Tour de California, part one

We realized we were in desperate need of a vacation a few weeks ago, and, well, plane tickets were expensive, so we decided on a road trip!

Last Wednesday we set out at 5:40 AM. We made good time with only two stops - the mandatory Starbucks stop and one rest stop - before making it to our first destination a little after 11am.

the The Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in downtown LA

LT's on top of the world! Okay, on top of the museum


Let me in the tar pit! Note, not actual mammoths trapped in the pits...


Dire Wolf Skulls


Mammoth skeleton


How do we compare to the Short Faced Bear?



This concluded the educational portion of the trip and then we were off to our hotel in Anaheim. Too bad this involved LA traffic and it took forever. Luckily, I had realized that it is possible to feed a bottle to an infant sitting rear facing behind you in their carseat. It is even possible to pump milk for said bottle while sitting in traffic (or going down the freeway - either way with a handy AC adapter in the car!).

Swim Lessons

I finally remembered to take out the camera at swim lessons.





Big news in DT land: He rolled over!

This momentous milestone was reached on Thursday, July 17 at approximately 9:15 in the morning. Unfortunately, no one witnessed the actual roll. DT was placed on his back in the Gymini, having a ball, and the rest of us were busily eating our breakfast. All of a sudden, TT noticed that something was different - DT was on his tummy! - and we all clapped and applauded. He has not repeated since. He does roll onto his side all the time now, but since his hand is in his mouth, it blocks the roll.

Swimming!

From this weekend at the park pool...




This was after only 1 swim lesson for LT. I can't believe how much more comfotable in the water he is already! Monday's swim lesson was great. One kid finished and the other was absent, so he had the teacher all to himself. He was even going underwater, not just blowing bubbles, but all the way under!

3 boys swimming


DT likes it, he really likes it!

4th of July weekend

We had friends visit for the 4th of July weekend. LT loved the extra attention!

We went down to Santa Cruz on Sunday.

They won prizes

Built a castle island with a big moat

Even Baby took a dip!


It's such a beautiful beach ... you can see TT packing up the sun canopy on the right.

5 Years Ago

Best Day Ever!

Good Fences

We got some new fences yesterday, yeah!

Before



And after!


You can see all the way back to the hot tub down the side yard.


I love how the gate came out! You'll remember the fence by the driveway from the vine removal post. The new fence is MUCH stronger and was needed urgently since Dakota, the Rhodesian Ridgeback who lives next door, is uses that area as her dog run.

And you know how I said I liked matching outfits ...


Courtesy of Tar-jay, $8 each. DT is sporting a 6-9 month outfit. This doesn't bode well for his 3-6 month clothes, of which he's barely worn most of them. He's just growing so fast!

Strike

LT is a natural at Wii Bowling.




And it's only fair to have a video of the little one. I love babytalk! Please pardon my rendition of "Working on the Railroad."



Last night, LT had his first swim lesson. It was the cutest. He did a "monkey walk" across the edge of the pool, he did "shark arms" (like a streamline) while he blew bubbles, he did some kicking... ok, that was about all. I imagine he'll be doing the same for the next few weeks. He was very excited about it and came home to show daddy his talents in the hot tub.

Monkeying Around

When Grandma/Mom was here, she made the boys two sets of very cute outfits. One monkeys and one trains. My plan was for us to make them together, but I just didn't have the energy. There's one set left to make - pirates! I have all the pattern pieces set out and the fabric, so I'm hoping to cut it out this week and hopefully finish them before DT outgrows it!



Thanks Grandma!

8 weeks old

DT is 8 weeks old today and a cutie pie. I feel like I need to do all the things we did with LT, so I took impressions of his foot today and then a little photo shoot...



Diaper series




I bought this outfit at the Silicon Valley "Green Fair" - it's an organic free trade outfit. It even has matching socks. I was saving it for maybe his 100 day picture, but it turns out this might be one of the only times he wears it. It's a bit snug on his thunder thighs!

To remind everyone...
LT at 8 weeks old

To any cloth diaper enthusiasts, LT was wearing a small Fuzzi Bunz pocket diaper in his pictures and DT is wearing a small Thirsties pocket AIO diaper (can add additional stuffing or use it as is).

Highchair Baby

We finally thought of getting the highchair out of the garage to keep DT entertained while cooking & eating. I think he likes it!


I even took a video on my camera, but I suffered from "forgot that video has to be shot horizontally" syndrome, so you will have to turn your head ...


One embarassing thing ... we apparently put the high chair away without cleaning it. I had to give it a thorough clean as there was an astonishing amount of food still in it and on it! Ack!

Bend it Like Beckham

DT has been to his first professional sports game! We went to see the SJ Earthquakes play the LA Galaxy (including Beckham) Saturday night.




Lessons learned:
1. Just because Oakland is usually only 45 min - 1 hour from SJ, 1-1/2 hours will not be enough time to get to a soccer game featuring David Beckham.
2. 40,000 people will also be driving up from San Jose at the same time.
3. Soccer games are very short. Missing the first half and then needing to wait in line for food only leaves 30 minutes of game time (there are no time outs to slow it down).
4. If you miss the ice cream man going by with only 4 minutes left, you will have to drive to the landmark Fentons Creamery to appease your 3 year old. Ok, and his mom.

This is the smallest size...


It was still fun and we plan to go to another game. Probably the next time the Galaxy is in time... only we plan to go up quite early and tailgate! It turns out our neighbors were also went to the game and they left even a little later than us. It was their highest attendance ever, so no one was really expecting the crowd/traffic.

3 Boys

I just love matching outfits!

6 week checkup

DT had his 6 week checkup with Dr. LT.

He had his heart beat listened to.


His blood pressure checked.


He did have to get a shot...


then he was proclaimed healthy by the doctor!

UhOh

Poor DT had a poospolsion at Cost Plus and Mommy forgot to bring an extra outfit ...
He had to suffer through the indignity of riding home in his skivies and his shoe socks.



One he got out of that carseat and on to the changing table, he felt much better!


He just loves that changing table!


As did LT ... here he is at almost exactly the same age (one day younger).


Do they look the same? Different? What do you think?

BabyFaces

I got a reliable series of smiles today!






Nice shirt, isn't it?

Secret Agent Family

Do you recognize this family?