Hitting the Beach with Family

Almost officially caught up, these pictures are actually from this last weekend. Some of our family from North Carolina came up to visit. We all went out to the beach even though the weather wasn't the most conducive for splashing in the waves. Fortunately the kids didn't really care. Not much more to say about it, so here are the pictures:

California Trip

The boys were so excited to ride in a plane this time. I love that we can give them these opportunities to experience these things so young.
First things first: In N Out...
Then, we started celebrating Jeremiah's birthday! We had his party this year at my grandparents house. My Grandpa had been working for a long time getting a new go-cart put together so the boys could ride in it. They had a great time! Mommy and Daddy did too!

Jeremiah's #1 request for his party was hats.
The presents were a bonus, though.
Everyone wore a hat! Whenever we tried to take them off, Jeremiah asked us where our hat was.
He was pretty excited about his Thomas cake. My mom baked it so I could just decorate it once we got there. It was a lot of help!
Jeremiah and my Grandpa share a birthday so we celebrated for them both.
Then the next day we headed to Discovery Kingdom. Phil and I rode lots of grown up rides (a really rare treat for us since it's usually just us with the boys in tow). The boys... well, they rode a bunch of rides too!
They have a Thomas the Train area there which was obviously right up the boys' alley.
We weren't there while my folks took the boys through all this, so I was a little shocked to see this picture. Can they both really be old enough to ride things like this? They couldn't stop talking about it once we met up with them again.
We made the most of an unexpected trip to San Francisco and had some Boudin sourdough bread bowls with my favorite clam chowder. Josh... not such a big fan.
We walked around a bit and took a picture with Alcatraz.
My Mom showed us this ship and I couldn't resist getting a picture with Jeremiah and the USS Jeremiah O'Brien.
Daddy got to take us through the whole thing. He obviously knows more about these things then we do.
How appropriate for Jeremiah to ring the bell on this ship.
Jeremiah hung out with Nana when we went a little too high for him to be able to come with us.
Daddy explaining things to us again.
We stopped by a penny arcade that we really enjoyed. They had a huge amount of squished penny machines so the boys really enjoyed it!
Yep. It's big because he's so smart.
Then it was Jeremiah's actual birthday. Breakfast in bed was called for. It just happened to be Nana and Papa's bed because he was already in there playing and watching Disney Channel before I rolled out of bed. We even got to use the special plate I used as a kid on my birthday.
Then it was off to Chuck E Cheese. We tried very hard to put this off on Nana, but we ended up tagging along anyway. The boys had a great time! My big secret: go right at opening and you'll be one of maybe 2 or 3 families there. Much better then the evening with huge crowds of unwatched children. Go in the morning. It's just better that way.
Josh found one game that he could do great at that gave him a large amount of tickets. This is him celebrating another victory with hand shaking.
Hm... is it possible to see the gene transfer?
When I said it gave him a lot of tickets... I did mean a LOT!
Then off to the Lego store!


Another day we went back to ride the go-carts again. Grandpa took the boys around on the tractor a bit.
Here's one of us with my Grandma and Grandpa.
I'm pretty sure there are a billion pictures of me growing up in front of this fountain in their backyard.
There were a couple days that Phil and I spent in San Fransisco that we have no photographic documentation of yet. We were part of a friends wedding in the Bohemian Club which allows no cameras. Fortunately, my friend had a professional photographer who was permitted so hopefully eventually I'll have pictures.
We got home at around 11:30 Saturday night, packed, then woke again at 3:00 to head to the airport. It was one long day Sunday getting back home to Virginia. We did find a few things to enjoy along the way, though...

Getting Caught Up

Between starting school, going to California, family coming to visit and all the other little things that have come up in between... I've gotten behind. So we're going to go out of order. Eventually I'll put up pictures of our trip to California but for now, here's other stuff that's been going on.
We got our truck back!!! Isn't she beautiful? It's certainly not new but runs great, has new brakes and we simply couldn't be more grateful to be driving our own 2 vehicles again finally!
Last Friday was BINGO night at Joshua's school. I would have never known Josh would like the game so much! I guess you can't go wrong with letters and numbers. Phil and I are definitely feeling weird about having a child of school age. We can't really be old enough for that, right?

Joshua's First Day

This week was Joshua's first week of Kindergarten. So far he is loving it! We have only had one incident so far that got him upset. Today on the way home he didn't have anyone to sit next to on the bus and that made him lonely. Other then that, he's happier then ever to get up and ready for school every morning. I know this won't last forever. Neither will the huge excited hugs when he first gets off the bus because he really is genuinely that excited to see me.
Jeremiah is adjusting (if only awkwardly) to being an only child for a few hours each morning. At first he was excited, but he's gone through a whole roller coaster of emotions this week, most of which land him happily cuddling me on the couch. For the time being, I'm completely alright with that.
Today we're getting ready to make a trip to California for the wedding of a friend of mine from High School. Although the timing could have been better for Joshua's schooling, we're excited for the trip away anyway. So because the camera is already packed away and I didn't get to it earlier this week, you'll have to settle for a link to see the pictures I took from Joshua's first day.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=105281&id=693516452&l=a7003ce1d0

Trip to the Beach. Check.

We had Joshua make a list of things he would like to do with Mommy and Jeremiah before he started school. I figure since he'll be at school all morning each morning, he'll be missing out on the fun little trips we usually do during that time. His list was pretty short. The mall, the children's museum, learn some new math that sort of thing. (I know the math thing probably seems out of the ordinary, but he really loves it so it felt pretty natural to us that he'd want to do more of it before school started). The last thing on his list has been put off for a good while now due to schedules and mostly the weather. Today was a beautifully glorious day so we talked Daddy into hitting the beach with us.
Whenever we go I let them each bring one small thing home with us (usually a little rock or a bit of shell) to put in a glass jar on the dinning room table. Obviously this rock didn't make the cut...
Daddy even helped build a sand castle.
This was, of course, the highlight of the whole trip... until someone else's kids smashed it.
Sorry, I just thought this was so cute!
So theoretically Josh should be totally ready now to start school Tuesday. Just need to pick up a few more folders and what not and we'll be ready to go!

Meet and Greet

Today was the Meet and Greet at Joshua's school. I got to meet his teacher and see his classroom. He was a natural at the whole school thing. Went to the teacher and introduced himself. She even commented about his firm handshake. Things are looking up for our big boy! He'll start school next Tuesday and I'm so excited for him! He's a little excited too....
Can you tell?

Who Are They the Most Like?

Funny thing about having two boys is it seems people are obsessed with figuring out whether they look more like Phil or me. Seems pretty obvious to us but people often get it completely wrong. I figure it's one of those things that is in the eye of the beholder. Here's a couple of pictures I found pretty comical with all that in mind....
Shopping basket completely full of fruit and ice cream... I'm pretty sure those are my genes.
Obsession with everything on wheels that goes really fast... that's from Phil (at least mostly. Mommy likes to go fast too!)
Daddy is the one who taught them both how to stick out their tongue.
Interest in literature... Mommy's fault.
Wanting to take random pictures with things we find interesting... that's my fault, too.
Again... the obsession with wheels. Hm... still Phil.
So all in all it's kinda a draw. Either way, we love learning about the things the boys enjoy. It's going to be fun watching them grow up and see their interests change. Hopefully the wheel/going fast obsession is tempered a bit before we hit 16 or we're going to be in for some trouble!