Thanksgiving

We drove up to the Santa Cruz beach house for Thanksgiving. We split the drive up in half, stopping overnight in San Luis Obispo. Aunt Cristin came in the car with us and helped entertain Braydon. We left on Wednesday night and arrived in Santa Cruz on Thursday afternoon. We were there with Grandma and Grandpa Schwarz and Cristin. We went to Shadowbrook Restaurant in Capitola for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. The restaurant is in Capitola and is REALLY cool. It has a trolley you take down to the restaurant which is not he river and tucked into the cliff. Braydon did great at dinner, entertained by the fish tank and the yummy food. Before dinner we ran around the beach in Capitola, a little girl about Braydon's age ran up to him and gave him a big kiss on the lips, it was so cute!

On Friday we drove to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's in Los Altos where we met up with Mimi and Grampy too. We ended up going to my great Aunt Charlene's funeral which was sad. Not exactly the best place for a hyper 2 year old either. He was running around, pulling American flags off the gravestones and waving them and throwing flowers. Craig chased him around trying to entertain him and distract him away from the service. It was pretty funny actually. After we went back to Great Grandma and Grandpa's house and hungout, it was great seeing them, Bray gave them both lots of big kisses :)

On Saturday Mimi and Grampy Wilder came to the beach house. Grandma and Grandpa Schwarz and Cristin went touring around Santa Cruz while Craig, Bray, Mimi, Grampy and I hungout at the beach. Craig surfed and Bray was concerned when he disappeared into the water. He kept pointing to the ocean saying "uh oh, Daddy". He got REALLY excited and ran to Daddy when he got out of the water. He LOVES Mimi. When we would stray too far away from her on the beach he would yell "Mimi!!" And go running to her. He and Grampy built a sandcastle and chased birds. That night we all went to Moss Landing and got delicious Cioppino soup. He sat between both Grandpas and accidentally whacked Grandpa Schwarz in the eye with a crab cracker giving him a bruise. Whoops!

On Sunday Cristin flew back home and Craig, Jerry, Jan and I all left to go to Pebble Beach for a few days for a golf tournament. Mimi and Grampy stayed at the beach house to hangout with Bray who kept them VERY busy. He loves them! We got lots of video updates, one of the days Braydon ran a marathon on the beach. Just sprinted back and forth, waring Mimi and Grampy out I'm sure. He also had a playdate with his second cousin Landon at the park. He cuddled up with Mimi each night and watched Winnie the Pooh or Toy Story.

On Tuesday Craig and I drove to the Monterey Wharf where Mimi and Grampy were hanging out with Bray, watching seals and chasing Seagulls. They bought him a train that made noises that is his new favorite toy. After hanging out for a bit we took a long 7 hour drive back home. Bray did great the whole ride until we accidentally left the choo choo at a Jack in the Box off the 47. We finally distracted him from it with a DVD. The next morning when he woke up and asked for the choo choo I knew we were in trouble, thankfully Mimi was smart and had bought extras so she Fed Exed one to us the next day.

Braydon is 23 months old

Our little Brady is a month away from being two and is such a character. Every day he seems to become more and more aware of the world. He is a HUGE chatterbox and has a very big personality. He loves his Mommy and Daddy and cuddles a lot. It melts my heart. He laughs all the time and has a LOT of energy. He loves trains, cars, watching movies and his hero is Buzz Lightyear. His favorite song is "Second Chance" by Peter Bjorn. He calls it the "woooo song" and requests it every time we get in the car. He sings along.

Siena Rose Schwarz

We've decided we officially want to name our baby girl Sienna Rose :) I can't wait to meet her. She's been kicking up a storm in my belly. I love her so much already!

Day Out with Thomas the Train

We got tickets to ride the "real" Thomas the Train at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA. Braydon was in shock when we saw Thomas pull up to the train station. He couldn't believe his eyes. Then we got to go on a 15 minute train ride on Thomas. He loved waving at all the people as the train passed by. It was a full on event there too with a Petting zoo, bouncy houses, Sir Topham Hat and games. One of his favorite things was the Thomas the Train balloon Daddy bought him :)

Halloween Fun

We had a long weekend of Halloween fun. On Saturday Craig, Bray and I went to the Pumpkin Patch and had a blast! It's like a mini fair there with a ton of rides. We did the petting zoo where Braydon stalked a bunny, running after him and jumping up and down. Then we did a train ride twice, a carousel, a bouncy house and the most fun was a giant slide. He loved the slide, he went over and over, he was the smallest guy charging it all by himself. After all the rides we picked out a giant pumpkin. We met the Purcell's at the Brigantine for tacos and then went home.

On Sunday we carved the pumpkin. Craig did most of the work. Braydon didn't like putting his hand in the pumpkin to feel the seeds, it freaked him out but he loved watching daddy carve it.

On Monday, actual Halloween day, Mimi and Grampy came to visit and we went to Legoland in the morning. He went on a bunch of rides because for some reason the park was empty. After Brays nap Daddy came home and we dressed Bray up in his Lion costume that Grandma Schwarz made him. Our neighborhood had a giant block party and Bray loved running around with all the neighborhood kids. After the block party all of us and Mimi and Grampy took Bray Trick or Treating for his first time. We wheeled him around in his wagon and went door to door. He was a little scared of some of the decorations and hung onto Daddy but loved the ghosts and pumpkins. He especially loved the part where people gave him candy. He would dig his hand in the bowl and take the candy and want to eat it right away. He was say "Trick or Treat!" in his little high pitched voice. It was so cute.

The next morning Bray went into the pantry where we kept the candy for the Trick or Treaters and when he saw the candy was gone he went "oh no!" and ran to his wagon, got in it, pointed to the door and said "Trick or Treat!" He wanted to go door to door to get more candy :)

Braydon is 22 months old today

I can't believe how fast our little guy is growing up. He speaks in sentences now which is fun. His most recent saying is "Go Chargers!" which Dad taught him :) He also says "Be Back" or "Momma go work" or "Stash Peez Momma" which means Pistachios please Mom. He LOVES pistachios. He also loves Bananas. Every morning he gets up and comes into bed with us to watch cartoons and he'll point to the door and say "Bay" which means Banana. Then I'll go downstairs and grab him one and he'll grin and laugh all excitedly when I bring one back to him. He yells commands at Monty a lot and tries to ride him like a horse. And when Daddy will tell him to not do something he'll scrunch his eyebrows and point his finger at Daddy and shout a bunch of nonsense and say "No!". It's hard not to laugh. He LOVES Buzz lightyear! Buzz is his hero. He gets pumped up when Buzz shows up in Toy Story and he'll yell "Buuuuzzz!"

He brightens our lives and brings smiles to our faces. He's the best son we could have ever asked for.