A Trip Back to Cali

After 9 long months away Riley and I made our first trip back to California since moving to Houston. We were so excited to have such a great excuse to go back - Rhys' first birthday party! It's always hard to get the whole gang together but we came close this time - we really missed Ben, Yolanda and Allan and their whole gang. I was a little worried at first making the trip by myself with Riley but he was a real trooper and did fantastic on the plane. We had a little incident when he decided that he wanted to run and play when we were in the security check line but other than that it was smooth sailing. Note to self: it is much easier for a little 2 year old to run around under all of the roping than for a grown person with a giant backpack! We took the last flight out of Houston so I thought he would be exhausted by the time we landed (it was almost 11:30 pm our time) but as soon as he saw his two aunties he was all smiles and full of energy. The rest of the trip was non-stop - we went to visit my grandparents in Stockton, went to dinner with my cousins to celebrate my dad's birthday, went to Rhys' first birthday party, hung out with everyone and had a great time at the playground, went to dinner with my sisters, went to the Oakland Zoo (where one of Riley's shoes now resides with the buffalo since he decided that it would be great fun to kick it off when we were on the sky ride -- warning that ride is a little too long and a little scary with a 2 year old), went to dinner again to celebrate my dad's birthday, and then came home. I swear Riley gained at least 5 pounds on this trip. Riley and my parents have a routine - every morning Riley gets up, goes to play in their bedroom and drinks his milk, then after getting dressed and ready they go to my parents' favorite restaurant for breakfast (a Hong Kong style cafe) and he pigs out. As if that wasn't enough he would then come home, play in the backyard or in the house and have some of the apple pears that my parents grow in the backyard. The boy ate and ate and ate. It was amazing!!

Riley was quite sad when we got back and kept looking for everyone. The morning after we got back he woke up and asked where his paw paw and gong gong were (he was ready for his morning ritual!). And that same day after I picked him up from daycare he kept asking for his Auntie Cindy and Auntie Mimi (this is what he calls Jamie!). To this day when we drive home each day he likes to tell me that Auntie Mimi is at work and Auntie Cindy is at school. He is too funny! We definitely miss California. We can't wait until our trip back during the holidays!! Click on the picture below for some pictures from our trip.

Baking with Mom

I found a recipe for S'more Cupcakes awhile ago that I have been dying to try - graham cracker crust, chocolate, chocolate cake, and a toasted marshmallow cream frosting - but haven't had a chance to make them. We recently went to a BBQ at one of our neighbor's house and I thought this would be a great opportunity to make them. They were a great success!! Riley decided that he didn't want to be left out when I was baking so he jumped up onto a chair to help! Everytime he sees a cupcake he thinks its a "Happy Day"!!

Way Behind....

I am really behind on my postings for the blog. I promise I am working on them but in the meantime here are some pictures from the past couple of months that I kept meaning to post...

Swim Lessons this Summer

A Trip to the Museum of Natural History (he loved all of the dinos)

Teaching his T-Rex how to dance

Yum!

Under the Big Top

We took Riley to his first circus and he had such a great time. Between the animals, clowns, snacks, and all the people he didn't know what to do with himself! The pictures say it all....

Daddy and Riley at the Circus

Snowcone.....very bad idea...Ben and I ended up getting soaked!!

The animals

Enjoying the circus and watching the acrobats

You can't go to the circus and not have popcorn and cotton candy!

A Busy Month

July is always a busy month for us. We've already done so much this month that it seems like July should be over and done with already but we still have two more weeks!

My sisters arrived to visit us at the end of June and we ended the month of June with a trip to San Antonio. We've been saying that we wanted to start exploring Texas and we thought that going with my sisters would be fun. What we should have taken into account is that Texas is HOT HOT HOT. We went to Sea World in San Antonio and we all knew it was going to be really bad when we were all sweating when we got to the front gate (and this was not due to a long walk since we parked in the VIP section and we were in the second row!). We stayed at the park for 3.5 hours and then went back to the hotel so Riley could take a nap (we all ended up falling asleep!). We went back, saw a couple of attractions, baked and sat in what felt like a large sauna to watch the Shamu show and then called it a day. We went back to the hotel and Riley and daddy went swimming to cool off. Never again will we attempt to do something like this!! No more amusement parks (unless they are water related) in the summer. Everyone keeps saying that this summer has been horrible and that the excruciating heat started really early....just our luck, heh?

