So Saturday was the first full day of me and the little man. We started out our day pretty much like usual at 6 am, had some breakfast, and did some chores:
We went shopping for all of dad’s cheat day (weekend) provisions:
There was a surprising amount of backyard time after we went to pick up a lunch sub at micky’s deli on the beach. We did several rounds on the slide, “relaxed” in the hammock for up to two minutes at a time(!), but most of our time seemed to be dedicated to making sure kaya knew exactly who all the items in the backyard belonged to: “MIIIINNNNNNE”
Grilling was essential today since it is memorial day after all. Even if rollerderby doesn’t respect the sacrifice made by generations of men and women for our country, I do. Tucker and I celebrated accordingly by grilling some neat products: brats! I grilled up a couple trader joe’s Hot dos for the little man as well. He doesn’t seem to like the old standby chicken fingers, but he loves hot dogs.
After dinner there want fine for much else besides bath time. We splashed, we washed, we cried a little. Once all the little beasties were asleep in the house, there wasn’t anything left but some tiny wet footprints.
For the second half of the trip, we packed the rental car (a Kia Soul) and headed West to the other side of the state of Florida. While there we stayed at Ben’s grandmothers house with his Mom, Dad, Sister Lindsay and Uncle Mike. The weather was perfect so Tucker got to get more pool time.
Mom spent most of her time in the chair reading until Tucker joined her for a snack.
Which, if there’s anything we learned this week with Tucker it’s that he eats CONSTANTLY. I’m going to start packing him bigger lunches for day care!
Every morning on the West Coast, Tucker had breakfast with Bumpa (his word for Grandpa John). This picture is from dinner though, since breakfast was usually ate from the comfort of Bumpa’s lap.
Tucker and Uncle Mike.
Tucker and Grammy.
Tucker and Bumpa – probably my favorite photo of the week.
Making some important phone calls with Aunt Linds.
Bath time is always a hit regardless of where we are.
Of course, he did not want to leave. We felt like crying too, buddy.
Tucker was sent home from day care for green material exiting his nose in unpleasant quantities. So dad took the morning shift and hung out with the little dynamo until Mom came home. We grilled some chicken, layed on the hammock, whipped up a batch of guacomole (not nearly as good as mom’s!), and played LOTS of drums.
We’re visiting the Marcets in Chicago and it’s so nice to see the trees changing colors all around us. Tucker and I had four days of food, fun, and the whole marcet family! We had a great time!
With the spooky and the scary upon us, we headed out into the beautiful morning sunshine for a costumed parade around the neighborhood. Many shop owners were handing out candy, but we avoided the handouts (much to dad’s chagrin). I feel bad for those teachers. The kids were loading up on all things chocolate on the street, and the good stuff too. Not those cheap peanut butter taffy things in the brown and orange wrappers. Nor were there any smarties to be had in this quaintly affluent hood! Then each toddler had a giant frosted sugar cookie awaiting them on the snack table AND they were giving out heavy pours of full-strength Hawaiian Punch. Did you ever see that scene in District 9 where all the aliens rip apart the security officer once his weapons were empty? That’s what I’m talking about. Good thing for Tucker’s teachers he only got a bottle.
So here they are, I couldn’t choose so I’m posting a whole mess of ’em. I defy you to not want this little monkey trashing your next party!
Tucker’s buddy Luke was stomping all over the place. You can only point elephants in the right direction though, don’t try to tell them how to get there! The floppy ears were the best.
Tucker was not subtle about his feelings for dad’s shaggy head messing up the cute vibe he had worked so hard to culminate.
We woke up this morning to HOT weather! Finally. It has been an uncharacteristically dreary summer here and the Santa Anas have finally kicked up (seasonal winds from the east) bringing all that hot desert air out to the beach. While most of the rest of the country is pulling out their sweaters and peacoats, we’re finally pulling out our swimsuits and sunblock. Unfortunately, this also means fire season is upon us here in socal, but with no real forest to speak of in the densely populated LA basin, that doesn’t effect us much. It did smell like a camp fire all over LA county last year with the Tower Fire, but that’s as bad as it got.
We met our friends, the Mellers, in Hermosa for a little breakfast on the strand. Their son Luke is in Tucker’s class at daycare and they are becoming THE destructive duo! We had time for short walk along the beach with all the health nuts and had a great time. The boys fell asleep while I walked off some of the carne asada and eggs I had for breakfast.
Tucker and I came back to do a little napping and sweating outside to finish out the afternoon.
Tucker and i took a walk around the park and the little man LOVED IT. Once we finished threading the crowds of old women cooing over my attractive son, we made it over to the playground but there weren’t many kids playing on a wednesday night. So we kept moving and took a leisurely stroll around our new neighborhood, snapping some pics along the way.
Yeah, some of these pictures look pretty similar, but I just couldn’t decide!
This is the favorite time of evening.
So this video is from a month ago, but it’s still great. Tucker recently discovered his feet and is taking full advantage of that baby flexibility to acquaint himself orally with his feet. If his flexibility is inherited in any way from me, this will be one of the last times he will be able to do this!
Here’s a few random shots from our trip. It seems more and more important to have a high quality camera phone these days. More often than not youtr nowhere near a camera when that amazing moment transpires, so you reach for something thats always on hand: your phone. At a measly 2 megapixel, my current iPhone 3G just isn’t cutting the mustard any longer. And forget about taking pictures in anything but nice bright sunshine. Sure, it’ll snao the shutter and give you something, but these aren’t the artistic smeary images. They’re just plain blurry! I’m sure you’re sold now, WE just need to get the new iPhone with the flash and much higher-resolution camera. Well, I will whenever they release the white version, because i’m just that gadget fashion conscious.
