Happy 2nd Birthday Mathilde

Can you believe it? My baby turned two on Sunday!

Double Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins

     

My girls are all pretty active kids and are always on the go. Between swim class and karate class, each several times a week, their afternoons are filled with fun physical activities. When they're not swimming or practicing their karate kicks, they're bike riding, skateboarding, scooting, rollerblading or walking. Not owning a car definitely makes for active kids! I love how much incidental exercise they get.

With the girls being so active I need to ensure that they're getting the energy they need from the food they eat. While we definitely have treats, I try to make sure that their meals are healthy and balanced. There's no more important meal to an active kid's day than breakfast, but that doesn't mean that it should be boring and tasteless. A simple way to give my kids a glass full of the energy their bodies need, and the flavor they love, is to serve a glass of Nesquik chocolate milk with their breakfast.

Valley of Fire State Park

During the girls' recent Spring Break we headed to the desert to see some of the most stunning landscapes around. I love living in an urban area with all of the opportunities and hustle and bustle that comes with it, but there's nothing like getting out of the city for a few days to connect with nature. 

After spending a day in Las Vegas at the start of our trip we headed an hour or so east to Nevada's Valley of Fire State Park. I have to admit that I had never actually heard of this park until a friend suggested that we spend a day there on our way to Zion. I'm so glad that we took that advice as our day at Valley of Fire turned out to be the highlight of our trip. The views were amazing, the girls got to spend plenty of time outside scrambling over the red rocks, and, unlike the next few days spent at Zion and the Grand Canyon, there were hardly any other visitors in the park. 

Cal Day 2016

This past weekend we spent a day at university for UC Berkeley's annual Cal Day.

Cal Day is always a fun day for families in the Bay Area. The university opens its doors to the public to show off life on campus. There are plenty of activities and information booths geared towards prospective students (which Ava hopes to be one day) but there are also lots of fun kid friendly activities and displays. The girls got to play in campus police cars, make nature themed crafts, take part in science experiments, create catapults and balloon powered cars, pat snakes, lizards and sea creatures, play scientist in a lab, and meet Cal mascot, Oski Bear. What a busy day!

Cherry Blossom Festival 2016

Cherry Blossom Festival in San Fransico's Japantown district is on again this weekend!

Last weekend we headed into the city for an afternoon of fun at the festival - which the girls like to call the "Hello Kitty Festival" due to all of the Hello Kitty themed kids' activities.

Spring Break 2016: Las Vegas

Spring Break in Las Vegas baby!

Spring Break in the Desert

Last week Ava and Lola were on Spring Break so we decided to take a trip to show the girls a little of America's most stunning natural landscapes in Nevada, Utah and Arizona. I'll have in depth posts (and a gazillion photos!) coming about each place we visited, but for now I want to share an overview of our trip.