Maryland Trip Part 1: Twins Visit Charm City

Many words have been written previously about the difficulties of flying with kids. I’ll spare you the sob story and simply acknowledge that it sucks.  The best piece of advice I can offer is when you fold up your stroller to put it through the X-ray machine make sure to place it wheels-up, this prevents jamming the machine and holding up the line.  If you need other advice make sure to think happy thoughts for about an hour before you google “fly with baby.”

When we were planning our trip to Maryland to visit family I couldn’t resist the opportunity to finally visit Charm City Cakes (the bakery around which “Ace Of Cakes” is based). I’ve edited on Ace Of Cakes for over two years out here in L.A. and have never had the chance.

Dominik and Scarlett got to spend a few quality moments with Mary Alice before they were treated to a tastes of fondant and bites of cake.

Duff and Geof were both out when we visited but we got to meet Anna, Ben, Elena, Erica, Katherine, Katie Rose, Lauren, Mark, Mary Smith, and Sofia.

Once loosed into the bakery Scarlett immediately walked into the kitchen and grabbed spice from a lower shelf and Dominik crawled onto a rolling rack. It became clear that everything in the busy bakery from a baby’s eye view everything was accessible and perfect for putting in their mouths.

Thanks everyone for letting us stop by with the babies. It was really nice to meet you all!

1 Year Checkup

We made it a full year and managed to keep our babies alive and healthy.  Aside from those pesky shots, we had a great time at Dr. Beesley’s office.

Scarlett weighed in at 21 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 29 1/4 inches tall.

Dominik weighed in at 22 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 29 1/2 inches tall.  The nurses re-weighed and re-measured both babies because Dominik is often called El Gordo while Scarlett is referred to as La Flaca, and the mere one pound weight difference was surprising.

When the doctors and nurses all left the room, Scarlett took the opportunity to demonstrate her defiance:

First Birthday!

We’ve had such a busy week recovering from all our partying that we haven’t been able to put up any pics from the big first birthday!  Finally, here’s just a few:

Scarlett’s not a big fan of sand.  Here, she surveys from the safety of our blanket.

Dominik loved everything about he beach, especially the sand.

Scarlett did enjoy eating a PBJ sandwich while sitting on Dad’s lap.

Later we had an impromptu birtday dinner at the ever kid friendly Cheescake Factory complete with first birthday cake.

Scarlett has been experimenting with using a spoon and used it to good effect with the cake.

But Dominik was a little more hands on.

Kidspace Rules!

Today we took Dominik & Scarlett to Kidspace in Pasadena (a shout out to our friends Doug and Janet for tipping us to this place on Facebook). Dom & Scarlett had an amazing time in their Early Childhood Learning Center (or as I like to call it THE PADDED CELL WITH TOYS). You walk in, remove your shoes and let your kids go, if they haven’t already torn your arm off trying to escape into this pleather wonderland. Apart from the shoe area the entire room is floored with rubber and contains a myriad tactile fun exhibits designed for kids 4 and under.

Dominik crawled freely throughout the room grabbing toy after toy and either tossing it or tasting it.

Scarlett has really started to piece together her steps into series and can now go as far as 15-20 feet before she needs to “reset” with a crawl.

The toys were incredible and really well thought out: More Details Here.

Kidspace beats Peekadoodle Kids Club a similar indoor play club in San Francisco on a number of fronts. We visited Peekadoodle on our April road trip to San Francisco and I can easily say the biggest difference between these to places is the price. A one day pass at Kidspace costs $10 for each person over 1 year of age. A one day pass at Peekadoodle was $50 for a family. If we’d taken Dom and Scarlett, who turn 1 this Friday, to Kidspace next weekend entry would have cost us $40. So the price difference seems nominal, right? BUT a 6 month membership at Kidspace (which will admit 4 family members anytime) is $89 bucks which is a mere fraction of what Peekadoodle charges for offering a similar safe-play area experience.  To be fair to Peekadoodle they do offer classes (for an additional charge), it’s cafe is way better (and more pricey), and the complimentary internet connection for parents is a kind of a sweet loss-leader, and overall it’s indoor areas are slightly cleaner.  However, the annual membership fee for Peekadoodle starts at just over $2000. GULP! WHAT?! REALLY??! Yes. Really. And don’t get me started on their parking validation deal …

In addition to a similar range of indoor play areas for kids Kidspace also offers: an outdoor tricycle track with helmets, 3 different cool multistory climbing gyms, science exhibits, a play construction site, water spouts, a simulated river with various waterfalls, gardening area and much much more. Again, to be fair to Peekadoodle the weather in San Fran isn’t always amenable to outdoor play so for the moment their options are limited. However, I’m sure as their fees pile up they’ll be able to put a dome over their lawn and create the Peekadoodle Biosphere (with Fresh Oxygen for an additional Fee).

