an afternoon at Central Park

Jessica spent a fun afternoon with her nana at Central park. She had fun riding the train and looking at the koi fish.

Jessica flies a Blue Angels plane

This weekend, we took Jessica back to the airplane museum. She had fun flying the Blue Angel plane with her daddy.

swing now

Right before they came to do the grass, we took apart Jessica's swing. The new swing set is coming next week and the one she had been using was getting too small for her. Of course, ever since then, she has been running around going "Swing now, swing now". To make it even worse, she would drag the swing bucket around the backyard just in case we didn't understand what she meant by swing now. Jim figured out that we could hang the bucket swing on some hooks at the front of the house, and she has been happy ever since. Of course, anytime we go in or out the door now, we hear swing now.

Jessica and Duke watch Elmo

This week, I spent a lot of time at a conference. Tuesday night, Jessica stayed up late watching Elmo with Duke and her daddy so she could see me before going to bed. Once again, Duke is really a good boy. Who knew he could double as a cushion. Usually he thinks of people as his own personal pillows.

Jessica cools down in the heat

Yesterday, it was 96 degrees at 5pm in the afternoon. Jessica cooled down in the heat by playing in mini pool.

Jessica goes to the zoo with Leilani

Jessica went to the zoo with Leilani this weekend. The girls had fun seeing all the different animals and walking around together. Jessica became quite attached to one goat in the petting zoo too.

Jessica likes her new clothes from Mimi

Jessica likes her knew capri outfits that her Mimi made her.

the grass is done

Our new grass is done. The dogs really liked their first run in the yard and were happy to have free roam of the yard again. It's a much bigger space than they had had for about two years. Jessica even seemed to enjoy it. She has a tendency to chant moo-moo as he runs after the ball. The yard will probably never look this big again as Jessica's play set is going to be delivered in about a week. I have a suspicion that our whole yard will be play set and play house. Oh well.

Jessica likes drapes

Jim's new room has drapes over the back of the fish tank to hide it from view. Jessica thinks that this is the best play area ever.

our grass is moving along

Heavenly Greens came today and is putting in our puppy proof lawn. Here are some photos of the progress that was done today. We're hoping that it will be done tomorrow.

the result of Jessica dressing herself

This is the result of Jessica dressing herself last night. She got into her closet and decided rain boots and fancy purses were needed to go night-night.

Easter Fun

We had family and friends over for Easter brunch this Sunday. Luckily, the weather was quite warm and we could have the easter egg hunt / brunch outside. Jessica didn't quite get the easter egg hunt this year, but she loved swinging, playing with her friends, and eating cupcakes. Better photos to come once Jim posts his.

the room is getting closer

Jim and I emptied the pod this weekend (mostly Jim) and he put everything in the cabinets. It all seemed to fit. The cabinets also have doors and handles now.

Jessica goes to Hannah's party

This weekend, Jessica went to Hannah's birthday party. She seemed to like the Cookie Monster pinata, but was most fascinated by the numbers on the picnic tables at the park.

beds are fun i guess

Jessica sure had a fun time running around on our bed and in the pillows last night.

Jessica plays doctor

Jessica likes to play doctor. She uses us or the dogs as her patient. Last night, Duke let her take his heartbeat. Mousse, on the other hand, was not as willing and decided to run around trying to give her kisses. Very distracting for a doctor I imagine.

Jim's new room is taking shape

Jim's new office is taking shape. The cabinets are in (minus doors) and he's starting to unload his old room and pod.

Jessica loves to chew on straws.

While out at dinner, Jessica likes to entertain herself with her straw by chomping on it. I'm not sure if all kids this ago do that as her other friends don't seem to be so intent on it. It could be one of those things she got from me.

the garage now has a faux-wood floor

Thanks to lots of hard work today by Jim (and some by me too), the garage now has a faux-wood floor. It's looking more and more like a real room. Once the floor was down, Jessica tried to help out with clean up (one of her favorite activities).

