School Days, School Days

With September approaching fast (or is it here already? I can't keep track) we tried to squeeze in as much summer as possible when we got back from our last summer trip. That included quite a lot of beach time spent splashing in the overly (and oddly) foamy water, making "swimming pools," building and promply destroying castles, writing Tristan and Tyler's names in the sand so Tristan could jump on the letters and trying to avoid being pushed down into the water by Tyler.

The Hermosa Beach Fair came over Labor Day and we hit it at least twice. This lemonade must have been rather sour, I'm guessing!

After picking virtually every turtle in the pool, the boys were finally ready to try their skills at fishing for one and getting their junky, over-priced toy that will never be played with.

Rides! Tristan is a big fan of getting on them, but not a big fan once they start (unless it's a roller coaster, then we can't get him off without a serious tantrum). This one they had to stop in mid-ride to get him off since he looked like he was going to jump.

After all these activities, sometimes it's nice to just be home with your favorite blanket, Bluey.

And sometimes it's nice to have a whipped cream beard, especially if that whipped cream has been whipped up by....

your very own brother, Chef Tyler, who, incidentally, loves to help out in the kitchen and can crack an egg all by himself (those little pieces of shell won't hurt anybody!).

Then it was off to school for Tristan. He's going to preschool two days a week at our club. Here he is not only showing off his brute strength, but also his vast knowledge of all things bunny.

"Hmmmm, comfy chairs, playdough, trains, snacks, and books. This place might suit me well for five minutes."

Then it was Tyler's turn to start school. He dropped off his little brother and headed to his new Pre-K class with Mrs. Cataldo.

Tyler checks out the other kids in his class (two sets of twins!). This is only about 1/5 the class, when everyone is there, it can be chaos!

Yay! Schools out and we can play! What fun to ride a gigantic sloth in the tarpits of Los Angeles!

Summer heats up

What is the date? August 22nd already? Really? Where did summer go? It feels like it just got here because a) we've been traveling so much and b) the weather in Hermosa just this week became summeresque. School starts next week for many of the kids here, lucky for us we have another two weeks to hit the beach and all the hot spots of SoCal that we didn't get to yet. The boys have been such fantastic travelers this summer, totally going with the flow. They have been on 11 airplanes, stayed in six hotels, hung with grandparents, aunts and uncles, visited the Space Needle, swam in Puget Sound, the hot tub at the Four Seasons and Kalahari's water park in Wisconsin Dells. They have weathered one canceled flight resulting in two irritated parents, one random stay in Dallas without so much as a toothbrush and as Tyler put it, "We had to sleep in shirts, we didn't even have pants!" So true, and sadly the shirts read, "Here Comes Trouble, Dallas." Lucky for us, they have embraced the whole thing as an adventure, especially our pending move to Seattle. Tyler made us feel better when he stated, "This Seattle thing just keeps getting better and better!" Tristan just romps around, happy to be going places and meeting new friends. While Tyler hangs back, Tristan is the first one out there and can always be counted on to run down the jetway with his hair on fire giving his father a heart attack (mom knows going down the jetway is no problem, he can't escape, it's going up and out the jetway you have to watch out for). So, here are a few photos from our summer adventures to Seattle (twice!), Colorado, Iowa and Wisconsin Dells. Whew!

Butterflies and other crawly insects with Grandpa at the Butterfly Pavillion outside of Boulder, cool!

Tristan driving Grandpa's "Big Red Truck!"

Tyler catches a fish with Papa over the 4th of July in Grand Lake.

Tristan gets psyched abou the beautiful mountains and freezing lake water in Lake Grandby.

We could have spent all afternoon throwing rocks into the lake. Tristan kept giving us heartattacks since he would go so close to the water.

Go-Karts at Heritage Square in Golden - woo hoo! Tristan had a MAJOR meltdown when he was not allowed to ride the rollercoaster more than five times in a row. We're talking MAJOR.

Tristan and Elliot ride the arcade rides. I think it's fair to say our rates will be going way up when Tristan turns 16.

Fun at the Children's Museum with Elliott, Uncle Matt and Aunt Kristin.

Our budding scientist, Tyler becomes "Dr. Bubble!"

The three little cousins in their bubble house.

Back home between trips we chilled out on the patio with the tools from Handy Manny and a tea party or two.

