Lola has found sproutonline.com

It did not take long for Lola to start asking; What is this sproutonline.com? Reluctantly we introduced Lola to the World Wide Web one afternoon and needless to say she is hooked.  I will say that the Sprout website really does have some great learning games as well as some really creative and fun stuff for kids her age. To watch her work the mouse and keyboard amazes me. We let her play about 15 minutes or so 2 or 3 times a week, and it gives us a chance to catch our breath from the constant energy that comes from Lola. If you get a chance go by http://www.sproutonline.com and check it out.

Uvas Canyon

Too beautiful a day to stay home, we headed out to a new place to hike. We could literally go to a different park every weekend. Ladybugs, spiders and mushrooms were some treats on our trail. All of the waterfalls were so amazing, hearing the splashing of the springs was a sweet soundtrack provided by mother earth. Lola found a walking stick that she used for the hike. She called the moss on the trees some green fur coats.

Terrific Thursday-Penguins

Penguins only live south of the equator, did you know that? The biggest one, the emperor Penguin can be over 4ft tall. Some penguins, like the chinstrap penguin makes their nest using little pebbles. Penguins living in cold climates use blubber to stay warm and we did a science experiment to test which hand stayed warm. The one in the blubber bag or the bare hand, of course the blubber one stayed warm. The kids really enjoyed it. Lola talked about penguins for days after this lesson. She even wanted to make sure her toy penguins were safe from predators like seals.

Madelines

homemade almond flour... start by blanching the almonds......Key ingredient= lemon extract.
Martha Stewart Baking book

Valley of Fire

Escaping the lights and people for the day we took a little road trip to see the Valley of Fire, just outside of Vegas. Lola loved hiking around with her brothers. She was just a little mountain goat. She had a hard time seeing the lizards that were scurrying under the shrubs, but we finally trapped one under a rock and said, " ok look when we lift it up," So she saw one flee once we lifted it up. One area we were hiking in had the petroglyphs from ancient tribes, pretty cool.

Valley of Fire -mouse tank

One of the little trails we were hiking led to a little natural water hole where the water is collected in a kind of rock bowl. (The water did not look very appetizing though)This is also where we saw some really cool petroglyphs. On the way out of the park we went by the "arch stone", which was slightly disappointing, but still wonderful. There is also a lizard we captured on film, we saw several little guys running around but Lola only saw two.

Fashion advice for the elevator

Lola went with Daddy to go for the coffee run this morning. On the ride down the elevator, they were joined by some elderly women who commented that Lola was wearing such a pretty DreSs.. Well, Lola wanted to let them know that the outfit she was wearing was not a DreSs, but her pajamas....... So then one of the ladies said, 'Oh, I wish I had some pajamas like that.' Lola turned to her and politely told her " they sell them at the disney store."

Checking out the big city

We went for a long long walk to see all the different hotels. Lola and Mommy went to see the aquarium at Mandalay bay. She liked petting the sting rays. We walked over to the Luxor so she could go inside a pyramid. Then we took a taxi down to Caesars to do some window shopping and have some lunch.

Rainforest Cafe

Have you ever heard your child sound like a commercial? When Lola heard that there was a Rainforest Cafe she said, "Mom, The Rainforest Cafe is a proud supporter of PBS kids." Hmm, someone has watched a little too much Curious George in the morning:) They have a commercial that says that. I was laughing and said, "You're right let's have dinner there:)" She was beaming.

Candy!!! M&Ms shop in Vegas

Vegas for a 4 year old, Candy Candy Candy! Lola loved visiting the M&M store. She mixed up a bag of her favorite colors.

Vegas Vacation

We missed the boys this Christmas and decided since the Holiday is over there's no need for the boys to come all the way to California. So we suggested meeting halfway in Vegas so the boys could break in the city properly now that they're both over 21. The boys thought that sounded like a great idea. Lola liked seeing all the different themed hotels, especially the big Castle.

Lizard in my pocket

Lola's Lizard Charlotte

She has such fun letting it run around the bathroom. Occasionally she does something strange like stick it in her pocket or test it's swimming ability. But mostly she is very gentle with it and takes really good care of it.

Here are some things about it in her words:

it sheds its skin every night

it poops once a day

I feed it 5 or 6 crickets every night

it's a leopard gecko

it's 4 years old like me

we feed the meal worms to the crickets

the neighbors take care of it when we go on an adventure

I think the lizard is cute

Terrific Thursday-Martin Luther King Jr

Our lesson today focused on Martin Luther King Jr. We talked about how unfair life was for him when he was a little boy and how he learned in church that God loves everyone the same. Then when he grew up he was brave and tried to help make life more equal for everyone. We talked about how he was peaceful about getting his ideas heard, how they had peace marches. The kids enjoyed going on our own peace march too. Also we had peace peas for a snack:)

30!

The usual plan of going Bowling on Candace’s birthday was not going to work out since she couldn’t lift things from having her appendix removed 5 days earlier. So we invited the neighbors over for some lasagna and played Wii Bowling. Just as much fun - minus the stinky bowling shoes. Lola and Virgil made a very delicious chocolate cake with chocolate mouse frosting.

Gym Action Shots

Lola truly enjoys going to the gym. They are moving constantly and she has really learned alot since she started there. She even practices some of her jumps on the bed when she gets home. (Hmm, might need a trampoline soon:)

Happy New Year

Not quite the way we wanted to ring in the new year. Candace had to have emergency appendectomy surgery on January 1st. We started at Stanford Medical Urgent Treatment Center for about 3 hours before it was decide we needed to rush her over the Stanford Hospital for the procedure. Candace was in a lot of pain but made it through the surgery ok and got to come home on Sunday. Thanks to everyone for the wishes and prayers.