Aren't we the cutest?

Seriously though, I love my family. Sometimes it's ridiculous when I can't sleep at night and my cheeks hurt because I'm laying in bed smiling and thinking about how much I fun we have every day. (Brace yourselves, this is a big, fat blog of bragging.)

Today Jack gave me his first big leg hug when I got back from the gym and it made my day, no week. Jack is walking all over the place. Even when Lily and I are sitting around watching our favorite shows, WonderPets and AFV and lately I survived a Japanese Game Show, Jack just paces around the room picking up stuff and watching TV, but never standing still. He's not talking much, but hums. I know when he's tired because he'll start humming Twinkle Twinkle, or the song Lily made up, Mooney mooney. He's so funny and relaxed... most of the time. He's got all 4 bicuspids coming in right now. He fell at the pool last week and got a quarter size bruise on his forehead, a couple scrapes on his nose, and a big gouge under his nose, like a Hitler moustache. The worst part is that he's still getting over a cold so his sore has been all full of boogers and keeps opening up and bleeding over and over. He's really starting to figure stuff out now and I love this age. He loves animals, especially cats. He still eats a lot. Like half his body weight.

Lily is hilarious. The other day she said so many funny things that I couldn't wait to document them all in the blog, but now I've forgotten most of them. Sometimes I make notes to remind myself until I get the chance to blog. I wrote down "enchilada snake" but now I have no idea what the story was. She said that she was "stoked" to go to the pool. Apparently she learned that from the young teacher of her gym class, because I've never said that in my life, unless I was kidding.

As many of you with young children know, or may remember, meal time takes up a lot of our day. It seems like I'm always preparing a meal, eating the meal, or cleaning up the meal, but I tell you, it's so worth it, it's my favorite time of the day. Just me and the kids, (if Jared is there it's a bonus) sitting nice, quiet and calm. The kids are focused but we can talk and Lily says some of the most fun and interesting things while we're eating, it's a great insight into her thoughts and concerns. Lily pretended to play the flute on her big toe while we were eating dinner. We do silly things, play silly games, or tell stories. We usually all eat the same thing so the kids are turning into very good, healthy eaters. I've been trying to eat healthier so that I can be a good example. We always have lots of fruits and vegetables and drink water or milk instead of juice or soda. We still eat our fair share of nuggets and hot dogs, but I make sure to get the healthiest option, including soy dogs, mmmmm.

Jared has been working all the time, which is good, much better than the alternative. He is home for several hours in the morning and we make sure to take full advantage of that time. We go to the pool almost every day, have picnics, go on walks, make paper airplanes, or go to the library. He's a good sport and a very attentive and thoughtful dad.

As for me, I'm still keeping pretty busy finding fun stuff for us to do. The glossy sheen is starting to wear off of California in general. I miss my house and friends in Arizona and I'm getting really excited for fall in Utah. I can't wait to get some cooler weather and actual clouds but we still have 2 months here. Don't get me wrong, there is still a lot of fun to be had in those 2 months. We still have to go to Disneyland. I'm torn, because it's always been a reliable conversation starter when I say I've never been to Disneyland, and neither has Jared, now I won't be able to say that anymore. Is it worth it?

We've been spending a lot of time with our friends Julieanne and Tyrus (http://www.julieannepapa.blogspot.com/) who we have known for around 10 years, they moved to CA about 5 or 6 years ago and we have missed them a lot. Last weekend we went to the Balboa island beach. We rode the ferry, walked around and rode on the ferris wheel and carousel. We had a good time, they have a boy and girl about the same ages, so it's fun for everyone.

OK, one more item of business. Jared and I went to see Harry Potter the night it came out. It was a late night showing, and I knew there wouldn't be any kids there, just other Harry Potter nerds, so I put a lightning bolt on my forehead. I thought it was hilariously nerdy and laughed the whole time. Unfortunately there was hardly anyone at the theater, like 7 people, so no one appreciated it, so I want to put it up here because I decided that anyone that I really like would think this is nerdily funny.

Oh ya, I keep it real.