ready for fall...

we are sooo over the heat.
SO over it in fact, we put Liam's Halloween-y pj's on him last night. We thought it might entice the fall to hurry up already!

cute pj boy waiting for his pup "Ace" to come and play.

remember when i said that a boy needs a dog?

here's proof!

splish-splash!

I think it is TECHNICALLY Fall... however triple digits certainly don't make it feel like Fall...
We have been trying to beat the heat, here is some water fun w/ Liam and Mackenzie.

how cute are they trying to climb up the slide - especially Mackenzie in her little pink jellies!!!

* all photos courtesy of Heather. :) thanks Heather!!

tactile

I don't know about you... but I like soft, fuzzy, cuddly, snuggly things... and apparantly so does Liam! He has a little giraffe blanket that he got before he was born, that he LOOOOVES... i have been feeling lately, like the little fuzzy-furry blanket just isn't big enough (now that Liam is getting bigger)... so, i was at Costco today and found a big fuzzy leopard print throw... all i have to say is that it was worth every single penny of the $39.99 ... i think this purchase will give us many moments of fun :)... just check out the smiles we got today.

even though we can't see it... i am willing to bet the grin is ear to ear under the fur!

sooooft.

cuddly

ahhhhhhh

Pumpkin and Banana Pancakes

Yesterday we went out for breakfast with Heather and Mackenzie - we ordered banana pancakes for Liam, it was a first, and he LOVED them.

So - this morning, I made some pancakes at home. We made pumpkin w/ bananas on top. It was a hit!

mmmmmmmmm

happy pancake boy.

ta-daaaa - magic... made it disappear. (in MY MOUTH)

since this is an honest blog and i believe in full disclosure, i admit - i had a little help from my friend williams sonoma!

mommy's trip to wine country

If you have never been to the Napa Valley, and consider yourself either a "foodie" OR a "wine-o"... then i suggest you GO... NOW.a little history on the trip i just returned from. (My first overnights away from Liam!!)
In 2005 my dear friend Tonya got married, and her bachelorette party was just a trip to Napa w/ her oldest friend Daphne, myself, and Clare - a mutual co-worker from back in Seattle days. Since that first trip, we have taken a year off for Tonya to have a baby... then gone again... then took another year off when i was pregnant w/ liam.. now that Nobody is knocked up, we got to go again!

here is the trip in photo.

These were the signs we looked for :)

we found THIS villa the last time we went... there is no need to stay ANYWHERE else! this place has it all! super cute, a hot mineral pool on site, totally private... call me if you want the contact info - you will LOVE IT. The owner even set out fresh roses for us!

this is the front porch of the villa where we chat and drink coffe - and wine of course

these two courageous beasts protect the property. someone please remind me that i would like a set of lions just like this for my own home - and to BUY them, if i ever come across some

lots of pretty flowers everywhere

here is the pool - probably runs about 100-102 degrees! naturally! it gets drained every night and refills naturally from the calistoga hot springs - how cool is that?

we had lots of feathered house guests who enjoyed drinking and bathing from the many fountains

Meet my friends!

Here is Tonya - the catalyst of this whole extravaganza - the straw that stirs the drink... she is tasting grapes off the vine - thats so her.

meet Clare - she is one of the most REAL people I have ever met - her last name is tucker!

meet daphne, she is a triathlete and mom of 2 who thinks she is a soccer mom... i think she is a supermodel waiting to happen!

the girls... this was the last winery stop of the day - can you tell from the look on our faces?

sauvignon grapes getting harvested at cakebread cellars

we found a chef out in the garden picking herbs for that nights dinner for an event at cakebread... talk about farm to fork!

our table at cakebread

yummm - mozzarella bar at v. sattui

we toured some champagne caves - schramsberg - napa's very first winery. also the only american sparkling wine served at the white house! look for blanc de blanc - yum! good sparkles - creepy caves! yes, i believe that stuff hanging fromn the ceiling is a mixture of mold and spider webs.

since i can't leave you with spider webs and mold...i will leave you with the ancient indian blessing tree... this was pretty cool - we found an olive tree where you could write a blessing and tie it on - there were blessings from YEARS ago!

Now... go book your trip to Napa - NOW!

you wont regret it!

Santa Barbara Zoo

I am finally catching up... and am taking advantage of a few minutes here while I am at a standstill on a project to upload some of the pics from the Santa Barbara Zoo! Which is where we took Liam on his first birthday. This zoo is so little and cute, and completely doable with a baby/toddler - or school age child. There were tons of strollers and we even met a couple who were there visiting the zoo with their 6 month old triplets!! (how did we get to talk to them? They were asking about my camera of course!) Anyway - here is our day in photos.

They had these great eggs that were fun photo ops - liam loved crawling around in them

And modelling in them - he thought he was in a J-crew ad here!

Mommy liked playing in the egg too, but I think two was a crowd for Liam!

Our dog Ace's favorite trick in Agility is the "tunnel" ... I think Liam might give Ace a run for his money. There was a funny little girl in the background cheering Liam all the way through.

Daddy enjoyed the zoo too!

Ashley would have loved these giraffes - isn't it cute how their little necks are intertwined?

what you are about to see next is ASTONISHING.. at least to Liam who is seeing it for the first time...

Look at the California Condor... their wing span is 9 feet!

Equally as astonishing was what was going on in the Lions Den... a little bow-chikka-bow-bow... I appropriately had to give these photos the 1960's porn treatment.