Surviving and Enjoying Sly Park

From Life with the Bjorks

Last weekend we headed up with our church group to Sly Park.  Last year I was freaked out about taking a baby camping.  This year I was less nervous because I had come to terms with the fact Rachel and all her clothes would be filthy.  Several times throughout the weekend I had to take a deep breath and remind myself that the dirt will wash off, she is having fun, and being dirty will not kill her or me.  We don't have any pictures of it but take my word for it Rachel was covered in a fine layer of dirt and food by Saturday evening.  The trip started off with a lovely tantrum that seemed to last forever.  I know it didn't only because it is not still going, but it was a long one.  Rachel was over tired and over excited which was not a winning combination for a nap.  She finally fell asleep for a very short nap and after that our weekend improved drastically.  Here are Rachel's highlights:

1. The Lake:  We had a great time swimming in the lake both days.  Someone even brought up a baby raft that Rachel was still small enough to fit in.  She loved being pulled around in it.  The lake while murky was an excellent way to wash off the dirt and make room for new dirt.  The lake was also fun to throw big rocks in.  Big rocks are more fun to throw in than little rocks even if you can barely lift them because they make a way better splash.

2. The Hill: Near the fire pit and eating area there was a great little hill that made an excellent ramp for rolling a ball down.  After the hill the ground was such that the ball would stop rolling so Rachel could go get it and do it all over again.

3. Camping Chairs:  Just like Goldilocks and the three bears, Rachel had to try out many different chairs before she found the one that was just right.  Some were too big to get into and some were too easy to pinch finger in (Rachel luckily did not discover this on her own).  Actually, she found 2 perfect chairs: a little toddler one and a medium sized one.  Both were great for climbing up and down on and even sitting in.

4. S'mores:  Rachel was introduced to toasted marshmallows and s'mores this year.  Not surprisingly they were a hit.

5. Playing outside all day long!
 

Little Lessons and Life

As summer vacation nears an end Rachel and I decided to resume tot school with a month of activities revolving around pond animals.  I found a blog with lap book printables geared toward toddlers.  In case you don't know a lap book is basically a file folder with activities glued inside.  Rachel's pond lap book includes a pocket with letters to spell her name which we use to sing, "there was a girl who had a name.." (the BINGO song), a counting mini book, a who lives in ponds mini book, and a coloring directions worksheet.  Each day we do tot school we start with her lap book.  Then we do a craft or coloring activity followed by either a bible story or other story about pond animals.  Rachel knows the routine, and if I try to change up the routine she lets me know that it isn't right.  Rachel loves routines and schedules.  When I ask her if she wants to do tot school she yells out, "tot school" and runs to her table to start.  I love that she is developing a love for learning.

Rachel is also learning to use the potty.  She has been super easy to potty train and has given me unrealistic expectations regarding how easy it is.  Rachel had been interested in the potty for months, so we finally headed to the store for a potty seat to fit on our toilet.  We soon noticed that while she really liked it her success was limited by her petite size.  Even with a stool she was just too short to reach the potty or the sink.  I broke down and bought her froggy potty chair which she loves and made a sink extension from an old lotion bottle (yet another great idea from pinterest).  About every 30 minutes she sits on her potty and goes.  At this point she primarily relies on me to remind her to go before it is too late.  In fact, the little stinker loves her potty so much that if she doesn't like what is for lunch and dinner she will claim she has to go potty and go sit down on it with a book.  There is now a rule of no books when you go potty during meal time.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

 

From Life with the Bjorks

We took Grandma and Grandpa to Fairytale Town when they visited.

From Life with the Bjorks

We had a tea party and she helped all the dolls by eating their cookies and drinking their water.

From Life with the Bjorks

Isn't she adorable!  As you can see we are still battling a rash that appears to be caused by the heat.  Only a month or so more until it should start cooling down.

Bay Area Break

We took a break from daily life and headed to the Bay Area for four days of fun.  Our first stop was Discovery Kingdom.  This was the highlight of the trip for Rachel because they had elephants.  We saw the elephants three times and the elephant show.  We watched the elephants eat hay, drink water, get a shower from their trainers, and perform tricks.  We also saw other animals, visited the butterflies, and rode a couple of rides that Rachel was tall enough for (she is still only between 31 and 32 inches), but these activities all paled in comparison to the elephants.

From Life with the Bjorks

Discovery Kingdom

From Life with the Bjorks

Discovery Kingdom

After our fun in Vallejo we packed up and continued on to San Fransisco.  We stayed in a condo so Rachel could nap every day and we could make our own meals.  It was very budget friendly and it was nice not to have to sit silently in a dark room while Rachel fell asleep.  However, she only ended up napping one day in the condo.  We did attempt it each day, but most days she crashed in her stroller long before her scheduled nap time.

Our first day in San Francisco we explored the batteries at the Presidio.  Rachel enjoyed climbing up and down all the stairs.  It was interesting to see and we were surprised to learn that the cement structures were over 100 years old.  After the Presidio and some quiet time in the condo we spent the evening at The Aquarium of the Bay.  It is a nice and somewhat small aquarium.  They have 2 long tunnels with lots of fish and sharks, jelly fish, and 2 touch pools.  Rachel was too short to pet the bat rays but she did get to touch a star fish.

