July 1-3: Carmel
We visited our friends Natalie and Justin Smith at a friend's house in Carmel over the weekend, along with other friends from college/Bible study, Katie and Ben Reece. The house in Carmel is called La Villa Dulce - and it
is indeed a SWEET place! We had a great time except for the fact that our two adorable children decided to be sick for every single moment of the trip. Fevers. Grumpiness. Sleeplessness. Even vomiting on couches.
Both mornings began like this: early riser ready for cereal and cough syrup.
Don't be deceived by her wily smiles. She was a pill! But a cute pill, at least.
One thing I love about Sofia is how much she loves her daddy. She adores him, in fact, and follows his voice about the room if he's not holding her - though he often is!
Breakfast stop at a little shop Katie knew about.
The Smiths visited the Carmel Coffee House almost every day to get Justin's favorite mocha shake. Read: minimal coffee, extra ice cream.The cave man diet was also on vacation.
Precious baby meets George Washington. I threaten Shiloh that I'll leave the clip in like this if he doesn't let me give her a haircut. But it's so endearing...
Tylenol and Starbucks sleeves make for smiley babies. While the rest of the crew was sleeping I had a photo shoot with Sofia out front.
I think my genes are coming through strong in Sofia. How does our hair color match up?
A lazy day around the house. Dave and Alissa stopped by with cutie Logan on their way back to her parents' house in Carmel Valley.
Katy's place for breakfast. They had a great idea: water games for kids in tow.
On our way back to Davis we stopped in Atherton for lunch with my family. It was my mom's birthday so we had to celebrate! Oh, and pick up Ruby. :)
July 4: Who loves FIREWORKS?
The Fourth was fairly low key this year, but we stuck with our traditional afternoon BBQ followed by the fireworks show at Community Park. They switched up the seating on us a bit and by the time we arrived it was packed. Shiloh and his ingenuity found us some prime real estate in the
dog run. No one was entering because of the fence, but as long as you're willing to dodge some land mines, it was the perfect spot! :)
The Armstrongs (and Grammy) bought a house at the end of our street and we are SO excited for them to move in at the end of the month. Before that happens though, a lot of painting and new floors and sandbox digging has to take place.
Blackberry summer pudding. Thanks Sam and Vanessa!
Shiloh on the BBQ, as usual. It was HOT but he is such a trooper! Eats last and doesn't even complain.
Tricky!
Mini-me. I think Sofia looks SO MUCH like my dad and oldest brother. What do you think?
Signage provided by the talented Vanessa Chin. Excitement provided by Elvis.
Ladder ball. New favorite game. Nice form, Sam. But watch out when Natalie throws - she goes overhand!
As usual, Grammy is a toddler magnet. She has so much energy and is so much fun!
Colt is STYLIN'. Kindall came by the BBQ after score-keeping for a city league softball tournament all day.
Favorite. Ribbit.
Sofia was great when the fireworks were going off! She busied herself with glow sticks provided by Auntie Sarah and didn't cry a peep.
Siena didn't cry either, but she chose not to watch OR listen to the fireworks. :)
Ooooh. Aaaah.
July 5: Sofia gets two teeth!
All of the hard nights in Carmel paid off at last. We awoke on Tuesday morning to find two pearly whites peeping through Sofia's gums. Thatta babe!
July 6: Starbucks
Sandbox? Park? Bounce house? Nope, we most often cart our children off to Starbucks while we sip on our lifeline (or our "expensive pee" as Shiloh calls it): Starbucks coffee, tea, water...whatever. As long as it's icy cold and made just to our liking. :)
Oliver and Siena playing in the "cave." Probably eating things off the floor, too. Don't judge.
July 9: Garage Sale and Jam Stand
My dad helped me make a "Jam Stand" for Siena out of extra fence posts we had in the garage. I've been making so much jam lately (if you have an excess of fruit, let me know!) that we thought it would be fun. I'm also trying to CLEAN OUT my house and garage, so we had a garage sale and pulled out the stand to give it a whirl. Siena made $16! but all from friends we called and begged to come see her...
Oliver tasting some Rainier Cherry jam on a wheat thin.
First customer: Sam K. She always pulls through for Siena!
The Hollemans came by to see us, too. Elliott continues to amaze me with how much he can DO. He is a month and a half younger than Sofia and can crawl, roll, pull up, etc.What do they feed those boys?!?!
Colt couldn't decide what flavor to choose.
July 13: Sleep Accident
After a long busy morning (I can't remember what we were doing) I found Siena like THIS. Asleep. In her cheerios.
July Part 2 coming soon.
