Tuesday, May 31, 2011

May!

May was a busy month! The month started with B's first communion.  He was focused and so serious such a difference from our everyday B.  We are so proud of him and his commitment to his faith.


 We spent quite a bit of time at the ballpark this month.  B had games twice a week and practice one day.  So it was a full month of baseball.  On a rare occasion Addy would actually sit and watch the game, but also to scream for Daddy.  It is fun to watch the learning throughout the season especially on defense.  B made some nice catches on defense and as the season went on he knew where to go when he got the ball.

The neighborhood is itching for summer to be here!  Jeff and Mat experimented with an outdoor movie screen.  I have faith they will have it perfected soon.
We also spent a relaxing mother's day in hood flying kites and having mimosas.
 Jeff and the kids cooked our  version of the Cracked Crab bucket for dinner.

The monday after Mother's Day Christie and her family were in town, so we all got together for the chance to meet Baby Brooklyn.  We were able to snap a picture of the all the kids.

Addy and I have been trying to add a little variety to our workouts. We have tried a couple of hikes.  Right now Johnson Ranch is our favorite.

TaaDaa, we are done!

We drove up for to Monterey area for the day.  We got in some quality time with the family.

Here are a few of Addy moments for the month...
Lately she has wanted to eat her lunch in her house.
One morning she got all ready for school with B.  
One afternoon we walked to Ross after lunch with Michelle.  And took this picture in giant chair in front of Big 5.

Have a great week and until the next update! Love and Aloha, the Clarin Ohana 

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter Weekend

Happy Easter!!!

On Saturday morning, we headed to the Easter Egg Hunt at Dinosaur Caves Park in Shell Beach.  The kids had their buckets and were ready to go...
There were plenty of activities to do at the event including see the Easter Bunny.  And sometimes seeing and waving is way better that having to have your picture with him.
It was packed as you can see from the picture and there were a variety of folks from locals to out of towners. (And let's just say you knew who was who)  Addy and I did manage to get a couple of eggs.  B had a little bit of a harder time but a couple of his classmates shared.  
 We also ran into one of Addy's friends and her family.  They opened eggs together
 After the egg hunt we headed home to spend the day in the neighborhood.  We had a neighborhood bike ride complete with a cone slalom until the cops showed up and asked us to get our cones out of the street.  It was kinda of a "buzzkill", so opted for giant bubble making and egg dieing.


As you can see I experimented with wine egg dieing, it didn't go so well but the wine drinking did. 
Thanks to the neighborhood Easter bunny, there were baskets on the doorstep for the kids.  They loved all the goodies, especially the grenade complete with sound effects.

The kids opened Easter baskets from Grandma and Poppa and again with the Schafer family.  There were plenty of goodies to keep them busy.  And Addy seemed to find everyone's candy all afternoon.
 We finished up the day with an egg hunt in the front yard.
 Mom managed to take this cute pic of the kids.  As for the family picture, we weren't so successful.
 
In the big scheme of things this maybe just be foreshadowing of the many battles to come in the future...

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Back to School and Addy's Activities

Well, it was back to school on Monday, but B ditched because his Grandparents were here to visit from Turkey.  Jeff's Mom and Dad were in Pismo for a couple of days. (I am a slacker and didn't take any pictures.)  Hopefully, Jeff's parents will share the ones they took and I can post them next week.

While they were here, we all went to Addy's gymnastics class that she started a couple of weeks ago.  She has a blast and enjoys all of the climbing and jumping. 




 Addy has also started a Music Class during the week.  The kids love banging on the drum and shaking all the instruments.  Miss Amy is great and goes with the flow while the kids are playing and kinda singing along with the songs.  My favorite part of the class is the kids make an instrument to take home:)


I have finally got my butt in gear and have started working out again.  I started last week running the Bob Jones Trail as some of you may have seen my posts to Bob on Facebook.  It has become a fun little way for me to challenge myself.  My daily run has turned into a Battle with Bob.  So, Addy and I hit the trail with snacks, drinks, and toys;  I keep my fingers crossed that it leads to a nap and I survive my Battle with Bob!


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Spring Break and Jeff's Birthday!

We had a great Spring Break!  It was packed with our weekly activities since it was such an odd time none of the kids after school activities took a break.  We did our best to do something fun before baseball practice, the Pit, CCD or buckets.

On Monday we headed out to Port San Luis for a day at the beach with the dogs.  Everyone had a blast and was well behaved for the most part.  

   
We made a day trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo.  It is a great zoo for the kids, just big enough to keep B's interest and not too big for Addy.  The Zoo has all the big animals elephants, giraffes (and Addy didn't hear them say anything), lions, and gorillas.  The play area with the hill for cardboard sliding was definately the highlight of the trip.
 
During B's game Blake and Addy took some groundballs in the outfield.  The Schafers were troopers because it was the coldest game of the season by far; so we introduced them to the Dirty Bird and the Pismo Wrap at Hoagies.

Jeff and B had intention of going golfing on Thursday but got rained out.  We went bowling instead.  It was fun and a good thing for all of us we played with the bumpers.

 On Saturday, the festivities for Jeff's birthday began with the neighborhood birthday block party.  BBQ at one house, eat in our driveway, and pinata up the streets.
 
It was a good time had by all.  One of my favorite moments was our neighbor Sid having the boys march like soldiers across the street.   
The celebration continued the next morning with a trip to Avila for Sunday brunch at Fats Cats.  We rode in style and took the party bus.


It is hard to believe that Jeffy and I met almost 15 years ago at his birthday party on Palm Street.  He was the guy pumping the keg with nice forearms who made me a bonfire in a trash because I was cold.  I am not even sure I knew it was his birthday...lol  Well I didn't know he real name for the longest time but that's another story.  Happy Birthday Jeffrey!