McDonald’s Reunion

While in UT we got to visit with some of our very good friends! We were able to see the Torres family (Will, Maria, Cadence, and their new little one Kylee), the Rosello family (Becca, Jorge, and their little ones Bella and Alessa), and the Coynes (Josh, Emily, and their little ones Guy and Leo). We loved visiting with all of you! And we can’t wait to be back in UT permanently (well, at least for the next several years).

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These pictures I took while we were visiting the Power family in WVC. We miss you guys SO much!! Three months!! 8-o

Thanksgiving Trip to UT

Another post with just a bunch of pictures. We went to UT for Thanksgiving. Saw family (Loved it!!), saw friends, had a great time, drove home. That just about sums it up

Joseline loving on Grandma Shirley (Russ’ mom)

 

Joseline trying to grab anything and everything on the table, and looking adorable doing it!

 

Russ’ older sister Renae and her daughter, Annie

 

Russ, probably smiling at the kids, or his siblings, or just smiling because sometimes he does that :)

 

Russ’ little brother, Jordan and their nephew, Connor, in timeout (put there by Grandma Shirley (Jordan’s mom, Connor’s grandma) after they were fighting over some toy or being overly rambunctious, or something). Pretty hilarious.

 

Samuel, Russ’ little sister Sara’s son. His birthday was on Thanksgiving, so we had a little family party for him after the huge Rowley thing in WVC. These were the little John Deere tractors we got him. He also got a big Woody and Buzz from Toy Story. He said “My Woody!” and “My Buzz!” when he opened them. It was pretty great.

 

Vincente giving Aunt Heather (Russ’ youngest sister) a hug during our family photo shoot… ha ha, that is a story that all of us will always remember.

 

Vince playing with some grass at the photo shoot

 Sara’s youngest, Emma.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Well this post is going to be mostly pictures because I didn’t realize how many I had! Here in Monterey is one of the best aquariums in the US (probably in the world). It is HUGE and is located right on the bay, so the water in all the tanks is actually bay water. The bay water is pumped in and filtered during the day (so visitors can see all the animals) and then unfiltered after closing so the animals get to bask in real unadulterated ocean water all night. Pretty awesome.

The libraries and the aquarium in Monterey have a program called “Shelf to Shore” where the aquarium offers free admission to low income families who hold library cards. The idea is that if you show kids all these really cool marine creatures, they will be more eco-conscious and bigger defenders of natural life. I couldn’t agree more! Vince LOVES the penguins, whales, seahorses, seals, sea otters, and more that he learns about at the aquarium.

One of the best parts about the aquarium is all the fun things for kids to do. There are two different “kid zones” – one is the “flippers and flukes” section where kids get to learn about all the mammals that live in the ocean – because, after all, humans are mammals, too! The other section is the “splash zone” with all these cool water exhibits and dress up and Nemo exhibits for the kids to see. Well, the exhibits don’t say “Nemo” but they have all the fish from the movie, so Vince points out Nemo and Dory every time he sees the tank. There is even a baby section that is gated with baby’s own splashing pool and a water bed! Joseline was freaked out the first time we put her on the water bed, but now she loves it, and loves slapping it and feeling the waves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other really cool exhibit that Vince LOVES is the “Outer Bay” – it’s almost a completely contained eco-system with sharks, sting rays, tuna, mackerel, and other fish. Vince loves seeing the sharks in the Outer Bay. And don’t you love the he wears his shark t-shirt to the aquarium? I think he’s worn that shark shirt most of the times we’ve been.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

  

I love the mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I love getting free passes each month and being able to take Vince to see all the marine life. It feels good to educate him about thing. I love him to see things hands on (you can touch hermit crabs, star fish, sea cucumbers, sea kelp, and more!). It really is a great place. I’ve been really grateful for that blessing.

Milestone

…  but not very happy about it.

A few days ago I heard Joseline fussing in her crib. Which is what she normally does when she thinks we’re not coming to get her fast enough. But I was in the middle of something with Vince, so I called to her that I would come get her. Then her crying started getting more and more frustrated, and eventually she was having a total meltdown. I went in there to check out what was going on, and there she was, standing in her crib! The only problem was that I don’t think she knew how she got there. And I think she didn’t really know how to get down. Poor little girl. And I just stood there taking pictures. :)

One Man’s Trash

 

Found this piece of metal (along with three other pieces) here (I think we paid $3 for all four pieces) and made a magnet board for Vince. I was going to frame it, but it’s been sitting out in the garage for too many weeks, so framing it will have to wait (probably until we move, since I have 100 other things to do before then). It had some holes already in the metal, so I just bent the corners (to get rid of the sharp edges) and screwed the whole thing on to the wall. Voila!

And man am I glad to get the magnets out from underfoot in the kitchen!

building more than just a family

This week, we made this box …

… to contain all of the toys that make their way to the living room from Vince’s bedroom. Some day we will have a play room, and all the toys will live in that room. Until then, they kind of live everywhere, although I do my best to keep them contained.

We’ve been through a number of containing devices in the living room.

The first was a basket:

Need I say more?

