Good Day, Sunshine!

I know it's February, and I should be complaining about the cold, foggy days, but, well, that would be lying.  The weather has been gorgeous for two straight weekends -- I'm talking short sleeves and flip flops gorgeous -- and we certainly have taken advantage of it.

Last weekend, my parents and my best friend Kristen and her husband Todd came over.  We had a great time, and we definitely appreciated my parents watching Charlotte while we went to our friends' annual Super Bowl party.  Charlotte just had such a blast with my parents.  In fact, on Monday morning when Chris was combing out Charlotte's hair (which she hates), and Charlotte called out "Mimi!" I think my mom was pretty tickled that Charlotte was calling her for comfort.  And after they left on Monday, Charlotte has continued to talk to Mimi and Papi all week.  She talks to them on the phone and she calls out their names when she sees their pictures around the house.  The funniest is when she sees this painting and shouts "Papa:" (American Gothic, by Grant Wood, which we have as a magnet on our refrigerator):

Poor Papi. :)

Charlotte also learned the French word for diaper sometime over the weekend, which I didn't know until Monday night, when she pulled out a clean diaper and said "cou-couche" (couche is the actual word, but like all French speakers, my mom makes it double-speak, like I do for the words for bread and bath - "pain-pain" and "bain-bain").

The rate that Charlotte is learning new words is astounding.  Like the other day, when pointed up at the sky and said "moon."  Or today, when we were driving to Fairytale Town and she was looking at these French-English flashcards that my friend Kristen got her and said "house" while pointing to the card with a picture of a house on it.  (Charlotte doesn't read, obviously, so she just looks at the pictures and we usually point out the English word).  Clearly, something has clicked and she's voicing all the words she's recognized for months.

Speaking of Fairytale Town, we went there today.  It is such a fun place, located in Land Park in Sacramento.  There are animals to see that go with specific fairytales (three goats for the Three Billy Goats Gruff, a giant spider for Charlotte's Web, the four bunnies from Peter Rabbit, etc.), which is where Charlotte learned to say baaaa for sheep when she saw Mary's Little Lambs the first time we went last September.  There are several fun things for the kids to do -- Charlotte loves the slide from Jack and the Beanstalk, but her favorite is actually Cinderella's pumpkin carriage.



Charlotte liked this big bunny more than the real, live bunnies

 We also went to the Folsom Zoo yesterday and  then went on the little steam train that runs adjacent to it.  Charlotte had so much fun.  The entire drive home, she was pumping her hand up and down and yelling "choo-choo!"  The conductor was great, and taught us how to take better pictures with our camera, because apparently he also has a BA in photography.

On the train, getting ready to go



The picture taken by the conductor, who programmed all these settings that we didn't even know about, and gave us tips on taking pictures of people.

 Oh, and I forgot that Charlotte helped me bake cookies to give to her friends at daycare tomorrow for Valentine's Day.  She was such a good helper, even if all she really wanted to do was eat the cookie dough.



Helping roll out the dough...




Charlotte is clearly happy with the results

 All in all, a fabulous two weekends.  I even took an hour-long bike ride during Charlotte's nap today.  I saw some beautiful white bird of prey about to stalk something, but I didn't hang around to find out what; I also saw a hawk resting in a large oak tree; and, best of all, I nearly managed to run over a wild turkey as I crossed a small bridge.  The turkey was in my path as I neared the bridge, and I figured he would just get off to the side.  Instead, he decided to start running across the bridge, with me two feet behind him.  And he was still there when I made the trek back across the bridge on my way home, some 20 minutes later.  This time, he just flew up right in front of me and landed on the railing of the bridge.  The bike ride was so nice, flying along the bike path, alongside the creeks and huge, leaf-less oak trees.  It really made me appreciate all the wildlife that exists around these wetlands in Folsom.  The ride also made me want to get a bike trailer immediately, so that we can enjoy a bike ride as a family.

I'd say we enjoyed our 75 degree weather to the fullest.  Good thing as the rain is back, starting tomorrow and lasting all week.