this week...

We've been going out and about a bit more this week. It's still pretty easy to take Helene out since she is still sleeping most of the time...the hard part is actually leaving the house. I forget how long that takes with a newborn...ahhh how quickly we forget!

On Sunday my dear friend Sarah, whom I've known since our ballet class days when we were 9 or so, called to meet up as she was passing through LA on her way to San Diego for a job interview while visiting from Philadelphia. (Don't you just love my run-on sentences?) We quickly decided on Corner Bakery (I couldn't face a pop-in visit as the house was a disaster from being home with the kids all day). Sammy and Hannah both pleaded to go with me, but I just couldn't face trying to chat with Sarah while dealing with a 5 and almost 3 year old. So just Helene got to go. It was so good to see Sarah and finally meet her boyfriend Sean. We had a lovely chat and some yummy food and then off I went to put kids to bed and off they went to San Diego.
We had lots of park days this week and although I did take my camera to all of them...I was too busy chatting/playing with the kids/feeding Helene to take any pics. We've had beautiful weather here this week and it's supposed to be even better next week.

I tried to take a few new pics of Helene, but she wasn't cooperating.

The kids wanted to join in just as I was taking the picture.
Does Helene have the grouchiest face or what?Hannah being goofy and wearing Helene's hat.

We went to the Arboretum on Friday and it was an absolutely gorgeous day to be there. The kids had a great time exploring and feeding the ducks and fish--and I had a great time walking around and relaxing on a bench while they played.

It was so cute to see all the turtles sunning themselves on a log.
I've never seen so many at once.

The kids were too busy playing and didn't really want to pose for pictures.
Can you tell that Sammy has 3 cars in each hand?

I was able to catch a few candid shots.
They love to pretend like they are fishing.
A cool tunnel made of bamboo

I wanted to get a picture of the four of us, but there wasn't any one around to take it for me when we were in a spot where I wanted to take one. Oh well. Hard to believe Helene will be 4 weeks old on Monday. Has it really been a month already?