Shakespeare on Lake Tahoe

Every summer there is an open air theater that puts on performances of Shakespeare right on Lake Tahoe. We wanted to go last summer, but just couldn't figure out a time to go. This summer we managed it - with 2 kids no less!

Since we were in Tahoe for Jonathan and Pam's wedding, we decided to keep our hotel room and babysitter an extra night. We met our good friends Ariel and Damon Tribble at the theater and watched an awesome performance of "Much Ado About Nothing" - one of my favorites.

The theater is awesome. It's open air and the seats face the stage which is mostly open and has the lake right behind it - so GORGEOUS view from all angles. You sit in lawn chairs in the sand - stadium style rows tho.

They have vendors right there with excellent food for dinner - I had crab and lobster louie salad and a godiva brownie. It was so yummy! Ariel and Damon brought wine. It was so nice to have an adults-only night with good friends, good food, beautiful views, and a wonderful show. Definitely have to do this next summer!

Jonathan & Pam's Wedding

My cousin Jonathan got married on July 24th to Pam Reyes. The wedding was held at Lake Tahoe and so we were thrilled to be able to attend.

My parents flew in on Thursday and we drove up Friday afternoon. The wedding was held Friday evening. We had a babysitter come watch the kids in the hotel room. The first time we've had a stranger watch either kid. I was very nervous about it - calling to check in a lot more than usual - but it worked out great.

The wedding was beautiful - right on the lake. Pam - the bride - was gorgeous and is clearly a wonderful person. Jonathan and Pam looked so happy! It was also great to get to see family. We enjoyed seeing Jim/Connie, Amy, and Mark the next day for breakfast as well. Tahoe is a gorgeous place for a wedding.

Congrats Jonathan and Pam!!!!

Bonding Leave, Mini-Van, and Home Alone w/ 2 Kids

Robbie's paternity/bonding leave finishes this week and he starts back to work on Wednesday. My how the time flies! It was so great having him home for 5 weeks straight. The first two weeks were in Colorado, so it really did seem to go super fast. During Robbie's time at home on top of spending time with Abby we managed to finish painting the 1/2 bath and do final touches to the dining room paint job, take Owen to the pool, have Jaime and Stephanie come visit, and buy a mini-van for me.

Yes... that's right... it's official... I'm a Mommy... with a capital M. Sigh. I swore I would never, ever, ever drive a mini-van. But the second we had Abby and had to squeeze two huge car seats in my Tribute, we realized that we needed a vehicle with more seating space. And mini-van seemed like the best answer. We bought a 2007 Honda Odyssey - tan w/ tan interior which is great cause I admit to not washing my cars all that often and tan doesn't really show dirt. It's fairly loaded... leather seats, back up camera, dvd player, sun roof, automatic doors on both sides, hidden 8th seat (stored in the floor), voice activated commands, built-in navigation system, etc. Like my friend Jenny who drives one said, "Who ever thought our first luxury car would be a mini-van." So true. Since, in the course of our marriage, Robbie has had a 350-Z and a fairly loaded Toyota Tundra (both "cool" cars), and I'm "getting" a mini-van (albeit decked out), we agreed that in 5-6 years when the kids are both only in smallish booster seats and we trade in the mini-van, I get to pick whatever I want (within reason). I'm thinking Jeep - so instead of "Mommy" I'll be "hot mama"! ;)

So with Robbie going back at work, I will now be home alone with both kids two days out of the week. We have Owen on part-time daycare. He loves it so much we didn't want to stop completely, but at the same time, while I'm home we wanted to save a little money. So he's at home on Wed and Fri. We did a semi-trial run this Friday when Robbie spent a good chunk of the day at the dealership buying the mini-van. Went fairly smoothly - but Robbie was around to watch Owen while I got Abby down for her morning nap. That's the part I'm nervous about. Owen doesn't do "left on his own" well yet, but he's too loud and chatty to have in the room with us when I'm putting her down. I have a feeling Abby may be napping in the swing a lot on Wed and Fri. That or Owen will be watching a lot of the movie Cars while I'm putting Abby down for naps. Cross your fingers for me! Jenny said of her experience learning to deal with a newborn and a 2-year-old at the same time, "Every day someone cries and sometimes it's me." Ha! I already anticipate this happening. You do what you can, right? Any suggestions and tips are welcome!

