What do you do on a rainy day after a Costco run?

Play with the jumbo pack of paper towels and toilet paper, of course. 

After Tubby Time

After getting Jonah out of the bath (not an easy feat) we had to convince him to put some clothes on.  He was perfectly happy cuddling with his towel instead.

Elephants

The elephant exhibit opened in December at the zoo.  It wasn't until recently that we finally got the chance to make it there to see it.  Thus far the giraffes have been our favorite animals to see, but these amazing elephants are a very close second.  On this day my dad accompanied the kids and I.

To wrap the the long weekend in Arcata...

Jonah decided he was done wearing his jammies.

Our long weekend in Arcata flew by.  Though we wish we were visiting for happier occasions, we did our best to enjoy our family and our surroundings.  To wrap up the weekend in Arcata, we went to visit Grandpa Tipple, Ba-chan, and Grandpa Lee down at G & G T's house.  Jonah insisted on using the potty.  Lately, he has been more interested in the potty but he still hasn't quite figured out what he's supposed to do with it besides sitting on it.

 The afternoon before headed south on our 12+ hour car drive, we went to visit Mei and Koko.  After playtime and tea time we, bundled up to play in the playground.  Cairo and Mei had a great time running around together and Jonah did his best to join in on the fun.

Jonah's Song

Currently Jonah's favorite song is Happy Birthday... but he has added his own twist to it.  It goes "Happy Birthday Daddy Jesus."  He sings it over and over and over again.  Often times, he sings it quite loud.  Cairo hates this song and spends a lot of time trying to get this to stop singing it.  If only she would stop singing happy birthday herself.  

Have a listen-

Cairo and Mei's slumber party

This afternoon Mei came over to play with Cairo.  Much to the excitement of the girls, an afternoon play-date turned into their first sleepover together.   The girls had dinner, watched Tinker Bell, took baths, played, made up their beds, and had a turn in front of the computer's photo booth.  We only had one small problem at bed time- the dragon.  About two minutes after I turned the lights out, Cairo called me back.  She told me that Mei said she saw a dragon.  Cairo, in her dramatic fashion, was clinging to my neck and insisting that I had to sleep with them to keep the dragon away.  It took me about five minutes to convince the girls that dragons were nice and just wanted to give them big sloppy kisses.  I also gave them a "magic" spoon that would help keep the dragons away.  It must have worked because less than ten minutes later the girls were fast asleep.

Watching Tinker Bell

Fun with Photo Booth:

Meet Koko Ruby

On the heels of family loss, came the birth of little Miss Koko Ruby Dedini.  Koko is my very, very beautiful niece and little sister to Mei.  Koko was born this past Thursday, January 13th at 11:59am.  She weighed a whopping 5 lb 14 oz (over three pounds lighter than Jonah)!  The day she was born was the same day Erik, the kids, and I were heading back up north to Bayside.  So luck would have it that I got to hold that sweet little girl when she was only 1 day old (I wasn't able to meet Mei until she was almost eight weeks old)... and I can't wait to get my hands on her again!

Good-bye

In the past two weeks we've had to say good-bye to two family members- Erik's Uncle Jay and Grandma Tipple.  Though Jay's death was unexpected, we hope that he has made his way to his final, peaceful resting place.

The day before we left at the end of winter break, we said our goodbyes to Grandma Tipple who was fighting her last stage of cancer.  I am so thankful of the time we had with her and I am thankful the my children had the opportunity to meet her.  I will miss my conversations with Erik's grandma about flowers and gardening.  I will miss our turns around the yard, examining the years plants and flowers.  I will miss her yummy cookies (you never left her house without a baggy full to take home).  I will miss the smile that would light up her face whenever she saw us.  She was an amazing mother, daughter, grandma, and great-grandma.