Visit from Santa

Here is a special visit to Michael from the North Pole.

http://portablenorthpole.sympatico.msn.ca/watch/f6860abef4f54bde356e2553587a18be

Thomas videos

Happy Birthday Daddy

Daddy turned 32 yesterday. For the past several years we have diverged from the childhood tradition of an ice-cream cake for his birthday. A banana cream pie, giant cookie, and the "Lost" numbers cake are some of the ideas he has comes up with. This year was extra fun with a meatloaf cake and mini pies.

Say Cheese!

New York trip

Here are some photos from our New York trip: First stop, Salt Lake City to drop off our son with Grandma and Grandpa. I am glad we had a chance to visit with my sister's family while we were there. Then it was off to New York City. It was everything that I expected and more. We went up the Empire State Building to get our bearings and were thankful for the beautiful weather. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Over my left shoulder you can see one of the five NY Waterfalls (a temporary art project if you can believe it).



The weather was great for the most part. We did a lot of walking. Our hotel was in midtown and we were able to walk to Central Park and to Times Square. We got tickets for David Letterman and were surprised when they changed the special quest from Meg Ryan to Barrack Obama. Security was tight. It was a fun experience sitting up close and seeing David Letterman in person.

We finally got to see Wicked. It was fantastic, expecially the music and the costumes.

Friday we took the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands. The rain started while we waited to take the ferry back to Battery Park in lower Manhattan and didn't stop until well after the Met's were supposed to play. The game was rescheduled, so we didn't get to see them play, but we were still able to get the baseball from Shea Stadium for our collection.

We were more successful at Yankee Stadium (though the Yankees were not). They lost to the Devil Rays. One more baseball makes thirteen now.

Earlier on Saturday we met up with my rad brother and his wife. They were back east for several months and were able to drive in to New York for the weekend and get together. We wondered together around China Town and Little Italy before we had to head off for the Yankees game.

We strolled in Central Park while munching on a bagel Sunday morning before catching the Taxi to the airport. It was already uncomfortably muggy at 9 in the morning.

We were so happy to see our son after being away from him for 5 days. He had a great time playing with his grandparents. They love him so much and took wonderful care of him. Don't let the scowl on his face make you think otherwise.

Ward Campout

We were up at Trask again this year, with a bigger tent, a tarp, and an air mattress. Things worked out great. We had a fun time and it was nice to be up in the wilderness and away from the city at last.

Daddy loved taking the boys exploring all around the camp.

We especially enjoyed the Boy Scout Fort with the built in jail.

We are happy to have completed one successful family camping trip and hope that we can have more in the future.

Underwood Family Farms

This was a fun day at the farm. We loved it all and wish that we would have had a little more time to pick some vegetables ourselves. Although, I believe that the tomatoes that I bought at their market were the best I have EVER had. Thanks again to April who drove us there.

The boys were in heaven climbing on all the different trains and mountains.

Krista's daughter Ally joined the boys for a ride around the tracks.

We were glad that they finally got some rest after playing so hard.

Disneyland

Last month we were able to go Disneyland with our good friends.We had a great day!

Say Cheese!

Hop on the Birthday Train

He knew exactly what to do with the candle!And he knew exactly what to do with the cake!

He even sang along

Happy 2nd Birthday

We are making a tradition of our Sequoia trips. This time grandma and grandpa came along. We had a wonderful time. The birthday boy wasn't cooperating with the unfamiliar sleeping arrangements and decided to welcome his birthday with an early morning walk around the hotel and was first in line for the yummy waffles.

We employed a variety of methods to help him sleep. None were effective.

Happy 4th and Not a Baby Anymore

What a fun weekend. For the 4th we met some friends at a nearby park to hang out and watch the fireworks. Since lasts year's attempt to see fireworks fizzled out bad, I was determined this year. Our son didn't want to be contained on our picnic blanket and kept running all over. After 30 minutes of following him and bringing him back, I thought I would take a break and walk with my friend to get dinner. Turns out our little walk turned into a 1.5 miles, so we took the bus back to save our feet and the chocolate shakes. The fireworks were fun. Our son was pretty scared at first and used his blanket to cover his eyes for the first half. After that he relaxed and we started pointing out the colors of the fireworks and copying their noise "boom boom boom". He couldn't stop talking about it on the way home and it was the first thing out of his mouth when he woke up in the morning.

We got him a toddler bed and last night was the first night he slept in it. He did great. He fell right asleep and we didn't hear him until he came walking into our room at 6 this morning. It was a little earlier than usual, so I let him climb in and he slept next to daddy for another 45 minutes. Today's nap was a little different. He escaped twice and I had to calmly put him back. He fell asleep soon and has slept for a little over 3 hours now, so I think he will be just fine.

The other indicator that he is not a baby anymore is that he successfully told me that he needed to go #2 and then went on the potty like a big boy. We have a long way until he is potty trained, but every little bit closer is a nice blessing.

Sleepy Lunch

I love this!

Brushing Teeth

We are trying to teach good oral hygiene and so are doing whatever it takes to get toddler's teeth brushed. Singing a song while we brush helps make sure we do it for enough time, but we didn't count on the other benefit. He sings along, which distracts him from the unpleasant task.

A Magic Day

We had a fun day at Magic Mountain yesterday. He loved the little kid rides and I had a blast on the new X2.

Chris's Graduation

Last week we went to Salt Lake to see Chris's graduation. Congrats, bro!

We had a wonderful visit. It was nice that the cousins were around. "Becky, where are you" could be heard all weekend, and even after we returned to California.

We also visited our good friend Kalana and her son Carson.

Visit to the Botanical Garden

Our Parent Ed class had an outing to the Huntington Botanical Garden this week. It was a very fun trip, with so much for mom to enjoy and toddler to discover. We especially loved the children's garden. Here are some pictures and a video.

This fountain is so beautiful and the kids couldn't resist splashing in the green water. I loved this little umbrella tree. It was the perfect hiding spot. Best of all, the fog kept us cool.