Teeth

Nate and Kenyon had a Pirate Birthday party- the parting gift- these rad teeth. So far- much fun has been had with these beauties. Love them.

Boating with our pals

Craig has had all of his family in town this last week- we have had quite a week. We were able to go on the boat with cute Maddelyn. She was not afraid to go fast, unlike someone else I know- for some reason- ever since the 3 of us took our trip to the island E has been a little traumatized with how fast the boat should go. It is pretty funny- poor guy. He just sits there and yells the whole time "Dad, your not going to go fast right? or Dad, don't go any faster...this is too fast". Pretty funny. I hope he gets over it soon.

Hot, Holy weather

It has been so unusually hot here the last few days. Seriously- hot- not complaining- just hot. We hit the beach and had a great time with friends and family. I still can't get over how last year Elliott hated the sand and now as soon as we get to the beach he runs right through it for the water. I think that summer's with little ones are so fun.

Waiting for Dad

Elliott has been cracking me up lately. He has the funniest things to say. Every day when we know Craig is on the way home we go out back and wait for him- Elliott decided that this is how he will now wait for Craig ---in the middle of the driveway.

Happy Father's Day

A day that should have been for him was spent taking care of me and Elliott so- a small ode to the best dad and husband ever.

Every day is devoted to Elliott and I. I rarely find him taking time for himself- completely unselfish. He takes such good care of us- in every way- to name all the ways could take forever. He can wrestle for any given amount of time and keeps up with Elliott on the days when I just can't- somehow he just knows those days without being told. His patience for those around him astounds me. He never has a mean thing to say about others. He makes me feel like I can do no wrong (believe me- I can) and that I am perfect despite everything (scares and all). He takes being a father so serious. He loves Elliott and I KNOW that Elliott knows this- I think that makes him the best dad ever! I could go on and on........

Happy Father's Day to Craig-o. You are the best. Hang loose, rock on, love you man.

Another month bites the dust

We have had quite a crazy last few weeks- I apologize for not posting.
A few of my girlfriends and I were joking that no one really posts anything that really happens on their blogs- only the little fun details and the bragging of their kids. Most of the time- you wouldn't really want to hear our day to day stuff- I prefer to keep a rather boring existence- however- no matter how hard I try it seems I can't escape myself. So- mildly quick update- no big deal- got pneumonia- hospitalized for a few days- now I am home- can't breathe- life goes on. That wasn't too bad. Now on to bragging about my guy.



Elliott started swimming lessons- so fun. He has changed dramatically in the last 2 weeks with these lessons. He is attempting to actually swim and each time gets a little better. I am pretty confidant that we can have him at least to a point where he will be able to get himself to an edge or a step if an emergency presented itself. That is my goal. He was so proud- this is his first day.





A friend of ours was his teacher- she was FABULOUS (Thanks Amy) She got E to do a few things that I still can't get him to do. She was good at bribery- see below.




As many of you know from a few posts ago that we got to dog sit Billy. Billy is Amy's dog. She told Elliott on the first day of swimming that she would bring Billy on the last day. He was in heaven. He loves this little dog. I must admit- it was good to see the little guy. Hopefully next time we get to see Billy we will actually get some one on one time with him. Things were a little hectic that day.


Underoos and a fedora- Look at my TALL/SCRAWNY little man! I can't believe how big these little underwear sets make him look. I love him in this hat. I keep trying to get him to wear it everywhere.

That is us the last couple of weeks- what a weird couple of weeks it has been.

Helicoptor, Harley, DuneBuggy- anything boy

A good friend and client of Craig's had a surprise party last night- Tom is his name. Tom is such a fun and nice guy. He is a total Harley guy too. Elliott was in boy heaven at his house- he got to sit on the Harley, the dune buggy, the corvette (and start them all up)- now today- Elliott is Tom. He says- "momma- I am Tom and I am riding around on my motorcycle" or "Hey mom, I'm Tom- do you want to ride my...what's that thing called?" (I say- dune buggy)- "yeah dune buggy or four wheeler?" I will be quite content if the whole motorcycle thing wears off before he can actually drive. Dirt bikes- we'll see.