Next it was my birthday. Nothing too exciting there - we went to a nice dinner and had cake. Then of course, Fourth of July. You can't set off fireworks within Houston Proper so if you want to see fireworks you have to go to the big celebration downtown. And like everything else in Houston this is a BIG celebration.....Clay Walker gave a free concert right before the fireworks and they had blocks of entertainment starting at 4 pm. Learning our lesson from San Antonio we stayed away from the crowds. We just couldn't imagine sitting around with all of those people in 100+ heat. So instead Riley had a great time playing with his water mat, we barbecued, and then watched the fireworks on TV!! Next, it was our anniversary. Since my sisters were here we were able to go out and have a nice dinner and finally break our 2 year hiatus from the movie theaters. We thought it was only fitting to see Transformers 2 since the last movie we saw two years ago was the first Transformers. I had forgotten how nice it is to sit in a movie theater with a soda and popcorn!

Click on the picture below for some pictures....

My cousins came in the following week and then it was Riley's second birthday. I still can't believe my little bean is 2 years old. It's amazing how much of a little boy he has become. He definitely knows what he wants and isn't afraid to go and get it. He is extremely social and doesn't know the meaning of "stranger". I love the fact that he is speaking more everyday. The Thursday before the fourth of July his daycare had a parade where they marched around with little flags. When I picked him up from school he marched all the way from his room to the door waving his flag and yelling "flag"....the only problem was that his pronunciation of flag comes out more like "f*!*k". Incredibly funny!! He loves animals and thankfully it seems we have moved on from Barney and are now progressing to Sesame Street. He had a great birthday and was once again spoiled to death. Thank you everyone that sent gifts/cards! He loved everything.

This past weekend we went to Schlitterbahn water park in Galveston. It was so hot but we had a great time there. We, of course, all got burnt (except for Riley) and looked like lobsters the next day but we had a really relaxing day playing in the water and floating around on the endless river. Unfortunately we are now all itchy and peeling like crazy! Nothing more attractive than a peeling nose.

Well that's it for now. Next on the agenda is the circus, the start of swim lessons, and Ben's annual trip to see the Angels. More to come! Click the below picture for pictures of Riley's birthday and our trip to Galvaston.

Random Pictures

It's been awhile since I've loaded new pictures and as I was going through all of our pictures I realized that there were a lot of things that I forgot to post about. So here is a link to a whole bunch of random pictures from the shortest trip to Galveston ever to Easter to Memorial Day to Father's Day.

Speaking of Father's Day....we didn't get to go out and do much that day since Riley was not feeling 100% and it was extremely hot outside. We had a nice breakfast, had a leisurely morning, puttered around the house all day, and then grilled up some bratwurst for dinner and had chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. It was a very nice relaxing day. Riley and I are both very lucky to have Ben....he is the most wonderful father. Even though he is starting his lab and is working non-stop he always makes time to spend with Riley even though it is probably killing him. So I can go to work early in the morning, Ben gets Riley ready for daycare every morning and drops him off. He always makes sure that he is home for dinner, then we have family time until Riley goes to bed at 8:00 pm. Ben then heads back to lab and doesn't get home until midnight or even later some nights. Even though this schedule is rough on him he does it so that he can spend as much time with Riley and I as possible and we both really appreciate it. We love him lots and lots and I couldn't imagine raising Riley with anyone except him. He is everything that I think a good father should be - loving, funny, patient, silly, strong (someone needs to be able to tote Riley around!). We love you Ben!

Click on the picture to see all of the pictures!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I love being a mom and my boys made me feel extra special today. Riley woke me up this morning with giggles and a balloon.....what a great way to wake up in the morning! Ben was really sweet and surprised me this morning with spice muffins from Mimi's Cafe....I love these muffins and since he knew that I loved them so much he made a special trip to another city 15 miles away the night before. He called the restaurant on Friday to make sure that they would have some for him to pick up Saturday night. When he got there they told him that they had sold out during the day but since they knew that he was coming that night to pick some up they made a batch just for him......how nice is that?? After a nice relaxing breakfast we headed to the Downtown Aquarium. It's a pretty small aquarium but we had a nice time seeing the different animals, riding a train through a shark tank, going on the merry-go-round, and taking a trip in the ferris wheel. It was a really warm day (in the 90s) and humid (I don't even want to think about summer) and it was only 11:30. Since Riley was so hot we decided to let him play in the water area and he had a blast. While he was playing in the water area he was also drinking an icee so by the time we were ready to head home he was not only dripping wet but he was sticky and blue. It was hilarous. We headed home, had a bath, had lunch, and then took a nap. After he woke up we did a little shopping and then tried a new ice cream spot (I'm determined to find something like Leatherby's out here - this place wasn't it!). We wrapped up the day with Frenchy's Fried Chicken (yum yum). I had such a great day. Ben and Riley really spoiled me - I have a spa day and a gift card to Lot 8 to enjoy another day - and we had a great time together. Father's Day is right around the corner so I'm going to have to start thinking of ideas! Click on the picture below to see pictures of today.