Baby Sprinkle

I have been fortunate to have made an amazing group of girlfriends here in The Woodlands.  I met these girls through Baby Boot Camp which I joined last August (just over a year now) and over the past year we have formed a really tight knit group and it has been so awesome to have their support and friendship as a mom and new to the area.

We get together often throughout the week with kids, and normally see one another on the weekends either for birthday parties or get togethers with the families, and at least once a month do a moms night out without the kids.  Last week I thought I was going to our August night out to celebrate the August birthdays and enjoy dinner together but as I walked up to the table at dinner I was surrounded by pink and the girls surprised me with a Baby Sprinkle!!  Isn't that just the cutest name?  Not a full blown shower since it is my second baby but a sprinkle to celebrate our little girl!  I loved it!  I was totally surprised and overwhelmed by the generosity of my great girlfriends!

I didn't get a picture of everything on the table so had to take a picture of everything when I got home.  Thank you again girls for all of the adorable pink gifts and for the very generous gift card-looking forward to buying the double BOB with it!!  

More San Diego!

Just a few more pictures from our week in San Diego!

Loving cousins! A hug or a chokehold?!?

 We headed to the San Diego Safari Park one day-it was great but hot!  Such a neat place though and Joseph and Sydney loved seeing all of the animals!

 Hot (and bored)on the rhino!

 It is amazing that this is in San Diego-so much land and just 10 miles from my parents house.  See the giraffes?

 Poppa and Joseph looking at the giraffes on the tram ride

 Joseph checking out that lion paw in between the cousins...and Sydney looks scared!!

 Checking out the animals at the petting zoo

 It was feeding time for the elephants so they were really close to us!

 Using our family friend's double stroller!

 Love this picture of my boys!  Joseph was scaring everyone!

 Rich and I also were able to get away for a night and stay downtown while Nani and Poppa took care of Joseph.  Joseph did great as did Nani and Poppa!  Rich and I went to dinner at a great restaurant in Little Italy, popped into my highschool reunion at a bar in the gaslamp quarter and then stayed at the Sheraton downtown.  It was a nice getaway and our first full night away from Joseph and made it so much easier knowing he was in great hands!

On the morning we left, Rich and Brian ran in a half marathon.  They both did great despite the very hot day and big hill at the end of the race!

Happy at mile 3

Not quite as excited at mile 13

 Bri is with the blue shirt and the headband-he was so fast it was hard to get a picture of him!

The race ended in beautiful Balboa Park so couldn't resist taking a few pictures.  Everytime we are there I am in awe of how pretty it is!

We had such a great week!  We probably won't see Laura, Dave and Sydney until they move back to the mainland next year so it was hard saying good-bye knowing that it will be so far away but lots of fun changes for everyone in the upcoming months so we can not wait for our next visit!  We have been back in Texas for about 10 days now and Joseph still is talking non-stop about everyone and everything in San Diego.  When we say prayers with him at night he always includes, "Bubba" after "Mommy, Daddy and Joseph"-it cracks us up-nobody else, just Bubba!  He loves his Uncle Brian!  About 5 times a day Joseph will say, "Cali, no bark, poppa, man, note" which is his retelling of how a FedEx man came to the door and left a note for my dad on the door and Cali started barking and my mom told her to stop barking.  Too funny!  Also, in the mornings he wakes up and says, "Nani teapot" since he helped my mom make her tea every morning and they sang "I'm a little teapot" together frequently!  Thanks for such a great week in San Diego!  

Big Bear Getaway

During our week in San Diego our family headed up to Big Bear, a lake town in the summer and a ski getaway for the winter, which is about 3 hours north of San Diego.  We rented a great house and enjoyed a great few days together.

The view of Big Bear Lake from our house

  There were HUGE lizards in the area so we spent a lot of time searching for and catching lizards!

Caught one!!

 On our walk to look for lizards, Joseph and Sydney also found some deer

 

Hitching a ride from daddy on the walk back

 View from the walk

 Spent a lot of time on the deck-playing cards, talking, laughing and racing!

 Oh, and doing push-ups

 Sunrise on the first morning!  Joseph was up and ready to go bright and early!

 We spent one day on the lake!  It was a gorgeous day although the water was a bit chilly!

Joseph and Poppa relaxing and enjoying the view

Brian and Hollie relaxing and enjoying the view, too!

A little Hawaii love!

Daddy's in the water-flag up!

We tried to get some cousin pictures...

no such luck though!

Much better luck with the help of Nani and Poppa!

Relaxing before bedtime with some pool

One morning we went for a hike-well, my mom, dad, Brian and Hollie went for a real hike-Rich, Joseph and I made it up about 3/4 of a mile which I have to say was pretty great for Joseph walking the entire way!  

Getting ready to jump off of the rock

A little ride for part of the way down the hill.

Stopped for ice cream in the town.  They had mini cones so we couldn't resist getting him his own!

Big Bear was such a great little get away!  We feel so fortunate that we have family that we enjoy being around and that get along so well.  We missed Lindsay and Paul but are already looking forward to our family vacation next year when hopefully everyone will be there!