The Color Factory, Again

 When the chance came to get tickets to see the Color Factory again in San Francisco, I knew I had to try to make it happen since we had such a good time last time.

 This time we went on a Friday, which meant Orelia had to miss school and "tragically" miss the Lunar New Year parade.  This didn't bother me in the least, but Orelia was mildly devastated at the thought of missing any big event.  Luckily, she had an incredible time and admitted afterward that it was better than any parade they put on at school.

 Orelia went into each room knowing what to expect, which I think made it all the more fun for her.  (Each room is designed by artists and creatives who took a blank canvas warehouse and made it into a color "experience" of all five senses.)  She definitely spent a long time trying out each of the scents on the scratch and sniff wall, even though almost none of them seemed to appeal to her in the least.

 This time Bennett was the one who tried the black (charcoal) lemonade.

 He liked it better than Orelia did, but he decided one sip was enough.  ("Sour!" he proclaimed it.)

 This time we went with friends to the Color Factory.  I missed having John there, but the kids seemed to love having the added craziness of some of their buddies around.

 The kids spent a lot of time "hiding" in this ribbon room made of 1,000 ribbons hanging from the ceiling. 

 Orelia chose this dress specifically for the Color Factory, and it seemed to make her almost camouflaged in the ribbons. 

 I don't really like the sensation of walking into a ribbon enclosure, so I stayed outside of the ribbons and waited for the photo-ops to come to me,

 I think something only photographers can understand is that for me, half of the fun is being able to photograph these types of events.

 The purple room was filled with thousands of print-outs of "selfies" from the internet, which Orelia found especially fun to throw in the air.

 Bennett turned the room into a construction site in his mind and played "bulldozer" by pushing the paper all around and "crane" by lifting the paper from one place to another.  I don't want to say he has a one track mind, but he can be very committed to his love of trucks.

 Orelia can placate Bennett and play trucks too, but she was definitely more interested in creating disorder instead of order in this room.

 The confetti room was, of course, a hit once again.

 Unfortunately it reminded Orelia of falling snow, and she tried to catch some on her tongue (and succeeded, blech). 

 To finish up an exciting morning, the kids took a dip in a pool of 10,000 yellow balls.

 It was a little deep for Bennett to walk in, so he stuck to the edges as if it were a real pool.

 Orelia, of course, dove right in.

 Bennett decided to do what he did last time in this room, and remove all the broken balls to a nearby trashcan.  The Color Factory workers found this quite amusing, but my boy does not like to see things out of place of broken, thank you very much.

 There are few things I can imagine Orelia less interested in doing than cleaning up a ball pit of its broken balls, but that's the beauty of the Color Factory, that everyone can find their own fun where they see it: Orelia wreaking havoc, Bennett creating order, and me behind my camera.

 We all agreed on the perfection of the mini yellow ice cream cone to finish off the morning, however.

A day of hooky felt just right to all of us.

Onto Better Months

 January is THE WORST MONTH of the entire year.  If you ask me, which you didn't. 

 Christmas is over and the weather is drab.  There isn't much to look forward to except the second semester of school, which isn't exactly thrilling.

 But it is officially February, and I am thrilled we have past the worst month of the year.  I took these photos of Orelia in her "Valentine's dress" (from last year) for us to put on her Valentines for classmates this year.  Valentine's Day with preschoolers is such a sweet holiday.

 We have had a child-sized art table for awhile, but after I organized our art supplies in easy reach (with tons of paper on hand), both kids have been loving sitting down side-by-side to create every day.  Sometimes they create masterpieces together (and sometimes they fight over who gets to physically hand these pictures of Mommy/Daddy), and sometimes they create separately.  It's so fun to see them sharing something I love so dearly.

 Bennett wants to go to school every day, but he survives on his three days a week.

 He often plays inside with trucks, trains, or puzzles, but he can also have a blast outside being silly with friends.

 He and a new friend spent ages "delivering packages" to one of the play structures last week.  He may have learned to love packages from all the Amazon and Google Shopping boxes that show up on our doorstep every week.  Or maybe he just loves the trucks that deliver the packages.

 Orelia had her 100th day of school on Monday, and we spent the morning counting out 100 Froot Loops and then stringing them onto a necklace (followed by eating said Froot Loops the second the necklace was placed around her neck).

 Orelia loves any reason to celebrate, and the 100th day of school seemed like as good a reason as any to her.

 February came with a bang here and we have been having 70 degree days all week.

 The sun is staying out later, which means there is actually sunlight when Bennett wakes up from his three hour naps (hence the sleepy-eyed, dog-armed photo).

 Never underestimate the power of sunlight to brighten a mood, and just this extra bit of afternoon sun has made our nap wake-ups that much easier.

 Bennett has been battling a stomach bug on and off all week, though somehow has managed to take some of his cutest photos.

 Every time I see his cute face lit up by the late afternoon sun, I can't help but break out my camera.

 He took a very early nap on one of his sick days, which meant he woke up while his sister was just starting her nap.  We had an hour and a half of leisurely quality time alone, which was quite nice.

 His sweet preschool teacher had given me the art supplies they were using that day to make trains since she knew Bennett would have enjoyed that particular art project.  We spent a long time arranging all of the train cars, gluing them down, and then creating animals, people, and cargo to add to the train.  Thank you Teacher Becca for providing us with an hour's worth of entertainment!

 Orelia, who always dresses as if it is summer, has started dressing in bathing suit tops again now that it actually feels like summer outside.

 She got so much attention for this outfit at school on Friday that she wore it today again.  She would probably like to wear it tomorrow, but I think I might insist on cleaning it first.

 We are crossing our fingers that Bennett has finally kicked his stomach bug now, and can go back to the land of the living tomorrow.

 He spent the morning at his favorite "sick day" activity, walking around the dog park with Daddy where none of the nearby creatures can catch whatever is ailing him. 

 It's hard to believe any kid in the "snakes and snails and puppy dog tails" realm could look as sweet as this by choice.  (Trust me, I would never consider trying to get either of my kids to pose like this.)

 So happy February, everyone! 

In Palo Alto that means the daffodils are coming up and the magnolia trees are blooming.  And it means the worst month of the year is behind us!