Dress Up

Nate is really interested in dressing up right now. He especially loves hats. He is frequently seen walking around the house wearing whatever hat he was able to dig up, Mommy's beach hat, Daddy's baseball hat, Wes's magicians hat.

Both boys had fun digging in to the cap and goggle stash to show off.

The next day, we really dug in to the dress up stash and the boys took turns trying on different costumes. First, Nate was a chef.

Then it was time to get on his horse and be a cowboy.

Choo choo! Here comes Thomas.

Wes really got in to it and I let him get out a bunch of dishes and spices to pretend he was making a gourmet meal.

Wes even set the table for Grandma and I to enjoy his "meal" of salt and pepper. Grandma and I pretended to eat this, but Wes really wanted to eat the salt. Yuck! I let him have a little taste and I guess he approved.

Such a Sweet Boy

Today Wes told me, after kissing my belly. "Mommy, I love our new baby so much. It was just an espresson (expression) when I said that I wouldn't like the baby if it's a boy. I will love it if it's a boy or a girl."

Mommy and Daddy's Trip

Wow, how lucky are we? Mommy and Daddy got to go on a trip all by ourselves for 6 days! Grandma, Linde, Papa and Lou Lou were nice enough to take care of Wes and Nate while we got some alone time. We missed the boys a whole bunch and wished they were with us several times, but we know it is good for us to get away as just the two of us every now and then. Plus, we know with #3 on the way in a matter of weeks, this will be the last Mommy and Daddy alone time trip we will get for awhile. So, we made sure to enjoy ourselves.

We decided to head to the Pismo Beach/San Luis Obispo area. We had never been there before and wanted to go someplace beachy and relaxing. My mom has always said how much she likes it there, so we packed up the car and headed to central California.

First stop, Hearst Castle. Chris shows off some marble columns. You really need to get yourself some of these marble columns.

I would love to go for a dip in this luxurious pool.

One of the incredible ceilings that Hearst had shipped from Europe, this place is really as over the top as they say it is.

One of the many guest houses.

Now, just because we don't have any kids with us doesn't mean you can be inappropriate. Ok, I told him to do this.

The beautiful grounds overlooking the ocean. I could get used to that view.

The outside of the main house and the awesome indoor pool. I'll take one of each pool please.

After visiting the Hearst Castle we headed back to Pismo Beach and got really yummy clam chowder in a bread bowl (fish and chips for Chris) at the Splash Cafe to go. We enjoyed our lunch on a bench on the boardwalk, then wandered down the pier to check out the scenery.

Yummy, chocolate covered insects! We had to bring some home for Adam, though I don't think he's going to give them a try.

The next day we hit up some antique shops in San Luis Obispo and stopped at The Madonna Inn for lunch on the way back.

This is a famous over the top hotel where every room has a different theme. The inside of the hotel was pretty crazy...think Las Vegas on crack. I'd love to see what some of the rooms look like in person.

The view from our room. Not too shabby. The weather was beautiful the whole time we were there. Sunny and cool, but not too cold.

We stayed at the Best Western Shelter Cove Lodge, so of course we had to check out Shelter Cove.

Here I am posing for a nice picture in front of a big wave. Wait...a big wave.

Oops...I'm just glad Chris jumped out of the way in time with my camera.

The next day we headed to a cute little town called Arroyo Grande for some more antiquing. This little town is complete with a swinging bridge and wild roosters running everywhere.

We found a ton of fun stuff at the antique stores in this town and took home quite a few treasures.

Then, we headed over to check out Morro Bay, known for Morro Rock which is now a bird sanctuary.

We also found this huge chess board. Chris is the king.

On our last day, we hung out on the beach all day.

We also had to eat at the Splash Cafe one more time. These are the murals on the side of the building.

Relaxing on the beach. It was pretty quiet with no kids to chase, we both got to actually read our books.

33 weeks pregnant

We had a great trip with tons of relaxing. We even went and saw a movie in the theater every night, just because we could. On the drive home we passed this Lightning McQueen race car being towed on a trailer with a few other race cars. I made Chris slow down so I could snap a couple pictures for Wes. He couldn't believe that we actually saw Lightning McQueen on our trip. We were happy to come home to two thoroughly spoiled little boys. Thanks for letting us take such a nice, relaxing trip Grandma, Linde, Papa and Lou Lou! It was just the recharge we need before baby #3 enters our life.

It's Hard Being the Oldest

Overheard down the hall:

Wes - "These baby games are over. I can't take it anymore. Nate, I love you, but you aren't playing right."

Wes can't wait until Nate is a little older and will play "right".

Two Little Fishies

I have 2 little fishies. Wes is a totally independent swimmer. Of course, he still requires supervision, but I don't even have to be in the pool with him anymore if I don't want to (which I always want to be in there anyways).

Nate THINKS he is a totally independent swimmer, so we have to watch him like a hawk, which makes it nice that Wes is so independent. Nate will just jump right in the pool, thinking he can swim all the way across to you the same as Wes can.

I am happy, however, that he has such a high comfort level in the pool because that is the first step to becoming an independent swimmer. I am also happy that we have a fence.

Nate and I were playing on a raft at a friends house and Nate slipped off the raft and under the water. He started to come up to float and I calmly went around the raft and helped him up all the way. Nate just smiled and splashed. A friend that was standing nearby at the time asked if he has had swim lessons, because he was so calm. I guess that's the difference between a baby who's had swim lessons and one who hasn't. Babies may not be able to swim, but they can feel calm and powerful in the water, which is the first step to becoming a strong swimmer.

Wes can jump in and swim the whole length of the pool and back. We can't wait for swim team next year.

We spent a lot of time in the pool this summer because Mommy is big and hot and it was so fun to see my little fishies enjoy and excel in the water.

Swords and Shields

What do you get when you have two creative little boys, a couple poster mailers and a couple lids to some wicker hampers? A sword fight of course.

Ha, take that Nate! The boys had tons of fun playing with these but ultimately Wes got a little frustrated with Nate because he wasn't holding his shield "right". That's my bossy 1st born.

1st Day of School

Wow, it's already time for the 1st day of Pre-K. Wes was very excited to be going to Pre-K this year. I think that he thinks it sounds very grown up. His teachers this year are Miss Courtney and Miss Alicia and Wes was able to meet them briefly at orientation. I was working on orientation night, so Daddy took Wes, but after looking at the folder they sent home, I am very excited for him for this year. The teachers seem very organized and have some fun stuff planned.

I tried to get a picture of Nate with Wes before heading off to school like we did last year. Last year he was sitting in the baby car seat carrier, this year he was on the move and this is the best we got.

At orientation, Wes learned that they would have a class fish. Everyone was to think of a good name for the fish and on the first day they would put the names in a hat and pull out the name of the fish. The class fish was named Lizardy instead of Gerald like Wes suggested. I told him after the baby is born we can get a fish and name it Gerald. I thought Gerald was a great name for a fish and I asked Wes where he got it. "Online", he said. Now, we only rarely let Wes go "online" and only to play Disney and PBS games. I know for a fact that he certainly isn't savvy enough to Google "good names for a fish". Where does he get this stuff?