Beach Day

It seems to be a tradition now that we spend Memorial Day at the beach. We had a wonderful day with wonderful friends, we even got some exciting news - more babies will be added to our group in 2012 (I'm not talking about us by the way).

Brian and Uncle Adam enjoying some shade time...some of us had already had a bit too much sun this weekend.

The girls (Crystal and Charlotte) took on the boys (Adam and Brian) at ladder ball. We went best of 3, only two games were needed. I would love to say that is because Crystal and I dominated....we didn't. Ooops. But we had fun!

Uncle Adam and Ryker heading down to the water.

Such great friends.

Adam's parents were in town too and we had a great time seeing them. We missed Alexis who was working but we sure had fun hanging with her guys (they came over for swimming on Saturday too). Ryker is so good with Scott (he is in training to be a big brother in October and doing a great job) and Scott looks up to him so much. Scott wasn't crazy about walking around in the water today, he just wanted Brian or me to hold him...but when Ryker took his and walked him around he was like "see later mom and dad". I don't know if I mentioned this already but Ryker calls Scott "Baby Scott", its really cute and we laugh that Scott and Ryker are going to be 18 and 20 and Ryker will still be calling him "Baby Scott".
Oh and a great big Happy First Birthday to our friend Zoey! Can't believe you're ONE baby girl - we treasure your friendship!
Happy Memorial Day everyone!

15 months...

Scott also turned 15 months yesterday! He is into doing all sorts of silly things these days (see above) which get him into precarious situations sometimes (see below).

He is definitely becoming a bit of a show off, which I believe is partly due to age/a phase and partly due to some of the older kids he sees regularly. I'm not complaining, I thinks its adorable. I can definitely see him picking up running around and spinning in circles and making silly noises (all the while making sure he is being watched) from older kids. Frequently he'll do something silly and then give himself the reaction he was looking for (laughter, surprise etc.) its really funny to watch. His vocabulary is ever expanding, which is both cute and incredibly helpful.
His current favorite things are reading books, playing with (on) Charlie, playing with his friends especially Parker J., anything with Daddy, Elmo ("Albo") and Mickey Mouse still, animals of all kinds (going to the zoo and reading books about animals could fill his day, all day, everyday!) he is loving big trucks too - he always points them out when we are driving somewhere. When we go to the park, the slide is the new favorite. He goes up and down all the slides over and over (and then sleeps so well!). He is also becoming our little fish in the pool!
He still only has 5 teeth and we are getting a little more hair, although I'm probably the only one who can tell. He is still a bit of a picky eater but we are doing a good job of rotating through different foods. Lately we have been doing a bit of dinner time bartering - a bite of (insert vegetable he is not crazy about here, or chicken because lately he's not crazy about that either) for a bite of (insert any carbohydrate item here). He picked up on this game real quick and will not take a second bite of "gross" food before he gets his bite of "yummy" food. He will however eat broccoli at every meal which is nice, and he shares my green drink with me in the morning so at the very least I'm guaranteed that he gets 1-2 servings of leafy greens everyday. I discovered Dr. Praeger's frozen items and will work those in every few days (they have wonderful gluten free stuff: white fish breaded with potatoes instead of bread, broccoli and spinach mixed with potatoes in the shape of dinosaurs, teddy bears etc.). I was feeling a bit guilty about including these quick fix items in Scott's diet, it feels a bit too much like processed food. But we only do it every few days and at least they are all organic. And I felt less bad when a patient in the office the other days said she fed her daughter powdered sugar doughnuts for breakfast...regularly. Maybe frozen white fish baked in the oven for dinner last night wasn't so bad afterall.
Scott also really likes music. He always asks for music in the car and likes to sing songs before bed. He will sing a few songs himself (although I can't tell what they are yet) which is really cute.
15 months....I can't believe it!

Sesame Street LIVE!!!

Here are the boys arriving at the theater. They love each other so much. The moment they see each other they have to give hugs. Then they spent the rest of the outdoor waiting time walking around holding hands. A-DOOR-ABLE!

Love these kids and mommies...missing in this photo Andy and Zoey, love them too!

I made several attempts at getting one or more kids to stand with this Elmo. Fail. It never happened. Oh well.

There is Andy and Zoey...yay...waiting for the show to start...thank goodness for snacks to share!

Waiting...

Let the excitement begin. Scott was, in a word, mesmerized. He could not look away. He held my hands so tightly the whole time, almost to say, "mom are you seeing this" or to make sure it was real and he wasn't dreaming. He pointed several times and definitely danced along to all of the singing/dancing parts.

Just wanted a quick picture with my little - there was no way he could tear his eyes away from the show - he was so so into it.

