Vintage and Modern

7/5

That play table and high chair have been around since Owen's baby days.

Which was 9 years ago.

So they're practically vintage.

The bed head, however, is new.

Independence Day 2013

^Parade watching in downtown Monterey^

Living History Day at the Cooper-Molera Adobe Garden

Free carnival in downtown Monterey

Jump-roping with rope made at Living History Day

A "bike parade" inspired by the parade we watched earlier that day.

Sally started out on her own, then Drew joined her.

They basically rode up and down a street near our house,

positioning their flags in different places on themselves and their bikes.

I was the only spectator.

Thanks to the Weichers we learned that fireworks were legal one city over.

We met them at a great spot near a lake where a bunch of people were doing their own fireworks.

 It was perfect and made up for no local fireworks show.

Blondes vs Brunettes

We've only been away from Carlsbad for 3 weeks, but we miss everyone.

Made us happy to meet up with our vacationing friends at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

$1 rides on Mondays and Tuesdays, holler.

picture by Ashley

Although they're not pictured, we got bonus time with them today when they stopped in Monterey.

 Love Dennis the Menace park.

House Quirks

 We got lucky with this house.

It's bigger than our last place.

It's in a great neighborhood with good schools.

And our old landlord gave us a deal.

Definitely a blessing.

But I have to make fun of this blessing just a little bit.

I love that it has a mail slot and our mail just appears on the floor.

But it's funny that the floor it appears on is in the kitchen behind our table.

(also the flooring and rubber baseboards are not the most attractive)

The other quirky thing is this very church-like divider at the entrance to the hall.

 It doesn't go all the way up to the ceiling (so it doesn't really block any sound).

And it doesn't lock (so we can't trap kids back there).

So whatever it's purpose is, we don't know, but the kids have fun with it.

On an unrelated note, August got a most fitting card during our family night game.

Guided Drawing

So this is kind of big news.

I found an art project that we ALL (yes, even me) like:

Guided drawings from Great Artist Mom.

On this particular day we did the space ship.

But our favorite was the monster from Where the Wild Things Are.

We've done these a couple days this week during August's morning nap and it's fun.

(we learned about painting with water colors over crayons in the Wild Things tutorial)

Yes, that's mine and I'm proud of it.

Sleep Training

At 9 months, August is still not sleeping through the night.

All my fault since I get up with any little peep.

But now that he's in a crib (hallelujah), I am finally letting him cry it out.

That top picture was taken after night 1.

By that big smile you wouldn't think he had been screaming a lot of the night.

But he did and I'm glad it's over.

We're so close now.

So close!

Fake Father's Day

6/23

For real Father's Day, Justin was up here all by his lonesome while we were in AZ.

He had to book it here cause his school started that Monday (June 17).

So we celebrated a week late.

And I know it's just not the same (especially in the middle of unpacking),

but at least he got a much-needed nap with his favorite baby.

Oh and we can't forget Drew's coupon for taking off his (Justin's) socks happily.

Shout out to Justin:

Thanks for working your bootie off for us.

And for being both an awesome dad and a fun kid at the same time (it's a rare talent).

We love you!

Alan Here

6/20

My dad is awesome and volunteered to drive the kids and me to Monterey,

then stay and help us get settled for a few days.

Our adventure started with him treating us to ice cream before 10 in the morning.

Oh look...more sweets.

His first lolly and he ate it like he'd had 50 before.

We were in the car all day.

It wasn't too bad though, thanks to my dad driving, all the snacks, movies, and stops.

We even added a little driving time by taking the scenic Hwy 1 route.

Said route was very windy.

 Prettiness.

The next 2 days were filled with unpacking and more unpacking.

I kept trying to talk my dad into taking breaks for fun,

but he was seriously just happy working and enjoying the nice weather.

The one request he did have was clam chowder on the wharf.

6/22

 We love sampling them all, but always end up eating a Crabby Jim's.

Sunday we took a walk down Navy Pier to see what we could see.

 6/23

Then played at the beach right by it.

Drew was excited about sticking his finger in an anemone for the first time.

And those are not short shorts, just pants he rolled up.

That's the pier we walked down and beach we played at.

Before going home, we drove along the coast for a little bit.

Last time we lived here we were about a mile up the hill from the ocean.

Our house now is about a mile inland from that old house.

So I've had it stuck in my head that we're farther away from the ocean this time around.

But Sunday as we were driving around I realized we live on a point (aka the Monterey Peninsula).

So if we go east OR west (or even north) we'll get to the ocean.

Had no idea.

Here's a picture in case you're geographically challenged like me.

Monday the boys and I rode bikes down to the coast.

I'm still learning this neighborhood so we ended up going the long way.

Then we were too wussy to ride back up the hill so I called my dad to rescue us.

He needed an excuse to see the ocean one last time anyway.

This was just before we took him to the airport (which was sad).

6/24

It was so so helpful and awesome having him here.

Sally wanted to hide his plane ticket so he'd have to stay.

If only that would've worked I would have helped her do it.

*"Alan here" is the greeting you'll get if you call my parents' house and Dad answers the phone.