Summer time, and the livin's easy

The sun has finally, FINALLY, come out! Yay for summer! We had been struck by that menacing "June Gloom" since the beginning of May, I was beginning to think we lived in Seattle and depression was starting to set in. Now that the sun has emerged, we can officially start our summer silliness. Beginning with, Matthew's birthday party! Listen up, ladies: Nothing attracts young men more than a bag of Fritos

Tyler is still very clingy. Insisting that I go everywhere with him all over the playground. So, at Matthew's birthday party that meant I got to hang out inside this little bus while we ate a bag of Frittos. William also recognized the culinary excellence of Fritos and decided to plunk himself down and help himself to our picnic (we learned his name after he helped us eat a bag and his father came to find him). Lesson learned: never underestimate the power of Fritos. For more birthday party photos, you can click here. Of course, when we were leaving the party Tyler suddenly became Mr. Independent and took off running at a full-sprint about 200 yards while I kept thinking, he's going to turn around any day now. Nope, I had to go chasing after him. And, this seems to be an emerging behavioral pattern.

Hunka hunka burning love

What you don't see in this photo are all the grass stains on Tyler's jeans, on my pants, and all the sweat dripping down my brow from chasing him up and down this very steep hill. We had our last Mommy and Me group at Polliwog Park where the kids could let loose all over the park and us moms could basically nod at eachother while we ran in other directions trying to catch our little munchkins. There's something to be said for small, contained spaces. But, Tyler seemed to like it, and we lucked out and he didn't wind up in the duck pond.

I...just....know......I.....can....do......this!!!

For Father's Day, we got up early and hit the road by 7:15am and made our way up to Lake Arrowhead for some fresh mountain air. It was beautiful up there, high above all the disgusting L.A. smog. But, as John put it, "I think this is where the 909 vacations." (909 being the area code for the inland empire, a WUBA kind of place). Arrowhead has a cute downtown area that's great for kids, so after a quick dip in our resort's pool, we headed into town where Tyler got to go crazy, including...

checking out the race cars. You don't just want to dive in, you've got to watch and see if there's a lemon in the bunch.

Nope, no lemon! This is Tyler trying to wave at me as they zoom by at 2 mph. Check out John's legs being crippled by the tiny car.

Tyler shoots down the slide, belly button exposed and everything. You may not be able to see it in the picture, but he has the biggest smile on his face. Next up was the carosel ride. He liked these horses better than the real ones at Halloween, but they still were no slide or race car.

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Back home, Tyler figured out a long time ago that Mama and Daddy can function like a carnival ride just as well as the real thing. He climbs in our big tote bag we use for swimming lessons, and could swing all day. He's heavy, though! Man, I can only swing him to the count of 20 and I'm spent!

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

We're also working seriously on our culinary skills. Here Tyler demonstrates how to saute if you were a double amputee.

In the frozen food section. Where better to cool off than amongst the popcicles?