost exclusively handled RJ's nighttime story as I have been busy nursing Logan and otherwise trying to get Logan to sleep.  It is kind of cute and sure beats having to read the same book over and over and over again, like many a preschooler requests.  It's also good that RJ spins tales too.  I like that it's a creative outlet and a way to process the day before bed.

Lance is pretty damned creative in his story telling.  After all, he has to be in order to teach RJ something and meet his demands for a "story about___________ ".

Tonight's story was particularly inventive and carries some themes (although not really the facts) of American History.  To summarize:

The Cat in the Hat lived in London, but he was unhappy because the government didn't let him drink juice or play on Sundays so he, along with Thing 1 and Thing 2 and some others, got on a boat with Christopher Columbus and sailed to America in a big brown wooden boat with sails.  When they got to America, they built houses.  Shortly after, they met Lightning McQueen (because most of the made-up stories HAVE to feature that damned red race car).  Lightning was in cahoots with Lewis and Clark, so they all traveled West in order to make a map of all the mountains and rivers so they knew where to build roads.  Then they all went home and went to bed.  The End.  

When I have to make up the story, I just rehash the day substituting in Lightning and Lightning's little brother "Thunder" for RJ and Logan.  Apparently I need to step up my game when Lance isn't around for bedtime!

DeLancey Family Winter Travels Volume IV: Winter Activities Edition

We were in Buffalo. So, we played in the snow.

We went Ice Skating with Josh and Zach.

We went sledding down a hill a little too big for RJ at Chestnut Ridge. He was not a fan of sledding there, but Luke and my Mom had fun (and so did Lance, Amy, and I).
We went skiing at Holiday Valley. When RJ got carsick 5 minutes from the resort, we really did not have high hopes for him skiing, but he perked up after a snack and ended up LOVING it. We had to carry him in kicking and screaming to eat lunch. He especially loved the magic carpet. He also tried the tow rope lift later in the day, but had a harder time with that. He loved to go down the hill, but he could not make the "pizza" to stop himself.
Then we found a sledding hill more his speed at Westwood Park. Even Logan went down!
Then the adults played a rousing game of Asshole the night before Amy and Luke had to go home. The next morning, RJ laid on the guilt pretty thick too. "Aunt Amy, why can't someone ELSE teach your kids?"
And on New Years Day, we picked up Grandpa and headed to the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, which was great for everyone!

DeLancey Family Winter Travels Volume III: Christmas Celebrations

Christmas Celebrations in Buffalo, In Pictures.

Dinner and Gifts with Dad/Grandpa





Wiglia Dinner with the Ciesielski's



Christmas Morning at Mom/Grammie's


Christmas Dinner with the Hoelzl's