Mini Vacation

August 11th, 2009 by Mollie

When your vacation budget is somewhere around $0, you have to get creative and take advantage of whatever you can.  This week we had a mini vacation to Hollywood Beach!  We are so fortunate that one of my dad’s clients lets our family use her adorable beachfront cottage in return for taking care of some maintenance.  Andy took the day off work and we headed over there for a fun and relaxing day.

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Natalie was beyond excited to go to the beach, notice her leading the way to the water.  I don’t think she even remembered the last time she was there… but she was excited anyway!

We don’t like to get too much sun, so we came inside for the hottest part of the day.  Fortunately there’s lots to do inside, too.  We baked cookies, Natalie painted, we did some reading, and I took a nap, a rare treat.  It was nice to get away from our normal hectic life and computers for a while and just have a slow day.

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Poor Ben was a little grumpy.  He’s teething again.  Natalie was having a great day though.  She loved everything and was ready to hit the water again in the afternoon (not sure what she thought that rake was going to do to the ocean… but she thought it was important!).

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An added bonus was having Mom and Laura come over after dinner to stay with the kids while Andy and I had a date!  We ate at The Whale’s Tail overlooking the harbor and watched the fog roll in.   I miss living near the beach!

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Wine Country

August 9th, 2009 by Mollie

On Saturday, my sister Jamie and I helped our long time best friend Melanie celebrate her birthday with a wine tasting adventure to the Santa Ynez Valley.  Mel’s wonderful boyfriend Rob chartered a “party bus” to drive us and other friends to some beautiful vineyards in the Los Olivos area above Santa Barbara.  It was fun to see what our local wines are like and taste and buy some that I don’t drink often… apparently Syrah, Viognier, Grenache, and Pinot Noir are some of the most common varieties produced around here.  I learned a lot!  We had a fun day and really enjoyed making some new friends, but I couldn’t remember the last time I was that exhausted!

I’m definitely planning to take Andy up there some time this fall… big thanks to him for being cool with me leaving him with the kids for the whole day!

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Milestones

August 7th, 2009 by Mollie

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Some of our kids’ milestones come too quickly, and others can’t come soon enough.  Last month we had some of each.  Ben got his first two teeth a week before he turned 4 months old!  I will miss his gummy grin.  Andy added an arrow to the picture, the teeth are still a little hard to see.  I can’t believe how fast he is growing up.  He’s also started rolling over this week, he is anxious to get mobile!

On the other hand, Natalie learning to use the potty in the beginning of July was a welcome change around here.  I am wishing we had worked on that sooner!  I am so proud of how quickly she took to it and how well she continues to do, even when we are out.  (No picture needed for this one, right?)

Natalie says the funniest things sometimes.  She came up behind me while I was writing this blog post, took one look at the picture and said with concern, “Oh no, Ben’s eatin’ trash!”  It’s hilarious to hear what she’s thinking.

At The Fair

August 5th, 2009 by Mollie

Today we went to the Ventura County Fair.  Mom has taken me and the kid(s) every year since Natalie was a baby.  This year was crazy (late buses, unusually fussy baby, 2 year old tantrums) but a memorable time nonetheless.

When I first told Natalie we were going to the Fair and that there would be animals, she started jabbering about giraffes and elephants.  Hmm… not quite.  But then I told her that there would be ponies and she was SO EXCITED!  She absolutely loved her pony ride.  She looked so comfortable up there… I was proud (I rode horses for many years).

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(Thanks to my sister Laura for the great pictures!)

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Ben was VERY interested in tasting my caramel apple (gotta love Fair food!).  Thanks mom and Laura… it was a fun day!

Summer Evenings

July 23rd, 2009 by Mollie

I am loving the long evenings that summer brings!  It seems like there is so much more time for family fun after Andy gets home.  We eat dinner on the patio and play in the yard pretty much every night now, it is so relaxing.  Last night we took dinner to the park for a fun change of scenery.

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Natalie ate about 5 bites… the park is just so much more fun than eating!  The slides are her favorite.  This particular park has lots of slides.

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Ben likes the park too… his favorite thing to do is look at trees.  Also, guard the ice cream.

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