Wagon!

Today Matilda got to test out her brand new wagon.  We've been wanting to get one for awhile, and this was just too good of a deal to pass up.  It's a pretty sweet ride with six cupholders, large trunk space, and two bucket seats.  Tilly had no problems climbing in and out, and although she didn't need it, she initially wanted help climbing out.  On walks now, she loves to sit down in the middle where it's deep.  Read more for a video and pictures of her checking out her wagon for the first time.

Yo Gabba Gabba! Dance

Matilda loves Yo Gabba Gabba.  She's not a big fan of tv in general, but YGG is her favorite show.  She will easily sit through multiple episodes if we would let her.  She loves the nonstop singing and dancing, and we actually enjoy it too (compared to some other awful kid shows out there).  Here's a few videos showing her excitement and dancing skills!

 

Kids Museum

Today we went to check out the Sacramento Children's Museum.  Matilda met up with Vivienne and had a great time playing with all the different activities.  She loved watching the golf balls roll, ping pong balls float, and tissues fly through tubes.  Tilly then showed us how to splash it up in the water area and got soaked despite wearing her splash jacket.  Read on for some videos and pictures of our fun day at the museum!

Annular Eclipse of 2012

Today was a special day because of the solar eclipse.  Unlike the total solar eclipse, this was an annular eclipse, meaning the moon was far enough from earth that it doesn't totally block the light of the sun.  This creates a ring of fire around the shadow of the moon.  Way cool.  The problem is, the moon has to be in just the right spot to be in line with you and the sun in order to see the ring.  You can imagine this window is actually pretty small (about 100 miles wide).  Total and annular eclipses are fairly rare, because of how often everything lines up right and that they pass over such a small portion of the earth.  Obviously, the closer to the midline of the umbral path or path of totality (moons inner shadow), the longer the eclipse lasts.  If you aren't within that path, well you're stuck with the common partial eclipse.  Today was special day because we happened to be just 30 mins from the edge of totality.  So luckily, we got to see this:

I'm really glad we got to go see the eclipse this year, because we may not ever see one like it again.  If my calculations are correct, the next path of totality for an annular eclipse to go over Sacramento won't happen again until Feb. 18, 2110 and the next total eclipse won't happen here until Dec. 31, 2252 (okay, so those are NASA's calculations).  Don't worry, if your calendar doesn't extend out that far, you can always settle for the partial eclipse on Oct. 23, 2014.  Redding, CA will actually have a total eclipse in 2045 with an annular eclipse in 2046.  Who knew Redding was the place to see total eclipses!  For everyone in Portland, OR, get ready for your total eclipse on August 21, 2017! (Tilly will be 6 years old then!)

Since these events are fairly rare, we decided it would be fun to have a picnic and watch it with our special glases.  And, in order to extend the time of the eclipse to 3 min, we drove about an hour and a half to Oroville, CA.  Tilly had her friend Olivia to play with as we convinced our friends Andy and Ashleigh to come along.  And if the picnic and eclipse weren't enough of a treat, we also got to see the oldest orange tree in California and drive across the tallest dam in the U.S.  All in all it was a pretty good day.  Read on to see some pictures of our awesome day in Oroville, CA.  Hi, I'm in Oroville.

Flash Cards

Matilda loves her flash cards.  She knows a bunch of them by name and will find them in the pile if you ask for them.  If you line them up, she will pick out any of the ones you ask for.  Her favorites so far are of course the kitty cards (lion, tiger, and house cats) as well as the penguins, panda, and butterfly.  Read on for more pictures and a video!

Mother's Day Hike

For mother's day, Matilda and I took Leia on a day hike to an old limestone quarry up in Auburn, CA.  It was a really nice day and a fun little Hike.  We packed in a little picnic lunch, found a locked up cave, and hiked around the old quarry.  Plus, Tilly got to try out her awesome backpack.  She seemed to love it and even fell asleep on the hike back out.  "Read more" for a ton of pictures from our awesome mother's day.

Couch Fort

Tilly started playing a game where she wanted to hide under a blanket with me.  She was having a ton of fun going in and out of our mini tent, so I decided she needed to have her first fort.  We started moving cushions and set up our own little castle on the couch.  She absolutely loved it and we played in it all day until mom got home from work.  Click the post title or link below to see all the photos of our adventure!

12 Month Photos

This was by far our favorite photo shoot with Mandy and Lindsay, because Tilly was running around enjoying everything.  We got a ton of great photos.  Click "Read more" to see a sampling of the official 12 month photos.

Bucket Head

Apparently normal walking has become much too easy for little Matilda. She decided to take up extreme walking which requires not seeing where you're going and wearing a makeshift helmet for potential crashes. If you've got a bucket, then you've got both requirements covered. Here's a video of Tilly being really funny.

Cornhole Pro

Today Matilda played her first game of cornhole.  She didn't play for very long, because she mastered it so quickly.  She saw me throwing the corn bags at the boards and walked across the park to show me how it's done.  Luckily I saw her coming and got her first cornhole attempts on video.  Watch this 12 month old pro show you how to play the game.

Vivienne's Birthday!

After picnic day, we went over to celebrate Vivienne's first birthday.  Of course Tilly loves stuffed animals and tried to steal some of Vivienne's birthday presents!  We had fun hanging with the babies, and after watching Vivienne destroy her cake, the girls went for a swim.  It was a really fun and busy day!  Read more for all the pictures.

Picnic Day

This was Matilda's second time attending Picnic Day, but she was so little last time she pretty much slept through the whole thing.  This time she had lots of fun.  She started off helping Mama at the bug museum.  Then she watched some of the parade and enjoyed the 5 DeLoreans.  She then got to check out the Biotech exhibits.  All of this before heading off to celebrate her best buddy Vivienne's birthday.  "Read more" for the picnic day photos.

Random Tilly

Here's a post with some random photos of Matilda doing random things.

Weather Dance Show

Yesterday Matilda went to watch a dance show and enjoyed watching our friend Kristi perform dances about the weather.  She even got to participate with all the other kids at the end.  Even though she was the smallest one up there and had no idea how to be a 'flower,' she seemed to have a good time.  "Read more" for some pictures of Tilly up on stage.

Big Sis Tilly

Today Matilda found out she's going to be a big sister.  She took the news well, but we'll have to see how she handles it when she's no longer the center of attention.  Yay babies!

Update: April Fool's!