Jim's garage room is painted

Jim's garage room is now painted. On to the floor tomorrow and then cabinets. Hopefully, it will be complete in the next few weeks.

Jessica helps in the garden

Jessica likes to help in the garden. Today she helped water flowers.

Jessica declares cupcakes a success

Jessica helped taste test a trial run of cupcakes today. Who am I kidding? I just wanted an excuse to make cupcakes. Anyways, she's a girl after my own heart. She dug right into the frosting first. Eventually, the cake did get eaten too. I'm assuming by the empty plate (gone in 60 seconds practically) that the cupcakes were a success. Now, I just hope that I didn't spoil her dinner appetite too much.

thank you Mimi for the neigh-neigh

(From Jessica) Thank you Mimi for the play horse. It is much better than the rake I was riding around the yard.

Jessica checks out her new potty

Nothing gross here I promise. We picked up Jessica a new potty today, so she could get used to it over the next few months. We're definitely not ready for potty training yet as she seems to think that it is a place to hold her toys amongst other things.

almost done with the laundry room

We are almost done with the laundry room. All that is left is the countertops. The cabinets are in, the doors are hung. It's starting to get back to normal (in that room at least). On to the room in the garage next.

Jessica likes hats

All of a sudden, Jessica likes to play with hats and wear them around the house. Of course, when we actually want her to wear a hat, there is no way she will do that.

Jessica and her friends from school

One of the parents took some photos of the kids at school. These are Jessica's school friends, who she talks about constantly at home -- Elliott, Hannah, Malika, and Idan.

another trip to the airplane museum

We went back to the airplane museum again. Jessica just loves the airplanes so much and it is an easy way to spend a few hours out of the house during noisy construction. This time Jessica and her friend Isabella (Lella as Jessica calls her) had fun being copilots together.

more construction progress

Jim has made more construction progress this weekend. The laundry room is trimmed and painted. Plus, cabinets are installed and the sink is in. We're almost in the home stretch (at least for that room). Jessica got in the action this weekend by checking out the progress and playing in the cabinets.

where did she learn this?

This weekend, Jessica ran around the yard riding her rake as a horse. Jim and I both looked at each other and wondered where she learned that. Neither of us had taught her.

Jessica gardens -- on the brick pathway

All of a sudden, Jessica is into gardening tools. She has a mini rake and broom and cleans the front of the house. She also likes my shovel and rake and attempts to use them on our brick pathway.

Jessica loves her new Duplos

Jessica loves the new duplos her Mimi bought her. She likes to stack them and stick them on the mat. She has very clear ideas on what should be done with them. If you do anything she doesn't like, she goes No, No, No.

Jessica enjoys her shopping cart

Jessica recently got a shopping cart and she loves running around the house with it.

Jessica decorates her first cookies

Tonight, Jessica helped me decorate some cookies. She quickly realized that eating cookies is much better than decorating and I was left to do the decorating on my own.

Jessica goes to see Thomas the Tank Engine Musical

This weekend we went to see Thomas the Tank Engine musical. I was surprised that Jessica sat and watched the whole thing. See was really into it.

Goodbye garage -- hello extra room

Jim and his dad made lots of progress this past week. The garage now has a new room off the laundry room and a small garage area by the garage door. It's not finished yet, but the walls are up and we're on our way.

Jessica goes to the airplane museum

It has been raining a lot the last few weeks and I've been looking for new places to take Jessica. The local airplane museum is a great resource for those rainy days. It is mostly indoors and there are lots of airplanes and helicopters to look at / play with. They also have a coloring center and can watch planes land at the local airport (from indoors or outdoors) Here are some photos of Jessica while she was there. She really liked driving the plane and was quite mad when her turn was up.

Jessica has fun at the local zoo and children's museum

Jessica doesn't like the construction noise, so we're spending lots of time visiting local sites. The following two weekends, we've been to the local zoo and museum. She had fun looking at the animals (although was scared by some of their noises) and really liked playing in the museum.