SLO it Down Now

We decided to end summer with a bang. We rented a beach house in SLO for the weekend with our friends, The Andersens. It was warm, beachy, and the perfect end to a fabulous summer.

The house backed right up to the Oceano dunes. We had our own private little dune in the backyard. I can't lie--I would have been fine playing in that patch of sand the entire weekend.

The private dune. You can't play with us unless you rent a fancy house.

The kids played well together. Kai has mastered the art of the chase. He acts like he could care less about Beezie, and she pursues him relentlessly. It's pretty cute.

Beach babies busy in the sand

Lance and B taking a stroll along the coastline

B found some tasty sticks and sand to chomp on

The boys did some modeling for the girls. We were impressed.

Carly decided to wear as much white as possible before Labor Day deemed her unfashionable.

B continued to create a gigantic mess with her food. This kid is a total pigpen!

She also got some snugs in with Pops. I love family snuggletime.


We gave B a makeshift bath in the kitchen sink since the only bathtub in the house had black sludge coming up through the drain.

B decided that being nekki was the best way to enjoy the beach house, and spent a good deal of time wandering around without britches.


She had so much fun in the big, spacious house. She climbed the stairs over and over...usually supervised. She made a few quick breaks.

After packing up, we hit the road and headed down to Solvang--MY FAVORITE FAKE TOWN EVER! I love this faux little Euro village. It's such a delight.

We started off at Paula's Pancake House. It was a home run.

I had the eggs benedict, and Lancer had this monstrous Dutch pancake

He shared with B, who ate up a large corner of the fluffy delight

Some of it may have ended up on the floor

After brunch, we walked around the town, shopping and munching on caramel apples.

Begrudgingly, we headed back home to face reality. The laundry, dishes, and sandy blankets were worth the weekend of fun, though.

Once home, B dazzled us with her newest bag of tricks. They include:

Playing with the water dispenser

Climbing into the dishwasher

Stealing washcloths out of their bin

Pulling the dishes out of the bottom rack

And my new favorite trick....pulling every single book off her bookshelf.

So long, summer!

Those Summer Nights....

This summer has been never-ending. I'm okay with this for right now--but the minute it's September, all of my fall items are coming out of the party shed, and we're getting down to business.

In the meantime, we have been soaking up the sun all over the Bay Area. We hit up Shoreline on a gorgeous, sunny day.

We took some slow summer walks with Beezie in her little car, Logan trailing after us

What better way to celebrate summer than with some homemade froyo? Lance and I picked up a Cuisinart ice-cream maker. Now we can make our own delicious concoctions, and stop giving our hard earned duckets away to Pinkberry.

My trusty helper

Success!

It was smooth, creamy, and tart. Recipe here. Thanks, Becky!

We also got a visit from Auntie Jo-Jo, who was down in our hood visiting Joe @ Google, and taking her boys shopping for school clothes. I love B's pout in this pic!

We hit the beach with Tinger in Pescadero, and let the kids roll around in the sand. And by roll around, I mean eat it.

After the beach, we hit up the Flying Fish Grill in HMB. For the first time, well, ever, Lancer ordered the better tasting dish! I'm losing my touch. I ordered the grilled shrimp and sweet potato fries, which were tasty. But Lancer--the food genius--ordered the grilled mahi-mahi fish tacos. They come with this delicious special sauce. They were SO tasty. Hands down the best fish tacos around. I made him order another one to split with me. Go to this restaurant. You will not be disappointed.

B and I aren't against traveling for a little fun. We headed over to Danville to visit Team Buskirk. They have a little girl a few months younger than Beezie, and we hadn't seen them for a few months. We checked out Room to Grow, a fun indoor playroom for kids six and under.

B was all over the different play stations. She's fast and furious these days.

Doesn't she look huge in this photo with the dollhouse?? My baby!

This is friend's little girl. How cute is her hair?? The gals loved playing with one another. I think it's especially fun when they have a friend that's their size.

Thanks for a fun day, gals!

We also hit up the CDM in San Jose. We haven't been there for a few months, and spent the day with friends.

They have a great play area with a little play pizzeria. The kids can make pizza, pour drinks, sort veggies--it's great.

They have this real old-fashioned Ford parked in the middle of the play area. B was like a moth to a flame. I couldn't get her out.


She hit every attraction in the place, crawling around, climbing on equipment, and playing with her friends.

Crawling, crawling, crawling....over...

....under...

..on top of things....

...standing....

We see a lot of this face these days. I would like to say that's it's a delightful little song. In reality, it's a full-on banshee wail. This kid has some serious volume control issues.

But I forgive her because the gene pool is stacked against her. I'm a loudie. She's destined to be at least half a loudie.

B was happy to meet a few other babies her age. She found little friends all over the museum.



Despite the fact that I can't get it together to finish my advent calendar, I have been getting crafty. I made $2 maracas for my music class out of baby food containers and black eyed peas. I hot-glued the tops on to prevent flying peas. Get ready to shake, kids!

I also did a painting night at Cranberry Hill Mercantile with the girls. How cute is my jack-o-lantern?? I love that I chose a black stem.

I also did some fall crates. I tried to get a few people on board, but I had no takers. Ashley wasn't a believer. She was all "Craftiness is for the birds, I would rather waste Tyler's money on eBay than make a crate....." In short, she doubted that I could turn a brand new crate into an aged crate worthy of a fall display.

But she was totally wrong! The best part is that the crates can look aged, discolored and crappy. My kinda project, on account of my laziness. I LOVE how they turned out, and I can't wait to out-cute Ashley and her fall display.

Fall Harvest Pumpkins

Orchard Fresh Apples

I also did some 'BOO' letters for my Halloween display. They will find themselves next to the crates come October 1st.

Totally off the subject of my ultra-craftiness...please tell me your kids look like this when they eat.

Cleaning up this mess 3 times a day is no walk in the park, people! I'm starting to suspect that I have an extra pig-penny baby.