Last Call

If you've been wanting to donate, but just haven't gotten around to it... it's time! We walk this Sunday. So far we've raised $2,418.00 for Parkinson's Disease thanks to you. We even have two more members of our team, my friends Mandy and Bryan who walk in honor of Bryan's grandpa, and a good family friend. So seven members of Team Tait hit Santa Monica this Sunday. My mom comes to town tomorrow (counting the minutes!), so blogging might be light until Monday, but of course I will share our adventures once she heads back east. Until then - donate! Maybe we can hit $2,500 by Sunday.

Happy Easter

Spring Break Wrap Up

We've had a great spring break. Went to the zoo with Tyler's Pre-K class. Tyler got to crash Audrey's music class. Hit a few parks, picked up new soccer shoes for Tyler's soccer class that starts next week. Saw some cousins that were in town for the day. Spent a morning at The Americana. Stayed up late watching movies. I started the spring session of Ladybug Music, and it went great (love the new CD). Friday all four of us had all day free, and even though I really wanted to head to Laguna Beach, Tyler had been begging and begging to ride the subway - so that's what we did. Took a subway adventure to Chinatown. (Maybe we can squeeze in Laguna before Adam starts work again in a week). Here is our Friday:

Getting subway tickets.

Checking out the map.

Silly girl.

Here comes the train. It was very exciting.

Audrey and Tyler found their seats and this photo depicts their personalities perfectly. Audrey smiling, ready for adventure, and Tyler very serious - holding on for dear life.

Chinatown!

We had fun walking around, shopping in little souvenir shops, picked up some yummy ginger tea. But really, we went to Chinatown for the food. We ate at the Plum Tree Restaurant. So good. The teacups were just Audrey's size.

All our food. We ordered so much and had a ton leftover. Steamed dumplings, spicy eggplant, lo mein noodles, lemon chicken, hot and sour soup. Delish!

The kids loved the chopsticks.

We wandered around a bit more, then stopped in a Chinese bakery and brought home honey wontons, and red bean sweet roll. They were really yummy, too. The ride home everyone was pooped. This is what the kids and I would look like if we still lived in New York City. Riding the subway home with that blank stare straight ahead, exhausted by the city (except I wouldn't leave my purse just sitting open in the middle isle).

It's been a great week, and we're ending it with an Easter Egg hunt at Grandma Tait's tomorrow. Happy Easter Weekend!

Break

Hello friends. I am taking a bit of a blogging break this week. Mostly to enjoy Spring Break with Tyler, Audrey, and Adam. Also, it's the first week of Ladybug Music's spring session so I'm on overload and something's gotta give. I'm sure I'll be back toward the end of the week with photos and stories of our spring break adventures. Have a great week, and hope you're hoarding Easter candy like we are over here. Mmmmmm... Cadbury.

Let the Egg Hunting Begin!

Yesterday was our first Easter party of the season. Tyler's Pre-K class had a fantastic party at the nearby park. A great way to kick-off spring break. Adam and I were free, so we stayed to help out, and Audrey got to party with the big kids.

Pizza party. The kids all wore bunny ears they had made in class (except for Tyler who did not want to put them on).

Cookie decorating was a big hit.

Tyler running around the park with friends.

Pizza and a fresh-picked flower from Audrey.

Here is Tyler's class getting ready to play games with their teacher, Mrs. K. Mrs. K is truly the most amazing teacher. She is born to teach, and it is so clear how much she loves these kids. I cannot say enough good things about her. We were so lucky to have spent this year with her, and she has done so much for Tyler. We love her!

Egg race!

Parachute games. I love the kids who can barely see because their "bunny ears" are in their eyes. But they still have huge smiles on their faces.

Then the Easter Egg Hunt. So fun.

A mouthful of jelly beans.

Audrey and Tyler are at the most adorable ages right now. The egg hunt began and they raced off as fast as they could, collecting the eggs and searching for more. So happy to have a bag full of goodies. So joyful. One egg hunt down, another one tomorrow morning.