Yesterday we drove by this helicopter and had to get out- E thought it was awesome and huge. It was pretty cool.

Elliott and Avery

My cousin Jessica is here with her little family and we FINALLY got to see them and meet beautiful Avery for the first time this week. Elliott was enamored by her and she was quite entertained by him also. He was feeling so special that he got to hold her and have her sit by him. It was really cute.

The things he says-

Today we were putting on E's wetsuit *see below* and after some nonverbal complaint about being nudie underneath said-

I need my underwear to keep me safe

Classic.

Cheese what? our week

So- seriously- we are going through the total cheeser pictures. He is CRACKING me up in some of these!


I feel like this one is a "Que the music and action" moment- with some fake perfect music playing in the background. We took a little trip to FIsland the other day- Craig was in London all week on business with his dad so we had some SERIOUS time to kill.



Koi ponds. Elliott has gotten all brave on me these days- he used to be so much more skeptical about things- he asked me- "mom, can I get in there with them and catch one?"




Craig had his birthday the day he left for London so we waited until he got home to open presents. This one? Elliott could pick a present out for dad- drum roll- it was a magnetic Marvel Superhero play set- humm. However, I picked out laser tag - which by the way- what genius thought that one up? I love it, so does Elliott. I have played a million rounds today. It got to the point where Craig or I would sit on the sofa and let E just get us there- he loved that one.
This cheesy grin is by far- my favorite of the CHEESE for this entry- he is killing me here- he was so stoked to have Craig open up this superhero gift. Man, superheros are going to do me in- pirates, superheros- what is next?




Hot days of summer! Woohoo! It has been so warm the last few days- love it! I know- why do Elliott and Craig have their wet suits on? E had to try his on and was in heaven- well not at first *see entry above*- but soon thought it was the best. The water in the pool is solar heated so it was warm today- really warm- but even warmer with a nice spring suit on. Craig wants him to get used to wearing a wet suit so when he needs one (for surfing time with dad) he will wear one. Good idea.




Elliott's hair has been- well rather- untamed as of late. We were going with the shaggy/surfer/could care less do- but he is such a sweatster, it gets all sweaty and then he gets a little stinky, and many other reasons. So........



Wala! We came up with a compromise. Good times.


















Kidding- we were tempted to leave it that way for church tomorrow- just to see what people would do- gotta love the "shock factor" sometimes. He loves his summer shave. I wanted to have it long enough for me to faux hawk it but that didn't take- next time.

Edward? Twilight Movie

I am too lazy to post the movie trailer but- I had to comment on Edward. Urgh. Not so stoked.

Maybe he will be like the women in the Jane Austin movies who at first seem unappealing but by the end of the movie you think they are beautiful and intriguing. What do you think?

Sunday's

I am asked often why I go post crazy on Sundays. It is the day that I email my little brother who is on a mission in Florida for our church Sunday's are my day to catch up the blog (which emails him all of my posts separately- every time I post) for him and for everyone. He wasn't getting the photos I would email very well so this seemed to work out perfectly- now he gets a ton of emails from us- just not the videos. Perfect. Poor guy, never gets paper mail though. Paper mail is way better I must admit. We don't use it enough anymore!

The things he says-

Today El came back from the bathroom with his hands and arms down each leg of his pants.

Craig- Elliott why are your hands down your pants?

They're cold, I'm warming them up.

Spiderman- the Justice League begins

We love the Justice League and anything that has to do with them. The constant scenarios that I am involved in are amazing- I honestly can't keep up them all. Elliott's mind is incredible and constantly creating a vision of "Spiderman and Batman running to the door but the Joker is behind them chasing them...." - yeah- these type of things.

We have a little aggression issue in our home- Elliott doesn't know how to handle his anger- so we bought him a punching bag thing. I explained that when he is angry it is totally okay to want to get the anger out- I gave him some ideas and then I gave him this and told him it was okay to hit it as hard as he wanted when he was mad. So we practiced a bit- then we wrestled and kicked poor Spidey. I imagine it will pop in the next few weeks, if not sooner.

