Frozen Yogurt....

is delicious for dinner.  Just ask Addy.

Things we will do to get our child to eat after 3 days of little food and a high fever. Thankfully the frozen yogurt worked and Addy's fever broke and we have our good eater back.

Fall

Fall is one of my favorite seasons.  It starts cooling off, we get to wear pants and jeans comfortably, and the holidays start.  I also love how the fall sky always seems to amaze me.  Just like this picture.  Beautiful.

And of course, the best part of Fall, FOOTBALL!!!!  I love football and am trying to teach Addy some key football terms: touchdown, Chargers, run.  She is a quick learner so I am sure she will understand some of the excitement by the end of the season.  She does know her Charger shirt matches Mommy's and she wears it with pride.  Doesn't she look adorable?

Anyways, welcome Fall!  We are glad you are here!

My Grandpa

My grandpa is amazing.  No seriously, he IS amazing.  You only have to meet him once to know what I am talking about.  My grandpa has been a lot of things to a lot of different people and all admire him.  Yesterday, a lot of those people gathered in Temecula to celebrate my grandpa's 90th birthday party.  The party was full of smiles, reminiscing, pictures, family, and lots of love.  My grandpa beamed throughout the whole party and I could not be more proud to be part of my family.  We all came together from near and far and had a special day.  One of those days that only happens every so often but will always remain in your memories.

Here are just a few pictures to capture the mood:

 

 One of the few pictures I have of Addy, who wanted to be a grumpy head. Isn't Maddie adorable?

 

 

And the formal pictures:

The day went great, thanks to my aunts & mom. 

And happy birthday Grandpa!!

Milton Family Reunion

My father-in-law's family has a family reunion every year.  For the last couple of years the party has been at the Russian River, where Tim's parents have a cabin.  Lucky for us, this year we had the weekend open so we were able to take Addy up for her second trip to the cabin and to meet some of her cousins. 
We started off the trip with a delayed flight.  Kind of a pain when we had planned to arrive just as Addy needed to head to bed, but we improvised and started playing around in the airport. Yup, that meant even taking pictures.

Good thing she is small.  I would have hated packing her! 

In the end all that mattered was that we made it to Norcal.  On our way to the cabin we were able to visit with Tim's grandma and with our good friends, Kelly & Shad.  Kelly & Shad were celebrating their anniversary so we partook in some of their festivities, like lunch and champagne. It was so nice to see their cute house and catch up on life.  

Then off to the river where our time at the cabin was full of fun.  

We had bubbles 

 

bocce ball 

And food....oh my...we had jambalaya, fried alligator, fajitas, bacon waffles, and I am sure I am forgetting something.  I must not forget the great family.  That is why we were up there, right?

The view from the cabin in the morning was great too. 

Overall a great trip.  Thanks Milton Family!

Gleek

I am a Gleek (a nerd who loves the tv show Glee) and I think I have convinced Addy to be a Gleek too. What do you think?

First Day of School

My first day also happened to be Addy's first day back with my mom.  Since she is getting older and does not really need a diaper bag, we decided to pack Addy's goodies in the free Padres backpack she got at the Trevor Hoffman game we went to a couple of weeks ago.  She almost fell over when I put it on her in the morning, but by the afternoon the backpack was lighter and Addy wanted to carry it out to the car.  I got these pictures of her trying to be a big girl.  

Unplugged

When driving home yesterday I did not notice anything different, until I got off of the freeway and all of the traffic lights on our road home were out.  There were crazy drivers using the turn lane as a passing lane, people running through lights, honking, and all kinds of craziness and chaos.  Tim, Addy, and I were supposed to have dinner with friends.  Needless to say, I got home about the time we were supposed to be at dinner.  Didn't matter though, the restaurant would not have had power anyways.  San Diego Blackout of 2011 had already happened. 
To see the extent of the damage (how many lights were out, what the traffic was looking like) and to occupy ourselves, we took a walk.  We were not the only ones.  There were people everywhere.  Everyone out of their houses, walking around, chatting with neighbors to compare information, kids playing in the streets, dogs randomly barking.  It was a great feeling to see so many people out and about.  It reminded me of how people want to connect with each other but don't often take the time.
On our way home we made a game plan.  Do not open the freezer, open the fridge to get out all of the extremely perishable food and use our gas stove to cook dinner.  We ended up with a gourmet meal of pasta with all kinds of yummy toppings.  Addy went to bed early, like usual, and Tim & I decided to sit outside on our balcony, drink some wine, and listened to the noises of a neighborhood without power.  I loved sitting there with my monkey and talking.  Not talking about anything super important but enjoying each others company. We don't get to do enough just sitting and talking.  It seems there are always places to go, things to do, shows to watch, fantasy football research to do and we don't take enough time to just enjoy the little things.  
So I am writing this post to remind myself of how happy I was last night when I went to bed.  To make sure I spend time "unplugged" and really treasure the time I am given with those I love and to take time to get to know those around me.