Picture of the mini-van pending.

McCrackens Visit!

Our great friends Jaime and Stephanie McCracken came to visit us last week! Jaime was Robbie's best man in our wedding and Stephanie was a reader in the wedding and a roommate of mine. They met at our wedding and married a little over a year later. :) This was their first visit to see us in CA.

They arrived on Thursday. Sadly, a good friend of theirs died of cystic-fibrosis, and they had to cut their trip short. So they were only here with us thru Sunday and flew home on Tuesday. But we did manage to pack a lot of fun times into their stay.

They arrived fairly late on Thursday, so it was just chatting and catching up time. Friday we did Owen's birthday presents and lunch at our favorite sushi place - Mikuni, plus our weekly BBQ night with friends in the evening. Saturday we did a trip to San Francisco. This was Jaime's first visit to the city. We did a picnic lunch in Golden Gate Park, drove over the bridge and went up to the Marin Headlands. While in SF walking along the bay, we saw a fisher on one of the wharfs catch and release a small shark (looked like a tiger shark - do they live in those waters?). And people say sharks don't come into the bay - hah! Awesome day! Sunday was Owen's b-day part - it was so great to share that with them. Luckily they were able to keep their Napa trip which is where they were thru Tuesday.

While they were here they got to experience a rattle snake in our yard. Our neighborhood used to be the release place for catch and release of all rattlesnakes in the Sacramento area (which is a lot). So it's teeming with rattlesnakes. This is our 2nd in about 9 months. Apparently we should expect 3-5 a year in our yard. Boo! Anyway - we heard this one rattling while we were still inside the house. Jaime and Robbie killed it. The first one we had the catch and release people come get it. But it's $150 a pop - and we're not spending $450-750 to save the snakes in our yard.

It was so great to see them and spend time with them. Can't wait for their next visit!!!

P.S. Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of Adam Lokey.

Owen's B-Day Party(s)

Owen's birthday celebrations were broken up into several parts this year. The celebrating started in Colorado where he got to open gifts with both sets of his grandparents. Then on his actual birthday he shared brownie bites with his class at day care. The next day he opened presents from family. Our good friends Jaime and Stephanie McCracken were visiting and got to join us for that! Owen's big gift this year was a bigwheel. Eventually we'll take the handle off the back once he learns how to pedal. :)

Sunday was Owen's official birthday party. This year we did a joint birthday party with Alexandra Tribble - Owen's friend who is only 4 days younger than he. Alex's mom and dad, our good friends Ariel and Damon, did and awesome job arranging most of the details. We held the party at Fairytale Town. It's this terrific place in the main park in Sacramento (across from the Sac Zoo) that is perfect for 2-year-olds. Lots of kid friendly slides and things to climb on and animals to see - all set up in different themes of fairy tales. Below are some pics of the birthday boy and girl in Cinderella's carriage on on the horses drawing the carriage. We rented the Sherwood Forest picnic area - all the kids played for a while - and then we did pizza and cupcakes for lunch. Owen had a blast! I think we'll definitely return for Abby's 2nd bday.

Then Monday (today) all the Lamaze mommies and kids got together to celebrate their birthdays much like last year. We gathered at Kemp park in Folsom where they have a water area to play in on top of swings and whatnot. We played and did cupcakes for the kids and a gift exchange. So great to see everyone. Out of the 6 ladies now 5 of us are on our 2nd kiddos. Abby has arrived, of course, Garian and Jaime are both due in the next few weeks, Karen is due in December, and Susan due early next Spring! Ok Ariel... just waiting on you! ;) Haha! The kids are so adorable together now and it's so neat to see them grow and develop. We're so glad to have kept in touch with this group!

After so many different birthday themed events and present openings I wonder if Owen will be confused when the celebrating ceases. :) He definitely enjoyed his birthday this year, and by the end of it seemed to understand the party and presents part of the concept at leat. Can't believe he's already 2!

Owen is 2 Years Old!!!

Holy smokes, how time flies. Owen is two years old as of today - July 9th. It does not seem like two years since he was born. It only seems like months. Sheesh!

