Fun With Family

It was so nice to have so many family members come to town for Jamen's baby blessing!  One set of unexpected travelers surprised us...and boy were we surprised!  My brother and his cute family didn't think they'd be able to make it, so they told us they weren't going to come.  Last minute they decided to drive down from Idaho anyway.  They drove all 18 hours (or whatever), didn't tell a soul they were coming and showed up at the door.  We were SOOO happy!  They spent a couple days with us, so we decided to have some fun!

We spent a day at the beach.  David's parents and sister and her family met us there as well.  Its so fun to have family to hang out with!  Check out Reese's bikini...is that not just the cutest frilliest thing ever!

We spent another day at the SLO Children's Museum.  None of us had been there since it was remodeled, so it was fun to see the new stuff.

One night we all (my parents, David's parents, us, my sister, and my brother & his family) went out to dinner at the Cracked Crab in Pismo.  I think I've mentioned it before.  It's yummy and so fun.  Everyone loved it.  Melissa said we're now like 5 for 5 (or whatever) on the restaurants we've introduced them to!

After dinner we went for a walk on the pier.  We got to watch a seal rescue take place.

We got to spend a few days with David's parents as well.  One day we went for a walk at Oso Flaco Lake...a place we always enjoy!

As we were walking back a scruffy raccoon came walking out of the bushes, across the path in front of us, and into the bushes on the other side.  The boys were pretty excited about it!

We had a great week with everyone coming to visit!  De Groots, thanks for surprising us...it was the best surprise we could have gotten!!

4th of July Weekend

Well I'm finally doing it...blogging.  Its been WAY too long since my last real post.  This will be the first of a LONG string of posts.  Nothing fancy, just basically all the happenings of what we've been up to since, well the last time I posted, which was like 7 months ago (how embarrassing!).

Way back in July we had an awesome 4th of July weekend.  We didn't do anything fancy, but had SO much fun!  The day before (Saturday), we headed south for our first adventure to Nojoqui Falls.  Living on the Central Coast my entire life, I'd never been.  In fact I'd never even HEARD of it until a couple of years ago when a friend of mine brought her family down.  It's an awesome hike for families with little kids who don't like to walk far.  It took probably less then 10 minutes to "hike" to the falls.

David warned (ok, scared) the kids into walking quietly so they wouldn't catch the attention of any mountain lions.  (Oh, and by the way, notice the Ergo pack David's carrying Jamen in?  It is stinkin' awesome!  For anyone with a kid baby to 40 lbs, get one, you'll LOVE it!!!  You can wear it on your back, too!)

Jonah loves adventures and is always prepared for whatever might come his way!

The pool at the bottom of the falls was just the right depth for the kids to play in.  The boys were really mad they didn't bring their swim suits!

They found plenty to play with though.

The falls were beautiful.  The green moss & ivy looked so cool under the dripping water!

Jaxon built a dam like the beaver on Wonder Pets with his sticks.  I'm pretty sure it didn't do much good though :-)

On our way back, we found a park table and had a delicious picnic.

The boys thought the hollow tree was so awesome.  How many trees do you find that you can actually climb inside?

Lets just say Jaxon was a little wiped out. (By the way, that's a chip in his mouth)

On our way home we decided to make a couple fun stops.  First up, Solvang.  Since it was summer and a holiday at that, we mainly just walked around (it was real crowded).  Of course the boys had to play in the telephone booth.

And what would a trip to Solvang be without playing in the giant clog?

For some reason I didn't take pictures, but next we went to the Old Mission Santa Inés and looked around.  We then packed back into the car and made our last stop at a park in Shell Beach before we headed home.

The next day was actually Independence Day.  We did nothing too fancy...we had a nice dinner at my parents.  My sister Elise came over & I finally got a picture of her with Jamen.

I think David had a few poppers or something.  The boys loved them, but Jaxon hated the noise he made when he popped them...silly kid!

 But we did head down to Pismo for some fireworks.  A family friend let us watch them from his driveway/front yard, which was only a few blocks form the beach & had a great view without the crowd, traffic, & smoke.

 It was awesome!  I think we'll have to do it every year from now on!

A Million Posts

No, this is not my millionth post (despite appearances), but I did just add a TON of posts.  Be sure to scroll down and click on "Older Posts" or I've added links to all the new posts below (for those of you basking in your summer laziness as I am!), so just click on the title to view!

