April Outings

April wasn't all injury and illness...it was also a month of outings/parties/holidays/fun!  A few months ago, Jason and I started talking about re-arranging his SCI-FIT schedule, so that we could have more time together as a family.  Since October 2011, Jason has gone to SCI-FIT pretty much every Saturday, leaving home around 8am and returning around 1pm...by the time Savannah had her nap, this left very little time to do anything together as a family.  So, as of April 1, Jason no longer does SCI-FIT on Saturdays (we now have the standing frame/glider, so he is able to get a lot of the gym workout done at home...he's still putting in at least three hours at SCI-FIT a week, though).  We have made good use of our time together, going on lots of little outings with Savannah.  Without further ado, this is what April looked like for us!

Dying Easter eggs...a little tricky to do this one handed, but Sav did a great job!

The Easter bunny was good to her.

I spent a morning in Savannah's classroom with her, post-collar bone fracture.  I highly recommend all parents do this: one, I was super impressed with how all the teachers manage 18, 2-3 year olds (and the kids listen to them so well!), and two, I got to see what a normal day looks like for her, which was awesome.

Painting, one of her favorite activities.

Savannah and I went to a tea room in Niles (called Thyme for Tea..HIGHLY recommend!).  She got to have "tea" (apple juice in a tea pot) in a fancy cup, and lots of finger sandwiches and treats.

They even provide a big bin of hats for you to rummage through...I thought Savannah picked the perfect one for her little head :)

Cute kids plate of goodies.

Annual trip to Harley Farms to see the new baby goats...these had just been born within the last 24 hours!

Savannah was initially wary...

But she warmed up eventually (especially once one of her school friends joined in on the fun!)

Lots of picture walks....

Saturday morning "hike" on the Alameda Creek Trail

Sometimes, I forget how beautiful NorCal is...it's nice to be reminded occasionally!

Post-walk lunch...tired girl.

And tired puppy.

She's really been into dressing up the last few weeks...

At school, Savannah and her friends often talk about San Francisco, so we decided to actually take her there (horrible parents that we are, she'd only ever been once prior to this outing...)

She actually did enjoy the BART ride (I think this was her favorite part)

Ferry Building, views of Bay bridge and Treasure Island

We got ice cream soon after arriving, then Savannah turned to us and said, "ok, now I want to go home."  

We ended the month with a lovely birthday party for one of her best buddies.  She was super excited to try out his baseball equipment!

And ice cream sandwiches, a first for her...she was a fan :)

We're only a day and a bit into May, but it's already shaping up to be a great month.  Classes ended at Berkeley yesterday, so I'll have more free time to dissertate (trying to finish up my second chapter in the next two weeks...), though I still will proctor my kids' final exam on May 17 (we got the 8am spot....woohooo! Nothing like leaving Fremont at 6 something in the morning to watch students take an exam for three hours). But, perhaps most excitingly...we're going to Disneyland on May 20!  Our tickets and vacation package stuff came in the mail yesterday (we booked through AAA and, so far, I've been very impressed, both with price and the "extras" you get for going through them)...Savannah doesn't know about this trip, though I could probably tell her "we're going to Disneyland," and it wouldn't mean much to her....now, if I said "we're going to where the princesses live," that'd be something else entirely....  We're planning on just putting her in the car, and surprising her with Cinderella's castle....hopefully it works.  I've found that, lots of times as a parent, when you're very excited about something you've planned for your child, their reaction doesn't always match up to your expectations (see this: http://www.babble.com/babble-voices/roadside-assistance-kristen-howerton/2013/04/23/epic-fail-disneyland-surprises-gone-wrong-alternate-title-kids-are-the-worst/).  I'm hoping this is not one of those times :)

Love you all,

Ashley