A SLO Summer Family Vacation!

Get ready to be bombarded with photos galore! This year we spent our 4 year wedding anniversary as a family in San Luis Obispo, CA where Matt and I first met and the story of our family began. It was so fun to take the boys to all our old favorite spots, see friends, and eat so much amazing food! We were blessed with the opportunity to stay in a two bedroom, one bathroom house with a huge backyard that is right in the heart of downtown SLO. The location gave us tons of opportunities to take the boys to lots of parks, several beaches, the farmers market, the Children's Museum, Avila Valley Barn, and walk around downtown. We spent an amazing date night for our anniversary at a restaurant downtown while two of our best friends watched the boys (thanks Jess and Steve!).

The trip was not without a family vacation's usual ups and downs though. On our way down to SLO we stopped at a rest stop and as I got out of the car to go inside I asked Matt to grab the kids a quick snack. He cracked the windows, got out, and headed to the back of the Jeep to fish out some snacks....and then Hunter jumped into the front seat and stood on the side door panel...AND LOCKED THE DOORS. All our phones, keys, and wallets...not to mention two little ones and a wiener dog...were trapped inside. I ran to the maintenance office to see if there was a tool we could use or at least a phone to call for help. There were no tools to be found so the nice maintenance workers and I decided to call for help. Not so conveniently, all the phone numbers they had for highway patrol politely told us that we were calling outside of normal business hours and to try back later, so we ended up calling 911. As Cal Fire was finally on their way (although they told us they didn't have a tool either and would need to break our window), Matt came into the office and told me someone pulled up in a motorhome who had a tool and had gotten it through the cracked window and unlocked the doors. Thankfully our kiddos and dog were all just fine and happy enough to be fed snacks (finally) while we waited for Cal Fire to show up so we could tell them we were okay. And that, our friends, was our first- and hopefully last- time the boys encountered a great big fire engine and firemen, and how our week got started! Later in the week, we also encountered a flat tire because a huge knife blade somehow annihilated it. Oh the memories and joys of family vacations! ;)

Here are some of the highlights of the week! (You can click on any picture for a larger view)


Playing at the house: 

Avila Pier, Beach, & Playground: We had a great time watching for whales and seals off the pier, playing in the sand on the beach (although Lucas was not a fan of the water coming up the sand towards him), and playing at the playground (where Andrew loved kissing all the "dun-duns" which we tried to explain were supposed to be seals haha!).

SLO Children's Museum:

Solvang: On one of the days, we drove about an hour south to meet my parents in Solvang, which is a cute little Danish village, and celebrated my dad's birthday and Father's Day a little early. We had a tasty Danish breakfast, bought some Danish pastries, walked around, and played at a local park. 

Fast asleep on the way back to SLO

This is what we found in our tire on the way down and had to make a pit stop to put on the spare. Never a dull moment!

San Simeon & Morro Bay: On the day of our anniversary we drove an hour north to San Simeon where we showed the boys a huge beach full of elephant seals and then we stopped by Heart Castle to walk around the lobby/gift shop area. We then continued on to Morro Bay where we ate lunch at a great little restaurant right on the water, which my grandparents used to take me to during college. After lunch we walked along the water and the boys loved watching the boats and seals. 

San Simeon...

Morro Bay...

Cal Poly: We also took the boys to the Dairy Unit at Cal Poly and for a walk around campus. They thoroughly enjoyed meeting the big dogs that said, "moooooo" and could not be convinced they weren't dogs. HAHA!

More SLO & Videos: 

Lunch out at Firestone's

Early morning breakfast walk to a bakery

Videos will open in a new window that will link to our private YouTube account....
Airplanes and the park
With Daddy at the park
Dancing

18-Month Update

In the last three months....

Lucas
Lucas grew 1 inch and gained 1 pound! He is now 35 inches tall (off the charts for height) and 26.13 pounds (65th percentile).

He now says:
momma
dadda
dog
dun-dun (this is for sharks as well as pretty much anything that lives in the ocean)
he mimics the inflection for how we say "bear" (which is his lovey)
all done
woah
wow
hiss (for snakes)
bubble (for bubbles as well as for the bathtub...he also uses it for the pool)
roooaaarr (for lions, tigers, and dinosaurs)
oof-oof (for woof woof)
adoodledoo (for cockadoodledoo)
ooooooo sound for airplanes
hair
hat
hot
this
that
uh-oh
ball
bzzzz (for bees)
go
'side (for inside/outside)
stinky-stinky (mainly for socks but also for general stinky things)
...and working on saying up and down

Andrew
Andrew grew 1 inch and gained .8 pounds. He started walking right at 15-months, so that along with his growth, means he hasn't gained much. Andrew is now 33 inches (75th percentile) and 22.11 pounds (15th percentile).

He now says:
momma
dadda
dog-dog
dun-dun (this is pretty much anything that lives in the ocean but sharks especially- he loves sharks!) all done
aaa-ahhhh (makes a monkey sound for his favorite monkey paci
hiss (for snakes)
roooaaarr (for lions, tigers, and dinosaurs)
moo
meow
eye
hair
hat
hot
go
car
cockadoodledoo
this
that
uh-oh
ball
bzzzz (for bees)
ooooooo sound for airplanes
mimics a sound for an elephant
eee-ooo sound for fire engine siren
mimics the inflection for how we say hug
stinky-stinky (mainly for socks but also for general stinky things)
craw-craw (for crocodile)
...and working on saying up and down

Both
It seems like everyday these boys surprise me with another new word they say, or by following directions I give them and demonstrating how many words they understand. They both sign: milk (for water and milk), eat, all done, sorry, please, and thank you. We are working on signing "potty" in preparation for potty training. They also know the sign for "sleep." They know where their eyes, hair, mouth, teeth, nose, ears, hands, feet, and tummy's are. I'm sure there are other things I am forgetting that they say or do!

The boys looooove water in all forms, being read to, sitting on our laps, balloons, running around, and berries of all kinds. They do not like the crinkly paper at the doctor's office, haircuts, most green vegetables (we are working on that; however, they do like peas), and opinions that differ from their own. Lucas doesn't like elevators, brushing his teeth, or things that move when he can't understand why (for example: a balloon moving around when the fan is on, or stuffed animals that talk because they have batteries). Andrew doesn't like when momma is not available solely to him or when his Cozy Coupe Car gets stuck while he is trying to push it. Lucas seems to especially love all food, and Andrew seems to especially love "talking" and "reading" to himself.

We are currently at one nap per day and still do a bath/bedtime routine every night by 7:30pm. We do three meals per day, with a few snacks in-between, and they drink milk or water. A few months ago we packed away all of their bottles and, honestly, it was a little sad for me. Snuggling them with a bottle at the end of the night was a sweet treat, but now we snuggle up on our bed to read books and I always chuckle at how they like to get cozy on a pillow or up against our side.

This season of entering toddlerhood and saying goodbye to infancy is bittersweet. Each stage has new challenges, things I miss, and things I love. This season requires full energy all of the time: emotionally, physically, and mentally. Each moment is full of meeting needs, teaching, training, chasing in two directions at once, and lifting up or down- sometimes both at once. :)

Stayed tuned for more posts with lots of pictures and videos!