Jazz Fingers

I'm posting some videos of Aurelia practising piano. She's been playing for a month or so and has gotten three or four recognizable songs under her fingers. This first video is of her messing up. I love her face at the end :) She'll probably hate me for posting this when she's older -- but will she ever really know??

This one is of Aurelia playing Mary had a little lamb. She changed it a little bit (as she says at the end)-- she's been playing this one for a couple of weeks and has had time to play around with it.

This one is Aurelia's newest -- Old Mac Donald. . . you can see her counting the baa baa baa's.

We're very proud of Aurelia's playing and hope she keeps it up. She's real proud to be playing too, and will play for anyone who will listen. I'll post more sometime in the future. That's all for now!

First Bites

Here are some pictures from Oliver's first "official" meal.

Here's his first bite heading to his mouth. He's not to sure about this.

Here's a few bites in, not doing too badly, there's still quite a bit falling back out, though.

Here we are at the end. A happy, well fed, slightly messy baby! Hooray!

Animal Watching

Sunday was a recap (I think) of VBS at our church, so Jason didn't have to be there to play the drums (it's been a long time since he's had a Sunday off) so we skipped church *gasp!* and headed out for a family day of fun! We asked Ezra if he knew what a zoo was. He said "Yes" as he nodded his head. So we asked him "well, what is it?" and he had no idea (gee I wonder why - it's only beentwo years since we've been to a zoo) so we decided to head up to the Sacramento Zoo.

Check it out! We were at the front of the line when the bridge went UP to let a boat go underneath. Here it is coming back down.
The Sac Zoo is pretty great. Not too big and the enclosures are really natural looking, but not so overgrown that one can't find the animals. Most of the animals were actually out and around even though it was hot and in the middle of the day so we really got to see a lot and not get too tired! Here's Ezra getting close to the tiger. Wow!
Jason and Ezra enjoying the giraffes who were enjoying a little lunch.
My dancing queen pulling out the vegetation and putting on a little show for us : )
These are the cutest little kangaroos ever (in this momma's humble opinion!)

Just below is Oliver (my little Olligator) who had to be covered up most of the time, but there was a lot of shade so he was able to stay cool and enjoy the ride.

Here's Ezra and Aurelia climbing on a cute little alligator sculpture. Next time we head out that way we're going to visit Fairytale Town, which is just across the street, so they can climb to their hearts' content.I thought it was kind of interesting that they had this big aquarium full of koi, but the kids were pretty fascinated with the big fish. Aurelia wanted to look at the fish from the top so Jason held her up and she decided that it was pretty smart of the zoo to put this window in so we could get a good look. For some reason this made her want to hold her own fish, Daniel, in her hands when she got home, but we had to say "no" to that. I have to say that the reptile and amphibian house at this zoo is the best I've seen ever. The design was really smart, it kept people moving, it was cool (a huge plus on this 100 degree day) and it had a lot of great, easy to find creatures.
The last part of the day was spent on the train ride. Aurelia was so enthralled with the ticket punching process. It made her feel very grown up to hand over our tickets and get them punched. Ezra just loved the idea of getting on a train. I had fun too!
Here's a few photos of the kids starting up at gymnastics.

Ezra on the trampoline - Teacher Kristi was surprised at his "natural ability" until I told her we have a trampoline at home!
Aurelia doing high steps on the Balance Beam.
I'm not sure what they were doing here. Ezra had to do bear walks across but the bigger class must have been doing something else. My momma took the photos this first day of class (thanks, Mom!) Anywho . . . The kids were JAZZED to be back at gymnastics! Ezra got up the next morning and said he was ready to go to gymnastics again!

Fruits and Vegetables

Well, I wanted to post some pictures of the fun that Aurelia and Ezra had last weekend with Mima and Grandpa Scott.

First they got picked up early in the morning . . .
so they could go to the U-Pick and
pick peaches, plums, pears, peppers,
eggplants, zuchinni, and tomatoes.
Plus, they got to ride in the wagon!

Then they got to go back to Mima's "love shack" and swim, sew fishies, go "fishing", paint, and I don't know what else. But I do know they had a lot of fun, and that's the main thing. Ezra got splinters on his bum after swim time, but they didn't slow him down!The next day, Oliver and I joined them at a reunion party where they got to swim some more, feed the horses (extreme feeding - sweeing as they thought WE were the food ;), and feed the goats at the Sand Creek Stables.