Busy Week

I have slightly slacked on the blog this week, but only because we have been running around like crazy over here. Here are a few things going on:

Adriana was here for an overnight before her next cruise. It was amazing to see her as always. Check out photos she took of my kids here.
Tyler's school open house.
Hosted a baby shower.
Dance class for Audrey. Karate for Tyler. Pilates for me. Auditions for Adam.
An Easter Egg hunt or two.
Cat sitting for a friend of ours for the next week and a half. Have you read the Olivia books and seen the pictures of Olivia carrying her cat around the house? That is Audrey with these three kitties. Poor things. I'm not sure they look forward to us coming over, but they are desperate for attention so they seem to put up with it.
Ladybug Music training for the new session that starts next week. I have (super awesome) kids music coming out of my ears!
Figuring out spring break plans for next week. Wahoo! Love spring break!

A few photos from the school open house. They served In-N-Out Burger for dinner, so we picnicked at the lunch tables.

Handsome Tait boys.

Tyler showed us his projects in his classroom. Here is his dinosaur habitat.

He was really proud of his writing journal.

You have to click on this to enlarge and read it, but here are some examples of Tyler's writing. He wrote, "I like to make a quilt" and "I like to ride the bus". He's reading and writing so well. He writes little stories all by himself (usually about trains). As I type this he's sitting next to me sounding out a Disney Car's book without any help from me. So proud!

The last of the classroom projects. Tyler made most of these sea creatures when his class went on a field trip to the aquarium.

We also checked out the Kindergarten classrooms for next year, and met the teachers. Tyler was very excited that he will get his own desk! Then we raided the school book fair, and brought home a few new books. We love Tyler's school so much. So grateful to live close to such a wonderful school. And speaking of school, now off to the Pre-K Easter party.

More Family Photos

In case you're interested and want a glimpse into our family photo shoot with the lovely Andie Green, check out her blog post here. We had so much fun with you, Andie! Thank you for these wonderful photos and more.

Stats

Last year: $1,770.00 raised for Parkinson's Disease, TOTAL.
This year: $1,875.00 raised with THREE WEEKS LEFT!

Last year: 4 team members.
This year: 5 team members. My super-awesome mom is flying out for a long weekend to walk with us!

Wanna help us hit $2,000? Pretty please? Visit Team Tait here. Click on any of our names to make a donation. And you'll get a big THANK YOU from us, and possibly a sloppy-wet, amazing kiss on the lips from Audrey.

Friday Travel Town

Another Friday spent at Travel Town with good friends.

Pretty Penny.

Riding the train with Jonah.

Audrey plantin' a good one on him.

Jonah may have wiped off the kiss, but they held hands for the rest of the ride. So sweet!

Happy Friday.

Sneak Peek

Last Sunday my friend Andie came over and took photos of our family. Andie and I spent two summers on Cape Cod doing theatre together about ten years ago. We both live in LA now, and when catching up on facebook I saw that she had a photography website, Andie Green Photography, complimented her photos, and she kindly offered to take our family pictures. (Yes, sometimes you can use facebook for good!). We are so grateful for her! She took about 900 photos of us, and is currently editing the good ones, making them all pretty. She sent me these four this morning as a little preview. I love them. Thank you, Andie! If you need a photographer and live in Southern California, just let me know and I will pass along her info. She is fantastic, and was great with my kids (who had never met her before). Tyler even gave her a hard time at first, but she won him over. And of course Audrey was obsessed with Andie, and I think wants to be her when she grows up.

More photos from the shoot to come, I am sure. In the meantime, go check out her site. She is one talented chick.

Little Fashionista

Audrey dressed herself today. Pretty funky, but this girl can sure pull it off.

I'm thinking Punky Brewster might be a natural choice for this year's Halloween costume.

Spring Evening

The last two days were hot, but the evenings have been beautiful. Tonight, a little too lazy to walk to the park, we rode bikes in the courtyard. Tyler is super speedy on his bike, and loves the hand breaks. He might even be ready to start practicing without training wheels.
Tyler let Audrey babysit Bunny. She took it very seriously.

I said, "Audrey, make a silly face."Brother and sister bike ride, carrying Bunny along in back.

Welcome warm evenings with plenty of daylight. Happy Spring.