Wednesday, August 8, 2012

California Trip

So, as promised, here are some pictures from our trip to California.  We flew out to San Jose and stayed with our friends, Meera and Jason and their 2 four year olds Kali and Kirin.  The boys adjusted to the time change by leaping into the pool in their backyard.
Then the next day we all headed up to Truckee, California and stayed at a rental home near Donner Lake.  The boys loved traipsing around the backyard finding pinecones as big as their heads!

 Kali and Kirin brought along their beloved pugle, Dawkins.  He was great!
 Sam's favorite Olympic event is the Pinecone Toss.
 There was even an outdoor play area for the kids.
 The kids got along so well, it was pretty normal to see all four of them hanging together on the couch waiting for Mike's pancakes in the morning.
 Sam even convinced Dawkins to sit on his lap.  So cute!
 We went to the beach at Donner lake one morning and did a picnic lunch.  The water was freezing, but the boys had fun playing in the sand.

 Beautiful Donner Lake Marina
 Kali and Kirin enjoy some picnic lunch on the beach.
 We did S'mores one night in the fireplace.
 No surprise they were a big hit!

 The weather was fantastic, up to mid-80s during the day, but cooling off in the evenings.  We did dinner outside to enjoy the scenery.
 One day we went to the rockier beach area that was for dogs, so Dawkins to run around.  The boys enjoyed rock throwing and watching all the dogs that came to play.
 We did an evening nature walk and found a thistle bloom that was pretty big.
 Sam had fun stealing Kali and Kirin's shoes to try them on.  Love how he even coordinates with his shirt.  Kirin gave him a pair of shark slippers to bring home!
 We did a popcorn/jammie/movie night with the kids when the big kids (Mike and Jason) went out for a night on the town.
 Mr. Naughty found some markers (washable thankfully).
 We had a lovely indoor concert one night provided by the 4 year olds.
 One of the bigger highlights was the horseback riding.  Sam had a fit getting a helmet on, but LOVED the horses once he saw them.
 Big kids ready to roll.
 Sam is NOT a fan of headgear.



 They also had a play area with fun little wild west scenery, which made for a good photo op.



 Little rascal looks kind of at home behind bars, huh?
 We also spent a lot of time at the pool.  All the kids enjoyed sporting goggles after watching all the Olympic swimming.  

 And we survived the plane ride home.  The boy traveled amazingly well and we had a wonderful time. We miss our buds in Cali and look forward to another trip sometime soon!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Quick catch up!

So we just got back from a week long trip to California, and I will post those pictures soon.  But first, here are a few shots from Sam's birthday breakfast.  We went out with Michelle/Evie/Leo and Philie/Fred/Calvin for breakfast the week before Sam turned 2.  And really, what doesn't say Happy Birthday better than bacon!  It was a fun morning meal :)




Sunday, July 22, 2012

Sam Turns 2!

Our Little Guy turned 2 today!  We hosted a party for both sides of the family at my parents' lakehouse.  It was a blast :)
 After practicing for the last week or so, he can finally get the 2 fingers up and tell you how old he is!
 Auntie Faith came along with Uncle Evan
 Hamming it up for the picture with Bampa and Bamma
 Thumbs up with Papa
 My parents ordered a super cute birthday cake from Dairy Queen
 We had a mess of kids there, relatives and relatives of relatives, etc.  So my mom, Aunt Jo, and I supervised some cake pop making.  It was a big hit.
 Noah went with the spiderman decoration, surprise!
 Sam handled his Mickey Mouse one like a pro.  Until he wielded the stick like sword and flung the cake pop onto the floor for Ellie.  Oh well!
 Francesca went with some pink sprinkles.
 JoJo was there for supervision and decoration suggestion.
 Auntie Kim with the birthday boy!
 Sam got to celebrate with Ella and Dan, who also have July birthdays.  He was so excited to have everyone singing to him, he giggled the whole time.
 So much sugar packed into one night!
 We moved out to the deck to open presents.  Noah's present was first, he got Sam a spiderman squishy ball.  It is (no lie) probably his favorite gift.  It's so cute that Noah knows exactly what he will like.
 That Ironman apron mommy and daddy got for him is a wee big.
 Happiness is Daddy and his boys.  Ask Mike, this was probably the highlight of the evening.  The later hours involved some imbibing that resulted a in major headache and regret today!
 This morning we did one last bday picture with the cousins.  It was a wonderful weekend and we are so happy that so many people came to celebrate with us!  We love you little man!