Dad comes to visit

Dave came down for two weekends... with a few days of work in Los Angeles wedged in between. We spent one afternoon with some friends - first the beach, then playing in a park before dinner... A chance to get the husbands together for a family-double-date of sorts. Dave was the self-appointed chief of kid entertainment ::

First, get wet.

Then, fly a kite.

Next, running shoulder rides.

I wonder if this was her first running shoulder ride. I forgot to check. Kind of like with the whole juice episode/experience a couple weeks ago...

I know most of these shots are out of focus. But, seriously, he was running so quickly I could hardly get ANY shots and didn't care if they were blurry or not. Most of them were just empty frames.

Shoulder rides were followed by rolling around and giggles.

Then came Follow The Leader.

Walking crazy! Talking crazy! Be crazy like me girls!

Time for spinning!

Annabelle saw Dave do this and came running as fast as she could...

...for her own jump over!

There are more pictures, but I just want to pause right here to state the obvious: Isn't Dave awesome? I swear, this guy is my hero. How many dads are this kind of dad? I mean, he was dripping with sweat but still continued to come up with more ideas of craziness while the rest of us waited for dinner with hungry tummies. I know this post is not my most creative, nor the most beautiful, but this post is one of the top three that I would choose for Annabelle to see when she's older... to see what her dad was like when she was really little, to see how lucky she is, how much he loved her and other children, how fun and silly and unpretentious he is. I love this man so much!!

~~~ ahem ~~~

Squirmy Wormies inside the restaurant after dinner.

Awe, mommy and munchki.

Hugs...

Mommy and Me Beach Day

This was a special afternoon for us... We picked up dinner on the way and ate it together in the sand, no pressures, avoided traffic, the weather was perfect, I remembered to bring her pjs (her latest favorite thing to wear on the beach), the dolphins swam by at dusk... it was wonderful!

July Fourth

** By the way: All of the photos from this summer are completely untouched. If they look a little different than what you might be used to seeing here, it's because I don't have Photoshop at my fingertips, so I can't correct any lighting or do any cropping. Kind of a new experience for me... but I'm doing okay with it so far.

Prehistoric Pets

There is this place that is sort of like a reptile pet shop. Only it's also kind of a reptile zoo. It's very kid friendly. And they have tons and tons of turtles that you can feed. And snakes. And a monitor that roams around the shop. I took a million photos... these are my favorites.

Potty trained!

The purchase of Annabelle's new Potette (a VERY portable potty that reuses plastic grocery bags) took our potty training efforts from a bumbling, insecure 3.5 to a full force, completely trained, happy unders wearing 10! My favorite part is that this little potty actually folds up and fits in my purse, so anywhere and anytime she can sit right down and get down to business.

Case in point: peeing under the table at a recent wedding. Nobody had any idea.

These new potty skills easily translate to other potties, like here with her BFF (who is doing the peepee dance on command, she's that awesome) at a birthday party. Pottying at a toddler aged birthday party is actually part of the planned fun activities like blowing out candles and using lots of glue to make crowns, right?

Beach days :: divine

The best part of the beach this day was holding Annabelle's hands while the small waves came crashing onto the sand and rolled up around our ankles. She was SO excited with each wave, but it wasn't until later when she was telling Grama about it why she loved it so much. She explained, in her own terms, that she was skating on the water really fast forward and backward over and over again... The waves rushing by in either direction really made her feel like SHE was moving, instead of the wave! Each little experience was relatively quick enough to give her a thrill and then be done for a minute until the next wave. I swear the beach is made for kids, isn't it?

It was such a wonderful afternoon, seeing old friends, feeling the warm sun, playing, getting sandy and wet, relaxing, chatting, etc.

I love her innocence and perspective. I live for times like these.

Watching the sunset while laying in the driveway...

Brag Book - Summer away from home

Quite by accident, I gave Annabelle's BFF her first taste of juice. It was organic unfiltered apple juice, a whole whopping 2 ounces. But still. I had no idea it was a new experience for her. I suppose this picture speaks for itself.

Five minutes after the apple juice was polished off, the head shaking began.

Grampa went out and bought Annabelle a pool for the backyard. It's been a consistent source of entertainment. Even when she's not allowed to go for a swim, she throws in Addie for the vicarious experience. Everything else ends up in the pool too, and I mean everything!

Grampa.

Friends. So sweet. This shot makes me miss group hugs. Seriously, when was the last time you had a hug like this?

Or like this? Doesn't this just say love?

Aunt Sissy bought Annabelle balloons one weekend. Such a blast letting them go and then reaching up to get them again!

Zoner. For Davey.