California: Part I

We spent 9 days in Southern California beginning two Saturdays ago. As the days led up to our trip, I kept watching the weather. I was absolutely astounded when I learned that it was going to be RAINY for at least the first half of our trip. It NEVER rains in SoCal! I thought for sure that the weather would change as we got closer and closer to our departure date. I was wrong. We had a rainy and cool stay in SoCal, but we didn't let it stop us from having a great time.

We got into LAX around 10:00PM local time, which meant 1:00AM EST. By the time we got our luggage and our rental car (or the Baker Bus as we called it), it was close to 2:30. My parents were starving so we did a run to McDonald's. By the time we finally got into our rental house, it was close to 4:00AM Boston time (1:00AM PST). Eliot was a TROOPER!! I cannot sing his praises loudly enough! He was so good! He took about a 4-5hour nap on the plane and was just fine for the rest of the time. He was awake the whole time we were looking for luggage, getting our car, stopping for food, and getting settled into our house. He was SO GOOD!

Exhausted, and thrown off schedule, we spent the next day grocery shopping, local sight seeing, lounging around, and trying to catch up on sleep.

This was the view from our front door

I noticed several small snails tucked away inside the greenery

Monday was our first real day out. I looked for some indoor entertainment since it was still raining. We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific and we had a really fun time.


The hot tub was another big hit. We had our very own salt water pool and hot tub overlooking Orange County. It was unbelievable! (Still sorting photos so hopefully, I'll post one of those photos in the next post). Eliot would have spent every minute in that "poo" if he could have.


Look at that view behind my mother! The photo doesn't do it justice and at night it was even more gorgeous!

New Lens, New Pics!

I've been searching Craigslist for months looking for the right price on this one lens (a canon 70-200 IS f/4L) . (Note: it's not the lens I really want, but it's a great lens until I have the funds necessary to get the Mac Daddy lens). Yesterday, I saw the post for a great price. I emailed the guy, sure that I did not get it (it had been over an hour since it was posted). He emailed me back and said that I was the second responder, but since the first guy tried to haggle with him, the lens was MINE!!!! AHHH! YES!!

Last week, I helped my sister buy her very first DSLR (also from Craigslist for a steal (and from a very nice man as well)). Today, my Dad had the day off so my sister, father, Eliot & I all went for a nice photo walk around Horn Pond. We had such a nice time. Of course Eliot loved it, there was lots of see-- dogs, bugs, people, and ducks (he even got to secretly feed one duck!), but I think that the adults had just as much fun (if not more) playing with our toys.

Here are some photos with my newest love :)

Eliot's Second Birthday Party

This past weekend, we celebrated Eliot's 2nd birthday (a little early). My in-laws were generous enough to let us host his party at their beautiful home (again). And, bonus, the weather this year was nice enough to have most of the party outside! I love outdoor parties; they feel so much more relaxed to me.

We had a digger theme. It was one of Eliot's very first words and he has been obsessed with diggers ever since. I'm pretty sure that anyone who has ever driven with Eliot in the car probably now plays the digger game even when Eliot is not in the car with them. I know that Ted & I do. I know that Nana does. I even have a friend, Kelly, who says she thinks of Eliot when she drives by a digger. We're always on the lookout for diggers. And it's a sad day when after a digger that has been parked in the same spot for quite a while (the Stone Zoo, a church around the corner from us) goes "home." Even though the digger may be gone from that spot, Eliot will still talk about that digger when we pass the spot for weeks or maybe even months.
So, it just seemed fitting that our theme would be diggers (with a few dumps sprinkled in there too).

I think I was about as excited for Eliot's party as he was. What is better than watching your child have people sing Happy Birthday to HIM?! (Finally, after months of seeing everyone else get the attention) or opening fun new toys for him to get excited about! Even just seeing a Thomas the train gift bag and knowing that was for him got him so excited!

It was a lovely party and I am so grateful for everyone who came, helped, contributed, and celebrated. Thank you, everyone! We are blessed to have such a wonderful family.


And on an unrelated side note (well, not completely unrelated I suppose), today is the 8th anniversary of Ted & my first date. Eight years. I would love to re-live that night again. Happy Anniversary, Love.

