Memorial Weekend, Continued

We had an evening playdate with the Hall's today. Travis and I really enjoyed ourselves (I think the kids did too!) Jen and Brian cooked us a delicious dinner and Adaline played nice with the boys. Jackson was ever the gentleman- he took Adaline by the hand and gave her a tour of the house. He kindly shared all his toys with her and made sure she was happy at all times. Austin also shared his toys (much harder for a two-year-old, but he did it well!) and his big-boy bed...uh...that sounds kind of bad...what I mean is, he kindly allowed Adaline to crawl all over his toys and pillows and even showed her how to jump off the bed...hmmmm....that still sounds bad. Guess you had to be there...

I loved my non-stop gabfest with Jen, and Travis enjoyed playing with Jackon's Transformers.

 ...apparently, this is a really hard Transformer, and Travis finished it in a matter of minutes- much like he does with the Rubik's Cube. These are the times where I tell Travis his math is showing.

This was by far my favorite photo of the night- all three kids playing together.

We love you guys, and look forward to our next family playdate :)

A good book stays in my mind always...

When I was in grade school, I feel in love with books. I would take out as many as our school librarian would allow and then go to the city library and take out as many as they would allow. My mom still talks about how I would routinely have four books going at once and still manage to keep all the story lines straight; she was also somewhat amazed that I would reread certain stories if I was ever *gasp* out of books. I still do that. I have a stack of books on my nightstand, a few in my car, and one in my knit bag. I don't know why... it's not like life would end if I didn't have something to read (...right?!) It takes me longer to get through books these days, but I still agonize over what book to start reading next. Anyway... back to grade school books... one of my first favorite books was Barbara Cooney's Miss Rumphius. I loved the illustrations and the thought that one person could make the world a more beautiful place.
Why am I telling you all this, you ask? Because I've found it! I've found where Miss Rumphius must have lived...

Okay, so they're not lupines but these wildflowers are still breathtaking. This is the path to one of our favorite beaches in Davenport. We have fallen into a delicious routine of stopping at Whale City Bakery Bar and Grill for a couple of coffees and fresh pastries on our way to this dog-friendly beach. If you're ever in the area, check out Davenport Landing. It's small, secluded and surfable (but sharky!!!)

Beach Time!

The weather has finally started to warm up here. In one week we went from 80 to 67 and back to 81. We're taking a week-long trip to the beach this summer, so we decided we should expose Adaline to the sand before we go (how depressing would it be to get there and find out Adaline doesn't like sand?!) Even though it was warm back home, Santa Cruz was chilly. 

 

First steps on the beach! Not sure what to think...

 Then we saw the dogs running and playing~ everything was suddenly much better :)

 More dogs! This beach thing must be okay...

 Never too early for Travis to start teaching ocean safety

Hopefully Adaline will grow to love the beach as much as we do.

Weekend Getaway

We took a quick trip to Santa Cruz this weekend. We learned long ago to visit SC before or after Memorial Weekend, so this year we opted for before. We played with Grandpa and Grandma Walsh, played with the new toys, took a trip to the beach, and visited old friends. Adaline had such a good time she even slept through the night (she's not the greatest traveler and usually wakes repeatedly when we're away from home.) It was a fast trip, but a lot of fun!

 Ed has been hard at work updating their house and every time we visit we see new beautiful things all around.  This trip, we were able to see the new flooring in the front room~ it's so pretty!!!

 *The big boxes in the middle of the room are actually bookcases that will flank the fireplace. Can't wait to see the final product, Ed!

We had lunch with one of Travis' oldest friend's family. Thank you, Lynn Family for the tasty lunch and long-overdue visit!

Pictures of the rest of the trip will be up soon...

Happy Birthday, Laura!

My niece is 5 years old! Hayley had a great little princess birthday party for Laura's 5th birthday party.

Well, I think it was a great party...we spent most of the event chasing Adaline around the house (while she was chasing after the big kids!) The only time we could get Adaline to sit still was when she discovered Trace's big-boy bed.  She LOVED it.

If she didn't move around so much in her sleep, I'd get her a big girl bed tomorrow!

Happy Birthday, Laura! It's going to be a great year :)

Hello, Dolly! Goodbye, Renee :(

Travis and I went out to the Big Ol' City of Modesto to enjoy our friend Renee's musical voice one last time before she moves out of state. We've left Adaline with a sitter before, but now that she's older, I was afraid she'd be more upset with us leaving right before bedtime- nope. We have a *fantastic* babysitter who clicked with Adaline when she was an infant, and she has always done well with her (knock on wood for next time!!!!) Tonight was no exception, and Adaline had a great time at home while we had a great time listening to jazz.

We were pleasantly surprised with a visit from Carol Channing and her husband, Harry Kullijian. Apparently, they are close friends with Renee and her family and came to hear the farewell performance. It was not advertised that Carol would be there, but when she walked in, she still did her rounds and said hello to all the patrons.  Harry was a crack up.  He came over to say hi (even though Travis said, "Who's Carol Channing?) to us and even snacked on our sweet potato fries.  He asked first, of course, but who would say no to Mr. Carol Channing (I wonder if he dislikes being called that? No offense intended, Mr. Kullijain!)  I see Carol and Harry in Trader Joe's every once in awhile, which is sort of strange since I only go to TJ's once a month or so.  Makes me wonder if we're on the same schedule or if they go A LOT...Anyway...

It was an enjoyable evening out and we came home to a sleeping baby~ what more could we ask for?!

Hope your Friday the Thirteenth was as happy as ours :)

In response to Hilary's comment in the last post...

I picked up some frowning smiley-face cookies on the day-old rack awhile back and thought it was so funny I took a picture.  At least I knowingly purchased these boo-hoo-ers.  How sad for you, Hil, that you received your's as a surprise!!!! 

If I ever see them again I'm sending them to you, Hil!

Mother's Day 2011

I had such a wonderful Mother's Day.  

Woke up to a smiley baby and a loving husband,

then met up with my family at our favorite coffee shop/bakery.

Trace showing Travis the best cookies ever.

 Adaline's first smiley face cookie (which she wouldn't even taste).

 Grandpa and Grandma Great joined us for some pastries and coffee.

 Hayley helping Trace and Laura make the hardest decision...what to pick?

 And the rest of my day was spent playing with my baby and my mommy.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there...but especially to mine.

~Happy Early Mother's Day~

Travis and I kicked off Mother's Day Weekend (yes, we get a whole weekend!) with one of our favorite hikes- around Pinecrest Lake.  We tried to document the day as best as possible, but carrying around a camera is getting harder and harder as we find ourselves carrying more and more baby gear.

Beautiful day for a hike...

Pinecrest, 100 years ago (just kidding...I was just playing around with editing-I'm new at it!)

Some before shots

 Adaline waved at every car arriving and leaving the parking lot- and almost everyone waved back.

Who wouldn't wave back to a beautiful child?!

 During shots...the south fork of the Tuolumne River was amazing.

 Thank you, Nancy and Casey for the perfect backpack!

 The after shots- we had a delicious dinner with Travis' family at their cabin.

(Thanks for letting me wear your jacket, Ed! I'd forgotten how quickly the mountains cool off...)

 Asleep by the time we hit the highway :) That's proof of a good day.

I saw this sign as we passed through Sonora; we missed the parade, but we had a great day.

Hope you have an enjoyable Mother's Day with your loved ones!

Did you hear?

It's Friday!