Lastly- he was annoyed at me and I didn't know why- he then says "mom, I don't want to hit him when I am mad, I want to play with him too." He thought it was only for when he is mad- silly mom- we can't have a toy hanging around the house that we can't use unless we are mad can we?

Walking on Balboa

El chill'in with his buddies. When these guys are fed, napped and ready to go they are so fun together. Elliott has a bit of a tendency to take charge and try to be everyone's boss and often the bully- but other than that minor offense :-) he adores these guys.


Like I said- cramming some fun stuff in while people come to visit us- we took a walk on the island, rode the ferry to the peninsula and then walked down to the pier for some lunch. I try REALLY hard not to take for granted the beauty that surrounds me here- we are sooooo lucky to live in such an awesome place. Hence- the last picture- (compliments of Elliott) I just love that we are all sitting up on top of the restaurant enjoying lunch and this is the view that we have- incredible. Seriously- so lucky!

Sea World

E was totally into waving at Shamu- it just cracks me up how kids are so sure that animals and other things can see and hear them- so confident it this they are- such an endearing quality they have.







Craig's sister and her family are in town so- as usual- we always try to cram in some exciting things to wear out all the kids. We went to Sea World and enjoyed the Shamu show a ton- touched a dolphin (watched the other kids feed them), watched the dolphin show, hung with the sharks and enjoyed the cave at the polar bear den area. Long day- but fun- and always more fun when cousins are in town.

Happy Mother's Day Grandma Lee!!!

We wanted to make a little video for you Grandma- but what you ended up with isn't quite what I had in mind (snotty nose, coughing, etc.)- oh well, the randomness of a 3 year old. He had to sit on my lap and he needed to "be in your sweatshirt"- he was cold. Anyway- we love you and miss you and can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

Pleasantville, Perfectland Florida

Craig and I were able to go to Watercolor/Seaside, Florida this last week for a work trip with his company. It was crazy and insanely perfect- it was almost creepy how perfect these little towns were. Seaside is where they filmed the movie "The Truman Show" so you can imagine how it looks. Seriously- just like in the movie- creepily perfect- poor Truman. We popped it in while we were there to just see if it was the same- it was- sad movie though. Pleasantville rang a bell with us all too. There really was a town not far from there called Niceville. Humm.

Anyway- more beautiful and amazing than creepy of course- these pictures don't do it justice. They had these perfect little sand trails everywhere that led to all the different places, beaches, boathouse, crochet yards, etc. So pretty and so beautiful.




Our hotel was awesome- we could just take these bikes whenever we wanted and tour the little towns. The idea when they built Seaside was that they would build tiny roads so that everyone there would park their cars and either walk or bike where they wanted to go.





This is one of the little locations just to take you down to the beach or to sit at and stay out of the sun for awhile.





The view from the plantation house below.



This is Eden State Beach- I loved this garden- I wish I would have taken my good camera- these pictures just don't show how beautiful it was! This was a plantation type house where a logging guy lived and then some lady bought it YEARS later and refurbished it- then sold it to the state.







They tour guy (yes we had a little town tour) told us that of all the residents in Seaside only 40 of them were permanent- seriously- everything else was owned and rented out/vacation homes.
This picture above is the kind of home that most of the resident type people lived in- as there were many artists- their little studio's were downstairs and they lived upstairs. Below are the vacation/rental homes- wouldn't you feel so guilty owning these and only coming for vacation?






My guy and I at the last dinner the night before we left- they were taking partner shots for the company's web site- so the wives got to get a little dressed up too.

We had a GREAT time and would recommend it to anyone- it was a long way to go from California- but well worth it -so enjoyable and beautiful.

Lastly- we were only 100 miles from my little brother on his mission in Alabama- thought about a quick trip but didn't have the time. It was really fun to be in his area and meet a few of his old companions and take them to lunch. I hope that he gets a chance to get down there- maybe his last transfer- it would be a nice ending to a good mission.