To the coast, to the coast we go....

What can you do when temperatures reach up to 109 degrees? Escape to the beach, and that is exactly what we did this past weekend. Paul and I headed back up to Sea Ranch with our good friends Dave and Debbie to enjoy some nice weather and relaxing times. However, the kids did not go due to the loooooong drive (8 hours door to door) so they had to endure the heat. I know, I know - bad mommy and daddy!

Although it is a long drive it was quite entertaining since we took one car after Turlock and had some interesting conversations. On the course of the drive to and from multiple celebrities died so that gave us much to talk about (RIP Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Billie Mays). We also stopped at this great little lodge on the way up that had incredible views outside and a great bar and fireplace inside!
Paul and Dave goofing around outside the resort...it was freezing!

Dave and Debbie enjoying some wine...

Me and my favorite guy....

We finally got to Sea Ranch around 8 that night and as soon as we pulled onto the road up to my mom's house there was a little family of deer and this one posed and let me take some photos of him or her!

The next day we hung out, went into town for the best Bloody Mary's EVER and oh yeah, had food along with it. That afternoon the guys golfed while Debbie and I watched some movies and read. Very relaxing. Saturday Paul and Dave did some work around the house. Dave was nice enough to do some yard work while Paul fixed the wood box that had rotted through.

After the boys were done Paul and I took Dave and Debbie down on a hike to the Hot Spot. I talked about this on my last Sea Ranch post and it is quite a steep trek but so beautiful. Paul & I took our picnic backpack and packed up some wine and sandwhiches for us to enjoy once we arrived at the bottom. Of course we worked them off climbing back up!

We had great food, great wine and great company all weekend. It was horrible driving back into the heat. We stopped in Bodega Bay for a lunch with our family friends who were lucky enough to be heading up to the coast for the week! We had a great lunch with them but then had to face the valley heat. As we drove back into the valley we watched the thermometer in Paul's car go up and up to 110 degrees! If it wasn't for missing those beautiful children of mine I may have just had Paul turn the car around! But the kids had missed us, even though they had a great time with their grandparents. Both were extra cuddly and gave us lots of love when we picked them up!
Now we just need to get through this very warm week, but at least it is a short week!!

A very special day....

Daddy, I Love You
Daddy, I love you
For all that you do.
I'll kiss you and hug you
'Cause you love me, too.

You feed me and need me
To teach you to play,
So smile 'cause I love you
On this Father's Day.
-Author Unknown

It's Father's Day!!! The kids and I woke up this morning and cooked Paul a special father's day breakfast of bacon, eggs and cinnamon rolls - and coffee of course! The kids each gave Paul his card and his present was a new bbq smoker which he has been wanting as well as the 2010 Tiger Woods golf game for the Wii. I also bought him a tri tip that we can make for dinner tonight so he can try out his father's day gift. Good for all of us!

I do want to take a minute to say how lucky I feel everyday to have such a wonderful husband and father. Paul is much more patient with both kids than I am and really has embraced fatherhood. He gives so much to our kids and makes our little family feel loved and safe everyday. So thank you my love for all that you do!

Father's day is a sad day for me as well though since I cannot spend the day with my father. We used to have very relaxed days to celebrate father's day when my dad was alive because that was what he would enjoy most, and then we would cook a nice dinner. I miss my dad everyday, but especially today.

It just so happens that Father's Day also fell on our wedding anniversary this year. We aren't doing much today to celebrate since we are going up to Sea Ranch with good friends next weekend. Today is our actual 'wedding' anniversary, the day we had our big wedding. Our April 20th wedding anniversary is our 'legal' anniversary day. I am so luck to have two days of anniversaries to celebrate! Since this is our 6th year the gifts are suppose to be wood, so Paul got his smoker and I am finally going to get either a bench or table for our entry way. Happy 6th anniversary Paul, I love you more and more each day!!

