Wrap Up

Our last couple of days in California were filled to the brim.

We've only been home 2 days, but the trip already feels like it occurred a month ago.

I left the Golden State feeling grateful for family and trying to figure out a way to get back in the Bay Area permanently.

We had brunch with my grandma, aunt, and uncle on Saturday at the cutest little crepe shop in Oakland.

How gorgeous is she?!

It's the kind of place you take for granted when you live in an urban area, but is so hard to find here in the midwest.

Great Grandma.

The original sewing master.

Then we headed over to visit Aleks' dad one last time.

The girls enjoyed the pool. 

Aleks did not.

I think it had something to do with the 60 degree water.

Look at this girl go!

She wouldn't even put her face in the water at the beginning of the summer.

(I love her little gasp for air when she reaches the step)

It was a great vacation.

Next week, school starts!

Are you ready?

Accomplishment

The past couple of weeks have marked big accomplishments for the Sternfeld-Dunns.

Let's start with the littlest member of the family.

We've been potty training Ruby this summer and she's doing a really great job. 

It's been so much easier than Maia, except for pooping in the potty. 

Ruby just won't do it.

The night I had a concert, Aleks headed to Kansas City to see our friend Richard Kriehn play in A Prairie Home Companion and we had a new babysitter.

Ruby had to poop, but was refusing to go before I left. As I got the girls ready for bed, I went to reach for a pull-up and,
dun dun dun,
came out empty handed. 

 We had to make do with a swim diaper.

I kept asking Ruby if she wanted to try to go before I left and she assured me that she was going to wait for our sitter.

So the sitter got here and I laid out extra sheets in case Ruby went all over the place and God bless our sitter, she took it all in stride, assuring me she has dealt with much worse.

Fast forward an hour and I get this text while I'm in the dressing room waiting to go on stage:

Best. Babysitter. Ever.

Unfortunately, Ruby hasn't had a repeat success yet, but we're still working on it.

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Every summer I hear moms say how excited they are for summer and the pool.
And every summer I inwardly groan, because when you have two littles, pool time means chasing them around the pool because they can't swim and older kids aren't looking out for the little ones and your kids are soooo cute in their tiny, ruffled swim suits that everyone is watching you chase after them in your not so cute mom suit and so you vacillate between feeling self conscious and then terrified as your kid runs into the deep end while looking over their shoulder at you and disaster is narrowly avoided and you wonder how anyone has stayed alive this long.

Note how she almost walks into the pool halfway through.

About a month ago, Maia learned to go underwater.

I get it now.

The pool is super fun when you're not constantly worried your kid is going to die.

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Several weeks ago we found out that one of Aleks' compositions "Fireworks" had won the American Prize, which is kind of a big deal for us.

Last week the local newspaper ran an article on his prize.
It was a great article; you can read it here.

Our favorite quote is "Robert is a very technical player; he can do a lot of flashy and then really fast up."
Ha ha ha hahahahaha.

For those of you who aren't musicians, that's not a real thing, "fast up."
Haha! 

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/07/20/2896020/award-a-chance-for-wsu-professor.html#storylink=cpy

The day after the article came out, Aleks went to the bike store for supplies, you know, since he's a triathlete. 
While he was there, one of the employees looked at Aleks closely and said, "are you a composer?"


It's been fun to see Aleks get his five seconds of local celebrity this week!

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And I'm dreaming big and staying open, ready to accept whatever adventure/gift/challenge/opportunity is headed my way.

Vacay

We've hit the point in our vacation where we're all tired.

Having so many adventures takes a lot of energy!

Here's what's been going on:

Tilden Park

Swim day at Great Grandpa's house.

(Or as Maia said at one point, Great Grandpapapa)

Dentist appointment

Thanks to Pinkalicious, pink cupcakes were requested.

And made.

This pretty much sums it up!

Spring Break

My awesome mother in law got me this beauty for an early birthday present!

When we traveled to Arizona for spring break, I didn't bring my computer. Long story short I didn't blog while on vacation. So now you are going to be bombarded with tales of our trip. Sorry.

We usually go to Arizona in the summer, when we're not working. That's a really dumb time to go.

The best time, I have come to discover, is March.

It was amazingly beautiful, not too hot, but warm enough to swim.

The clubhouse in my parents' development doesn't allow kids under three into the pool, so we made do with a blowup one in the backyard. 

The girls didn't know the difference!

Ruby was over it after 30 seconds.

Maia, on the other hand, could have stayed in there all week.

And on another note, what's with all the 2 piece bathing suits in the "baby" section at Target? 

Please believe me when I say that I'm not judging you if your almost 3 year old wears a bikini.

That's not for the Sternfeld-Dunn girls. 

In fact, as far as I'm concerned, my girls will never wear a bikini, or makeup, or high heels, or grow up... ok, ok, I know I'm being a ridiculous, but for now, I really just want to enjoy my little girls being little.

Swimming

Visiting Phoenix in May is a great time. 

It's not too hot, but warm enough for swimming. 

At least for my family from Pullman, where we've broken 60 degrees twice this spring.

Maia quickly learned to love jumping off the side of the pool into a waiting pair of arms.

In the pool or not, this is how we usually are. Staring at Maia waiting to see what she's going to do next. Or listening to her adorable, non-stop chatter.

This was Ruby's first time in the pool and she loved it!

And of course, bubbles are always a crowd pleaser.