Happy 5th Anniversary...to us!

July 17, 2009
5 Year Anniversary
We went to Spaghettini for dinner.
More pics from our trip to Solvang/Santa Ynez Wine Tasting to come!

Summertime and the livin' is easy!

We played in the backyard a lot this past summer!
We were lucky to have a little bit of shade and a whole lotta sun!
Ry and Stef came over one day for a little bit of water fun!
Thank goodness for plastic pools for $14.99 from Ace Hardware!

Getting ready to cool off!

Come on in! The water is great!

A little sprinkler action!

I put the slide into the water and Owen absolutely LOVED it!
It was his own private Raging Waters.

Always going down belly first!

Stef and I had to join in on cooling off.
We also cooled off with some refreshing white wine! Wink wink!
Nothin' beats summer days!

Beach Party

My high school girlfriends were treated to a day of fun in the sun, courtesy of Brooke!
She hosted a beach "soiree" at Santa Monica beach for us and the kids!
She had all kinds of toys, a bubble machine, a pool, snacks, drinks and music for all!

Getting in the water!

Playing with Austin

Enjoying a popsicle!

My little beach boy!

A super fun day was had by all! Let's do it again real soon!

Big Boy Bed!

We got Owen his bed this past summer!
He loves his big boy bed so much!
He adjusted quite well into the bed...even as high off the ground it is!
He's only fallen one time!

Sound asleep!

4th of July 2009

This 4th of July was quite eventful! We started off by decorating Owen's tricycle for 2 neighborhood parades! Our neighborhood had it's annual parade at 10am, starting right in front of the school by us!

Waiting to go outside and join the neighbors...all decked out in red, white and blue!

Owen's making his way quickly along the parade route-which is just around the school.

We met Evelyn and her parents that day. Owen quickly made a new friend.

And when he got tired, he joined Evelyn and another neighbor's puppy in her wagon.

It's water balloon time!

All the kids lined up to play water balloon toss!
Neighbors all around!

Owen and Greg continue to watch our neighborhood festivities.
There was watermelon and licorice for all!

Next stop was to the Mockridge's neighborhood block party. We have gone there
every year for the past few years! It's even more fun now that Owen is older.
Each year, they start their party off with breakfast and at 1pm, the neighborhood kids all line up to show off their decorated bikes.
This parade started during Owen's nap time...but he held out pretty well!

Go Owen!

Along the parade route with Jackson and Campbell.

Almost to the end !

After the parade, Greg bought special treats from the ice cream truck.

And then it was time to cool off in the pool!

Greg and I celebrating our ninth 4th of July together!

Auntie Wendy and Johnny came out to spend time with us at the block party.

Game time! Owen was all about this one! Try to eat a donut, hanging from the stick, with NO hands! He was hilarious to watch. At one point, he gave up and just grabbed the donut off of the string and started eating. YUM!

Cam and Owen dancing on the porch. Too cute!

We watched fireworks in Los Alamitos at a park. Owen looks so tired!
He was! It was almost 9 o'clock!

Owen and Johnny waiting for the fireworks to start!

As soon as the fireworks ended we started walking back. Owen conked out!

Good night and Happy 4th!

Through Owen's Eyes

Greg let Owen take the camera to snap some pictures on his own.

He LOVES to take pictures and doesn't do a bad job!
Here are just a few of the 40 or so pictures he took! It's
so funny to see the world through his eyes.
We could have a future Ansel Adams on our hands!

"Truck in dirt"

"Rocks, grass and toes"

Now this is some real photography! And he's only 2!
Do you see the eyes of the man with the huge nose created by his shadow?
And it's also a great shot of the kitty litter box!
I know...gross!

"Dad mopping"

"Cement and 2 toes"

First Day of Pre School

Owen's first day of school at Long Beach Christian Daycare. He attends the preschool session from 8am-1215pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A couple pictures from his first day!

Our Trip to San Diego: Legoland, The Zoo and Mission Bay

We took a mini vacation the first week of June to San Diego!
We stayed at Paradise Point in Mission Bay, which could not have been any more perfect for us!
Our room looked right onto the bay and the sand was pretty much at our doorstep. Owen loved being able to play on the sand and have the gentle water to run in too!
We started our visit off with The San Diego Zoo, then we played on the bay and on our way home we stopped at Legoland. There are a lot more pictures from our trip but here are just a few from each part of our fun time in SD.

Owen and his pal, Bob the Builder

Owen and Mom driving the lego boats

Jaws ate Owen!

Owen and Dad riding the safari jeep!

The inauguration...miniaturized! It was so cool!
Argh maties! A pirate feast
The zoo!

Checking out the reptiles

The Elephant Odyssey
Too cute next to an ugly pig!

Waiting to see the polar bears

My little giraffe...our favorite!

This giraffe came SO close to us!

Koala bear just eating some leaves
Our home away from home!
Relaxing on the bay with some wine

More relaxing...this time with beer!

Playing in the warm water

Getting silly building a sandcastle

The sandcastle

The view from the restaurant we had dinner at.

The Observation Tower