Tuesday, June 30

cute Meredith

It's a good thing Meredith is so darn cute. I wouldn't accept a fresh-picked booger from just anyone. Here she tells me "for you" and I quickly find a clean wipe (thanks, Wendy!) and happily accept. This little girl is just too darn cute to resist.

Friday, June 26

County Fair - 3rd visit!

We live 2 miles from the Legoland California theme park. Our family has the upgraded "Resort Membership" status. We can go anytime (and do!) and the rides are all-inclusive. Yet, when we're at the County Fair the kids still get super-excited about the carnival rides offered there. The rides are rickety, not entirely safe, dirty, short in duration and expensive. To an adult, carnival rides pale in comparison to what is offered at Legoland (where we can go anytime!). To the child, a ride is a ride is a ride...

Wednesday, June 24

Miss Independent

Two days ago Meredith asked me when she was going to preschool. She wants to go. She's been wanting to go to preschool ever since Thomas started. She loves it there and everyone knows her. She walks into the building like she owns the place and jumps right into whatever activities are going on. She is completely comfortable there.

Yesterday she asked me several times throughout the day if she would be going to Kid's Club (childcare at the gym) today. When we finally went over in the afternoon she exclaimed "hooray!" with both arms in the air as we entered the gym. Again, she loves it there and everyone knows her.

She's such a big girl for someone new to two.

Sunday, June 21

Happy Father's Day


Someday the family will go out for 18 holes on a real golf course but today our golf games are limited to the "miniature golf" variety. And today, that game was played at Legoland. Final scores on this par 58 course... Thomas with a not-too-shabby 61, Mike (the heart) rocking it out with 11 under par, Meredith played her 4 holes nicely but then decided that "keeping score" was more interesting and I nailed it right on at 58. Wasn't that the goal of the game, to finish with the same score as par for the course? No?? Then Mike won and, I'd like to say we let him, but we didn't. He's just the best player in the family.

Legoland's 18 hole course is really fun! There are Lego animals (some move, some make sounds) located throughout and they have obstacles like rocks and sandpits. A couple of the holes have cheering sounds when your ball gets in the hole. Hole 17 has several levels so when your ball gets into one hole it is then spit out of another hole at the next level down. And the last hole is designed to give every player a "hole in one". Well, every player that is, except Thomas...


Saturday, June 20

fair favorites

piglet races ~ firefighters w/bagpipes ~ petting zoo

Tuesday, June 16

horsin' around at the county fair

kids on horses
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On the left, a noisy guy who didn't like all the attention poured on this new little guy on the right. This miniature horse is only one month old and behind him is his mother. So little and so cute!

Monday, June 15

the kids today

I told the kids this afternoon that I should probably post a photo of the two of them together on their blog. You know, for Grandma. These are the photos I got. All was going well but, as always, they start to get silly and it always ends in "Take a picture of my butt!"
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It's fun to watch their relationship grow and develop. And to see just how much love they have for one another. It's an amazing thing! They hold hands, spend quiet time together, hug, kiss... it's all very sweet. Of course, this isn't all the time because as we all know the Awesome Four Year Old Helper often clashes with the Independent Two Year Old. She wants to do everything "all by myself" and he always wants to help her. Still, they have so much fun together.


Sunday, June 14

San Clemente Classic Car Show

This photo was snapped just as the Classic Car show opened! Talk about a popular event. Lots of very cool cars and trucks perfect for automotive-enthusiasts like Thomas and his daddy...




Saturday, June 13

beach bonfire at sunset

I love the smell of bonfires, warm and gooey s'mores, the laughter of children and a gorgeous sunset at the beach with friends...


Tuesday, June 9

testing the water

One hour; six pairs of underwear; no potty in toilet; lots of potty on the back patio, garage floor and hallway. Gotta start somewhere so today I thought we'd "test the water" with Meredith. The entire juice box went through her system in an hour, it just never actually went into a toilet. Maybe we'll revisit this silly idea called "potty training" again later. Like next month.

Tuesday, June 2

miniature golf at Legoland

Only 5 gazillion trips to Legoland, yet today we did some things we still hadn't done at the park. Both kids started out really excited with the miniature golf, but by the 5th hole Meredith was done. She preferred to keep score while Thomas and I played the next 7 holes of this 18 hole course. There was a sudden (and urgent!) need to use a restroom so our play was done for the day. But we're already talking about doing it again and Thomas is so excited to play with his dad!