End of April

Sasha trying out the props I bought for the tea party I am hosting in June with another mom from her school. 

Sasha had crazy hair pajama day at school and of course Jack wanted crazy hair too like his big sister.  He also likes to run around the house wearing her long nightgowns these days. 

Sasha and Jack before the Panther Run at one of the elementary schools in town.  Again Jack decided to enter the race at the last minute when he saw what Sasha was going to do. 

Sasha booking it toward the finish line (in the middle of the frame).  Jack came in last but he would have gotten the prize for the littlest runner. 

So thrilled with their medals...

Phil and I went to New Orleans for a few days where he attended a conference.  Here we are at our favorite New Orleans jazz brunch, the Court of Two Sisters. 

I have a new food obsession:  raw oysters on the half shell.  I'm not sure why I haven't experimented with this culinary delight in the past since I consider myself a fairly adventurous eater, but there is no going back now.  Unfortunately when Phil googled "Santa Fe Raw Oysters" in an attempt to see where I might get some back home, the first story that came up was headlined "Santa Fe Woman 10 Days in ICU After Consuming Raw Oysters at Local Eatery" 

April at Sea Island, Georgia

 In April Phil was inducted into the Neurosurgical Society of America, quite an honor for him, and also a chance for all of us to attend the conference where the ceremony took place.  It was on Sea Island, Georgia at a beautiful resort surrounded by lush gardens and right on the Atlantic Ocean.  My parents accompanied us and were extremely helpful  every step of the way. 

Walking to the beach

Jack and Phil enjoying the pool

The beach was very wide with huge swings in the tide which made it great for building sand castles, jumping little waves, splashing in tide pools, and finding sand dollars.  Sasha was thrilled with her collection of 7 whole sand dollars which are decorating our dining room table now. 

Sasha could stay up late enough to attend a few of the evening events like this picnic where they had roasted several whole pigs.  That left an impression on Sasha.

Jack hung back with grandma and grandpa in the hotel room. 

The family before Phil and I attended the formal dinner at the end. 

We took a couple of days after the conference was over to drive to Savannah.  There we enjoyed walking around the historic district, playing at a great city park, and eating at a pirate restaurant.  The treasure chest full of lollipops for the taking will not be soon forgotten. 

Jack listening to me telling a scary story as we waited for our pirate grub. 

Easter

Easter was pretty low key this year.  We went to church where we really enjoyed the special music of the Santa Fe Brass throughout the service.  I rushed home to prepare Easter dinner for my family and then we went to Phil's partner's house for their annual Easter brunch and Easter egg hunt.  Sasha was lucky and found one of the 3 large golden eggs stuffed with cold hard cash.  She thought that was pretty special.

Later that afternoon we  went down to the plaza and enjoyed the warm spring weather.  This was Jack's first time wearing a tie and he liked to refer to it as his "special little thing". 

99% of the time Jack is clutching some kind of little car these days.  He likes to line all his matchbox cars up very carefully in a row and change their positions around. 

Spring Break Part 2: Disneyland

For the last 2 days of our trip we drove up to Anaheim and did the whole Disney experience, one day at Disneyland and one day at California Adventure.  I have never been a huge fan of Disney but we figured since we were out there and Sasha at least is at a great age for it, we might as well dabble in it.  Jack was not a fan of the rides at first until we found this super slow caterpillar train which he loved.  After that he got a bit more brave and willingly went on more rides.

This is Sasha waiting in line at her favorite ride, "The Tower of Terror".  She rode it 3 times with Phil.  It's basically a super tall elevator ride with a pitch black free fall with jerky stops and strobe lights periodically. It sounds absolutely terrifying to me and Phil said the whole time she just laughed and was goofing around while teenage boys next to her were screaming and almost in tears.   

Sasha had a wonderful time at Disney and to see her grinning from ear to ear made it all worth it. 

Enjoying ice cream cones mid-afternoon.  Jack skipped his nap for the first time and powered on until 9 pm with a pretty good attitude. 

Jack's favorite ride the second day were the cars that you could drive around on a track.  We lucked out and got a green car, his favorite color.  One funny memory I will have of Jack at Disney is when he pulled on my leg while we were waiting in line and said "Mama I went pee pee".  Sure enough, he had pulled down his pants and relieved himself right there in line.  A large puddle was off to the side.  By some small miracle it seemed as if no one else in line had seen it happen.  Boys....

Sasha about to hop on the front car of her second favorite ride, Space Mountain. 

Spring Break: Southern California (Part 1)

In mid-March we piled up the Mazda and headed west for the coast.  It took 14 hours total with one overnight stop in Phoenix.  The kids were super travelers and we remarked over and over how driving in our own vehicle with stops where and when we wanted to was so much more enjoyable (and affordable) than air travel with a party of 4.  We rented a condo right across from this beach in the village of La Jolla north of San Diego.  It has to be one of the most beautiful places I have been to in the U.S.  We fell in love with the little sandy coves along the miles of coastal walking paths, the seals and sea lions that lounged all over the beaches, the interesting water birds and plants.  We ate fresh caught seafood every night and visited kid-friendly parks every day.

We sought out the La Jolla farmers market on Sunday on the recommendation of some friends and the kids gorged themselves on fresh picked berries.  There was a plethora of ethnic food stands which Phil and I were happy about.

While Jack took his nap in the afternoons, the rest of us would sit out on the sunny patio and read, practice violin (Sasha), soak in the hot tub, and play Sorry or Uno.  Sorry is an obsession of Sasha's currently.

On Monday we went to Sea World in San Diego.  Sasha loved the rides, shows, and other attractions.  We had to coerce Jack to go on his first ride  but he eventually enjoyed it as well.  Sasha always wanted to sit in the "Soak Zone" for the shows but didn't love getting water in her face when we actually got soaked!

Sasha going to town on a smoked turkey leg.  You can never predict what this picky girl is going to like!

On Tuesday we went to the Wild Animal Safari Park in Escondido.  This was my personal favorite of all the parks we visited.    Getting to see the baby rhino on the safari part where we were in these open tour buses in the "savannah" was the highlight for me.

Sasha with her souvenir, "Laura" the rainbow lorakeet.

Brushing the goats in the petting zoo.

On Wednesday we went to the San Diego Zoo.  Wow!  It's not just another zoo to be sure.  We could have spent 3 days there to see everything.

Our last afternoon in La Jolla we walked a long way along the coast stopping to splash in the waves or explore the tidal pools at various beaches along the way--enjoying the serentity and natural beauty of this small corner of the world before kicking it up a notch at Disneyland for Part 2 of Spring Break.