Kickin' it

Hey ma, can you get me a beer?

Summertime's almost here and the living's easy! Aside from going to the beach and running in and out of the waves (being rescued a LOT by mama before a waves crashes on my head), I've been getting out and about. And, when I'm with my posse just chillin' at home, I'm about as relaxed as a fella can get. Check out what I've been up to lately!

This is me and my gal, Siena, nashing on kettle corn at the zoo. We both love the aminals!

Birthday cake! Yummy! I ate my fair share and then ran through the mazes at Casey's birthday party at AdventurePlex.

I am the King of the Sandcastle! Don't even think of smashing my castle, that's my job!
Contemplating my chip and it's place in nature. Hmmmm, synthetic food stuff somehow is derived from real plants...fascinating.
Jack Johnson lookout. There's another swooner in town!

Here I am working on my masterpiece, and I will even tell you so! I favor the abstract pieces so when I tell you it's a tree, just take my word for it.

Mama's got a BIG belly! When is that baby brother of mine going to come out? I'm ready to show him the ropes!

Baby adventures

Surrepticiously squirtin' the neighbors with my firetruck in my monkey p.j.'s. Great way to start the day!


Now that we're about to have another little one, I am marveling at what a transformation Tyler has been through in the past two and a half years. He is such a little boy! I'll still go in to check on him at night and I just stare at him, like we did when he was a baby, and think how beautiful he is and what a delight he is (most of the time!). I love the way he holds my hand a little tighter as we approach the door to preschool, but once we're in he drops it and goes running to the closest teacher or toy. And, when I pick him up he comes running to me shouting, "Mommy! Mommy! I got a stamp/flower/gold coin/sticker!" He is so proud of himself and we are as well. At a birthday party for a 5-year-old over the weekend he was the best behaved child in the room, just sitting nicely, eating his pizza and taking in all the chaos as the kindergardeners whined, cried over spilled punch (literally) and were kind of nasty to eachother. I am thoroughly enjoying the pure joy that radiates from him and the intense analysis he gives to practically everything we do from going to the mall to get frozen yogurt or going to the park to swing and climb on the playground equipment. His memory blows me away, too. How can he pull out the name of the guy who gave us frozen yogurt three months ago when it was just said in passing? He's a genius, I tell you! "You always come back, Mommy" is one of his phrases from preschool and it just melts my heart when he says it. Yes, Tyto, I will always come back because I love you more than words can express!

My "Elton John Goes on a Fire Rescue" impersonation

Taxi cab confessions on the Santa Monica Pier. I confess, I ate too much cotton candy!

Baby Elliott's Visit and Chaotic Clifford

Stick with me, kid. I'll show you the ropes.
At last! A cousin who isn't 20 years older than me! Baby Elliott came down from Northern California to visit us over Easter weekend and we had such a great time (plus, it got me to get my rear in gear and get out all the baby gear!) Tyler was pretty stoked to have Aunt Kristin and Uncle Matthew to play with, and he did think that baby Elliott was pretty interesting, too. He was very empathetic and concerned when Elliott was crying, now let's see if he'll duplicate that with his own baby brother!
So precious! This baby is loved, loved, loved!!!
This child is spoiled, spoiled, spoiled! Being the first born has it's perks, like having no competition for the 50 hidden eggs!
Tyler celebrates his booty with Uncle Matt. He was so jacked up on sugar by this time I'm surprised we even go him to sit down! Nothing like starting the day with a well-balanced meal of jelly beans and PEZ.

And finally, here's a little movie from the Discovery Center where they have a Clifford exhibit going on. We've been there once before and it was chaos and I was thinking that since this week is our spring break, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Wrong!! There were field trip groups all over the place and big kids (we're talking BIG, not just older but third graders weighing in at 100 lbs!). But, Tyler had a ball regardless and really held his own with the older crowd which is good to see because he's been rather timid up until recently. Not that I ever want to see a child get pushed down, but when he's being aggressive with my child or not sharing and I see Tyler pushing back the mama bear inside me just says, "yes!" Here he is in Samuel's cafe (from the Clifford show). He would go to the counter and take everyone's order, make them their food and take their money, all while functioning with some 4th grade alpha females. Go Tyto!

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