He is such a big boy now. As of his 2-year check up today, he is 35in. tall (75%), 28 lbs (50%) and head size is 19 3/4 in. (80%).

The director... Owen is a tad bossy and loves to direct everyone around him. It's like he's conducting a symphony... "Owen wiggle.... Mama wiggle.... Dada wiggle... Gramp wiggle... Pawpaw wiggle... Mimi wiggle... Nana wiggle..."

He is super into the movie Cars. He wants to watch it every day. We really have to crack down on limiting his TV time. He also loves all his figures and books from Cars. He is mister outdoors. Loves to go hiking with Dad, loves to explore everywhere. And loves to "run around" - literally wants to run in circles.

We had a breakthrough this week with potty training. We're not officially working on this yet - we plan to start some time in the fall - but in the meantime, if he shows an interest we encourage it. This week he had a successfull try at school and one at home. Who knew that poo would become such a big thing in our lives.


He loves to dance and sing and is starting to make up his own songs. He also loves to sing the "Bob the Builder" theme song at the top of his lungs. He is a ham and loves to make everyone around him laugh.

He is also very helpful. He loves to help us throw away trash, open doors (garage, fridge, etc.), and pick up. He loves to "help" with Abby - feeding her bottles and showing her things. He's also a bit of a dirt-a-phobe, always wanting to wash off his hands.

Owen has also hit the "terrible two's." He is testing boundaries at every step. He does things deliberately that we told him not to. He throws fits over the smallest things. And boy is he stubborn. But he responds fairly well to most of our attempts at discipline. We've only had to do a full on time-out once in the last few weeks. Although we do have to do a lot of "calming down in our room together" time.

Owen's vocabulary continues to explode. We get comments from tons of people about how amazing his vocabulary is. He can count to 20 (11-20 he needs a little help with). He's also learning to count to 10 in Spanish. He can say the alphabet with a little help. He uses 3-10 word sentences. He's got most of his colors down now and all his shapes (including octagon and oval). We are amazed daily at some of the things that come out of his mouth. Below are some of our favorite Owenisms.

Owenisms...
"Owen doing?" - meaning ask me about what I'm doing.

Owen: "Tow truck go?" (translation - where's my tow truck?)
Robbie: "You dropped it, buddy."
Owen: "Owen very clumsy."

When Robbie tried to wipe rice off his face: "Daddy don't touch Owen's face."

In response to various "oh no" type situations: "Oh man! Great!"

Robbie: "That's an amulance, buddy."
Owen: "Paramedic truck - fix big owies."

At bedtime, talking about his day with Daddy and Grover: "Grover, guess what?!?!"

Kristen: "Owen, what do you want for dinner?"
Owen: "Maui Tacos!"

All the time for anything that's funny: "Owen silly!"

Owen: "Sand in eyes." (he LOVES the sandbox at school)
Us: "How'd it get in your eyes?"
Owen: "Dylan threw it."
(or any other kids in the class - Justin and Hailey are also usually blamed - but funnier is that Owen is the one who throws sand - and also funny is that he'll tell us this on days he didn't go to school)

"Owen scared." - to just about everything, especially things with noise.... ice machines, lawn mowers, etc. We know if he's really scared when there's crying involved. Usually it's more startled.

Owen: "Big rocks dada."
Robbie: "Those are boulders, buddy."
Owen: "Owen carry it?"

During prayers: "Bless bulldozer... bless bulldozer driver."

Abby's First 4th of July - 2009

We had a wonderful 4th of July this year. We started the day with a kids parade. Our friends the Fishers organized all the families of their friends and in their neighborhood. We all met at their house, decorated the kids bikes/strollers/wagons, and then had a parade around the neighborhood. The kids loved it (Owen was in a bit of a mood - so you can't tell that he loved it - but he did!)!!

Then we went to the Rancho Cordova festival close to the high school. We went with our friends the Tribbles. The kids activities were mostly free - so nice! Owen had an awesome time in the bouncy house (actually Alexandra enjoyed this more than Owen), riding the ponies, at the petting zoo, and riding the choo-choo train. What a great kid-oriented festival!

We then headed back to our house with the Tribbles and grilled out burgers and dogs. They hung out an after the kids were down we played Scrabble. No fire works this year - Owen would flip out. But a very fun time had by all!