Our Labor Day Weekend

We knew it was going to be a busy one, but we really outdid ourselves! On Saturday, Ted & I attended a wedding ceremony. We couldn't stay for the reception (which I am quite sad about) because I had made a previous commitment to help a photographer friend photograph her friend's wedding. So off to work, I went. Ted actually drove me since when we were at the first wedding, we were closer to the second wedding than home would have been. Eliot was staying with my parents. Ted drove back to up Eliot, fed him dinner, played with him, put him in his PJs and drove back to get me, thinking that Eliot would sleep the whole way since it was his bedtime. Nope. Instead, he arrived at the second wedding site ready to get out of his car seat and PLAY! Oh my. Ted hadn't even packed him shoes so we were limited, but knew we'd be in for a heck of a ride home if we didn't take him out... so... we did. We took him over to an area where there were a pond, several ducks and swans, and a waterfall. He had a nice time looking at the ducks and BONUS! I got to take some photos of my little guy (which actually doesn't happen nearly often enough anymore for a combination of reasons).



Sunday was supposed to be our down day. We ended up going grocery shopping at Wholefoods as a family (Eliot got to ride in his favorite car shopping cart). Then, we came home, took a nap as a family, and then we went over to the Lomas' house to see Cassie, who has been my friend since we were 5 years old, and Linda, her mom (who is a Nanny) who will be watching Eliot one morning a week for me starting this week! My business is really taking off and I am finding that I just don't have enough hours in the day to get everything done that needs to get done. Eliot always has the time of his life at Linda's. Linda is wonderful with children, but beyond that, she has a sunporch designated for ONLY toys and playing, plenty of yard toys (including a seesaw, and a big car to ride around in), big trucks (yes, like diggers), parakeets that they leave out of their cages in the house, and of course a POOL! Eliot LOVES it there. I just wanted to take him there one more time while I stayed with him before he got dropped off there so he would be more comfortable. Although, after going, I really don't think it was necessary. He has the best time there. This is going to be a really good thing for Eliot.. and for me.

After that, we went to the party store to get some final things for Eliot's birthday party this Saturday (which I am SO excited for) despite the fact that everything I bought is digger themed and now he wants... "THOMA!"

Mama: No, Diggers
Eliot, NO, THOMA!
Mama: You don't want a DIGGER CAKE?
Eliot: NO! THOMA!

I'm sorry Eliot, but Mama can't veer off theme.


And then, yesterday, we went down to Edaville in Carver, MA for "A Day Out With Thomas" and I think it's the most fun Eliot has ever had. We got to ride on Thomas! Not only that, but they had structures of trains and trucks (a fire truck and some diggers) that he could climb and play on. They also had a bunch of carnival-like rides for smaller children. Earlier in the Summer, we tried to do Canobie Lake Park, but there was really little for him to do there because of the height requirements. They even had fishing at Edaville! I tried to hard to catch my guy a fish, but they just weren't biting. I was so bummed. We left and came home to take another family nap (have I mentioned that I love weekends?) and then we took Eliot to get a haircut. It was sad because he asked to wear his Thomas "pass" (that hangs around his neck) so of course, we let him... but then he thought he was going to ride Thomas again. He was sorely disappointed to be getting his hair cut instead of going back to Thomas.



We had a wonderful and very busy family weekend. I love 3 day weekends! Can't wait til Columbus Day :)

Ted & Janice's 40th Anniversary Party

As promised, here are some photos from the party. I think that everyone had a nice time (Eliot certainly did, as he always does with his cousins). His new thing is giving babies hugs when they cry. I accidentally left our hallway door open one day while I was getting ready to take some things out to the car and Eliot heard the baby across the hall crying, by the the time I came out of our bedroom with the stuff I needed to bring to the car, he was knocking on their door saying "Baby, hug, baby, hug." Oh boy. Thankfully, I don't think they heard the knock. However, he was VERY excited to be able to hug Bea at the party when she got upset.

Anyway, here are some photos from the day. Enjoy!

(Centerpieces that I made)