Exhausted... but in a good way!

Chase and I needed a change of scenery so we set out for Pasadena yesterday. It started with wanting to visit Kare Kare and thank her for the awesome pool and evolved into a play date at Downs Park with Christine and Andrew.

I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to Chase's napping... he tends to fall asleep in the car but only for brief periods of time. He held strong for the first half of the trip but after an impromptu pit stop to fix my windshield wiper*, I looked in my rear view mirror to see this:

As suspected, the lull of the car was too much for him!

*Driving 75 65 miles per hour on route 70 in the rain and watching your windshield wiper flip from parallel to perpendicular = terrifying!

2 of my most favorite people in the world...

Andrew is SO his parents child... both Christine and Greg cannot keep their eyes open for the camera! This apple did not fall far!

We enjoyed an empty playground for a while... especially lovely when you have 2 very unsteady little ones!




Will you just look at how big he is getting? Unreal...

The playground started to get busy (re: older kids = nervous mom) so we set off looking for more adventure.... and found this pier. There were 2 older gentlemen fishing off the end of the pier... well all they had caught in 3 hours was a 4 inch fish... does that even count?


Oh the hair... I love the hair. Leo... no high and tight for my kid!

After the pier we walked the trails and found a small beach. This was very exciting for me because Chase had never set foot on sand, let alone dipped his toes in water!

The sand was no big deal to him... just another fun way to get dirty! The water though... it intrigued him... he kept reaching his arms out to get to it but always being sure to pull his body back so he wouldn't actually touch it.

My little ponderer.


Could be a new favorite mother/son picture!


Oh and Christine is pregnant with the next addition to the T family! More and more babies... I love it!


This kid is fearless... I mean downright fearless. Climbs on anything he can grip, runs as fast as his unsteady legs can carry him and in this particular instance, nose dove into the water... splashed sand and salt water everywhere and then wrote it off like it was no big thing!

One thing that I love about this age is the intensity of their play. When Chase decides he wants to be doing something, hell or high water can't distract him.

I caught a picture of both of them deep in play.


After we said goodbye to Christine and Andrew, Chase and I headed to Adam's office.

Kare Kare had another surprise waiting for Chase when we got there... bubbles!

Chase showing Kare Kare how he likes bubbles blown on his belly... a little gym phenomenon!

Not only did Kare Kare get Chase regular bubbles... she got the big magic wand of bubbles!

... and set it up right there in the office!


The best thing about this picture... you might notice there is no end to the wand in Kare Kare's hand... well it went flying after a particularly forceful wave ;~)

I see some fun on the deck in our future!

On the way home I prayed I would see this in my rear view mirror:

which obviously I did... but only for 35 minutes. Like I said... the car puts him to sleep but fails to keep him asleep! Oh well, he handled the rest of the ride home pretty well and it was TOTALLY worth it!

I see more road trips in our future!

Oh yeah... then I came home to make dinner... with no recipe. Just a basic idea of what I wanted to make... and the hope I could pull it off.

And I did it! It wasn't tremendous or anything... I am still learning how and when to use spices but it was pretty darn good! Pretty good for no recipe!

Chase really liked it too...

Oh and he is pretty much feeding himself exclusively now... where did my baby go?

Busy Weekend!

Whew... I am exhausted! I should be sleeping but alas, here I am updating all my faithful (re: 14) followers!

Dave enlisted Adam and I's help to throw a surprise party for Kari. I threw the idea of shoe shopping without the kiddies and Kari bit... what women wouldn't? We spent a few hours at the mall (which is no small feat... it's a small mall people!) and came back to a house full of people. Kari never suspected anything... even when I spent WAY too much time trying to figure out texting on my new phone. New phone + covert operations = failure. Oh well... Kari chalked it up to me being techno geeky about a brand new phone ;~)

Here is the happy family!


This was way too cute not to post. Not sure how this happened... if they talked about it beforehand... but both of them came out, books in hand, and sat down to read. Freaking precious stuff here.


Again, too cute not to post. That Sadie is a good hugger!

Can you tell I think babies hugging is adorable?

Sunday brought a shower for Jessica... our first mommy to welcome baby #2! Little Chloe should be arriving on Thursday, as long as she doesn't decide to make an earlier appearance!

Apparently I totally slacked and only took a couple pictures! I guess that is what no kids will do to you... I thoroughly enjoyed talking, laughing, eating and being relaxed without chasing around my munchkin. In fact I am guessing all the moms felt that way. Every single child was home with their daddies... except Adrianna, who seemed to relish being the only little person there!



After the shower Adam and I decided to break out our new toy from Kare Kare... a huge fun filled pool! And when I say 'Adam and I', I really mean Kari. She just wanted to be able to bring her daughter over to play in the pool... but she offered to bring dinner too and that clinched it!

