Finger Lickin’ Good

Yesterday Jarrod, the kids, and I, along with some friends, went up to San Juan Bautista for their annual Rib Cookoff.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this small town’s cookoff, but this thing was big time!

These teams were from multiple states and many had tables of trophies from previous cookoffs on display.

And boy did they know how to cook!

Charlotte loved sharing ribs and brisket with Mommy and Daddy!  Meanwhile, Trenton ate a PB&J that we brought from home…

But, the kid does like ice cream!

Charlotte had to have ice cream too.  After taking two licks, she proceeded to tell me that I needed to put the ice cream part in the trash because she just wanted the cone.

BBQ, southern rock music, craft vendors – this cookoff had everything!

Even a random chicken crossing the road holding up traffic!

Weekend Review: Four Days of Celebrating

Our weekend was full of reasons to celebrate.

First was Friday when we celebrated the fact that two new baby boys will soon be making their way into this world.

And here are the two lovely ladies who are carrying them.

A fun afternoon with good friends, an adorable little baby that is moving too soon (sweet Charli and her family are moving to the East Coast in three days!), super cute baby gifts, and a few momma gifts too!

Saturday started with t-ball.

Aren’t these two just too cute?

This was the bottom of the last (3rd) inning after 2 1/2 innings of doing a great job!

After lunch it was time more celebrating.

This time is was for the birthdays of two of our favorite little guys.

Cullen and Bennett – we sure are going to miss you (and your Mommy and Daddy) when you move in a few weeks!

On to Mother’s Day.

Gosh, I love these two.  Even when they happen to be cranky.

The kids did great in church, and then we were off to brunch at From Scratch in Carmel.  This was Trenton’s pick; they have Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes.  They also have oodles of other tasty food, so everyone was happy!

The kids gave me the Mother’s Day gifts that they made in preschool while we were at brunch.  Charlotte made me a cute little tulip brooch and a handprint poem.  From Trenton, I got a picture that he drew of me along with three Hershey kisses.  Perfect, he told me, for himself, Charlotte, and me to share before our food came out!  Such a thoughtful kid!

Speaking of Mother’s Day gifts, the kids (including the dog) made cards for their grandmothers last week.  Trenton insisted on making one for Nanny too and sending it to Heaven.  I told him that we couldn’t send mail to Heaven, but we could send it to Mimi instead, and she would put it at Nanny’s grave for us.

Sunday afternoon, we all donned boots (except for Trenton – boots make him cranky) and headed down to Carmel Valley to meet some friends at the new Cowgirl Winery.

The kids get just as excited as Mommy about visiting wineries.  And it’s easy to see why.

In addition to all of this fun, the kids also checked out the winery’s resident chickens and tried to catch tadpoles in the fountain using glasses. 

You would think after all that fun, they would have been beat.

But no.  This was 45 minutes past bedtime.

They finally fell asleep and my fourth Mother’s Day as a mommy came to a close.

Now, Monday isn’t part of the weekend, but I’m throwing it in this week because – you guessed it – more celebrating!

Today was the little miss Alivia’s second birthday.

Cupcakes and cookies – can a Monday get any better?

The cutest three princess cookie decorators around!

And with that, our celebration “weekend” came to a close.  Another good one down in the books!

“Big Girls Don’t Take Naps”

As many of you know, Charlotte gave up naps when she gave up the paci.  She’ll still go down every once in a while (mostly when she’s sick or we’ve had a very busy morning), but for the most part, no one naps in our house.

Now I’m not saying that Charlotte doesn’t need a nap anymore.  It’s just that she doesn’t want to willingly take one.

And she fights it so hard when she is tired…

She did finally decide to lay down on one of those pillows after this!

College Aspirations

For the past nine months, we have been driving the exact same route to preschool three mornings a week.

But it wasn’t until last week that the kids pointed out a parking lot and asked why so many cars turn that way.

The parking lot is for Monterey Peninsula College.

Of course this meant nothing to the kids, and I had to explain what college was. 

I told them that after they finish preschool, kindergarten, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, they can go to more school – college.  And in college you can pick to what you want to learn about.

So we may be ahead of the game, but my kids already know what they want to study in college.

Trenton wants to study:
- how racecar engines work
- how submarines go underwater
- how the earth turns

Charlotte wants to study:
- how to be a princess

I guess this means she’s given up on being a zebra or a dog?

Weekend Review: Gorgeous Weather, Fun Times, Great Friends

We started our weekend off right with happy hour with friends at a local restaurant Friday evening.

I brought along a coloring roll and crayons to keep all of the kids occupied.

 

It worked for about two minutes.

But hey, I tried!

Saturday was jammed packed with activities.

We started out with a t-ball game in the morning.  The first t-ball game was while Charlotte was in the hospital, so this would be her first game and Trenton’s second.

Trenton                                              Hannah                                               Cullen

The game was three innings.

Charlotte lasted 1 1/2 innings, and then played in the grass the rest of the time.

Next up on the agenda was sweet little Emrei’s 1st birthday party.

Yum!

(Charlotte was too busy running around on the playground to worry with cupcakes!)

After the party, we came home to let the kids rest up and to let Mommy get some cleaning and laundry done.

Because our next stop for the day was Georis Winery for another happy hour.  (It was a very happy weekend!)

I somehow did not take any pictures of our wine, pizzas, or appetizers (which were all fantastic!). 

But, I did get pictures of the kids!

Sunday was a pretty laid back day.  We went to church, played on the playground, read library books, watched The Sword in the Stone, and went over to our neighbors house to eat ribs – and of course drink margaritas for Cinco de Mayo!

Heat Wave

It got up to 85 degrees here yesterday!  A heat advisory was in effect, y’all!  I wonder how many days out of a year Texas would be in a heat advisory if they used the same benchmark…

But a darn little heat advisory wasn’t going to keep from soaking up some sun!

After a meeting with one of Charlotte’s kidney doctors yesterday morning (we are switching up her maintenance antibiotics and if that doesn’t work the next step will be to talk surgery), we drove out to the beach to meet some friends for a picnic lunch and play time.

Our littlest friends got their feet wet for the first time in the Pacific Ocean.

I think that Charli would have run right into the ocean if she could have, but sweet little Maddie was not a big fan.

The kids all had a great time and got plenty dirty. 

And you know it’s a successful trip to the beach when you leave in nothing but your skivvies!

Charlotte took a nap when we got home (a rare occurrence), and as soon as she woke up, we were back outside for some more fun in the sun!

Baby Charli is still a little young for sprinkler play, but she loved feeling Trenton’s wet swim trunks.  And Trenton just loves playing with her!

 Today is gearing up to be another warm day.  We are taking full advantage of the warmth and sun while we can because we know that the cold foggy summer is right around the corner.  But I’m still holding out hope that Mother Nature will change her mind and give us an out of the ordinary warm summer!