Oliver tried out another new cute face which we also adore, and we made a lot of good memories. It was a great weekend, I got a lot done without the older two around, and Jason got to play some golf (read: relax for a change!) So, thanks, Mom! Love you!

Triumphs

I guess I was feeling fairly energetic the other day so we set off for the "lake" with our wagon and our bike. It's just a man-made lake not too far from our home, with a lovely park across the street. The day was windy and a little cool, so we donned our coats and blankets, loaded up and headed out. The walk around the lake was enjoyably slow and filled with wonderful sights and sounds - the sun glinting off the surface of the rippling water, fuzzy-headed ducks searching for - well, whatever it is that ducks search for under the water, pink roses, long limbed willow trees, and dogs on leashes.

Our time at the park was relaxing for me (finally a rest from pulling that wagon!) and the kids found this particular play structure to be quite adventurous.

The teeter-totter didn't work out for the three of us *wink*,

and Oliver awoke from his nap refreshed and hungry.

Finally we headed home to enjoy lunch and a well-deserved nap! I was feeling so susie-homemaker that when the kids got up I made Pink salt and cornstarch playdough. The recipe is on the side. This is some good playdough- let me tell you - and we had a lot of fun.

In other news, Oliver is now wearing twelve month clothing, hitting 19 pounds at four (and a half) months, and he's learned a new (one of my favorites) face - which also means, he's ready for solid foods. We'll be starting with those soon.

That's all for now in the Ward household - signing out. Sarah

Percents and Predictions

I took Oliver to his well-baby check-up today. He weighs in at an official 18.7 pounds, 27 inches long. For those wondering (or not) he's in the 94th percentile for weight and height and is "predicted" to grow to a height of 6 feet 2 inches. Wow! Also - he got four shots today and didn't cry almost at all. After his first shot he just looked around, the second one made him squeal a little, the third evoked no response, the fourth made him cry a little and his face turned red and then he got an oral "injection" (some stuff squirted in his mouth) which he swallowed and then smiled. Crazy, huh? I was surprised and so was his Dr. we both thought it was pretty weird, but I was happy. He's resting now after all that excitement.

Ezra weighs about 26lbs (13th %), and is 35" tall (31th %) so he's predicted to grow to 5 feet 10 inches : ) He got no shots, but he did get a lolly pop and two stickers.

Aurelia's predicted to come in at 5'7". She got one shot today and a lolly pop and a hello kitty bandaid (and two stickers).

Three hundred photos

Wow! I know it's been almost two weeks since I posted and boy have we been busy! I took over three hundred photos in the last two weeks and most of them on Monday thru Wednesday while the kids and I were away with my mom, Mima, at Santa Cruz! For the sake of brevity I've posted as few as I can. . . We had a wonderful time away and only forgot my camera on Monday night when we drove into Monteray to visit the aqaurium -- yes, I have kicked myself multiple times over that! We had some wonderful surprises while there -- a river otter awoke, to play, swim and poop for us; and the giant octopus awoke for us and "walked" on the glass -- it was amazing! We also enjoyed the "toys" they have placed all over for kids to interact with and the jelly fish. Spending time at the beach in Santa Cruz was so fantastic because the fog stayed in and kept the beach comfortably cool each morning till about noon. On Tuesday we rode some rides and walked the pier. We saw sea lions playing and pelicans resting. We went for a swim at the hotel later on. On Wednesday we drove over to Capitola and played on the foggy beach all morning. Aurelia found the first sand flea of the day and when it got warm, swim suits were donned and the ocean duly pranced in.

The drive home was uneventful but that evening was our last to see Liz and the kids for maybe two years so we drove over to Dusty and Carrie's to say goodbye - we had to wait till 9PM to do so, but the wait was worth the cries of delight (different from the cries of exhaustion we were listening to 5 minutes before they arrived) and the smiles of joy and the hugs of love that we experienced.

What else? My Granna and Poppa came over Sunday and they finally got to meet Oliver (after four months!! Due to sickness and trips we just couldn't get together sooner!!) It was a wonderful time and we had an "unbirthday" party complete with pizza and ice-cream cake! Yum!

Last, I'm posting my favorite pictures of Aurelia and Ezra's "dress-up-fancy-tea-party." Lots of good times!