Cars 2

This past weekend, we went to see Cars 2! William and Daddy have been excited about this movie for a few months now.



Before the movie, we headed over to the Lussier family's house for an early bbq. We all had a lot of fun playing, eating, and hanging with our friends.





Cali Chris (Chris' college roommate and great friend) had a few fireworks to light off before the show. The Fourth is coming up!



William loved playing on the teeter totter with Genevieve, who is just a few months older than him.



They even held hands! Too cute.



We had some delicious burgers...



...then it was movie time! We saw the 3D showing. All the kids got to sit together and have fun eating popcorn and wearing 3D glasses. The adults sat in the row above. Thankfully, the theater wasn't too crowded.





It was a fun movie for both kids and adults. What a great "dinner and a movie night!"

CA Videos

We took some videos on our recent road trip to CA. Here are a few of them. In Santa Barbara, we noticed pelicans dive bombing into the water! It was hilarious. William called them "Crazy Birds" and we all got a kick out of watching them.




This one was filmed at sunset as we walked to the pier for dinner. It was a nice walk. The music you hear is someone performing at a party a few hundred feet away from where we were. Notice the Santa Barbara fog! Keep your eyes on the birds as they dive into the water a few times.




These next two videos were shot in San Diego on our first morning there. William absolutely loved playing with the two cats. In this first one, William was using the pump to help get rid of extra hair so new hair can grow. Chris also mentioned William's styling outfit - it was laundry day!




Coco the cat really liked William!




Here is one we shot after a fabulous lunch in La Jolla. We walked down to the water to look at the seals (you can see them and hear them in this video) and play in the water a bit.

San Diego, CA

After Santa Barbara, we headed south 200 miles to spend 3 nights in San Diego! Our relatives, Uncle Rick and Aunt Leigh, live there. Their two sons are both in college - Greg is at UCLA and Kyle is at Duke - but we were lucky enough to visit at a time when both of them were home. We had so much fun hanging at their house!

Afternoon lunch at George's in La Jolla. What a fantastic view!



William loved playing in the yard. There are so many pretty plants, flowers, and even an apple tree. William got to eat a few of the apples from the tree.



William really, REALLY enjoyed playing with the two cats, Coco and Cinnamon. The cats were great with William, playing when they wanted and finding a place to hide when they wanted some down time.




On our first full day in San Diego, we went over to Pacific Beach, just a few minutes from Rick and Leigh's house. William had a blast building sand castles and we all had fun hanging at the beach. I even got to go surfing with Kyle - it was my second time this year surfing in the Pacific! We also saw a few dolphins!



William has gotten some good practice building sand castles this year.



Building sand castles is hard work and we have yet to build a "sand castle" but we are getting better.



A hand full of sand.



Trying out the long board.



Wow...Nora, you have put on weight! As we were leaving the beach, we saw someone with this BIG pet pig!



After the beach, we headed to Pizza Port for a snack and a few local microbrews. Here is William, Daddy, Uncle Rick, and Kyle. Uncle Rick is Chris's Godfather, and Chris is Kyle's Godfather! It was a blast to hang with them.



William really loved playing with all of cousin Greg's old Dinosaurs, he has quite the collection. It was so nice of Rick and Leigh to pull out Greg and Kyle's toys for William to enjoy.



One of his favorite toys was this grabber. He played with it all day, every day.





More shots from our lunch at George's in La Jolla. On the bottom right hand corner there are some seals hanging out.



Enjoying the nice view.



Uncle Rick snapped this pic of Chris and I.



Thanks again Uncle Rick for treating us to this wonderful and delicious lunch with a view.



After lunch, we walked down to the ocean to explore the beach and some cool caves!



Here is a little crab, one of the many we saw along the caves on the La Jolla coast.



William and I exploring the La Jolla caves







William really enjoyed playing in the water. He is a natural ocean boy.



William and Uncle Rick bonding over family photos, including photos of Coco and Cinnamon!



We are so grateful for the time we got to spend with our relatives in San Diego, and for the incredible hospitality! We all had so much fun together. Thanks Rick, Leigh, Greg, and Kyle!!

Coastal Surrey Bike Ride

One day in Santa Barbara, we went for a family bike ride on a surrey bike along the coast. We had a blast and the sun came out to greet us, which made the ride that much better.



It was beautiful!



William's helmet was so cute!



Loving the California Sunshine





We parked our bike and took a walk on the Santa Barbara Stearn's Wharf and got some ice scream cones. They were delicious and messy. The cone went into a cup after we took this photo, and he did not finish all of it.



William loves riding on Daddy's shoulders.



Checking out the sail boats.

Santa Barbara, CA

We got to Santa Barbara after two days of driving from CO. We were there for three nights. Santa Barbara is sometimes called the American Riviera. It is about 90 minutes north of LA and has so much to offer. We absolutely love this town and were so happy to spend time here as a family. We took William here once before, for one night when he was a baby, and it was great to come back!



Walking to the beach on our first night.



Our hotel was so close to the beach that we went there each night, as well as during the day. Night beach walks in Santa Barbara are a tradition for our young family. Chris and I took our first night beach walk here when I was pregnant with William in the summer of 2007.







William was definitely an explorer on the beach and led us on a few expeditions.



Taking in the view from our room.



Dinner at Stearn's Wharf. It is a cool pier with a few restaurants, shops, and an ice cream shop. We walked there on our second night for a relaxing family dinner over the water.








Riding the trolley in downtown Santa Barbara. William is holding "Barbara" (aka "Babs"), a stuffed flamingo we bought for our dog Nora at the OffLeash pet store seen in the background. William took her under his wing for the trip and took great care of her until we got home and gave Babs to Nora.





Playing shuffle board at Carr Winery. Santa Barbara is known for producing world class wines. It is where the movie Sideways was filmed and set. We got to sample a little wine while we were there, and William got to play some games.



Playing at a park on the beach!



Hot tub session at our hotel on our last morning. Notice the fog - Santa Barbara is notorious for morning fog that breaks up each day around noon. The fog is one of the reasons the wine is so good - it makes for an excellent grape growing climate!



Santa Barabara