I'm Home!

Okay, I've been slackin' on the posts lately, its true. Summer school has kept me busy and tired (I know . . . its summer, but the curriculum is . . . *ahem*) so the pics haven't been downloaded or uploaded or commented on or anything.

But here's my moment of the day:

We've been in our home for 6 months now and its clear how much Luke loves it. It wasn't long after moving that he would scream "WE'RE HOME!!" every time we drove into the driveway.

He's now started "inviting" us in, saying, "Come in, Mommy. Come in, Daddy" and holding the door open for us. Today he repeated "Come in, Mommy," held the door open for me and when we got inside, he spread his arms wide and said, "Welcome to my home."

Luke is such a gracious host.

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas have always been one of my favorite flowers - I love that they take up a ton of room and I love that they are full of petals. I love that they come in blue (my favorite color) when other flowers don't. I've always wanted hydrangeas in my garden (and I use the term "garden" very loosely) but alas, I am not a girl with a green thumb.

Lucky for me, the former owners of our home had green thumbs and had planted a HUGE hydrangea bush. I was left directions on how to make them blue, but, well . . . I'm not that girl. So pink they are!

I love to look out my kitchen window on weekend mornings, when all the sunlight is blasting in, and see these gorgeous hydrangeas. They make me smile, which is always a good thing. Maybe next year, I'll trying my hand at getting them blue. But for now, this year, pink will do. (Hey! I made a poem!)

So if you're in the area, come see my beautiful hydrangeas that I had nothing to do with growing.

More Family Time!

With a more relaxed summer schedule (please note: not relaxing, just more relaxed. Stupid summer school . . .) we've been trying to be more out and about with Luke. After Happy Hollow, a few days later we were off to the Children's Discovery Museum in Downtown SJ. We hadn't taken Luke there in a while and were excited to see what he would gravitate towards.

The firetruck.

Shocked? Neither were we.

Daddy dressed him up in all his gear and he was excited to "spray" the hose and drive the truck. ( I know, he's freakin adorable.)

After the firetruck, it was straight to the ambulance. He immediately hopped in and laid down on the gurney. I was bummed I didn't have my camera ready for that moment!

Luke and Daddy making faces through the window of the Wells Fargo stagecoach.

At CDM, they had a Bob the Builder exhibit which was right up Luke's alley. He was able to "build" a rock wall, which was fun to watch. He had to make sure each and every rock was perfectly aligned, in very Luke-type fashion.


We were able to have lunch and then finish off our trip with the water works. The last time we took Luke, he was tripping over his smock. This time? No sweat.


I was so proud of Luke in the water zone - he was such a sweet boy. He shared with all the kids and helped them pick up balls to use. Any time someone gave him a ball (an older kid or an adult) he was so thrilled and so gracious with his good manners, saying thank you with gusto! Todd and I really strive to have Luke be polite and appreciative of all that he has and not to take for granted all of his blessings. It makes me a proud momma! I love my little boy!

We're planning more little day trips all around the area to get him out and experiencing all that the Bay Area has to offer!

4th of July

Not a whole lot of pictures from the 4th of July, but we had a BBQ, hung out and had delicious delicious food. Yummy!

So mostly these pictures are of Luke - playing soccer outside (which he still LOVES) and being spun and pulled around in the laundry basket. I don't think that will ever get old.

GOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!

Back to the Hollow!

Happy Hollow is a San Jose staple and we were really excited to take Luke there. He had gone once before with his cousins, but he was super young (he slept in his stroller!) and we really didn't do much of anything. Then Happy Hollow closed for a remodel and we finally were able to get back, now that Luke was older.

Saturday morning of the Fourth of July weekend, off we went to Happy Hollow! We had such a wonderful time as a family. We began with Danny the Dragon, of course, and sat in front of a family who had an older son named Luke and a younger daughter who was our Luke's age, 6 days older, in fact. Luke loved just about everything, but he especially loved the car ride. Was there any doubt?


Happy Hollow also has a wonderful play area for Luke to climb all over, which he readily did.

We finished our day with lunch and an It's-It. I haven't had an It's-It in I don't know how many years, but Luke was a fan of cookie, chocolate and ice cream.

We were all exhausted by the end of it - and we only stayed a few hours! We signed up for a family pass and will definitely be visiting more this summer.

I'm 30.

I always thought I would be completely fine with turning 30, but I guess it took me a little by surprise. I swear, the wrinkles appeared overnight. They're good wrinkles - the "laughing" ones - but nonetheless, there they are.

That being said, my birthday was truly a birthday day - which was fun. I like to think of my birthday in shifts - the early shift (family and a few friends) and the later shift (family gone, friends remain). Mostly I was just glad to have ice cream cake. Luke was excited, too.
Luke's buddies came over, Julianna (Stacie and Tony's daughter) and Jake (Shannon and Brian's son). It was wonderful to hear the kids running around and laughing and having a good time.


I have to say, its pretty bizarro to be in such a different place in my life, meaning that having friends I've known since high school (or earlier) bring over their kids to play with my kid at my 30th birthday . . . wow. I'm just feeling old.

Hanging with Uncle Brent

Being cute wearing my birthday hat

A long wonderful day being surrounded by good people and good food (thanks Mom and Todd!) Birthdays are always a time of reflection on the past and dreaming about the future, and I couldn't be more blessed that all that I have. Here's to the next 30!

All Grown Up

We finally finally FINALLY bought a new dining room set. We had been living with our little teeny tiny table we bought when we were in our first teeny tiny apartment. We realized that our table wasn't working when we couldn't fit the three of us comfortably at the table with food. That didn't even include having friends over for dinner.

We found this beautiful set with matching bar stools and it fits perfectly. It came in time for my birthday so we could actually sit everyone comfortably.

We're such grown ups.