Children's Museum, Tilden Park and Other Stuff I Don't Want to Forget

So, for anyone who uses Google Reader, I accidentally posted BEFORE I wrote anything.
Oops...sorry for the confusion.

We've had a fun, busy week. We went swimming twice at a friends pool, went to the children's museum, and spent a lot of time at the park. The week flew by.

Tuesday was free day at the children's museum in Berkeley and it was surprisingly uncrowded. It was great. It was also Bastille Day (a french holiday) so they had several French themed activities and served french bread with cheese and grape juice. Very cute. We went with some friends and had a great time.
Matthew loves climbing in and on everything. This wagon was just the right size for him to get in and out of and sit in.

The crust on the french bread was a little tough :), but I love the chef hat.

Another climbing toy

Emma had a blast painting this wall. They also got to make and paint little French hats but we accidentally left Emma's there.

The water area...always a favorite. And in case you're wondering about the naked doll in the background...they had several dolls and baby bathtubs for the kids to bathe the babies. Matthew kept sitting in this bowl of water. Luckily I had thought to bring an extra pair of clothes.

Emma loved painting her arms and face with the face paints. Afterwards she sat there looking in the mirror and making different faces at herself.

Emma brought all the food to the chicken and said she was feeding it.It was a fun day. We can't wait to go back. They have several free days throughout the summer so we are excited.

I bought Emma some tablets that grow into shapes when you put them in water. Notice anything strange about the package???
(BUG shapes??? Those look like sea creatures to me) :)

The kids love to stand on a bucket and watch the fish.

Saturday we met up with Jon's family at Tilden Park. We got there early so Jon and Emma went exploring while Matthew and I waited in the car. He loves pretending to drive.

After his family got there we waited for the carousel to open. There was lots of room to run and explore.

FINALLY it was time for the carousel. Emma was so excited, she couldn't stand all the waiting. She got to ride it 3 times and could have ridden it all day.

Matthew rode it twice and didn't know what to think. He liked watching all the lights, but just sat there the whole ride.

After the carousel we went back outside for a picnic and some more play time.

Emma carefully built this out of Twizzlers and said it was her instrument.

Jon trying to stand on this stick. He got up but the stick eventually broke.

Our next stop was the train. They have a cute little steam train that takes you on a pretty long ride through the woods. They have little towns built along the way and an engine shed, etc.

Emma LOVES trains so she was ecstatic.

We spent the rest of the day with Jon's family visiting and swimming. It was great. Emma hasn't stopped talking about it all. It was seriously the ultimate day for her. And it was a great for us too. We had all the time we wanted so we weren't rushing. Nap times coincided with travel times so kids were happy. It was just a great day.

We found another play vacuum at a yard sale so we grabbed it. The kids fight over ours so this was perfect.

And I just had to show this because I was so excited. I got all of this at CVS for $12.50 and got $13 back!!! The $13 is in CVS bucks, but I shop there enough that I don't mind. The school supplies were all free (I paid and then got the same amount back in CVS bucks) and then a couple coupons printed out for different amounts off of my next order. I was so excited!

On a completely random note, I also just wanted to write down a couple of things that I don't want to forget about the kids. Matthew is at that age where he is constantly learning and doing new things. It's crazy how fast he is growing up. He can say a few words. He says thank you (dan do) when we give him something and he usually says it for us too. He also says cracker, night night, bye, and I did it (didit). He has also started taking his diapers and throwing them away after we change him. It is awesome. He can climb up, on, and in everything and anything. The other day he climbed onto the glider rocker, stood up on the arm of it, and then climbed up onto the 3rd shelf of the book case. I came in the room and saw him happy as can be crouched on the shelf trying to do a puzzle. He has no fear.

Emma is realizing more and more that Matthew can be fun to play with and has been doing more things with him...some good, some not so good. She still has her not so nice moments, but it's getting better. She loves "preschool". She doesn't go, but anytime we practice learning letters, etc she tells everyone that she went to preschool. She also loves calling Grandma, Jenny, and Fij and will talk forever. Thank you guys for listening to her. It makes her day. She loves sleeping in her new big bed and is doing well with it.

We love these kids!