Summer cont..

Brayden mastered the ability to climb in his crib. Thankfully, he can still not climb out but it is not for lack of effort.
Brayden and friends Liam and Piper posing at the Ott's birthday party. They sat so still for the longest time . They are so cute in this photo. Seconds later they wiggled in and out of the pool and threw the plastic balls at each other just like toddlers should. Greta always is such an inspiration for throwing fantastic and utterly creative parties and making all of the little things in life very special for her family.

Whenever Tony works in the garage Brayden prefers to watch him sitting inside his truck. Lately, Tony has been working on a frame for a print we bought in Hawaii on our honeymoon. Too bad my embroidered print is taking forever ( the bottom half is at least complete) otherwise he would have another frame to make at the same time.

A nice yummy chicken pot pie was waiting for me last week when I had a late night at work. I have been really busy at work which is a good thing but the qualification process continues to get worse which is always fun. Dinner was at 8 pm ( which is very late for us) but oh so worth it. Tony made it from scratch and was clever enough to put all of our initials on it.

Next up on our agenda....

Brayden's first surf movie tonight and TGIF in the park tomorrow.

Celebrating the 4th Australian style

Yesterday we spent the 4Th at the beach and barbecuing with our friends Matt and Celine ( Matt being the Australian). We spent the day visiting old neighbors on Neptune, watching the parade, drinking a few beers on the beach and consuming lots of meat. Brayden had lots of fun dropping in at various neighbors and quickly made himself at home. Beacons's Brayden

Playing with Lily at Jazz in the Park last week.

Loving the opportunity to dance and play with friends at Staecoach park.

I hope everyone had a safe 4th of July.

Hiding things in the soap bucket.

Washing the car with dad on Father's day.

Helping Grandma with her chile rellano casserole. It did not quite compliment our rib and chicken BBQ theme but it did make for excellent leftovers this week.

Watching the Padre game with Grandpa on Father's Day.

Hooray! No more high chair.
The high chair has been disassembled and now lives in the garage. We are still mastering the concept that chairs are for sitting. Not climbing or standing on.

.

What we've been up to

Here is an update on my needlework project. I had given myself a goal to finish the lower half by the end of May. That obviously did not happen. June is looking more realistic. If the weather stays as nice as it has been the completion will get postponed. So far I am happy with the result since this is my first attempt.
Last weeks 5k in Del Mar. I chickened out of the 10k even though I could have used the practice running a longer distance. Apparently Brayden though he was the more dehydrated one out of the both of us.

Hullabaloo at the Powerhouse in Del Mar last Sunday. Brayden danced and danced. It was so much fun to watch. Not pictured is Brayden friend Evan and his mom Erin. Erin was busy chasing Evan pushing Braydens's stroller through the crowd. Maybe next month the dads can go so we can engage in some sort of conversation. Some parents were clever enough to bring wine and a nice picnic lunch. I think we have a big Hullabaloo fan and will need to get some sort of a similar concert routine going.

More dancing.

Today's visit to Quail Botanical Gardens for their grand opening of their children's garden. I think this pond was intended as a pretty water feature not as a toddler wading pool. I can honestly say my child was the wettest child there. Most kids were content dipping their feet in. Mine got his head wet within seconds. We ended up staying here for a good 45 minutes and got to see very little else. Thankfully they still let us become members anyway. Enjoy your weekend!

Summer here we come....

Playdates, pool parties, bike rides and the beach all summer long could not come soon enough. Stuffing toys and who knows what else( keys, remotes, snacks)in the bushes with friend Liam.
Digging the new pool. Like our AstroTurf backyard? Very WT but is much preferred over what was already there. Plus who wants to jeopardize a puncture wound in the pool? I was not on board with the idea but Tony was determined. I am glad I was overruled. Plastic lawn ornaments and cans of beer littering the yard to follow.

Enjoying a frozen treat from the new and improved Moonlight Beach concession stand.

Tony catching his first waves on his handmade Alia ( I am sure I butchered the spelling) board. He made it over the weekend for the summer kickoff beach party at San Onofre. While I think the board may need some revision he enjoyed combining his two hobbies surfing and woodwork.
I hope everyone got to enjoy the outdoors this weekend.

Belated mothers day

Mothers day was celebrated late in our house. All three of us spent the day recovering from food poisoning from Saturdays dinner. Thanks Pick Up Sticks. We NEVER eat there but we did not feel like cooking. As I am driving past the Ralphs on my way home from my run I thought - quick and easy. Why not? Tony and I spent the day taking turns sleeping in 2 hour intervals so someone could keep an eye on Brayden who also fell victim and had his own issues. Helping clean the house for mom with his toy vacuum and leaky ice cream cone.

My lovely mothers day card made of my favorite koa wood. The tab pulls out and the card is inside.

My latest project.

It will hopefully utilize a little of this amazing embroidery floss stash.
Hope all of you lovely mommies had a wonderful day.

Late spring getaway.

Brayden took his first plane trip to visit his Grandpa Jacks and Grandma Ann. There house was full of fun things to do. They were in the middle of preparing for a craft show in their area. Lots of soon to be finished projects mostly consisting of glass and glass parts filled the house. You can imagine the result when you let a toddler loose in those conditions. He did great with no glass casualties. My nerves are still recovering. I felt like a broken record. "be careful" and "that is dangerous" and "don't touch" are words I need to eliminate from my vocabulary for a few days. We had lots of fun checking out the newly built garage full of all of their projects. I learned how handy a kiln could be in my life and now am shopping Craigslist for one. They melted wine and liquor bottles and made cutting boards, dishes and nightlights. They were still cooling off when we left so we do not have any photos of the end result to share. It was very fun to learn how to re purpose bottles for cool art. Brayden logged many hours riding/ climbing/ standing on top of/ running circles around the tractor. I think he would like one of these at the house as much as I would like a kiln similar to theirs at our house.
Playing in the last of the season snow up in Tahoe. His Ugg boots had little tread. Frolicking in the snow was a very brief event.

Feeding Grandpa's horses.

Posing in front of the Truckee River

Interfering with neighbor lady's skee ball game at Circus Circus. Circus Circus still seemed to be in original condition from my childhood. I did notice that the flying trapeze circus people seemed to be missing.