Celebrating the Fourth

Josh's parents have a beautiful lake house in Discovery Bay that we sneak way to as often as we can. For those of you who are not familiar with Discovery Bay, it is a man-made water way that was created in the middle of farm land located about an hour outside of Sacramento. This is where we spent our fourth of July!

The "lake" side of the house... now, if only I had gotten a decent shot of the view from the deck - arg! Oh well, you will get the gist of it from other photos :)

Here is Josh and Audrey on the surf board - but it's not really a surf board because there are no waves! These massive boards are all the rage this year. You stand on them and paddle yourself around the bay. They really are a lot of fun. Audrey had a really good time being on it with her Papa. "We go on surf board Papa?" she would say... "Come on! let's go!"

...on a side note, I do have to say that she is quite the funny little girl. Riding on this board with her Papa she will do, however she won't set foot in the water!

Another fun thing that Audrey loved to do was go on the paddle boat. She would go with anyone who was willing. On this particular trip, Audrey found some water balloons that were floating in the water. She thought they were "so cool".

Audrey and Josh going up to the house.

Audrey taking charge & driving the wave-runner with Grandpa & her new friend Gillian

Did I mention that we got a surprise visitor the day before we left? My sister decided to come into town at the last minute for the weekend. It was so good to have her around. The kids adored all the attention she gave them. Especially Oliver.

Ah.. my little guy. Isn't he just the cutest?! Here, he was grunting and pointing at the steering wheel of the boat. He was such a trooper in that life jacket. They are pretty big and awkward - most kids his age don't like being in them. But he endured it & just carried on. What a lil' sweetie.

Audrey, my little princess. Lately we have been working on identifying facial expressions. When I asked Audrey to give me her "smiley" face, this is what I got. Arms and all. What a doll she is.

Here is my little man having a ball in the pool. He was so adorable and was having such a fun time splish-splashin' around. He seriously just makes me smile.

Yup. This is me. Sleeping with a book on my face.

This is what I do when I'm not chasing after kids or taking pictures.

Ah... and here it is, my favorite picture of the weekend.

Happy Father's Day Josh

What an amazing Father you are to our two children.

I love you so very much...

thank you, thank you

for being exactly who you are:

a great man

a wonderful husband

and the best person to laugh with - always.

When I Grow Up...

... I want to be like my Papa.

Crazy Hair

My cute precious boy and his crazy hair...

I think it's time for a hair cut!

Our Palm Springs Getaway

To celebrate our eight year anniversary... and to just getaway, Josh and I went to Palm Springs for the weekend. The entire trip was so nice. We did some sightseeing, a little shopping, we slept in (how long has it been?!) and we even got to eat our meals while the food was hot! Whew! We were spoiled!! I'm tellin' ya: there is nothing like going away for the weekend to revive your spirit, and make you feel whole again. Here are some pictures of our trip.

Our first stop before heading to Palm Springs was Philippe's. Josh and I had first heard about this place on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. I am a HUGE fan of French Dips & this is where they began. I had a Roast Beef, double-dipped. It was heavenly! Definitely worth the stop. Next stop: Palm Springs!

We stayed at this 50's rival bed & breakfast called Rendezvous. We found it online & it was a really fun place to stay.

They had beach cruiser bikes that you could take out for a spin, a cocktail hour that featured their very own "blue rendezvous martini" and a pool that was the winning feature of this place. Each room had their own fifties theme, and ours was the Stage Coach.

It was a fun little western room dedicated to the head honcho himself, John Wayne.

Now, for some highlights of Palm Springs...

Along the way, we found this really cool Botanical Garden called Moorten's. It was full of cacti, created in the backyard of Moorten's home! There was some pretty amazing stuff there!

On our last night in town, Josh and I went on Palm Spring's Aerial Tramway, home of the world's largest rotating tram cars. We went from being at about 500 feet above sea level to just over 8500 in a matter of minutes! The ride in the rotating car was steep, quick & breathtaking.

Just leaving the visitors center. Going up...

... passing the other car only 4 minutes later. Do you see the visitors center? Look at how far we've come!

Me in the car :)

View from the top on the front side...

...view on the backside. Amazing! Plus, in the elevation jump, we went from a nice 78 to 46 degrees! Brrr!!!!

Us, on top of the mountain.

On Sunday morning we bid farewell to Palm Springs, & headed back to L.A. to fly home.

Along the way we stopped at the church where my grandparents were married at 50 years ago, The Little White Chapel in Burbank.

Being that it was our anniversary trip, it was nice to pay homage to the place where they got married.

Well, that was our Palm Springs Getaway!

It's Fun to be ONE!

On Saturday we celebrated Oliver's first birthday. I still can't believe that my baby is one! (a post about what he has been up to will be coming shortly - I promise!) We had just intended on celebrating with a few family and friends, which was the case, but it seemed like we had food for dozens!!! My amazing parents and sister came to Sacramento for the party. I swear, they spoil me with their greatness. Oliver had an absolute ball at his little party. I had some single balloons stashed around the house and he had a great ol' time running around with them in his hands. This was his favorite part of the party I believe :) Audrey enjoyed being able to see all of her family and friends & especially singing Happy Birthday to 'Brother'. When we put Oliver's cupcake in front of him to sing to him, he had a freak out moment, of which I can only describe as "GIVE IT TO ME NOW!" It was pretty comical. I tried, tried, tried all night long to get a good picture of him smiling in is darling '1' shirt, but as you can see, he was a busy little man running all over the place. I hope you enjoy the pictures. It was a fun night had by all!

Oliver recovering from his freak out moment. I think that he realized everyone was singing for him, that and the fact that he was going to eat the cupcake :)

It may not look like it, but he was enjoying it!

My darling Daddy enjoying his cupcake

Tia Katie and Oliver

My Mom & Oliver

Oliver running around enjoying his balloons

Here are some of the many pictures that I tried to take of Oliver.... one thing is for sure: he is a quick little guy!