Ryker had a great time too. This is one of the only pictures I got of him that he didn't cover his face. Must be going through a "I'm-a-celebrity-no-pictures-please" phase.

At one point Parker J. had to climb on my lap too. I think the boys needed to experience the show together. They held hands and gave each other bites of their snacks and sips of the sippy.

The fantastic 5... (the theme was Elmo's healthy heroes, they talked about eating healthy and exercising, brushing your teeth, washing your hands and getting enough sleep...very cute and I was on board with everything except the drinking enough milk part...but I won't even go down that road right now!)

Intermission. That's how long the show was, there was a 15 minute intermission. Thankfully there was a water fountain to watch and more snacks to be had.

The finale...

From beginning to end this was Scott's face:

I think the show was an hour and a half total. I am thoroughly impressed that all the kiddos sat through the whole thing. Scott enjoyed the show so much - I can't wait to take him again someday.

Afterwards we ate a picnic that we had packed to the park next door.

ZoZo says: "whatcha got Parker J.?"

After we finished our coffee bean drinks we put the boys smoothies into the cups (because why on earth would you drink it from a sippy if you can have a cool, grown up coffee cup with a straw...duh mom!)

It was a hit! Now Scott is taking the nap of a lifetime, Brian is putting the bed liner in his blazer and we are all looking forward to a long weekend together!

'minitrip'

Today Hilary and I took the boys on a little "minitrip" as she liked to call it. We packed the essentials, see above....haha you think this is all we needed, no but thanks for playing...this + two bob's + more diaper bags than humans traveling in the car + lunches and snacks + water, milk and juice, because you never know what you'll be in the mood for + sunscreen in case it was sunny/hot and sweaters in case it was cold +...+... you get the picture

On the way up we stopped by the road here:

For these:

Then arrived at the Santa Barbara Zoo for an afternoon of fun! We both received season passes to this zoo from the St. Amants for Christmas. We haven't gotten a chance to use this generous gift until now (luckily we get a year from the first date we use them, so our year starts now, Dear SB zoo, prepare yourself...we will be seeing each other really frequently in the coming months).

"Who cares about the giant snake mom, its time for a snack."

Checking out the lions together...

We were able to get super close to the giraffes. These were a favorite of the boys today. Probably because there were so many of them and they were being very active. Next time we might try feeding them (this is allowed, they let you pay to feed them lettuce, I'm not just going to toss them a bite of Scott's sunflower butter and jam sandwich, I'm pretty sure that would get us banned)

We spent a lot of our time just exploring and playing on the grounds. It is truly one of the most beautiful zoos I have ever been to. We actually have friends that got married here (we didn't know them at the time and did not attend) which I think is such a cute idea!

The highlight of the trip was this fountain.

The boys played and splashed and got soaked...and loved every second!

Also this was not a fun kids splash area...I'm pretty sure it was not for this purpose whatsoever and had we been caught it may have been frowned upon....our bad!

Parker J. really liked looking at the goats, sheep and pigs.

Here is Scott showing this weird alligator head toy his "super excited face". It never gets old!

On the way home we of course had to stop at our FAVORITE coffee shop: Palermo.

What a perfect couch for two boys and two mommies to have a coffee break!

Just a shot of a portion of their tempting menu. Two large 'London Undergrounds' (which has now become my new drink of choice) a burrito to share and a gluten free treat later we headed back home. A special thanks to Grandma Kathy and Grandpa David for our day of fun (and the many more days at the zoo to come)!!!!

A Bridal Tea

Sunday I attended a bridal tea party to celebrate my dear friend and cousin (in law) Alyson. She will be getting married on July 30th and then moving to Colorado (sniff). Brian and I feel so honored to be a part of Alyson and Steve's wedding! We can't wait to be with them as they say their "I-do's" and we can't wait to party the night away after. This weekend's shower was so fun and so beautiful. Above is a shot of the hustle and bustle leading up to the shower. All of the 10 bridesmaids showed up bright and early to help set up! It was really fun helping to get it all together!

The beautiful tea party

I love the table settings...each table had different sets of china and different fun tea pots all lent by different aunts and family friends. I should have taken a picture of each set, but I didn't. I wouldn't have posted that anyways...no one cares that much about china right?!? There was, however, a gorgeous set with The Church of the Chimes on it which was beautiful and sentimental, as Brian's grandfather started that church. Wish I had gotten a picture of that one. Maybe next time.

The bride-to-be arrives...

Alyson and her bridesmaids...

2 drinks (not really, I was a classy bridesmaid...no boozing for me!)

Getting showered with gifts

Kay - the MOB

Al and Lindsay (Matron of Honor) who made a rockin' rehearsal bouquet!

The couple and their parents

Future Mr. & Mrs. Colella

Al and Charlotte - so lucky that she's my married cousin