- A Very Special BOYS ONLY Day with Daddy -

- Some Very Special Visitors -

- Strawberry Festival -

- Valley, Meet Jamen! -

- Totally Random -

- Concerts in the Plaza -

- Ma & Papa's Visit -

- My Baby's 7! -

- Happy Father's Day! -

- Baby Jamen -

Ma & Papa's Visit

David's parents came to town this past weekend.  There visit served many purposes this time...they came to watch David's show,  they celebrated Jonah's birthday & Father's Day with us, and they came to relax a little bit.

Saturday we brought them to our favorite breakfast joint - Cowgirl Cafe in Nipomo - their biscuits & gravy and hash browns are our favorites!  Then we ventured off to the the Car Show in Pismo Beach.  As always it was jammed packed with people, but we some how always seem to find SOMEONE we know there.  

Papa has a few old cars that were his parents, so we had fun finding ones just like it...maybe someday we'll be able to fix them up for him!  This one was like one of the ones Papa has...

The boys just think this Woody is cool every time!

We did a LOT of walking...my back was killing me!  So we went to rest our weary bones and since we walked off our yummy breakfast, we needed to fill our empty tummies.  All of our favorite restaurants were right in the middle of the Car Show, so we decided to try somewhere new.  We went to Big Daddy's Oak Pit.  It was good.  We tried fried pickles...interestingly good...and their Cozella's Poppers.  The Poppers were my favorite - so good!!  The food was good, but I'd have to say that the best part was the service - we had EXCELLENT service!  Our waitress was absolutely awesome - the best service I've ever had at any restaurant times 2!

We were about to leave, when our waitress found out that it was Jonah's birthday the next day, so she brought the him a bowl of ice cream with a candle.  She brought Jaxon some too and he wanted to blow out a candle too, so she even brought him his own candle!

We had such a fun time with you Ma & Papa...come again soon!

Concerts in the Plaza

Friday night David's band played at Concerts in the Plaza (an annual series of concerts in the Mission Plaza - every Friday all summer long theres a different band that plays for 2 hours).  Its somewhat of a big deal - lots and lots of people hear their music which otherwise might not.  Its a big deal to David because our boys actually get to watch him play (most shows are only for 21+) and so do lots of his friends and family who don't particularly like to stay up late to watch.  In fact David's parents came over for the show and David's aunt and uncle came as well.  It was pretty cool.

It was fun watching these guys.

I made all 3 of the boys matching shirts in tribute to their dad (seeing as it was father's day weekend and all!).  I'm assuming most of you don't have any clue what this shirts about.  Its modeled after the Telefunken symbol...Telefunken is known for their awesome vintage (and new) microphones.  So I recreated it, switching the "TELEFUNKEN" with "RADMACHER."

Before we left for the concert, Jonah was adamant that he have a sign that read "Go Dad!"  And of course Jaxon has to have whatever Jonah has.  So they waved their flags in between songs!

The boys did a little dancing with Ma.

Jamen slept the ENTIRE time! (Don't worry, I DID put ear plugs in his ears!)

There were a lot of crazy old people dancing...some of which I'd rather forget all together.  Ma and I had a blast watching them all!  This couple was my favorite.  They were the first ones out on the dance floor and they were awesome!  They did a little fox trotting, a little mashed potato...and all the while he had the most perfect posture...amazing!  It made for some awesome dancing!  So cute!

Speaking of crazy (besides the lady to the left)...there was this guy...

Odd is the only word I really have to describe him.  He started off in the crowd playing harmonica to himself, then he upgraded to a red plastic flutey-recorder thing.  I think it may have been a child's toy...don't know though - it could have been a rare flute from South America...nope, definitely a child's toy.  He walked amongst the dancers, playing away.  To who?  I don't know, because you couldn't hear him unless you were close enough.  I know this because for some reason (I believe it was the camera in my hand), he ended up RIGHT in front of me - he kept staring me down while he played RIGHT in front of me (luckily there was a stroller between us!) like I was a snake in a basket or something.  Really weird!  I don't know, maybe he thought I could get him a spot in the band or something.  Sorry buddy, not a chance!  Very creepy!

These 2 were my other favorite dancers - Uncle Billy and Aunt Pam - they're awesome - I can always count on them to enjoy a good show!  Thanks for coming you 2...you're the best!

