Our Kelly Week

Our good friend Kelly just came to stay with us for the week, and we had such a wonderful time with her.  I know Kelly from the year I went to high school in Seattle, and then we were college roommates most of the time at USD where she became great friends with Jason too.  She took lots of awesome pictures while she was here with her awesome camera.  I am definitely putting that on my wish list!  We were so lucky to have perfect weather while she was here.  She lives in Seattle, so she really needed to see the sun!  
At the Balboa Pier, this is where the playground is that I take Jaxon to most days.
Walking on the boardwalk.  This is where you can find Jaxon and me pretty much every morning.  Kelly usually ran while I walked.  I have tried so many times in my life to be a runner, and it just NEVER happens.  I usually give up after a month or so if I even make it that far, I need to accept the fact that I am a walker.... I do walk pretty fast though!
This is another Kelly we know from USD and her daughter.  She is due with a boy in June!  Yay!Friday on the beach with friends, what can be better than that?
Jaxon loved playing with Kelly and was sad to see her go.
Kelly got some great sunset pictures most of the nights she was here.  I like having visitors from out of town because they remind me how wonderful it is to live at the beach and not to take it for granted.  
Playdate with USD moms and kids.  Its always fun to get the kids together and they are so close in age so it is perfect for them to hang out.
Our last night, it was really hard to get off the couch to go to dinner, but we were glad we did and had SO much fun with the girls.  Thanks for babysitting, Jason!
We miss you already Kel, and hope you come back for another visit soon!

San Diego Zoo

Today we went to the San Diego Zoo with some good friends, and had a great time. The elephants and giraffes were a highlight, and so was the porcupine with it's quills up.  It was very cool, I don't think I had ever seen that before.  
Of course the little carousels and the kiddie cars are just as fun as the animal attractions for the kids.  We always end up wondering if they would have just as much fun at our local parks.  :)  

 

On the way to San Diego we stopped in Escondido at Jason's Aunt and Uncle's house for a visit.  Jaxon got lots of attention and lots of presents too!  He is so lucky to have them in his life, and so are we!  Next time we will have to try the Wild Animal Park.  

Beach Babies

Those of you that know Jaxon have probably heard a lot about his special friend Julia.  We see her almost every day.  After our walk or ride on the boardwalk in the morning we head to the playground for a few hours to play and to see Julia.  This playground is awesome because it is right on the beach and they go on a new adventure each time we are there.  They love to play on the lifeguard tower, run and spin on the grass, pick flowers, go on and under the pier, play with sand toys and sometimes even play on the playground!
Jaxon got stuck in the flowers and Julia went to rescue him here.  :)  She is about 6 months older and loves to mother him.  She is so sweet!
This was the first day this year they wanted to go in the water, we have to remember swimsuits next time!
Last Friday Jaxon probably had the best day of his life.  Julia came over for breakfast and to play, then we walked to the playground together and played for a few hours.  After that Julia's mom and I decided to take them to Disneyland for the rest of the day.  They were in heaven the whole time.  We even got to stop for a happy meal on the way there!  They both missed their afternoon naps but assured us that it was okay with them.  
A whole day with Julia, wow!  What could be better than this? A special thank you to Jason who works so hard so we can play all day.  We love you!!!  http://www.sheppardmullin.com/attorneys-670.html 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Hope you all wore your green!  We had Jason's good friend Brandon over for dinner and I made the traditional mashed potatoes and corned beef brisket for the first time.   Probably not my favorite type of meat, but it was fun for the holiday and I'm trying to work on my cooking skills these days too.
While we were waiting for Jason to get home from work, Jaxon told Brandon all about his different cars and what they do in the movie.  I think he learned more about the movie than he bargained for.  Jaxon is getting quite demanding these days about which toys he "needs" if he sees something he wants.  His latest is a big blue Mater that one of his friends got a few years ago, and not in stores anymore.  I feel like one of those crazy Tickle Me Elmo moms sometimes who will go to great lengths to get their kids whatever they want.  I really don't want him to turn into a spoiled brat who always gets whatever he wants immediately, but on the other hand I love to make him happy!  :) Any advice from you moms or dads out there?  

Seattle Fun

OK- I know this isn't Seattle, but one of the highlights of our trip was going to see my friend Deanna and her sons, whom Jaxon loves.  Well of course while the kids were busy playing we were so busy talking and catching up that we forgot to take any photos.  These pictures are from when they came to visit us over the summer.   They all enjoyed a Balboa Bar for the first time.  Since then Jaxon wants one every time we walk by the Fun Zone, which is almost every day! 

When we lived in Seattle, we would hang out with Deanna and the boys at least once a week. We would always fit a Chai from Starbucks into our visits somehow!  We managed to get a couple into our visits this time too.  Hey, it's tradition!  :)
Jaxon with his Godsister Lilly!  We are her Godparents and my wonderful cousins Jake and Alethia are Jaxon's Godparents.  Alethia and I were supposed to take a walk around Green Lake, (we used to do it at least once a week and I miss our walks soooo much!) but it was snowing/raining so we settled for a park by her house instead.  Jason wants me to add that my daily walks on the boardwalk are not so bad either.  :)  It's true, there is no better place to be every day than the beach, but what I miss about my walks with Alethia have more to do with missing her!
Of course we had to have Dick's burgers after a swim while we were in Seattle.  Jaxon had so much fun with his 4 cousins!  We grew up with so many because my mom has 7 brothers and 1 sister and my dad has 5 sisters and they almost all had kids.  So far Jaxon only has 4 cousins until Terese (or Toby and Carol???!!!) decides otherwise.  Jason is an only child, maybe that's where Jaxon gets his sharing issues!
Doesn't he look oh so pretty in Jessie's shoes?  He loves wearing other peoples' shoes and sometimes has a hard time giving them back!
Jaxon LOVES his Mimi and Smithy and vice versa.  I think they sometimes compete for his affection!  Who wouldn't?
Me with my sweet Godmother Coco and Alethia.  Jake and Lilly are in the background.  We had a great time visiting with them.
Time to say Goodbye, that's the hardest part of visiting, but hopefully we will see everyone soon.  Jaxon was very excited to get home and see his Daddy.  (And his special friend Julia too!)

Friday Harbor Fun

Our first stop in Friday Harbor was Downriggers to see Auntie TT of course.  She made Jaxon his first milkshake.  

Don't worry, she checked his ID.
We just had to come again the next day!
Milkshake #2 was just as successful, TT sure knows the way to his heart.
Mimi got Jaxon a donut- with sprinkles of course- almost everyday we were there.  She knows the the way to his heart too!  We did manage to get a few healthy meals in there somewhere.
We had a great time visiting with TT and seeing her cool new house.  
We went to visit our Xavier who is safely between Cecily and his Uncle Ryan.
Fun with friends on Grandpa Smithy's tractor.
It was so good to spend time with friends and family while we were there.  We hope to come back soon, but in the meantime, we love visitors too! (And it's nice and sunny here)

Beach Day

There is no better way to spend March 1st than on the beach!
We had to soak in the sun while we still could because tomorrow we are heading up to Washington for a visit with friends and family.

Goodbye Crib???

We thought it was time to say goodbye to the crib as Jaxon could easily hop in and out whenever he wanted to.
He was a big help!!!
He seemed to love playing on his new "big boy" bed.
All his friends were still there.  It made us kind of sad because he is growing up so fast!
I guess Jaxon wasn't ready for the change yet either because he wanted nothing to do with his new bed that night (crying and totally scared of it) so we had to change it back!  We will try again in a few months... or maybe this will still be his bed in high school!