A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

We live a block away from this lake:

Isn't it just gorgeous? The clouds today were incredible. Another fantastic rain-free day.

It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow too, and then rain again for another week.

Tomorrow we will be outside all day.

Art Beast with my Beastie Boys

We went to Art Beast today!!!

It's a three story Victorian house in downtown Sacramento.

The basement is a dress up room with all sorts of costumes, a rocket ship, a tin can castle, a puppet theatre with tons of puppets, musical instruments and a stage. They have coffee and tea for the parents and cooking and National Geographic magazines - and children's books through out the house. When you come in, you can also go up a small flight of stairs and you're in an Art studio where kids can play with glitter and glue, draw with crayons or markers, paint and even paint on the plexi-glass covered wall. Outside, is a sandbox with sand toys, pots and pans, strainers, funnels and ladles for kids to play around in the water. A row of infant bath tubs, sponges, bath toys, and plastic baby dolls, for the kids to pretend to wash. The third floor has a tumbling movement room - a gated area for infants, and an area with hardwood floors for toddler yoga or birthday parties.

We were there all day.

I even saw someone I used to know from 10+ years, and another lifetime, ago. He was there with his family. He has five kids now and has lived in Sacramento for the past 8 years. We exchanged information and talked about getting the families together to play in the park.

Kids making Valentines:

The plexi-glass wall. When the kids are done painting, the Art Beast employees spray it down with water and wipe it clean for the next group of kids to paint the wall! (Kids: please do not try this at home.)

We broke for lunch and a nap, and then went right back to Art Beast. We pretty much spent all day there - and it was awesome.

My Birthday

It's been raining here for what has seemed like an eternity. Yesterday was my birthday, and thankfully, it did not rain. Toby and I took full advantage of it and went to the park! It was so nice to be outside again - and, thanks to all the rain, everything is very green - my favorite color.

Lots of Rain and Lots of Trains

We've been in Sacramento for a month and a half. It has rained the majority of the time we have lived here, and I'm ready for it to stop.

I used to really like the rain, but with an active two year old, being cooped up inside the house is absolute torture - for him, and for me. So, we've been spending an insane amount of time at the train museum; that $35 annual membership was the best money we have ever spent!

Like I said, All Thomas, All the Time

My latest, addictive craft.

I love fabric but I'm terrible at sewing. Thankfully, I can glue.

I got a bunch of embroidery hoops, a random assortment of "fat quarters," and a mini- hot glue gun, at Joann's today. I spent the afternoon burning myself with the glue gun / making decorative art, while Oliver entertained Toby. Usually Oliver only has Sunday off, so a whole weekend together is pretty exciting. My friend Chauntel made some of these fabric embroidery hoops a few years ago, and I love the ones she did. I have always wanted to try it. Now that I have, I don't know why I didn't do it sooner.

Toby says, "It's beautiful mama." Oliver says, "So does this mean you are going to cover all of the walls with these hoop things now?" Yeah. Pretty much.

New Camera!

My mom got me a new camera for my birthday!

My birthday is January, 29th, but she sent it early. Which is great, because boy did I need a new one! My old camera didn't even turn on at all sometimes, and when it did, only half the pictures would come out looking half way decent.

Last week we went out to dinner with my dad and I took a lot of pictures, but I didn't post any of them (until now) because, well, they looked like this:

Dinner with my dad (auto settings):

Dinner with my dad with the flash turned off:


The new camera is a whole lot better.
For example:

Oliver's Keys


Look mom, I can take pictures inside again!