Sibling love

I was trying to decide what to do for this week's blog post and was going through pictures for ideas, as well as to find pictures to scrapbook and I discovered a lot of cute pictures of Alex and Amelia. I found some cute recent ones, as this one above and some older ones. I am sure anyone that has more than two kids had to field the question of "how does [insert older child's name here] like his/her baby sister/brother?" I feel incredibly fortunate that Alex has loved Amelia since the day she came home.

Now, I said day she came home. Alex was pretty stoked when I was pregnant because his best friend Bridget had recently become a big sister to Baby Courtney, who was an adorable baby. Then we had a 3D ultrasound done and he saw the pictures of Amelia. He looked me straight in the eye and said "I don't want an orange baby, I want a baby sister like Courtney!" We promised him up and down that when Amelia arrived she would not be orange but he was very unsure of things. The day I had Amelia, Alex slowly crept up to my hospital bed and confirmed that Amelia was in fact not orange and looked normal. So, the love of baby sister began. Alex actually never calls Amelia by her name, only Baby Sister or Sissy.

Here is a picture of Alex brushing her hair when she is only a few weeks old just like she is a little doll:


Alex has also been fascinated with putting he and Sissy into boxes and baskets. This started early and continues to this day....




I know Paul was relieved we had a boy first and then a girl so that Alex could always look out for Amelia as she gets older. Of course I have also pointed out that this means she will probably try to date his friends as well....but he just ignores me when I say that. Amelia does look up to Alex so much and copies him all the time. Last weekend when Alex was "fixing" something with his tools Amelia grabbed a hammer and started helping him.

When I look at Alex and Amelia playing (nicely, because they do have their moments trust me!) I think of the lyrics from a great Dave Matthew's song: "Lean upon me, I'll lean upon you and we'll be okay."

Brand new shoes!

Now that Amelia is walking everywhere, I decided it was time to take her into Stride Rite for her first shoe fitting. Of course by doing this I outraged my husband who was quite upset at the thought of spending $50 on shoes for a 13 month old who will outgrow them in a couple of months. His feelings - kids everywhere have survived on $10 baby shoes and walk straight as adults. My feelings - it is important to get them fitted correctly the first time to see if their feet have anything special needs going on and to make sure they get a great fit. I won in the end, but my mom was also nice enough to step up and offer to pay for the first pair (I may have guilted her into it a little too by reminding her she paid for Alex's first pair...details, details).

Amelia was sweet as pie at the shoe store and I was thrilled that the same kind, patient woman that fit Alex for his first pair was working and helped us this time as well. Amelia was very intrigued as her feet were measured and she tried on several sets of shoes. Unfortunately, my daughter has been blessed and cursed at the same time with narrow feet like me. Blessed that they are going to be lovely slim feet, cursed for Paul and I that we will be continuing to buy shoes at Stride Rite since she will need narrow fit shoes.

After we found a pair that fit properly we got her up to walk and wouldn't you know it, my daughter suddenly forgot how to walk. She could not figure out how to take a step in those shoes. Luckily the very nice sales woman helped her and even took some pictures of Amelia in her new shoes! So for all of you out there, $50 at Stride Rite will buy you baby's first pair of shoes and also a little card with their picture on it!

While us girls were shopping at the mall, Alex and Paul were busy at home. Paul worked on mounting our flat panel television up on our bedroom wall and is starting the work to hide all the wires. After he finishes that he will start painting our room a grey/blue color I have picked out. Every single room in our house has been carefully decorated except for our bedroom, so I decided after 3 years of living in this house it was time to spruce it up a little.

Alex, forever Daddy's little helper, took it upon himself to get his tools and fix the baby gate hinges at the top of the stairs that had broken this week. I LOVE these photos of him because it shows how concentrated he was on fixing these brackets. He will make a wonderful husband one day!




Tomorrow both kids start swim lessons at Amy Morris Swim School, so I am sure to have good stories to share soon!