Back in Seattle Tristan tries to warm up to the freezing waters of Puget Sound.

Tyler and Daddy meanwhile have no problem loosing all feeling in their numb feet. They even find some dead jellyfish, hooray!

We meet Uncle Ed in Bainbridge Island and tour the town with him.

Back in Hermosa, we tried at art class. The boys complained the entire time and I had to cancel us out of there. Too bad, Tristan looks like he could be really good!

Happy Birthday to Uncle Ed! Make a wish for no headwinds because shortly afterwards, he rode his bike from L.A. to Seattle!

Grandpa and Kookie found time to visit us this summer. The boys love trying to bury their grandparents in the sand.

Bacon on Bainbridge Island tastes good!!!

Tristan on the ferry to Bainbridge. He loved running around the decks and checking out the boats.

Have movie, will travel.
Back in Hermosa, we take the time to check out Wilderness Park and their overly fed turtles and ducks. We also say hi to five of the "Uncle Ed" squirrels that were caught at our house and brought here.

Tyler: "Dude, those waves look epic."

Tristan: "Rock on, man. I took a gnarly faceplant on my longboard this morning. Practically broke my skull."

Tyler: "That is so totally radical."

Then it was off to Iowa for fun in the sun with Grandma and the gang.

We even took a long road trip to Wisconsin Dells, the waterpark capital of the world, where you can play all day on waterslides and never do one twice, or just use air hockey paddles to make yourself look like a manaical Mickey Mouse.

On our way to Iowa, our flight was delayed and we had to stay in Dallas for the night. Tyler is so good at rolling with the punches, he was just excited that we had to sleep in our clothes and freshly purchased T-shirts that read, "Here Comes Trouble, Dallas."

Knee high by the Fourth of July, eh? By August, this stuff is way over our heads! They couldn' believe that there was actual corn growing on these plants literally everywhere we went. This stuff was maybe 50 feet from he airport.







Back, home, safe and sound. Whew!

Since March

I haven't blogged since March, which isn't horrible, considering I was thinking I hadn't blogged since Valentine's Day. The boys are growing so fast it makes my head spin, I can't believe we're already in the first week of summer vacation! We've got a ton planned and I know it's going to fly by, I just wish I could capture it all and hold on to it forever. I know I can't, so I try to take every moment and put it away in my memory cells for later (okay, not every moment, like when Tristan has his tantrums because he doesn't want to do something). Anyway, since March we had Easter, have had numerous days at the beach, went to Santa Barbara with Uncle Ed, John and I went to Florida (alone!), and Tyler had his last day of school. Here are some photos!







Post Easter egg hunt sugar coma

The careful examination of the dyed egg.

Already Tristan can program the VCR, debug the Direct TV and write code.

Tristan and Scout on an outing in Colorado over spring break.

Spring break sunset in the always fun to visit Colorado.

Luck o the Irish

Tomorrow is St. Patty's Day and Lenny still has to get up to his shenanigans, hence this will be short. We spent last Saturday rolling down Pier Avenue in our lovely green attire and decorated wagon as Tyler handed out candy and Tristan lounged in back eating it, looking at all the people and wondering what the spectacle was. All he needed was a Guiness and a track suit and he would have made a perfect Dubliner.

Peek a boo! Where's the little leprechaun?

Here I am!

These little laddies don't really know it, but their great grandfather came over from the Emerald Isle when he was 17, dropping the "O" from "O'Shea" in the ocean. He lived in a stone cottage with 16 other brothers and sisters, their room was about the size of this wagon. I'd say these Shea brothers are a wee-might luckier to be hanging in Hermosa Beach instead of Smead, Ireland.

Who else is lucky? I am because my hubby took me to the Oscars! It was all that and a bag of chips. Truly something to experience once in a lifetime. And, once is all we will get because I got blacklisted from the Academy for taking this picture on the red carpet. You'd think I was taking photos of top-secret nuclear technology and selling it to the Chinese instead of just trying to snap one of us. Oh well, it was a ball! We hung with the rich and famous and realized- again - that we are lightweights and shouldn't drink like we are 20-years-old anymore.

When Tyler is rich and famous, let's hope he gets his own sunglasses instead of taking mine for paparazzi shots like this one taken at the Natural History Museum. We went there with his class and his brother and half of L.A. I couldn't get out of there soon enough!