So the basket was retired to the garbage can after being horribly mutilated by the two year old destructo. Next came a rubbermaid container without the lid. That worked well. Until Vince decided that it was highly entertaining to throw the thing around on the hardwood. The corner cracked. But I wasn’t read to give up on the rubbermaid, so we continued using it. Until Vince and his friend Ethan stood on it. I heard a huge CRACK sound coming from the living room… there, in the corner of the living room, stood two little boys, sheepishly standing in the remains of my rubbermaid container. It was shattered. Ah well.

Anyway, so we had the wood slats from a neighbor’s old IKEA furniture, and then a few ends of wood I bought to repair our bed frame, and out of the scraps was born the idea for a much sturdier box. It can be sat in, stood on, and fortunately is too heavy for Vince to lift, so throwing it around won’t be a problem. It holds more toys that it will ever need to (hopefully) and fits perfectly between the window and the couch. (this picture is actually before I sawed off the tips of the corner pieces… they were sticking out a little much, so we just chopped them off after we got the sides and bottom together).

Marshmallow Bones

I made these for Halloween this year.

…SO yummy!

The End of the Naptime Era

It is official. Vincente has given up his nap. I’m getting all choked up just writing about it, because it means that he is a big boy now. We still have quiet time in the afternoon while Joseline takes a nap – I let him watch a show or he reads, or plays quietly. But it is really sad.

The up side?

His bedtime is 7:30pm now. We put him down tonight and he fell asleep without a peep. That was the easiest bedtime we’ve had for several months. And he was actually pretty much emotionally stable this evening.

The transition was hard – I think he’s been needing to give up the afternoon nap for a few months, because it was so hard for him to fall asleep at night, but if skipped the nap, he was so ornery in the late afternoon – like, TERROR. But in the past few days, he’s just kind of naturally skipped his nap. He’s taken little cat naps in the car and things, but he hasn’t had that good 2 1/2 hour nap that he usually needs. And then today, he didn’t have a cat nap or ANYTHING. And he was FINE. It was amazing.

And a little sad.

On to a new chapter in the book of Vince’s life – no nap times and an early bedtime! (I have to admit I like the early bedtime!)

All Hallows’ Eve Part III – Los Altos

our trick or treating party

After the trunk or treat, we hurried home to pack for our weekend at Barbara and Abe’s house in Los Altos. They were so sweet to invite us to trick or treat in their neighborhood with my cousin Mikila and her son, Corbin. Then, so that we wouldn’t have to drive back to Monterey late Saturday night, they invited us to spend the night! It was a fabulous weekend. We felt so at home with them. The kids actually slept really well in their own room, too! Of course, Joseline somehow weaseled her way into getting Barb to snuggle her at 5:30 in the morning! And Vince had a hard time going to bed at night, but that’s nothing new.

We watched The Holiday on Barb and Abe’s HUGE TV. Then in the morning Barb made delicious pesto potatoes… hmmm… my mouth is watering just thinking about them!

Anyway, so on Halloween Eve we ate dinner with Barb, Abe, Mikila (my cousin), Connor (her hubby), and Corbin (their son – he’s about 2). It was a soup/chili with gluten free pumpkin muffins, some delicious SafeWay bread ;) and sparkling cider and fruit juices. Barb’s cooking is always to die for, and her chili was awesome. Some day I’ll make good chili like hers. Really, it was the best I’ve ever tasted. I aspire to be a good cook, but sometimes fall short. Like tonight. First, I undercooked the veggies (but that was easily solved by leaving them in the oven for a little longer), undercooked the rice, and over cooked the chicken. Of course, the chicken was due to me taking a very important phone call (more about that later).

Back to Halloween. After dinner, Russ held Vince down on the ground while I painted a mask on his face. We tried to do it without holding him down, but Vince wanted nothing to do with the face paint. Of course, once he saw what was on his face, he was super excited. He kept saying that his face was “painty.” Ha ha. Love kids.

We just took Vince and Corbin up and down both side of Barb and Abe’s street. Most of the families were older, and a bunch of older ladies thought Vince and Corbin were adorable.

Vince wanted to hold Aunt Barbara’s hand the whole time. It was really sweet. He would let go of her just long enough to knock on the door and get some candy, then it was back to her side! He was attached to her.

Connor was a baker, and Mikila was an oven (she’s about 8 mos pregnant). Their little Corbin was a panda. He was wearing a jersey, too, but I forgot what that was about. Something about a sports team. Mikila can comment and fill in that part – my mind is drawing a blank.

Vince was really good at saying “Trick or Treat,” “Thank you,” and “Happy Halloween” although for some reason “happy Halloween” always had a hard time coming out right. If you listen really closely to the end of the video, you’ll see what I mean.

 

    vince trick or treating

So pretty much, thanks to Barb and Abe (and Mikila and Connor!) this was the best Halloween I think we have ever had!

vince inspecting some Jack O Lanterns

joseline – deer in the headlights – and yes, that is a Hotwheels car she is toting around

 

vince pointing at the moon “DA MOON!”

 

this house would have definitely won the “best decorated” award on this street. They even had some cool music playing. It was awesome.

 

vince checking out the skeleton pirate coming out of the ground. I think these people were the only ones who knew who Vince was. At least everyone knew he was some type of super hero! They just didn’t know which one. These folks got it on the first try. :) But they also had little kids.