Alcatraz

A lifetime of living in the Bay Area and I had never been to Alcatraz.  So when Robin and Matt were in town, we decided to make it a family trip.  I was a little worried about bringing the boys (mostly Owen) and had visions of temper tantrums and tears, and being stuck on an island with a 3-year-old Complainy McWhinerson.  As it turned out, it was a gorgeous, sunny day, and Owen loved his adventure at the "pretend jail."  Most of it was way over his head, but he liked pretending to be one of the bad guys who robbed a bank.  As for me, I was impressed with my ability to balance a baby on my left and a camera on my right, all while [kind of] listening to the audio tour and fending off the grabby baby hands that wanted my headphone wires and sunglasses.

I know I missed a lot.  I'll definitely be going back again someday without kids.

New Year's Day Part 2

I found a few more from New Year's Day-- some iPhone photos from our trip home from Quincy.

We can't make the whole drive without stopping now that we have the two boys.  So what should be about a three-and-a-half to four hour drive turns into closer to six hours.  We have to stop somewhere on the way, and our choices are the lovely Oroville or scenic Marysville.  This time we found a Starbucks and a frozen yogurt shop with a lawn out front for Owen to run around and use up some of his energy, and for Logan to crawl around and stretch after being stuck in his car seat.

New Year's Eve in Quincy

A freshly laid egg from one of the chickens in the backyard

Snow!  Not a big deal to most people, but we NEVER see snow!  This was Owen's first time getting to touch it, and we made snowballs with the hard, icy snow.

Logan, in a room full of toys, grabbed the one toy he shouldn't have, if Owen has anything to say about it

A table full of Legos, and a room full of toys-- Owen's dream

Jakodi

Owen & Oisin, making silly faces with Logan's toy rings

Owen's oatmeal- steamy in the morning sunlight

Little Logan...

...I love all the colors on this rug

Play Doh

You know those toys you used to have that bring back memories, and then you want your kids to play with them so you can play with them again, too?  For me, Play Doh is one of those toys.  I know, it's technically not a toy, but you get the idea.  Owen got some awesome Play Doh "tools" for Christmas, and the next day we spent almost an hour and a half playing with them.  I think I was just as excited as he was.  He can get a little bossy, telling me what to make for him (how many worm families do I really need to make for you, Owen?) but I still got to make my fair share of my own stuff.

P.S. Owen likes to smoosh the colors together instead of keeping them separate.  But the Play Doh belongs to him, so I have to just remember that I'm a grown-up, stay calm, and breathe...

Christmas Morning

I read about a good way to photograph Christmas morning without getting stuck behind the camera, so I decided to try it.  I set up the camera on a tripod and used my remote to keep clicking away as we opened presents, and hen I turned it into a video slide show.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve- a posed portrait with the boys, a near-impossible feat with Owen, who HATES having his picture taken, and Logan, who loves to crawl away.  What I like about these photos is what you can see in the background- our Christmas tree, our stockings (including the new one for Logan that I finally finished making), their "mistletoes" footprints, etc.

Crawling

Logan is on the move! He has been crawling more and more, and what a mischievous little guy he is. One of his favorite destinations is Sydney's dog dishes. He knows it's a "no no," but he gets a sparkle in his eyes and a smile on his face and goes for them anyway.

Merry Christmas

One of our family photos from our Christmas card photo shoot (not the one we chose, but a cute moment anyway)

Saturday at Home

After a couple of busy days (Thanksgiving Day on Thursday and "Sweatpants Thanksgiving" on Friday), the boys just needed a lazy Saturday at home.  Owen spent literally just about every moment playing with the marbles he got last Christmas and running around in the leaves outside.  Meanwhile, Logan tagged along with the marbles, grabbing at the tower and inadvertently almost destroying it multiple times, and outside he played with a leaf for like an hour.*
So for those who keep asking what the boys want for Christmas, here is what made them happy today: 1. furniture (see below), 2. last year's Christmas present, or 3. a leaf.  There, shopping done.

 

 Logan playing peek-a-boo behind a dining room chair 

This marble tower started out innocently enough...

...but it quickly became serious stuff.

In every one of these pictures, Logan is holding a leaf.  When it comes to his "toys," it isn't hard to please him.  I finally had to take away his leaf once we were back inside and he started to eat it.

Owen probably would have run around on this hill anyway, but the leaves made it much more fun.

 
*...and then he had a massive poop that wins the award for "worst poop" I've ever had to clean up.

A Real Smile

Owen does NOT like having his picture taken.  (Lucky me.)  So it's rare that I get a photo of him where he looks happy, let alone natural.  If I tell him to smile, he does weird, cheesy things with his face (eyes closed, teeth clenched, etc.).  And if I try to catch him by surprise, I usually end up with a photo of the back of his head.  This is one of the few pictures that shows his real smile.

Little Logan

And to conclude our SoCal weekend...

Logan, happy in his hotel crib (aka his holding tank while we packed up to go home)

Jeremy and Logan during one of our many stops on the 8 hour drive home on I-5.
Traveling with a baby: good times.

Spencer & Leah's Vintage Hollywood Glam Wedding

We Salibas clean up alright

The whole family

Matt & Robin, vintage style

Me & Robin...

...and once again (being photobombed by Blair)

There was a pants-ripping incident

So, no pictures of actual wedding stuff?  Owen was being extra "special" that night, meaning not much time behind the camera.

Pillow Play

We call Logan "Morning Bird" because he wakes up in the morning so happy and ready to play.  Mornings at our hotel were no exception.  Despite waking up every few hours at night, Logan woke up bright eyed each morning like usual.

Disneyland

Back in January when I was six months pregnant, we took Owen to Disneyland as kind of a last trip as a family of three.  I had high hopes--Owen loved Disneyland at age one--but I was completely let down.  Owen was afraid of everything, he thought it was too loud, he didn't want to go on any rides or do anything really, except "go back to the hotel."  How could I have given birth to a child who hates Disneyland?  So when the opportunity came up to give it another try (like I could go to Orange County and NOT go to Disneyland?) we decided to go for it.  And what a relief to be able to say that we had a really great day.

Waiting, waiting, waiting...for It's a Small World

While we ate lunch, Owen got to see "the real" Darth Vader at the Jedi Training Academy

Auntie Robin and Uncle Matt met up with us

Owen could have spent the whole day at the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.  Thanks Grandpa, for helping him search for pirates.

Dinner at Cafe Orleans

Light painting with Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Riding Dumbo the Flying Elephant with Owen was special because it's the only ride we went on together, just the two of us.  In line we got to talk about our day, and as it got closer to our turn, he just stared at the elephants, trying to pick which color elephant he wanted to ride.