Summer Days

Happy summer! It's been crazy hot for the last few days, in the upper 90s. Every summer there are a few days that make us sit and pat ourselves on the back for putting in central air conditioning with our remodel. Yesterday was one of them.

Patrick has his first week at preschool camp last week. He goes again next week and then we're taking some time off. He's also been keeping busy with swim lessons twice a week. Yesterday for the first time he swam the long length of the pool, yay Patrick!



Molly's been practicing standing on her own, which will hopefully soon lead to walking. We're also making progress on the sleep front (knock on wood), she's been sleeping through the night every so often but when she does she gets up at 6am. Good times. Molly's favorite activity lately has been standing on the couch, looking out the window and pointing at any "buh" she sees. Today she actually let me brush her hair and put a little piggy in. She picked out a few pieces in front but managed to leave it in for 5 hours or so. Progress!



And remember my post about my post about my little baby apricots? Look who is almost ready to be picked? Yummmmm!

By The Beautiful Sea

The weather this month has been absolutely fantastic, free of rain which us a little unusual. Although it has cooled down this week we didn't want to miss the opportunity to get out and about so we headed down to Carmel today for lunch and browsing. If we win the lottery we are definitely buying a house there, nothing spectacular, just a little cottage on the beach. Feel free to come visit ;)





Most of my pictures of Patrick lately look something like this...


Oh my.

California Dreamin'

It was one of those beautiful California days today, the kind that makes you feel like it is a pleasure and privilege to live in this little slice of very expensive paradise. So we packed up and headed over the hill to the beach in Capitola. Patrick was thrilled to run around wild on the sand, Molly wasn't too sure about it all and made sure to stay on the blanket after deciding the sand was strange.

A little funny about the hat Patrick is wearing. He picked it out himself at the Gap insisting he needed a new baseball cap. Since the kid has a big noggin it is hard to find kids hats that fit him, this one did so we bought it. He will happily tell you all about the hat if you ask. It goes something like this... "See my hat? It says P-A-G. That spells 49ers baseball cap!".

I'm Going To Disneyland!

We got back from a nice little trip to Disneyland last night, we had a blast but it was soooo cold down there! I packed warm clothes for everyone but we really could have all used the extra heavy duty jackets us Northern Californians save for the few times a year it dips below 55 degrees. I even bought a scarf and gloves for myself because I thought I just might freeze to death out there on one of the rides. The drive down and back makes me wonder what I did in a prior life to deserve such cranky travelers. Patrick has gotten better with age (and with the investment in a portable DVD player) but Molly was at her limit after about 90 minutes in her car seat. Needless to say, it was a long trip. But worth it!

Patrick loved every minute of it all, especially the parade, the Peter Pan ride and the ginourmous Ferris wheel. Molly enjoyed Small World and people watching.

My mom and I made Molly the most adorable little Minnie outfit. Molly got about a million comments on it, but sadly it was so cold I didn't get a better picture than this, you can just see the top of her blinged out Minnie shirt.



Sleeping Beauty's castle was decorated for Christmas. Having been to Disneyworld a couple of times in the last few years I can say with great authority that Sleeping Beauty's castle is much smaller, and much less interesting than Cinderella's castle at Disneyworld.



I bought Patrick and Molly each a pair of Mickey ears. Patrick pretty much wore his straight for 3 days. He plans on taking them to school for show and tell.





We rode the teacups 3 or 4 times, we were even able to walk on with no lines!



Patrick has the same appreciation for churros that his mom and dad do. Here he is enjoying the Christmas parade with a churro snack.



Patrick really loved the huge Ferris wheel at California Adventure. I did not thankyouverymuch. Besides the fact that it was freezing up at the top, there were no seat belts and I was having visions of Patrick jumping up, prying open the doors and flying out. Tom assures me that these kinds of thoughts are not normal. Whatever. Molly and I sat out on subsequent rides.



We got to meet up with some friends while we were down there, Patrick and Calvin had a blast taking Fantasyland by storm. Calvin even tried to convince Patrick to ride the Haunted Mansion. We got as far as the elevator room before we took the chicken exit.



And finally Patrick got to "meet" two of his favorite characters, Mater and Lightening McQueen. He was actually a little giddy about getting to have his picture taken with them!



We have a nice time, but I am so glad to be back home. Molly seems to really thrive on her routine and is sleeping much better at home. I am sleeping better as well, hotel beds just aren't the same.

Up next on the agenda for this week: getting a Christmas tree, doing a little shopping, visiting with Auntie Cheryl who arrived from Holland, going to a wedding and a gingerbread house party. I am exhausted just thinking about it all!

Deep Thoughts

Why was is cold in September when we didn't have any cute fall clothes yet? And why is it now warm (80+!) in October when we have lots of cute pumpkin sweaters to wear? And how am I supposed to dress Patrick for school when it s 50 degrees at 9 am when I drop him off but 80 degrees at noon when I pick him up?

Being cute is hard work.

Hot, Hot, Hot

It's supposed to be under 100 tomorrow, we'll see. It's been in the 100-107 range since Friday and we're a little tired of being stuck on the house. On the other hand, Tom and I are patting ourselves on the back for installing central air last year.

Every Little Step

My little man turned 11 months old on Saturday! Patrick is sooooo close to walking. I'm not sure if I should be excited or scared. He'll stand up and take one or two very tiny steps before he falls on his butt and realizes he can crawl the rest of the way.

On Friday we had a park playdate and enjoyed the almost 90 degree weather!


Here is Patrick pushing his friend Jude's new wagon


Patrick showing off his bathrobe that his Godmother gave him


And another house picture taken this evening


Happy Monday! Only 4 more days until the weekend.