Wow

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

Great ad, huh?

Here's the joke version. It'll give you a good chuckle.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7-kSZsvBY-A&mode=related&search=

Random Sampler

You might think the seven posts I created on Saturday would be sufficient to cover my trip to California (I mean, it's not like I spent the summer in Europe or something), but you would be wrong. Here are the pictures that didn't fit in one of the previous seven categories. :)

Sam and Noah at my good friend Libby's house (she has the best backyard for playing EVER; I really need to step my backyard up a little):

We got to hang out with Libby and her boys a few times, including the trip we took into San Francisco so we could eat at her (and her husband's) awesome restaurant, The Toaster Oven. Yum. That day we also took the kids to a fun park in the city with a merry-go-round and huge slides. If Libby can't live in Houston (I asked and, apparantly, she can't), I'm at least happy she lives in CA.

Sam playing in the yard chasing a soccer ball

Got it!

Snack timeThese next few pictures are from a day spent in San Francisco at the pier. The first picture I took because it is literally I think the first time since Noah's newborn days that he actually fell asleep in his stroller.

After sharing my yummy chocolate shake

Me and Sam in SF. I didn't get a picture with Noah because he was pretty grumpy when he woke up from his nap in the stroller. Our trip in the city ended shortly thereafter.

Noah helping Grammie water her pots

Me and my cute neices - Lauren and Ryan

Sam normally loves baths, but he hated the deep tub at my parents' house - it totally freaked him out. We had to bathe him in the kitchen sink. That made him happy.

These next pictures show why the flight home wasn't so bad. Sam slept the first hour of the flight; Noah slept the last hour. Lucky me!

As always, we had a great trip. I loved all the time my boys got to spend with their Grammie and Grampie and cousins (and Melissila, as Noah calls her). I loved all the family and friend time, going shopping with my sister, going to lunch and movies with my mom (we had a serious Harry Potter marathon - read the 7th book, rented movies 1-4, and saw movie 5 in the theatre), going on a daddy-daughter date (he introduced me to the most amazing breakfast burritos ever; then I lounged by the pool at their club while he swam his daily laps), going to dinner with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Katie. And on and on. Back to real life (which is good too)!

Mother and Daughters

I don't know what I would do without my mom and my sister.

Cousins

The best part about our CA trip for Noah was hanging out with his cousins. The boy absolutely loves his cousins. He talks about them constantly and was in heaven getting to play with them every day. Sam also loved his cousies (and my nieces are such cute little mothers - it was fun to see them with him).

Noah and Abby were basically attached at the hip while we were there. They were such cute friends. It even got to the point that Noah wanted Abby to help him eat his dinner and put on his shoes (even though he's perfectly capable of doing both) and Abby for some reason thought this was fun as well. Sam and Alex played really well together (or, alongside each other as babies do). Ryan and Lauren, the big girls, were so cute with the little ones.

Noah and Abby

Big Girl Alex taking Sam for a ride
Ryan and Sam
Abby and Sam (with a little help from my mom)
Abby feeding Noah so he'll finish his dinner
Abby putting on Noah's shoes (oh, for heaven's sake!)
Cute cousies
Sam and Alex playing with blocks
Slurpee break

Noah's Birthday

On Noah's birthday we had a fun family pizza party. I already blogged about it here, but here are the pictures. (The lucky birthday boy had a second pizza party with Daddy when we got back home).

Eating pizza with a little help from Mommy Abby

Opening presents


Thank you hugs all around!

One funny thing that I didn't mention on my other birthday post: In the afternoon I took Noah to the grocery store with me to pick up some balloons for the party. I told him he could pick out one special balloon and showed him the wall with the balloon options. He immediately pointed to the balloon with Sponge Bob Square Pants on it (he has never seen that show) and said, "Mom! I want the Mac n' Cheese balloon!" I can't decide if I should feel embarrassed that my child so easily recognizes characters specifically from a processed macaroni and cheese box. Well, I know I should feel embarrassed, I just can't decide if I actually do. I'm leaning toward no.

Muir Woods

During our visit, we drove across the Golden Gate bridge into Marin one day to visit Muir Woods with my parents, Melissa & Thomas and their girls. The drive to and from Muir Woods was fairly miserable because Sam (who had opted out of his morning nap that day and does not easily sleep in the car) cried pretty much the entire way (finally falling asleep about 3 minutes before arriving back home). But he seemed to enjoy himself while we were in the forest at least. Muir Woods is so peaceful and beautiful.

Pool and Park

We spent many days of our trip hanging out at the pool or the park.

Noah's favorite pool activity

Cuddling with my boy on a lunch break

I actually only did a couple of park days - my dad took the kids there all the time though. Yay for fun Grampies!

Alex digging in the sand

Noah taking a break from the adjacant splash park

Sam trying to figure out how a shovel works

This baby loves to swing

Noah calls the baby swings "the big swings" and the big-kid swings "the little swings." He only likes "the big swings" (which is unfortunate because it's getting really difficult to get him out of those things!). He informed my dad one day on the way to the park, "Grampie, I love the park. I like things in this order: big swings, slides, sand."