We Partied Like Two-Year-Olds

We had a family birthday party for Jason the Saturday after his birthday. On the menu were some of Jason's favorite things: hotdogs, watermelon, and cupcakes. The adults got to enjoy other yummy side dishes as well. Several people from both sides of the family came.



Jason got to open more presents, much to his joy. But he couldn't go on opening presents forever, much to his disappointment. When he was finished he said, "I want to open more presents."



Instead of baking a cake, we baked cupcakes because those are Jason's favorite. He loves how easy it is to hold it and lick the frosting off the top. He doesn't eat the cake part-- just the frosting. And since it was his birthday we let him lick three that night, and five two days later.


After dessert came water games (thanks to a new water toy from Grandma Linda). Jason was a little apprehensive about this new sprinkler toy, but we know he'll grow to love it. My brother Matt was brilliant and brought some fireworks to add excitement to the evening. The sparklers, flowers, and pop-its were a hit with the kids. I guess we've got to take advantage of his having a birthday so close to July 4th, although I never did as a kid.


We're very grateful to have this cute two-year-old in our lives.

What We did on Jason's Birthday

Jason is TWO! When he woke up we took him downstairs to a wonderful sight: balloons and Cap'n Crunch. Kyle got them the night before because we knew Jason would be crazy over both of them. I was pleased that I had finished sewing our Happy Birthday banner in time for both of our birthdays.

I am the mean mom who takes my child to the doctor's office on his birthday. I was just anxious to have the visit checked off the list. I knew he would forget about the ordeal quickly, but I did feel bad while we were in the office. Jason kept saying "I want to go home." He was so adamant about not wanting to be examined that he kept running to the door and opening it in an effort to escape. I finally told him that if he was a good boy and sat still for the rest of the exam, I would give him a fruit roll-up. He didn't necessarily sit still, but we ended with the shot and hurried out to the car to the fruit roll-ups I had luckily thought to bring last minute. He ate three in the car. And then when we got home he ate four more. I put my foot down after that, saying he had been rewarded bountifully.

After Jason's feast on fruit roll-ups we loaded ourselves and PB&J sandwiches into the car and drove off to meet Megan for a hike. We hiked up Bell Canyon. Sweet Megan carried Jason half of the way up for me. She also thought to bring three brightly frosted cookies along to celebrate Jason's birthday. Jason helped himself to all three. Megan and I had to eat the cookies after they were stripped of their frosting.

Jason's definition of a good hike is finding places where you can throw rocks in water; this was a good hike. Notice he is holding a rock in both pictures. I wish I had taken a picture of Jason with Megan because she is such an awesome aunt.




In the evening Kyle and I made Jason a steak dinner. Steak is one of the few dinner items Jason loves. Following dinner came presents. We got Jason several die cast "Cars 2" cars. Jason loved them. We also got him a train table and train tracks...but no trains. I was planning on getting them, but I hadn't found the right "used" deal yet. I had hoped Jason would be happy driving his cars on the train table in the meantime. Boy was I wrong. Five minutes after Jason had been playing with his cars he came up and said he wanted more presents, and where are the trains? By Saturday I was so sick of hearing about our lack of trains that I gave up on the idea of scoring a great deal on Thomas trains and instead drove with Jason to Ikea to pick out some cheap trains. He was satisfied.

Happy birthday Jason!

What I did on my Birthday

On my birthday I started out with a run, which felt great. When I returned home I found Kyle had made me German pancakes-- so thoughtful and yummy. Kyle's coworker arrived to catch a ride with Kyle, and the coworker gave me a poptart and a candle for my birthday, both of which Jason put to good use immediately upon coming down for breakfast. We kept each other entertained by singing several rounds of "Happy Birthday to Mommy" and "Happy Birthday to Jason," complete with Jason's blowing out the candle each time.


My friend Shauna offered to watch Jason during the morning so I could have some alone time to do whatever I pleased. I used the time by finishing up some birthday shopping for Jason, which I have a feeling is what I'll be doing every year on my birthday. But what I was shopping for didn't matter-- I enjoyed my alone time immensely.

