An Afternoon of Trains!

Our friends had recently taken their son on a short train ride up to San Juan Capistrano and it sounded like fun, so we got the crew together, called up our friends, and rode down to the train station. The plan was for Anna & me to take the babies up to the next station and meet the boys for dinner while Matt & Nick rode the train along with Waylon & Aaron. The plan worked out, and the bonus was, we got pictures!

Here we are waiting at the station. Notice Jonathan fully looking at the camera! Matt was still convinced he didn't want to ride the train, and that it would be "too loud, Mommy!"

Matt was still a little leery about the plan, but he was looking down the tracks for the train while Jonathan and I made goofy faces at each other.

We're looking for the train while Jonathan smiles for the camera! He cracks me up!

The boys were preparing for the train to arrive. Matt & Waylon still look a bit skeptical of the whole plan, but Nick & Aaron smiled through it all!

I think the train might be coming!

Now he's looking over his mommy's big head to see the train. Apparently I was in his way!

Choo choo!

So he was right, it was a bit too loud for him at first. Notice Jonathan looking for the camera, pacifier and all!

Since the boys just rode up to the next station, it took Anna & me a bit to get up there. The boys walked over to the petting zoo near the station and peeked through the fences at all of the animals. Luckily the petting zoo was closed so their daddies didn't have to say no when they asked to go in.

Waylon and Matt made friends with the pig.

Because the petting zoo was closed, so was the road. The boys chased each other up and down the road, looking at everything along the way.

Apparently they took turns chasing each other.

After Anna & I got there, we were able to corral the gang and go eat burgers at Ruby's diner. They had a train going along the ceiling which kept the boys quite entertained during lunch.

There was a big train over the booths, along with the tracks on the ceiling.

Waylon & Matt look a bit more trusting of the fun afternoon!

The kids' menus turned into boats and the boys were given stickers to put on the boats too. They had too much fun!

Boys' Weekend

A couple of weeks ago our good friend Donny came out for a visit. The idea was for Donny and Nick to get in as much golf as possible during his visit, as well as attending the Red Sox/Angels game. Well, golf ruled the weekend and the game was watched on tv, but they had a great weekend. The highlight of the weekend for them was playing golf at Torrey Pines.

This is Hole #3 on the South Course.


Here's a shot of the boys on Hole #3. There's a couple of pros!

The rough was at least 6" deep. Apparently the boys lost a few balls in the rough that day.

Here's Nick in action on the course.

What a follow through!

Big boy bath time!

As part of our solution for Matt being so noisy at bedtime and preventing Jonathan from falling asleep without his screams in the background, we opted to changing bath time to our bathtub. It's down the hall from Jonathan's room instead of next door, and it adds to the fun of bath time because it's so big!

Here some pictures from a few different nights in the bathtub. Matt has discovered bubble baths (with Arbonne products, of course) and has tolerated the jets being on in the tub a few times with his daddy.

This was before we discovered how much bath gel to use for bubbles.

A big bathtub, a spray bottle and a balloon & I think Matt's in heaven!

Nick was out of town and I told him to say "Hi, Daddy" when we took this one. I think I caught him right at the end with this cheesy grin!

We had a party at work one day and there were balloons. Matt got to take a couple home (as you can see in the first picture) and here's he result of a helium balloon after a few days and a few baths!

Bob the Builder!

Matt has a new love for "Bob the Builder". What boy wouldn't love an animated show about tractors, steamrollers, and construction? So, we headed to the Discovery Science Museum for the exhibit on Saturday morning.

Here's Matt driving Muck.

He found Roley the steamroller. He was much more excited than this picture shows. It was tough to catch him on film because he was so excited he didn't stop for very long before he was off to the next thing.

Jonathan was along for the ride and did great the whole time!

Matt discovered many cool things to try out, including imitating other kids.

Climbing in and out of a submarine proved to be fun!

Nick took Matt over to the screen they had set up and here they are on tv. Matt wasn't too sure what to think of this activity. Once Nick put him down he was off and running to the next thing.

He stayed at the rock activity for the most time. They had magnets on the backs so the kids could help build a wall. He just loved the wheelbarrow too!

Outside there was a huge dinosaur the kids could climb and explore. Matt was getting a bit fussy by then, but he managed to explore a bit.

Here's the distant view of the dinosaur.

Happy 4th!

This weekend we had some visitors in town! Our friend Chris came to town with his girlfriend Chivon and we had a great time with them. They took in the beach on Friday morning while we joined in the neighborhood barbecue festivities. We joined back up with them for some dinner with our friends the Davis family and Waylon and Matt got some playtime out back.

When Waylon got to the house, Matt was discovering his new water guns. Waylon declined one when offered. Shortly after this picture, Waylon grabbed a water gun and the boys began squirting everything!

For two boys who are usually hams for the camera, these two look quite confused.

Matt moves in for his usual close up. He loves to look at his picture right after it is taken. What did we do before digital cameras?

Pizza is such a great reward for sharing with your friends.

After the pizza and playtime, the kids got put in bed with their mommies at home with them. Chivon, Chris, Nick & Aaron went to the beach to watch the fireworks. Last year it was a bit foggy so we missed a lot, but this year the skies were clear and they were able to see 3 displays in different areas along the shore.

The next day we all went to the beach so the guys could go surfing. All in all it was a good time for everyone, despite the overcast skies, cool water, and Nick's surfing injury. I guess we're not as young as we used to be!

Here's the pre-injury ride out to the surf.

Matt decided to practice his downward dog pose in the sand.


Matt decided to try out surfing in the sand.

More surfing!

Jonathan napped, ate and grinned while laying on the blanket while we were at the beach. He seemed to have a good time as you can see by his toothless grin. At the time, he had a tooth breaking through! What a trooper!

Brotherly Love Part 2

In the mornings, the only way I can seem to get ready without the boys going wild and being out of control is to sit them on the bed and put on one of Matt's favorite tv shows. Jonathan seems to enjoy spending time with Matt so close to him, and he loves watching tv too. Oh well, it keeps my sanity in check.