Zoe’s best friend at school, Leo, invited her to Children’s Fairyland yesterday. The small theme park (which we last visited just before Avery was born) is perfect for preschoolers – and it made for an incredibly fun playdate!

-M

Avery’s independent streak continues: the other day, she walked from one end of our bedroom to the other; the next night, she fed herself for the first time. (Q just handed her a spoon and yogurt, and then watched what happened. Obviously, all the pretend cooking and eating Avery does in Zoe’s kitchen has been good training!)

-M

While Zoe was enjoying her tropical-themed carnival at school, I also pretended it was a warm, sunny day and took Avery to the park for a playdate. The cool temperature and low clouds didn’t seem to bother her – she’s a San Francisco baby, after all!

-M

Every Friday, there’s a different theme at Zoe’s camp – one week it was sports-related, another Friday was Crazy Hair Day. Today was Tropical Friday, and Zoe sported a cute surfer-girl outfit (thanks, GG-ma and Wendy!) and flamingo glasses (thanks, Safta and PopPop!). Despite the weather being far from tropical (it was 55 degrees at drop-off), Zoe said she had a fun time. And when I picked her up, several of the teachers demanded to know where she got the glasses and said they wanted a pair for themselves!

-M

The rest of our trip? More swimming and sunning, plus playing games and watching fireworks! (We were lucky enough to be staying at a place that did their own fireworks – and Zoe got to experience them for the first time.) As our plane touched down in San Francisco on Tues., Zoe turned to Q and said, “Thanks for taking us to Phoenix, Daddy. That was the best trip ever!” Even if we hadn’t had a fabulous time, this comment alone would have made my vacation!

-M

So, after a (relatively) quick and easy plane ride last Fri., we got to Phoenix. On our agenda the first few days? Swimming, playing in the “beach” area of the kids’ pool, and relaxing in our little cabana. Both girls took to the water and sand right away, and Avery even followed in her sister’s footsteps (scroll down) by snoozing poolside! (The reason that’s such a big deal? She’s not much of an away-from-her-crib napper. I guess the hot desert air got to her!)

-M

We returned from our trip to Phoenix this afternoon. We all had a lot of fun, but the heat and travel obviously wore out the girls – as these driving-home-from-the-airport pics make evident. More soon!

-M

As in years past, we headed out of town for the holiday. We’re in (hot) Phoenix for a long weekend, and we’ll post pictures soon. Have a great holiday, everyone!

-M

Zoe is (still) quite the talker and story-teller. For your weekend viewing pleasure, here’s a video of one her recent tales.

-M

I love watching babies learn new things: Once they pick something up, they usually start doing it again and again and never look back. Though this hasn’t been the case with Avery and walking (she can take steps, but her preference for now is to stay on all fours), it’s certainly true of her clapping. She put her hands together for the first time a few weeks ago and now constantly claps and laughs – especially when music is on. One of my favorite things to do these days is turn on a song in the car and watch Avery put her hands together in excitement.

-M

Before Safta and PopPop left (and because we were all dressed up for a baby-naming ceremony), we decided to take a few family photos on Sunday. Here’s the best of the bunch.

-M