Sunny San Diego

The three of us and Jerry's parents spent a long weekend at a gorgeous resort in San Diego. It felt sooooo good to be in the warm sunshine and to go outside with just a t-shirt on! We went to Sea World two of the days. Eva loved to see all the animals (and run around and play with other kids). If you ask her, she'll sign whale and tell you that the whales go "big spwash!!" She told me as soon as we got into Sea World that she wanted to see starfish. Though she loved the orca whales, dolphins and all the fish, her favorite thing to see were the starfish.

Eva and her Papa splashing in puddles.

Jerry, Eva and Papa doing "1, 2, 3, whee!" There was a LOT of this game on the trip. To the point where two people couldn't hold her hands without her kicking her knees up and dangling from our arms.

Quick-moving kid in a tunnel at Sea World.

Eva loved being able to run around and play with other kids.

A very friendly older girl helped Eva touch a beloved starfish! Oh, it was so exciting! And yes, she actually touched it!

Uno, dos, tres...PINATA!

Eva's preschool class, kindergarten, first and second grades have been rehearsing a musical called "We All Celebrate". All the kids sing a few songs together and each grade sings a song or two on their own. Unfortunately, Eva (and Jerry and I and his parents) will be in San Diego the night of the performance! Her teachers said that she has so thoroughly enjoyed the rehearsals and being with the big kids. She does love music.

I went to a rehearsal today and took this video. They're singing "Uno, dos, tres, pinata!" The kids are encouraged to dance while they sing. Eva is, of course, the little cutie in the green sweater. (Thank you, Abby for the beautiful sweater!)

Peacock Lady, continued

An update on the Peacock Lady post: In the video, the singer wears a big, dark blue cape that she theatrically flips around during her number. Eva asked for a Peacock Lady dress, so I put a blue blanket around her shoulders and fastened it with a twix-it clip. (It looks like a superhero cape, if a child were so inclined to think of it as such. To Eva, it's a Peacock Lady Dress).

So now, wearing her blue cape, she walks around the living room, flipping the sides out dramatically and sings the Peacock Lady song as she does in the video I posted earlier. Even when the Violin Show isn't on, she'll do this. It's so dang cute I almost cry. Of course, she's a camera-shy performer so I'll have to be sneaky to get this on video--and I MUST because it is so cute.

It's a...

This video is for our dear friends, Lynn and Carole. Thank you so much for the gift. Eva loves it (clearly)!

Holiday Joys

Happy New Year, everyone!

We three spent nine days with family in the south Sound. It was so wonderful to get out of town, away from domestic responsibilities and work and relax with family and friends. We're glad to be home now--sorta--and getting back into our routine--sorta--in time for school and work next week.

We hope you had a great holiday, too!

Eva's favorite presents included (but are not limited to) a kid's digital camera (seen here backward)...

...and bongos!

Eva loves to play the piano at my mom's house. This video was a sneaky attempt to capture her musical genius. If she saw me with the camera, she'd stop playing and yell at me. So I put the camera on the edge of the counter, pushed the button and stepped back. Next time, I'll get another angle so you can see her more clearly, but this was better than nothing!