Om Cultural center

There is a yoga studio a few blocks from where we live that has an open play session a few times each week. The room is set up with trampolines, balance beams, ropes and these cool indoor swings. It is a mellow atmosphere without many rules, and the kids loved it. Even with all the cool equipment the favorite activity was hiding under the stage and playing monsters. The session finished with a drum and singing circle which the grown ups liked even more than the kids I think.

It was almost impossible to get a good picture as the kids were moving all the time, but here are a few of the afternoons craziness.

Passe, Passe, Passe

Passe, Passe, Passe is what M and Z say when they are showing off their latest ballet moves. They have just started a class with friends Morgan and Mackenzie and Wynn and Mia. The mums are banished outside in this class, but we take sneak peeks through the window to see the cuteness of 10 3 year olds practicing their plies and jumps.

The sand box

The sand box is an indoor sand volley ball facility in the south end of Seattle. A few mornings a week they open it up to kids under 6 so they can play in it. There are sand toys, trucks and slides and the sand itself is lovely. It is a basically a giant, very clean sand pit. This week I met 2 other twin moms I know there and even though it was really busy because it was a holiday, all the kids had a good time. It wasn't quite the beach holiday that I need, but sandcastles in February in Seattle-I'll take it.

Green fingers part 2.

We made these at the NW garden show a couple of weeks ago. The kids drew faces on old nylon tights, filled them with soil and grass seeds and then we watered them so they would grow "hair." It took a while but they are finally in need of a haircut:)

Shiny teeth

Last week I finally took M and Z to see a dentist. Our Dr. is very laid back and said 3 was fine for a first visit, and as I do not love the dentist I didn't want to subject them to it before I had to. I chose Greenlake Kids dentistry for them as I wanted them to have a pediatric dentist and it was amazing. It really was like a spa adventure for toddlers, instead of a dentist.

They were greeted by the dental technicians when we arrived and got a full tour of the place. They got to meet Dr. Troy and then they were given their goody bags that had been decorated with their names. The dental nurses showed them where all the swag was and they filled up their bags with toothbrushes, sparkly toothpaste and other goodies. After all this excitement they finally got their teeth cleaned, which they both loved. They got to lie down and watch a movie whilst they were having it done. I would like to lay down and watch a movie when I get my teeth cleaned. I'm going to suggest it to my dentist the next time I go.

Their teeth are in great shape according to the dentist, and they were very clean he said. Zoe has a little space at the front of her teeth from her binkie, but he said she will likely grow out of that. Otherwise she'll be getting braces when she is older. They really loved going to the dentist and ask to go their all the time since then, so I'd say our first visit was success.

Green Fingers

This week was the Northwest garden show in Seattle. I have never been to a garden show like this and I have to say I was very impressed. The show was downtown at the convention center and had 2 main parts. The first was the show gardens, all based on musical themes. They were all amazing, but we didn't get to spend too much time there as the kiddos were desperate to make it to the play garden.

The second part was all the things for sale and the wonderful children's garden. At first I thought we'd last about 30 minutes and need to go, but M and Z and the BFF's played for over 3 hours! They planted seeds, made grass seed heads, planted and unplanted the boxes, poured for ages in the seed troughs, wheeled things around and played Max's mud in the toy kitchen. They loved the huge white tutus that are obviously essential to gardening success and when they got tired of that they watched the shows. Zoe actually volunteered to be in the show and got to assist the artist with her insect songs. She was a natural on stage:)

I wasn't really expecting this outing to be such a success, but we all had a great time and will be back next year for sure. The garden theme is Hollywood, I'm excited already!

Rattlesnake Lake

Another sunny day in Seattle so we headed East to North bend to do some 'hiking.' I say 'hiking' as we didn't really walk very far. We started by checking out the map and planning our route. For the record Max said he wanted to go through the lake, but Zoe at least was smart enough to say that we would need a boat for that. Anyway we set off around the lake but were slowed down by playing hide and seek, throwing rocks in the lake, building and hiding in a fort, paddling in the 'muddy mud' and lake, chasing the ducks and practicing our rock climbing skills. Zoe and Max live by the hiking adage that a hike is a journey not a destination, and today was a pretty perfect journey:)

Tacoma's new museum

Tacoma's new children's museum opened a couple of weeks ago. It is the first Non profit children's museum in the country, so admission is on a donation system. They have done a nice job with all the play spaces and the kids had a great time. Max loved the water area and Zoe really enjoyed the fantastic art room.

We went along with the BFF's and after a morning of great play we had a lunch at a local cafe and then headed out in the sunshine to play by the water front. Another fun Friday:)

Bye Bye Nani White and Nani Pink

Max and Zoe have finally said goodbye to their pacifiers. They have only been using them at night for a long time now, but at the 3 year check up the Dr. said that they had to go, so that is what we have done.

A few people I know came up with the idea of having a special goodbye to their pacifiers (or nanis as Max and Zoe have always called them.) They took the pacis to build a bear and put them inside a special stuffed animal. I wasn't really sure about this as I thought it might drive them crazy having it in there, but it actually has worked quite well.

We went last Saturday and Max picked out a dragon and Zoe chose a ballerina polar bear. They loved the whole process of picking the animal and stuffing and 'bathing' it. Max was the first to say goodbye to his beloved nani. He said "Goodbye nani white, you are so comfy and I love you". It made me sad, he was trying so hard to be brave. Zoe said "Bye nani pink" and then they were sealed up in the stuffed animals.

Since then Max has asked for his nani a couple of times, but hasn't had any trouble going to sleep at all. As for Zoe it has been lot harder. It has been nearly a week and she is still taking a really long time to go to sleep. Hopefully she'll adjust soon.

So another way that my babies are just not babies any more. They are growing up so fast.