This morning at Manhattan Beach

Glenn decided to take the morning off and go to the beach with Violet and I today!  We had the nicest morning.  We played on the beach for about an hour and a half, and then walked down the pier to the aquarium (which was closed, which made Violet very sad).

(Courtney, you are right, she makes a crazy face every time we take her picture lately!) 

Then we went to Wahoo's for lunch!  We do this almost every time we go to Manhattan Beach, and I was really looking forward to it today!  Today, though, I branched out from my usual, the Bonzai tofu burrito, and instead got the Bonzai shrimp burrito.  And can you believe it?  The tofu one is better!  Now I know to stick to what I know.

Afterwards, I convinced Glenn that we should go to the creamery across the street, and it was probably the best decision I've ever made in my life.  I always see it when we are there, and we've just never taken the time to go.  Now you won't be able to keep me away!  I got pralines and cream ice cream (sooooooo good!), and Glenn got red velvet.

They also had the most amazing looking cupcakes I have ever seen, which is what I might try next time we go, and lots of delicious looking chocolate covered things.  Someone come visit us so I can take you here!

Spider Pavilion (and also How Glenn Is Amazing)

Glenn did the most amazing thing this morning!  He participated in a race sponsored by the dental school.  There is a big pool of money that everyone who runs the race gets a share of.  If you finish the race in under an hour, you get two shares of the money.  If you also beat the dean of the school, you get three shares of the money.  The race is 5 miles, which I think sounds hard anyway, but it is also up a mountain the whole way!  So you race 5 miles to the summit, and then you can go back whatever speed you want, because the race is over.  ANYWAY, Glenn did it in less than an hour and beat the dean!  I'm so proud of him!

Since Violet and I had the morning to ourselves, and today they opened the spider pavilion at the NHM for members only, we decided to walk over there.  Here was Violet's reaction to the spiders:

And then she promptly turned around and left.  Haha!  I don't blame her though, the spiders were creepy.  Here is the best shot I got of one.

The big ones were about the size of your hand, including the legs.  Violet did enjoy making a spider crown after we left the real spiders, and wore it the rest of the time we were at the museum.  She kept telling me, "Mom, I look so cool!".  

I also managed to get a couple of pictures of Violet in parts of the museum BESIDES by the polar bear and dueling dinos, for once.

Sabertooth cats are one of Violet's favorite things right now, so I got a picture of her with one of those:

Fun with antlers:

VIP! (Very Important Post!)

And I guess I'm also talking about a Very Important Person!  Here's the big news...

Violet is getting a sister!  And if this new girl is as vivacious and sassy as Violet, Glenn and I are in for it.  Particularly Glenn.  He is going to be surrounded by bossy girls!  

I meant to document the appointment a little better by taking some pictures with my new (smart!) phone, but it died right after Glenn took this picture of Violet and I walking out the door:

Can you tell Violet was excited??  And we are excited too.  Of course a boy would have been neat too, but I really wanted a sister for Violet.  I love having a sister close to my age.  Another cool thing about having a girl?  She will be exactly the same months younger than Maggie (the only cousin on my side of the family) as Violet is older.  Basically, Maggie is exactly between them in age, so I bet the three of them will be the best of friends!

We are also a little relieved about it being a girl because we didn't have ANY ideas for names for boys, and we have several girl names we both like, so now it is just a matter of choosing one!

A haircut!

One of the last days we were in AZ, Violet got a haircut!  I just wanted all her hair evened out; it was pretty scraggly around the bottom.  Although this before picture makes it look REALLY bad, but that is because we had just taken it out of pigtails.

She did really well during the haircut, mostly due to the ring pop.  She did start to cry at the end, and insisted that I hold hands with her the rest of the time.

About 5 inches were cut off in the back!  I felt like I hardly recognized Violet for a few days afterwards!  I didn't take any after pictures, but yesterday at the museum I took some pictures that show off the new 'do pretty well.  Enjoy!

Hanging out with Benson in AZ

Almost through all my AZ pics!  

One of the fun things about staying at Glenn's parents' house was that Violet's cousin Benson was there all the time!  Ben and Lauri lived with Glenn's parents' for the summer, and about halfway through the week that we stayed there, they moved to Seattle.  However, they left Benson there for three days while they drove their moving truck to Seattle and then flew down to get Benson, so Benson was there practically the whole time we were!  

They had fun playing together, and interacted more and more the longer we were there.  On Thursday, after Ben and Lauri left, Glenn and I babysat Benson for the whole day.  We got a taste for what it's like to have two kids!  And the first time we drove somewhere, Violet wasn't strapped into her car seat the whole time and we didn't even notice, so apparently we need some practice...

We went to the mall for "kid's club".  First, there were some songs and stories for the kids to listen to.

There was a person dressed up as a squirrel for this, and Violet was (understandably) wary of that creature.  She didn't let him out of her sight for one second, which is why she isn't looking in this picture.

The best part of Kid's Club was that they got to ride the carousel for free!  Violet loves carousels, and it seemed like Benson had a good time too!

(Don't worry, Lauri.  Despite what this picture may otherwise suggest, Glenn was sober the whole time)

After Kid's Club, we met my mom for lunch at Spinato's, a pizza place by her work.  Glenn and I were struck by how much easier it is to take care of a kid at a restaurant when they like to eat (Benson) than when they don't (Violet). 

That afternoon, I found Violet and Benson playing in the back bedroom in the bookcase.  Glenn ran in a little too late with the camera, but you can still basically see what they were up to.  Benson was "hiding" in the bottom shelf, so Violet climbed up and "hid" right above him.  They were pretty pleased with themselves when I found them!