Okay, one last attempt to be fair, when Beth and I drove away from San Francisco  we were fans of the concept and execution Peekadoodle. If you’ve got the money Peekadoodle seemed like excellent place to take your kids. We had a great time there and so did Dominik and Scarlett. If we lived in San Francisco and we had the money we’d probably be members and take them there everyday. I know I would just to feel like it was worth the price.

However, we’re blessed (or cursed depending when you ask me) to be angelenos so if you live in L.A. or are visiting with kids in the range of 1 to maybe 10 I’d say Kidspace is well worth the price of admission even at $10 a head, especially on a hot day. Kidspace provides an excellent environment for kids and parents to play without draining your funds which should be saved for college. We’ll be getting a membership on our next visit.

Spring Break in San Francisco

San Francisco was a culinary adventure for these young palates. Up until this trip we’ve been exposing Dominik and Scarlett to foods regularly from our local farmers market. Their favorites have been: strained blueberries, avocado, sweet potato, cauliflower, carrots, steamed diced apples, Cheerios, Ritz Crackers, green beans with mint, and mashed potatoes with butter. On our trip we really pulled out the stops and let them try: pancakes, french fries, olives, mac n’ cheese, grilled asparagus, roasted potatoes, hummus, pita, tuna salad, split pea soup, mango juice and feta cheese crumbles.

When we checked into our hotel Dominik and Scarlett were really excited to crawl around the room and check out their new environment while we unpacked. They especially enjoyed the slippery bathroom floor which Dom could easily army crawl across.

The twins also got to meet their great -aunt Candace and great-uncle Pete (the reason for our trip) and second cousin Zach. They also got to meet and go out to eat with our friends Mike, Karin, and Lily, and Chaz, Rochelle, and Amanda. Candace and Pete very kindly volunteered to baby-sit one night so we could go see a movie which was awesome for us but more than a little nerve wracking for them since Dom n’ Scarlett wouldn’t go to sleep without yelling and crying for about 45 minutes.  But as the ol’ timers say, it’s good for their lungs. Thanks! (Sorry).

Really the trip was a smash hit. We have so many pictures that there’s too many to upload so check out the slide show on flickr.

Here’s a couple of our favorites if you don’t have time for the full show.

8 Month-Olds!

The twins turned 8 months old on Tuesday and the firsts keep coming.

 Scarlett can hold herself up in the crib now. Mom is lurking off to the side because they were playing peek-a-boo.

Dominik (or as I lovingly call him now Fang) likes to use his new tooth to suck the life out of apples.  His 2nd tooth just popped through too.

And of course the first that every twin looks forward to. The shopping cart seats at Costco that seat two! Now that the twins have tasted the sweet nectar of wholesale they’ll never pay retail again.

Scarlett’s First Cart Ride

Now that she has abs of steel (well she can hold herself upright anyway) we can strap Scarlett in when we go to Target. This will greatly simplify our shopping excursions at least until her arms get long enough to grab stuff off the shelf. Then we’ll really be in trouble.

Date in 3-D

Wooo Hoooo! We got out of the house for a date and saw Coraline in 3-D! We even managed to drop off and pick up the family car for repairs on the same day!

The Dolby Digital 3-D was quite good.

Matinee Date

Our very good friends, Emma and Sophie, came over for a few hours to watch the kids so that MJ and I could have a matinee date.  While we saw Bolt, Scarlett played in her exersaucer.

Then everyone went for a walk:

Much to our surprise, the twins were napping by the time we got home. Parenting seems to come naturally to these two and we can’t wait for them to have kids of their own!

Tummy Time

Always ones to tout the achievements of our progeny, check out the majesty as they hold their massive craniums aloft!

After the intensity of that 4 minute work out Dominik and Scarlett cooled-down with Mom.