Papa and Uncle Billy were cracking me up...on one point I looked over at them sitting next to each other - Papa was bobbing his head to the beat and Billy was doing the exact same thing, just in triple time.  It was awesome! (I DID film it by the way boys...watch out, it may come out!) :-)

My dad and mom and little sister were there too.  My mom made David's night...she said, "wow, his mustache actually looks pretty good from down here!"  Coming from my mom (who hates facial hair), that's an incredible compliment - David was so pleased with his stache! :-)

It was a fun night.  David was incredible (should I expect less than incredible?) and the band was pretty good too :)  On the way home I asked Jonah what he thought and he said "Dad was AWE-SOME!"  Let me tell you, for David, that made the night ALL worth it!!

Strawberry Festival

I was pretty bummed that Strawberry Festival landed just 1 1/2 weeks after Jamen was born.  I was in NO position to do so much walking, so David brought the boys.  He said it was SO hot, but it apparently wasn't too miserable, because they spent a couple hours there.  They found lots of fun things to do...

they bounced in a Cars bounce house...

checked out an old-fashioned fire truck...

ate some delicious strawberry shortcake...

and Jonah climbed up Spiderman's tower.

The boys had LOTS of fun!
Hopefully Jamen and I will be able to join the fun next year!

A Very Special BOYS ONLY Day With Daddy

The Saturday after Jamen was born, David decided he needed to take the boys out for a "boys only" day.  Seeing as I was not about to leave the house and some peace and quiet could do me some good, I wished them well and they were off.  

Their first stop was the candy store.  We discovered Powell's Sweet Shoppe in downtown SLO (next to Guiseppe's) a couple weeks ago...its rad.  Its got all the old school candy we all remember from our childhood.  Its kid candy heaven.  The crazy thing, though, was that out of ALL that candy...literally thousands of different kinds, my boys chose the lego candy - its like Sweet Tarts in the form of Legos - go figure!

Next they headed to Pismo, to hang out in the caves.  They had such a blast.  I think they spent about 5 hours or so there.

The boys thought they were STARVING, so David decided to mega spoil them and treat them to the Cracked Crab.  I was not exactly happy about that decision...besides the fact that it costs a fortune, I was bummed that I didn't get to be there to watch them!  They absolutely LOVED it!  The crab legs and cracking the crab open with the hammers, and wearing the Crab bibs.  Now for the last couple of weeks every time I ask what we should have for dinner, Jonah yells "Cracked Crab!"  Sorry bud, we won't be doing that again real soon.

The boys (David included) came home ranting and raving about what an awesome day it was...that it was THE BEST DAY EVER!  I just wish I could have been there to share it with them...guess we'll just have to do it all again real soon!

Avila Barn

Todays adventure landed us at Avila Barn.  We LOVE Avila Barn.  Its so cool.  The kids fed the animals, ran around, ate candy...so fun.  At one point Jonah turned to me and said, "Wow, Avila Barn is like the best place on the planet!  It is SOOO awesome!  I LOVE Avila Barn!"  Seriously if I didn't know better, I'd think he was at Disneyland for the first time!  But I do have to say that I totally agree with him.   It's so up our alley!

With all of its greatness, though, I'd have to say that THIS was the highlight of my Avila Barn visit today:

A couple weeks ago they started selling sandwiches, so we decided to try it out.  This was their garden veggie sandwich with marinated artichoke hearts, tomatoes, red onion (I remove those...David likes 'em), cucumber, lettuce, sprouts, creamy avocado, drizzled with Italian dressing.  Oh, it was SO heavenly!  They serve it with a side of pasta salad that too was mighty tasty and a chocolate dipped strawberry.  I never got the strawberry...Jonah and Jaxon took care of that for me.

Oh Avila Barn, you just get better and better!

Montana de Oro

Today (May 13th) is officially my due date.  I totally thought I was gonna have him last night, but I guess it was a false alarm.  I had contractions all yesterday, but nothing consistent, but of course when I went to sleep they went away.  They're back again today, but who knows.  If I don't have the baby by Tuesday, then they'll induce me.  I've never been induced before, so I'm hoping I won't get that far.  So here's a picture of my Buddha belly as of Saturday.  I feel huge, but I guess I don't really look THAT huge.  Thats what happens when you're tall...the baby spreads up into your ribs! :)

Saturday we headed down to Montana de Oro...our happy place...to see if a little walking around would get me a little closer to labor (no such luck, obviously!).  We had lots of fun down at the tide pools.  Jaxon went around collecting handfuls of little crabs and snails.  Jonah and David amused themselves by opening up muscle shells and feeding them to sea anemones...boys!  It was a great day for finding star fish...we usually find 1 or 2, but this particular day we found 6 or 7 at least!  We even found little fish in 1 of the pools...that is not very common here!

I had no such luck going into labor, but we sure did have some fun!