Trip to the Beach

Yesterday we took a family trip to the beach. We haven't done that for six months and I asked myself why it's been so long. Then I remembered: five hours in the car to spend two hours at the beach. That's why. But we really enjoyed our time at the beach, and I think we even enjoyed most of our time in the car. (Except for the terrible traffic to begin the morning. I suggested we move to Montana or Saskatchewan).

Happy to be out of the car after three hours!

 My first trip to a northern California beach was a shock: Where was the sun and what happened to the warm water?! (I was familiar with the Gulf Coast which is closer to the temperature of bath water.) But now I know how to dress for the beach (but it still leaves me a bit sad I can't go jump into the water).

 We caught the part of the day where the fog was clearing - and it came back in as we left.

 Waving enthusiastically (he does everything enthusiastically).

Once BB got tired we put him in his stroller and went to investigate the rockier part of the beach. It didn't seem to have any tide pools, but had boulders. Chris commented, "Wouldn't it be great if we saw some starfish?" I agreed, but was pretty sure we wouldn't see much besides large rocks and mussels.

 We were happy to find one and needed a picture to show how large it was.

 And then we found another one!

And another one!

 Well, you get the idea. It was quite the day for starfish! We must have caught low tide. This was more starfish than either of us had seen in our entire lives!

 (And I didn't even post all of our pictures.)

 The beach was at the bottom of a cliff. (Doesn't BB look so excited? He actually really enjoyed himself but was super tired.)

Popcorn Popping

Happy Birthday!

BB just turned 2! It's hard to believe that two years have flown by so fast, but then it does seem like a long time ago that he was a little baby. BB brings so much fun and laughter into our lives (but I won't lie, he also brings a lot of exercise too - this kid can run!). We got him a basketball hoop for his birthday. I was so proud of him that he obviously knew exactly what to do with it (even if it was first thing in the morning).

 Watch out cake! Here he comes!

A little Father and Son basketball.

Mommy's Shoes

BB loves to wear my shoes around the house. It's a bit frustrating for me because I would love to also wear my shoes around the house, but he has so much fun!

One morning I was trying to fold laundry (quite a feat with a two year old running around grabbing everything!). We finally settled on letting him have my pajama pants. He was obviously loving it!

A Visit From Grandpa

One of the bonuses of living near my Dad's parents (besides the obvious one that we get to visit them often and they LOVE BB) is that whenever he visits his parents he drops by to see us too. BB was so happy to see his Grandpa!

 Kisses for Grandpa!

 More kisses for Grandpa!

Fun! Fun! Fun!

It was recently BB's Birthday and I have lots and lots of fun pictures. But just this cute video for now. Our sweet neighbor got him this tunnel: he's always hiding in her rose bushes so she knew he would enjoy this (and it's much safer than thorny bushes!).

Our pianist

Mother's Day

We had a fun, calm Mother's Day. Chris has been studying for a monster test (CPA level 3) and so we were happy to enjoy a quiet day together at home. Before going to church Chris tried to capture some mother-son pictures, but it was a challenge to get BB to hold still for the camera, much less smile! But I thought these were fun.

 Some people are bothered by his scowl, but it usually cracks me up because he's such a friendly, happy boy.

Finally! We're both smiling.

Rocking Dino!

Every time I think I get used to BB's schedule (and make a schedule of my own) he changes and I have to figure things out again! I can't believe that it's been so long since I've posted. But our big change was that we're down to just one nap per day (usually). Chris didn't understand why I was having such a hard time adjusting until he realized that we went from two 2-hour naps to just one 2-hour nap (sometimes longer, but again, no telling with BB). I just tell myself that we're all lucky I get to be his full-time mom and we don't have to be on a schedule! :)

BB is really turning into a talker. Unfortunately, there are so many times that I just cannot figure out what he's asking for and he gets awfully frustrated, but when we do understand each other it's so much fun. Just this week we went to the zoo (we have a annual pass and it's the perfect place to run around and boy does he run!) and the lion was actually awake and walking around (for a long time we kind of wondered if he was real). I said, "Look, it's a lion." BB responded, "Roar." I loved it! He's quite good at many animal sounds and mostly has names for food.

BB's grandpa got him a rocking dinosaur (like a rocking horse, but a dino). Unfortunately, we have to keep it in the garage because BB is a climber and was trying to stand on it to get to the counter, but he loves to escape to the garage and rocks and rocks. It's perfect for a guy who is so active (and he sure is!).

Horsey rides

Chris has started a new tradition with BB: horsey rides before going to bed. And of course he loves it! We did have to take a night off because Chris sprained his ankle playing basketball, but we're already back to our tradition.

Happy Days

Our little guy was having a happy, charismatic day (not abnormal, but not always caught on camera). I just had to share these photos.