P.S. I Love You

Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Palm Springs in July?  If Kim and Lorenzo are there for a quick visit from Italy, then so are we!  Two of the greatest, fun-packed days we've had in a very long time.  Yes, the heat was ridiculous, but when you have air conditioning, a pool and super company, who cares.  Jack and Lauren spent most of their waking hours neck deep in the water.  Jack loved copying Luke and Collin by jumping off the edge of the jacuzzi into the pool.  Miss Lauren wowed the crowd by showing off her mad skills at kicking and swimming underwater.  I seriously don't remember the last time we were all together, seems like someone is always missing.  But with Nick and Paula there from Oceanside, Kim and Lorenzo from Italy, and us from Ventura it was like Thanksgiving in July.  Jack had the best time EVER playing with his wonderful cousins, in the water and out.  At one point we had Angry Birds being played on three iPads and an iPhone all at once!  We had delicious meals both days, too.  I can't decide what my favorite was, maybe we should do it all again to refresh my memory, ha!  Pasta, potato salad, ribs, pear tart...(mouth watering)...over two days I know I defeated my week's worth of hours at the gym, but it was well worth the splurge.  Thanks so much to everyone for making such a fabulous weekend for us.  My laundry is clean, I'm ready to do it again :-)

Mommy and the little dolphin

Auntie Kim and her future partner in crime

Three Gaming Musketeers

Movie time!

A serious feast deserves some serious wine, Bella Barbera!

Flemings

Hey, hey, the gang's all here!

Friday night was classic Dinner with Dad Night. It's been a while since we did an MLK (my little kids) dinner with Dad, but this time we had all four of us kids and even all our "dates."  Flemings in Manhattan Beach did not disappoint.  Food, service, ambience, were all outstanding.   Nikki and Troy brought the entertainment (lottery scratchers) to celebrate everyone's birthday since it has been many months since we have had a dinner celebration together.  We also had Andria's graduation from nursing school to celebrate.  My mom and Jim watched all three grandkids for us, so it was an unusual adult only event.  Rob and I didn't know what to do without kids, so we ate, drank and laughed like newlyweds.  We told jokes and stories until about 10:30 which felt like 2 AM to us parents in the group! On Saturday, Rob and I were both in a world of hurt from trying to keep up with the professional drinkers at the table, but we had so much fun that it didn't damper our spirits at all.

Dad and Phil

Roberto and Andria

Nikki and Troy

Who are those people without Jack and Lauren?

Bone-in rib eye, mac 'n cheese, asparagus, garlic mashed potatoes, onion rings and shoestring fries.  Not to mention my pomegranate martini!

She's Nekey!

Getting ready for her bath after swimming.  Lauren has been scooting everywhere!  She has almost cracked the code for crawling, but in the meantime she uses her tummy as a fulcrum and turns wherever she wants to go.  He also rolls side over side as quick as a flash.  And bath time is her favorite time of day, without a doubt.  She is our water baby, for sure!

Aaaaargggghhh Mateys!

It's hard to believe that Max is already 2 years old!  But we joined the family in Long Beach to celebrate his "terrific two" birthday with a fabulous pirate party.  Jack started researching his role early.  We went to Disney store for the hat and wig, and the 99 cent store for all his other props.  We raided his closet for "piratey" clothes.  We even watched Peter Pan and a little bit of Pirates of the Caribbean so he could perfect his performance.  By the time the party arrived, he was ready for his Oscar worthy performance.  He couldn't decide if he was Captain Hook or Captain Jack Sparrow, but either way he had a blast!

Shiver me timbers!

He thought the mustache and beard were AWESOME!

That's a lot of candles little man

...and I'll huff, and I'll puff...

Oh, love your cousin.

Grandma Phyl with Lauren

It's hard to say which of them loved cuddle time the most.

Returning home with frosting in his beard.

Swimming Maniac

Jack is a swimming machine now! Once he broke the code for going under water, you just couldn't stop him! I apologize for the video, which gets very bumpy and off target aroound the middle, but I was laughing so hard I could barely hold the camera up.It is pretty long, but you'll feel like you spent the day swimming with him :-)

Super Swimmers

Let's go to the pool!  Friday was Rob's day off so we took him to the pool with us to show off the kids'  new swim skills.  Jack dog paddled, jumped in, dove for pool sticks and floated on his back.  Lauren went underwater and kicked up a storm chasing rubber duckies.  Super job super swimmers!

 

Bocce!

Wednesday nights are bocce nights for Rob at Arnoldi's in Santa Barbara. This week Jack, Lauren and I joined him. Jack got to roll the little ball around the bocce court a few times before the game started. We watched Daddy play and ordered pizza. After the match we had yummy penne pomodoro and fresh halibut. We got to see friends and enjoy a lovely Santa Barbara evening. Aaaahhhhh, paradise :-)