After shopping Shauna and I took the kids to the park for some playing and lunch. Following lunch Jason gave me an awesome birthday present by taking a long nap. I used the nap time to relax with a book.

Megan watched Jason in the evening while Kyle's parents took us out to dinner. I chose Thai food, and the new restaurant we tried was well recommended. I love Thai food.

I didn't have any presents to open because they are already out in my living room: a new mirror and lamps.

In the evening Kyle surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and some chocolate cake. What a fabulous way to finish off a great day. The great thing about birthdays in my family is they get celebrated for more than one day. I still get to look forward to choosing a special Sunday dinner, going out to eat with my parents, and to using the concert tickets they gave me.

California Adventure

Kyle and I went on another California adventure to visit my old roommate Rachel and her husband Ryan. We originally planned on bringing Jason along, but when we saw how much fun our friends were having on child-free vacations, we decided to ask the grandmas to help us out. They generously said yes and split the time.

We visited Rachel and Ryan three years ago in San Francisco, and we decided it was time to go again. Rachel invited us to stay at her house, which served as a good home base to see lots of sights in Northern California.

We started out with Big Basin State Park, which had some of the amazing redwoods. And then we visited the boardwalk at Santa Cruz, but we didn't fork out any money for rides.


Friday we went to Monterrey where we saw the awesome aquarium and cannery row. We went on the 17-Mile drive by accident (our GPS took us that way), which was quite scenic, and we enjoyed walking through the sand of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Lastly, we hurried back north to catch a baseball game in Oakland: Oakland Athletics vs. San Francisco Giants. They are rivals and so I found myself watching the fans more than I should have.




Saturday we went water skiing in a delta, bought belly-flops from the Jelly Belly Factory, drove through Napa Valley, and had a delicious BBQ with Rachel's family.



Sunday after church we got to visit some of my cousins, most of whom I hadn't seen in over 5 years, so it was good to see them. Later in the evening we got to ride around in Ryan's bug and walk through the golden hills of California.


Monday, our last full day, we spent in San Francisco. I love this city! We always manage to bring good weather with us. We'd already seen a lot of San Francisco three years ago, so this time we decided to try something new: biking along the coast, around the Palace of Fine Arts, and across the Golden Gate Bridge. We were really glad we did. But we couldn't leave the city without also doing the usual driving down Lombard Street, eating clam chowder from sour dough bread bowls on Fisherman's Warf, putting quarters in old arcades at the Mechanical Museum, eating free chocolate samples from Ghiradeli Square, and driving through China town. One other new thing we did was visit the Cable Car Museum. In this museum you could see the cables being turned under the street.




A visit to Rachel and Ryan is not complete without Chinese Hot Pot, and they did not disappoint.


Tuesday morning we visited Google campus. The campus itself is not that exciting-- just a bunch of buildings. The only interesting thing is the Google bikes. They are scattered throughout the campus so employees can jump on them to get to other buildings quicker than walking. We took a short ride around on them.

Thanks Grandmas for watching Jason! And thank you Rachel & Ryan for letting us crash at your place for the week!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy Birthday, Dad! I'm glad we did a surprise adult-only dinner party in addition to the family BBQ. I think we should do it more often. Thanks for being such a great dad.

Pure Luck

We seem to be on a lucky streak. Do you remember when I asked you what you would do with an extra $50? Well now I'm asking you what you would do with an extra $100. Kyle's mom found an envelope with "Kyle's money to deposit at Credit Union" written on it. Inside was $100 in cash. We don't know how long it was waiting to be deposited, but it has finally made its way back to Kyle. We couldn't believe that both of our mom's found our long-forgotten money within the same month.

Thomas Karren Reunion

My totally awesome brother planned a Memorial Day reunion in which we visited the grave site of our pioneer ancestor, Thomas Karren. I am so glad I'm not a pioneer, but Thomas was a pretty awesome one. After visiting the grave site we had a BBQ, but I didn't take any pictures there.

Uncle Steve telling us about Thomas (notice the little green legs just to the left of Steve-- that is Jason):

Jason thinks cemeteries are super fun. Just look at this giant pin-wheel. LOADS of entertainment.