A New Family Member!

Meet Kirin, the newest member of our family! She is a Kishu Ken pup, a Japanese breed, and is just about ten weeks old. Her breedline is extremely rare outside of Japan; there are only two breeders outside of the country (one in the Netherlands, and one here in the U.S.). In December, a great opportunity was presented to us, and we gratefully accepted her into our family. We, of course, had to wait until she turned 8 weeks to take her home.

So far, Kirin has transitioned wonderfully. Our yard has been a great place for her to play and exercise. As you can see from the photos below, she is quite athletic and needs some play time scheduled into her day. The kids love her to death, and are excited about this addition to our family.

Snow Play

The girls playing in front of our house rental in Mammoth. (It is located in the Stonegate Community.)

Elise starting a snow fight with Daddy

Chloe has complete OCD. Here she flipped out because snow got onto her boots. She doesn't have a problem with stepping into snow, but it has to be on HER terms. (I think in this series of photos, snow was thrown onto her feet during play time.)

Elise making snow angels. She absolutely loved playing in the snow and was so sad when play time was over.

It's so hard to believe that during this time, both girls were battling a nasty bout of the tummy flu. These photos show them having a great time, but the entire trip wasn't so easy. We had to administer meds round the clock, otherwise the fever kept coming back with a vengeance. It was clear that an hour after the meds were taken, the girls were in much better spirits, so we timed it just right so that they were allowed to play in the snow for a bit when the fever was in check.

The New Children's Museum in San Diego

Our family is a member of The New Children's Museum in San Diego. It is 100 miles from home, but we find ourselves coming down the area quite often.  It really is perfect place for our kids to spend their free time at. It is fun and educational all at the same time. And the best part? There is actually something for Benjamin to do too!!! It is one of very few childrens museums that I've found to be accommodating to infants and toddlers (many tend to focus on exhibits for kids 4 or 5 years +).

Hand in hand walking to the entrance.

We have a "routine" each time we are here. First stop is the arts and crafts, where the kids either paint or sculpt. We do this first so that there is time for their work to dry up and be ready for the car ride home.

Talk about having to put in hard work! Kids have to navigate their way through these tires to get to the top. They are rewarded with a trip down the slide on the other side!

There is a maze for infants to crawl through. Benjamin spends most of his time here because he finds it pretty amusing to disappear and then somehow reappear.

The "rain room" on the 2nd floor is my favorite place in the entire museum.

After spending the afternoon at the museum, we typically head to a neaby restaurant for an early dinner and then head back home. On this particular trip, we were able to catch the sunset at a local beach.

What better way to end the trip with some dessert at Extraordinary Desserts? Dulce de Leche cake and milk for the kids, and cappuccinos for the adults!

The Many Faces of Benjamin...

Dogsledding in Mammoth

Dogsledding has been on my "bucket list" for years now. Up until now, I've literally been 0/5. Either the place was closed or they were entirely booked. I was literally jumping up and down with joy when Jim (the owner) told me he would be able to accommodate our family at the very last minute.

This is something you will be able to do with the ENTIRE family. No matter age and/or size, this is something everyone could participate in. Elise and Chloe had so much fun and took great pride in commanding the dogs to pull ("HIKE!"). Benjamin found the ride soothing and actually fell asleep halfway through the tour. 

The tour itself is an hour long, and the dogs take you on a 3 mile course. Not too long, and not too short.

If you plan on visiting the Mammoth area in the near future, I would recommend you adding this onto your list of To Dos.