We spent the last few days in San Diego, for a cousin’s wedding. Among the highlights for the girls: visiting the beach (despite the cool temps and wind), dancing at the wedding, hanging out in the pool (once it got warmer) and – of course – spending lots of time with family.

-M

Avery sometimes grumbles and drags her feet about helping out, but she was more than willing to help Daddy pump gas the other day.

-M

A little blurry but still something to be shared: Photos of the (very happy) girls putting on a puppet show at a museum recently.

-M

Zoe recently took an interest in texting and e-mailing, which we let her do with supervision. I looked through a recent text thread between her and her dad and had to smile. “What did you eat for lunch today?” she asked him and later wrote (out of the blue) “I love you Daddy.”

I’ve also gotten my share of sweet notes – my in-box contains an e-mail that says simply, “I love you Mommy so much.” I won’t be deleting that any time soon.

-M

Avery comes home from school with drawings or paintings almost every day; below is a recent sampling.

-M

As Zoe got ready for school this morning (her first day back from spring break), I heard her talking from the other room. “Avery,” she scolded her sister (in her Little-Mommy voice), “you aren’t being proactive.” She paused and then continued: “Proactive is when you’re not asked to make your bed – you just do it.”

Sadly, Avery ignored her sister and didn’t make her bed – but I was still impressed that Zoe tried to get her to. (And I didn’t even know she knew that word!)

-M

And another spring-break video: This one a Frozen-inspired song that Zoe and family sang on Passover (and further proof of the reach of this movie).

-M

Another fun thing Avery did for her break: Go to a one-day PE/dance camp. The video below captures part of her day, and I’m thinking – based on the 1:02 mark - that softball might be in Avery’s future.

-M

This week is the girls’ spring break, and when I heard that one of their favorite bands was giving a free concert at a nearby library I circled the date on our calendar. The three of us headed to see the Alphabet Rockers yesterday; not only did the duo sing the girls’ favorite song (“Food Calculator”) but they also posed for a pic. (And look how much bigger Zoe is than when she first met them!)

-M

While driving home from school with the girls the other day, another drive cut me off. I mumbled about it, and Avery piped up from the backseat, “He’s an a-hole” (though she used the whole word). Horrified, I quickly told Avery that we shouldn’t say that word and that if she heard Mommy say it before I was sorry – I shouldn’t have said it. Later, when I told Q the story (and Avery was out of earshot), I asked Zoe, “I don’t say that word that much, do I?” She shrugged and said, “Maybe once a week or every other.” “No way -  I don’t say it that often!” I squealed. “It’s okay, Mommy,” Zoe comforted me. “We’re working on it.”

-M

We had friends come over for the second night of Passover; here’s a pic of the girls with two of our guests.

-M

Tuesday night was the first night of Passover, and we hosted a Seder dinner here. The highlight for the girls (aside from singing the Four Questions)? Reuniting with their cousin Isaac.

-M

Safta and PopPop arrived yesterday – here was the scene at lunch.

-M

And while Q and Avery were away on Saturday, Zoe and I spent much of our day (after a quick shopping expedition) preparing Passover food in the kitchen. Zoe was a great sous chef – gathering and measuring ingredients and prepping for each recipe. I couldn’t help but smile when she looked up from grating potatoes (not an easy task) and said to me, “Mommy, this is sooooo much fun. Seriously – I’m so glad I didn’t go to the baseball game.” And, later: “I never knew cooking could be so much fun!”

I think a new tradition has been made.

-M

Q took Avery to the Giants game on Saturday. She had a lot of fun, Q reported, and had no problem watching all nine innings. And I had to laugh before they left, when she insisted on wearing a tulle skirt – not your normal baseball-watching attire – to the game. (Hey, at least it matched her new pink Giants shirt.)

-M