From Life with the Bjorks

Presidio

From Life with the Bjorks

Presidio

From Life with the Bjorks

Aquarium

The next day we headed to the San Francisco zoo.  They do not have an elephant, but we were able to get Rachel excited about the Zebra and later the polar bears which stopped her from asking to see an elephant (which she asked for every morning).  Not thinking we saved the children's zoo till the end of the day and she fell asleep before we made it over there.  She would have enjoyed saying hi up close to all the farm animals.  We may have even convinced her to pet some.  After our afternoon condo break we headed out the Shakespeare Garden, Rose Garden, and a playground in the Golden Gate park.  The Shakespeare garden sounded like it had potential, but it was disappointing.  It didn't look that cared for and the presentation of the plants and the works of Shakespeare they corresponded with could have been a little better.  There was a list at the back of the garden.  Some plaques around the garden would have been nice and maybe some paths or something.  The gate into the park was pretty.  Rachel enjoyed running around the rose garden and smelling the flowers.  After she tired of that we headed to a toddler friendly playground we discovered on our walk to the rose garden.  Rachel made a friend at the playground.  He followed her around and copied everything she did.  She loved all the attention and even followed his lead a couple times.

From Life with the Bjorks

Zoo

From Life with the Bjorks

Zoo

From Life with the Bjorks

Rose Garden

On our final day we checked out the Randall Museum.  This is a fun and free children's museum.  They have some animals, an earthquake duplo platform that you can build a structure on and then push the button to test its ability to withstand an earthquake, a toddler room with toys, and a train area.  Brian was super excited to see how much she loved the duplos.  After play time we enjoyed our lunch on their grounds which are on a hill overlooking the city.  Following lunch we headed to the beach to squeeze in a little more fun before going home.  Rachel really wanted to go in the water, but took "no" very well and enjoyed playing in the sand until it was time to head home.

From Life with the Bjorks

Beach

Summer Update

From Life with the Bjorks

After about a month off from blogging I am back.  It has been a crazy couple of weeks.  I decided to work 3 weeks of summer school this year.  I worked 3 hours a week for the past year and enjoyed it.  Summer school gave me chance to dip my feet into working more hours (6 hours a day 5 days a week to be exact).  I was blessed with 2 interns and by the end they were doing all the work while I watched.  They will both make great speech therapists/assistants and I enjoyed supervising and training them.  After working all those hours I can safely say working full time or even more part time hours is not for me.  The moms that do are AMAZING!  I love being a speech therapist and I love being a mom, but being a speech therapist everyday would cause me to lose my sanity.  It is really hard to go to work, give Rachel and Brian attention, and keep on top of all the house work.  Plus Rachel let me know through her behavior that having a working mommy is not okay; although, she was great for her baby sitters.  At the end of the three weeks I found out my district is hiring me again next year for the 3 hours a week.  Thank you God for a wonderfully flexible job that allows me to be a mommy and wife first.

After finishing up 3 weeks of work, I worked VBS at my church as the craft director.  I have always said doing crafts with kiddos is not my thing.  I don't like mess, but in the end I loved being the craft director.  Yes, the stamping day and the painting day were intense in terms of set up and clean up, but overall it was an easy and fun position and my helper was fantastic.  Volunteering at VBS allowed Rachel to attend.  She loves the nursery, so this was a good week with very little challenging behaviors at home as compared to the previous weeks.  Rachel also loved the morning singing in the sanctuary she even attempted some of the moves which was super cute to watch.

Beside working, Rachel and I having been taking swim lessons at the community center.  She is enrolled in Tadpoles with other babies/toddlers.  She loves the water and has no fear.  This is both a good and bad thing.  A little healthy fear can be a good thing.  Besides learning to kick, scoop, and hold her breath we have worked with her on walking around the pool, stopping and waiting until someone tells her it is okay to get in, and grabbing the wall.  Her favorite pool activities are jumping in and playing ring around the rosy.  She even falls down/goes under all by herself.  We have one more session of swim lessons left this summer starting in a couple weeks.

How to Swat Flies

Rachel thought it was time to share another one of the things she learned.  Last week she learned how to swat those  pesky flies that sneak into the house.

Step 1: Locate the fly by pointing and yelling, "fly!"
Step 2: Swat at it with whatever you have handy.  A doll bib works great.
Repeat step 1 and 2 until all the flies are gone.

Also check out her fabulous outfit.  She dressed herself.  Shirts make great capes.  If you are going to be a successful fly killer you must have a cape.

Pop Goes the Weasel

Rachel has been hard at work learning all sorts of finger plays and rhymes. She knows "pat-a-cake," "if your happy and you know it," and can sing part of the last line of the "abc's." The other night we played with a cardboard box and learned "pop goes the weasel." Enjoy!

A Hiking We Will Go

From Life with the Bjorks

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!

I decided to celebrate Mother's Day today, on Saturday, because Sundays always seem really full. Between church, Rachel's nap, and our weekly grocery shopping trip who has time for a fun celebration. To celebrate being Rachel's mommy we went hiking at Hidden Falls Regional Park in Auburn. Auburn roads can be confusing even with directions, and after getting a little lost we found the place. When we finally pulled into the parking lot "hidden" felt like an appropriate description. We hiked down to the falls and enjoyed the view. It was pretty warm in the sun, but luckily a fair amount of the way is shaded. The waterfall was really full making for a gorgeous view from the observation deck. The observation deck was very toddler friendly with narrow railings, only a few people, and one narrow exit back to the trail. The hike up to the parking lot was a little tougher, but it was doable even toting a toddler in a backpack. After our hike we were rewarded with a shady picnic table and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Then we headed home for some R&R. On the agenda for tonight: gluten free ham and pineapple pizza and lemonade cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese frosting, mmmm.

From Life with the Bjorks

Time for a water and picture break

From Life with the Bjorks

Check out the view

From Life with the Bjorks

Hiking back up