Puppy Chow

In lieu of a sibling, Jack picks up his bad habits from the dog, Gracie. Woof!

Summer Time and the Livin' Is Easy

It was a quiet weekend here on Bryn Mawr Street. Many of our neighbors were out of town (Hey Ruffins, how'd you like the 114 degree highs in Palm Springs!?), but we stayed close to home. We spent a lot of time in the back yard playing "get". For those of you who aren't familiar, Jack runs away yelling, "Get, get!" and we are supposed to get him and then spin him around. My back loves that game. He also loves when we chase him with his little lawnmower. The problem is that it is built to be "his" lawn mower, so we must hunch over to push it around the yard. Again, my back loves that game too. Personally, I much prefer bubbles

Other than that, it was a pretty mellow time. I made some yummy pork chile verde for dinner tonight and we watched Madagascar 2 AGAIN. Your eyes are not deceiving you...Jack's bath water is purple. Auntie Julie gave us some really cool bath fizzy tablets that actually color the water, but not the child--NICE! He had a great time. Then, after only napping for 1 hour today, he conked out in my arms tonight. Check out that puppy tummy he's sporting!

Honor Your Craving

Jack and I took a quick trip down to Long Beach/ Redondo Beach this week. I was craving linguine and clams at my dad's restuarant, so Mom, Jim, Troy, Nikki and Max met us down there for lunch. It was fun to sit around and chat with all of them. Jack was like a little social
butterfly...cuddling with Grandpa Phil in the bar, and dragging us all to see the amazing fish tank (repeatedly)! It was a yummy and fun afternoon.

Despite having only a 10 minute nap (yikes), Jack was in a great mood that evening. Kelsey made a wonderful dinner for us and Jack loved dancing with Mommy, Grandma Laura and Pa at the end of the movie Madagascar. He kept begging, "more, more" until we had danced to it at least three times! He finally had a bottle and was out like a light in a matter of minutes.

The next morning, Jack and I went by Nikki's condo to cuddle Max before we hit the road. Playing in the pillows was great fun, but that's where the party ended for Jack. He was beside himself to see me holding another baby! BESIDE HIMSELF! He threw his body to the floor and screamed like a mad man. OK. I get the message. Geez! So we headed out for our 4 hour trip to Ventura (don't ask). That evening Jack just chilled out while watching Madagascar 2. Do you like his casual stance? He is too cool for words.

Dance Fever

It was a party weekend here! We started out on Friday night with Daddy's friend Channing coming by for a beer and a burger. We had a great time visiting. The best part for Jack was seeing Channing's candy apple red Corvette! It was cool! It reminded Jack of Lightning McQueen!

Then, on Saturday night we went up to Santa Barbara for a party at Dennis and Suzanne Elledge's home. Their home has miraculously survived all the fires over the last two years, even though the fire line came within about 10 yards from the master bedroom! Yikes! Dennis showed us all around their spectacular home, I can't even begin to describe the stunning views from every room, truly living in Paradise. The party was great...Jack loved munching potato chips, playing in the garden, climbing the beautiful staircase outside and....UNCLE RICHARD!!! What a perfect evening. Jack stayed up until 10PM!

Today was a relaxing day at home. This morning we worked in the garden and Jack played in his new wading pool. It has little fountains that spout water...very fun! After dinner we walked to the store for ice cream (Jack is TOTALLY getting the dessert thing!) After his bath it was time for dance fever in the master bedroom. Jack, Mommy, Daddy and even Gracie danced away to some fun music. What a blast! Jack needs to work on technique a little before high school, but the most important part is that we all had fun.

Ladies Luncheon

On Wednesday we had a family "ladies luncheon" at Nikki's condo in Long Beach. It was, of course, crashed by two adorable young men...Jack and Max! Troy was a doll to bring us lunch from our favorite restaurant, Phil Trani's. I was tempted to drive all the way back to Long Beach again today just for leftover linguine and clams! It was great to have all four generations present. Thanks to Troy and Nikki for letting us descend upon your place and hosting such a nice afternoon.

San Francisco and Inverness

Rob planned the perfect "first" family vacation! We left last Thursday and drove to San Francisco for two nights in the city. While there, we hit all the things we knew Jack would love and squeezed in a few fun things for ourselves, too. We rode the cable cars with Jack, but surprisingly, he was more interested in the cars, trucks and buses that we passed on the street! Apparently he is not interested in the historical significance of the cable car, nor was he interested in the hour long wait to ride it! He did love being pushed in his stroller UP all the hills in the city, checking out the fish at the aquarium, eating bay shrimp for lunch, playing with his toy cable car, riding the elevator at the hotel, helping Daddy bring Starbucks for breakfast, playing on the playground in Chinatown, eating dim sum for dinner and playing with the goats and sheep at the SF Zoo petting area. He was less impressed with Union Square, eating in restaurants, waiting in line for everything, missing his naps, and shopping in general. Rob and I enjoyed the city, especially our surprise fireworks show from the 43rd floor of our hotel on the 3rd of July!

After the zoo on Saturday we headed up to a tiny town called Inverness about an hour north of SF. Rob Pearson's parents have a wonderful guest cottage and were so kind in sharing it with us. We really got some good "down time" there. No cell phone reception, just lots of beautiful views, quiet days, lovely afternoon strolls, and time to enjoy one another. We explored Point Reyes (where Rob decided we will retire and run the adorable hardware store) and visited the Inverness Light House. It was over 300 stairs each direction and Jack INSISTED on climbing many of them himself! The views were astounding! The northern part of our state sometimes feels like another planet, truly breathtaking!

Well, we're home safe and sound now. Laundry, errands...what's for dinner?

SB Zoo

We love the Santa Barbara Zoo. Today was just another glorious day in our backyard paradise. We joined some girlfriends for a fun day at the zoo. It was 4 moms and 9 kids. Eight of the kids are 3 years old or younger! Thank goodness our little friend Amy is a huge helper. Jack just loves holding her hand and will follow her anywhere. We got to see the new condor exhibit, watch the zookeepers feed the penguins and ride the train...what a thrill! It was such a great day that Jack is still lying awake in his crib and resisting nap time. I think he's got too many exciting details running through his head.

Post Script: It wasn't memories racing through his head that kept him awake...it was a giant poop in his pants!! Clean and sleeping now. HA!