Lake Tahoe Fall trip for Jessica's 40th!

Our good family friend Jessica was turning 40 so they decided to celebrate by renting a beautiful house in Dollar Point to have the party.  Jessica, John and their four boys stayed at this beautiful house, Mimi, Grampy, Wee Wee, Dylan and the McNultys all stayed at a house a block down on the beach and the Greene's and us stayed at a cabin in Tahoe City.

The kids and I flew in early Thursday morning, Siena did a lot better this plane ride but still a little high maintenance.  When we took off there was a beautiful blanket of puffy white clouds under us.  The kids thought that was the most amazing thing ever.  Siena kept yelling "Whooaaaa!"  and Braydon was doing the same.  The weather was beautiful when we landed so we went to the Farmers Market at Commons Beach with Mimi and Grampy and played on the playground and on the beach throwing rocks into the lake.  That afternoon we hung out on the beach at the Dollar Point house, riding on Grampy's kayaks and playing in the sand and water.  It was a great day!  That night the kids and I snuggled up to a movie by the fire at our cabin, it was perfect!

On Friday the sun was shining again so we went back to the beach at the house and hung out there.  We played on the beach and in the water, it was a great time!  That night all the adults went to Sunny side for dinner.

Saturday we woke up and it was hailing!  The weather turned so quickly!  We went to Bridgetender for burgers and then the Gatekeepers museum to see the Bear exhibit.  That early evening was the big party!  It was so much fun!  They had a play room for the kids and a movie theatre room with popcorn. A delicious dinner and dancing after.  Siena was the dancing hit, she took center stage and danced herslef away all night.  Grampy said she dances like Gangham style :)

On Sunday we had a late flight out so we all went to the Greenes for a BBQ.  It was a great weekend!

Siena's first favorite movie

Siena has NEVER been interested in any sort of television show or movie but for some reason "The Cat in the Hat" movie with Mike Myers has made her a couch potato.  She is obsessed and gets mad if there is anything playing on the TV other than her movie.  Each morning she comes downstairs, grabs the remote, points it to the TV and yells a bunch of incomprehensible words that are supposed to make out "turn on Cat in the Hat".  When I put it on she claps and yells "wooooo" and then sits on the couch or ottoman and attentively watches the movie, pointing and laughing.

Family 'S'mores night and Labor Day weekend

We had a great summer weekend at home.  We went to Braydon's friend Sophia's pool, Grandma and Grandmas for a pool day and hung out in our backyard.  We had a 'S'Mores night which Braydon was over the moon happy about.  The kids are starting to play so well together, Siena follows Bray around everywhere.

Braydon's 1st day of Preschool

Braydon has officially started Preschool.  He is going to North Coast Calvary on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  It's a great school, they have a huge playground with a beach and pirate ship.  They do chapel every Thursday and Stretch and Grow which is a program to keep kids active.  His good friend Zoe is in his class.  He loves it!

Family vacation at Terranea Resort and our 5th Wedding Anniversary

We decided to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary as a family at the Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes.  It was a very memorable weekend, we had such a great time.  The resort is situated on a cliff above the ocean with beautiful panoramic views.  We saw schools of Dolphins and a whale.  There was a family pool with a water slide, beach and water play.  The Smiths came to visit us as well as the Polhemous Family.  We spent each day out at the pool playing.  Braydon and Connor found a big grassy hill that they rolled down over and over, Siena attempted to join them :)  The first night we went to dinner at a restaurant called Nelsons where a live band played and we watched the sunset over the water.  They gave the kids instruments to play along with the band.  Then Craig and I sat on the patio with a glass of wine and watched the full moon reflect over the ocean, it was unforgettable.  The next day we threw rocks on the beach, and spent the day at the pool until around 5pm.  Then we had dinner at the Catalina Kitchen in our pool clothes with the Smiths.  We ended the night on our patio again.

I love our family and have enjoyed the past 5 years of wedded bliss.  Craig is a perfect husband and father and we have the best time together and with our funny kids.

Braydon's first crush

Braydon has had an obsession with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lately.  He has all four costumes from Toys r Us and he studies the paper that came with each costume saying all their names.  We were driving and he said "Mommy, I want to marry April"  I said okay buddy, you like her?  He said "Yeah, but where do I find her?  She only knows the Ninja Turtles"  

A few days past and we had the following conversation

Braydon:  Mom what day is it?
Me:  Wednesday, why?
Braydon:  When will it be Friday?
Me:  Tomorrow is Thursday and after that is Friday, why?
Braydon:  Because I'm going to marry April on Friday.
Me:  Oh really?  That's great honey!
Braydon:  Yeah and I want all the Ninja Turtles to watch us get married.  And Mom, can she live with us after?

Siena Rose at 16 months old

Siena is so smart!  She is extremely independent too.  Smart and independent = A Sassy little girl.  Although she's well mannered, already saying Please and Thank You!

VOCABULARY:  She says the following words and pretty often; Bye, Hi, No, Mine, Baby, Ma Ma, Da, Daw (For Monty), Ba (Bottle), Bey (Paci), Peez (Please), Tank too (Thank You), Boo (Blueberrys, her favorite food)

ACTIVITY:  She is a very busy bodied little girl.  She loves putting on bracelets and necklaces, putting coins stacked up all over the room, opening and closing containers, drawing, dancing and climbing all over everything!  And she loves water, sitting in sinks and turning the faucet on and off, splashing in the fountain, etc.

MONTY:  She LOVES Monty, hugs and kisses him all the time and gives him treats.  She also yells No at him when he tries to eat her food.  Any dog she sees it's the greatest thing in the world to her.  She shouts and points as if seeing a rock star.

EATING:  She feeds herself with a fork and spoon now, she will NOT let you feed her anymore.

LOVING:  She cuddles a bunch, gives kisses and hugs.  She is the sweetest and melts our hearts!

Siena's 1st Movie

We went to Despicable Me 2 at Cinepolis as a family on Sunday.  It was Siena's first movie!  It held her attention for a whole 15 minutes and then she wanted to walk up and down the stairs and play with my purse and empty out all it's contents.  The kids loved eating popcorn and Sprite.

Braydon learns to swim!

We enrolled Braydon in a class called Swim 2 John to teach him how to swim.  For some reason he has a huge fear of the water and a lot of his friends are swimming now so we thought it was time.  It's a 10 day class, 10 minutes a day and he's guaranteed to swim at the end.  I was so proud of him!  He advanced so quickly!  He is a swimmer now, doing full breast strokes and all.  Craig takes him weekly to a pool so he doesn't forget.  Every day that I took him to class he would say "Mommy when I learn to swim can I go surfing with Daddy?"

The Steele Family Visits!

The Steele's came to visit for a week in mid July.  It was such an eventful and fun time!  They flew in Friday and we did a day at the beach in Mission Beach on Saturday.  The kids played in the sand and splashed in the waves.  Braydon was REALLY excited to be with cousin Dylan, they LOVE each other.  On Sunday the adults spent the day in Newport on a Duffy.  On Wednesday night we went to the ESPYs in LA, Thursday night we went to the Hullabaloo concert with all the kiddos at the Botanical Garden, Friday we went to the races and Saturday just hung out at the house.  Dylan is such a  sweetheart.  The kids played in the bouncy house, watched movies and did arts and crafts.  Siena and Dylan had a battle of wills pretty often, Dylan wasn't used to having a baby around that grabs at all her toys :)