Seriously though... it's supposed to rain and thunderstorm the rest of the week so it was either today or next week... we chose today!

On a side note, what the heck is up with all the rain? I mean I know, things need to be watered... growth, all that jazz. I get it but come on! It's been non-stop for so long and the gloomy gray weather makes for some rough stay at home mommy days! Come on sunshine!


My little model


Playing before we filled it up!

I thought he might be a little hesitant... he isn't really too familiar with pools...

but nope. He climbed right up and jumped in! I love how he is starting to explore and take more chances. Well, I love it to a degree... the other part of me has several heart attacks throughout the day. Welcome to motherhood.


Yeah, not really being shy about playing. I think this pool will get some use this summer!


In case he fell overboard. Poor dog.


Daddies playing with their babies!


I have no words.

Like all good play dates, an end must come...

but not without the ever adorable hug goodbye.

Can I graduate?

This past Thursday was Little Gym graduation! Bittersweet because we aren't doing the summer session but fun nonetheless!

It's a great time for all the kids to show off all they have learned in the past 20 weeks. Parents, grandparents... all are invited to watch.

Chase was lucky enough to have his daddy and Grandma come!


Wheels on the bus go round and round with the parachute. Chase decided to stand up and start dancing part way into the song. I have discovered that he LOVES to dance so we have a constant stream of kids music on these days!


Doing flips with Miss Erin... on the high bar!


One of Chase's favorite activities... he runs, jumps and swings on the bar.


He loves the balance beam and can do it on his own (with immediate supervision of course!)


I don't think I have to tell you how much he likes the bubbles!


We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions - of the world -


Just some of the graduates... a few spirited kids weren't very interested in posing for pictures... including my son. This was mere moments before he made a break for it... no time for pictures, there is fun to be had!

Uncle Nico visits!

As some of you may remember, Adam's little brother Nick is a world traveler these days. If you don't know what I am talking about... click HERE.

It's always a treat when Nick is in town... and this time he brought presents for Chase from Shanghai.


Couldn't you just eat this kid up?




Nick also had a remote control helicopter he got at a market in Shanghai... man was this thing cool. We all got a chance to fly it... even Chase!

Of course when you have helicopters in your living room, things are bound to get wild!


Things are never dull around here.

Will the pictures never end...

The answer is no...

It's what I do. My name is Jessica and I am a picture-holic.

Who could resist taking a multitude of pictures when you end up with ones like this...

Chase has taken to holding my face/neck when I ask for a kiss. Seriously, can I freeze this love and store it forever?

These pictures are from a play date at Jenna's house yesterday. Their backyard is a kid haven... it had a water table, a pool, a big people swing, a kiddie swing and a slide... so many choices!

My son apparently had blinders on... he played almost exclusively on this slide. I think he went down it no less than 5,8904 times.


Now I have to preface the next picture by saying... 4 of these children wanted on the swing all by themselves. Anna was the only one we had to force request lovingly to sit so we could get a group shot. Perhaps they all know what's coming and are just giving up?

L-R: Jenna, Lexi, Anna, Sadie and Chase... although I post about them so often, I am sure you know their names.


The all important water break!


A real man helps take care of the kids!


I just had to post this picture... The Most Dramatic pose goes to Miss Jenna!


Fun with blocks.

Chase is my son. That statement still blows me away. I am a mother... forever and always. When he is tired he seeks my chest to cuddle on. When he is hurt he scans the crowd in search of my face. When he accomplishes something he looks to me for approval.

I really didn't understand the idea being ok with him growing up... I thought I would always miss the last stage but it's just the opposite. I look at him and can't wait to see what he does next. Parenthood is unreal.

Homegrown

Adam and I have wanted to plant a garden for awhile but we just haven't had the space... until now! This past weekend we planted 3 kinds of tomatoes: Roma, Champion Bush and Rutgers. We also planted Lady Bell (green) peppers, Blushing Beauty (yellow) peppers, Holy Mole peppers, and Yellow Banana peppers, Zucchini, and Cilantro.



Of course when I say 'we'... I really mean 'Adam'. He has spearheaded this adventure from the start. He dug out the grass, turned the soil, planted the plants/seeds, added mulch and invented ways to keep Riley from peeing on our garden (collective "ewwww").





Here is our (*his*) finished product!



It's hard to see but the stakes have deer netting through them to keep Riley out... a great suggestion from one of the employees at Lovell's nursery. Adam also had to fortify the corner so Riley's leash wouldn't just knock over the stakes. So far so good!

On top of the actual gardening Adam has taken to composting. Here he is with his first concoction!

Yum!

It feels good because we are putting less in the landfills and actually still 'using' any food that we don't get to in time. In fact Adam has become quite the pariah of scraps... I had to warn him that if my good food goes missing he is in big trouble!

Can't wait to see the fruits (and veggies!) of our (Adam's) labor!