Hair help

Last weekend we had an impromptu playdate at Annie's.

For the kids and the adults.

While I was enjoying Annie's recap of it here,

I started to notice something.

No, not the creative use of ....well, I'm not really sure what that net is used for

But.

Addison's hair.

It's in need of a little bit of help.

Andy affectionately refers to it as her

"Dumb & Dumber Jeff Daniels" look.

I just don't know what to do with it anymore.

It's got that natural wave that is going to make the CHI her best friend later in life.

I seriously contemplated starting her on it now, but instead began to google

"cute pre-school girls hair"

Did you know there are blogs dedicated to this?

It was news to me.

But I found one that I couldn't stop reading here.

This girl is working with about 10 times the amount of hair my fine-haired child has

but today I decided that I didn't want Addison to look back on pictures of herself at 3

and wonder why her mommy didn't love her.

I KID.

I decided to start to put a little more effort into it.

I know we've got a long way to go....

but it wasn't too bad for our first...or second...or third try.

And I think she's definitely lost the Jeff Daniel's look.

Addison, your mommy loves you very much.

Just forgive me if Jeff Daniels sometimes wins out on hurried mornings.

Nana & Poppy do Cali

Last week was an exceptional week at our house.

Nana came to visit and got to spend a LOT of time with her grandkids.

Which meant that Andy and I had a little quality time of our own.

It was bliss.

My kids were in heaven.

By the way, this picture is to document my mom's "relaxed" attire.

She does not own a pair of jeans.

Let me say that again.

She's retired and she does not own a pair of jeans.

We do casual in this house so she had to borrow some "play" clothes.

One thing I really wanted to do while she was here was get some pictures of her with the kids.

You know how you have that vision of generational bliss that gets captured and becomes a keepsake forever?

My mom and I both had it, but we got mostly this.

I did manage to get a few cute ones though.

They are in the mail to you mom!

Struggling a bit to get G to cooperate.

Take 2....

and we'll just go ahead and crop Addison out of this one and call it as good as it gets for one with Grambo.

My dad flew in on Thursday and we got to spend a couple of nights with him before they both left on Saturday.

We went to Scripps Aquarium on Friday

this tank was huge!!!

Finding Nemo.

Literally.

We couldn't leave until we found him.

Graham tried to dive in headfirst to touch the starfish.

Do you notice that Andy is wearing a fleece?

It's June.

And around here, it's what's called June Gloom.

We had a little bit of "May Grey", but June Gloom has been pretty consistent.

Still not complaining....too much.

It's just that last time my parents were here it rained for 10 days straight.

And it pretty much hasn't rained since.

I wanted them to enjoy San Diego in all of it's glory.

I don't know if they believe me that this is not typical.

We did get a little sunshine though and headed straight to the beach with Nana.

We'll have the sunny weather waiting for you when you come back to see us again....SOON.

18 Months

Oh my little man, how did we get here already?

You are growing and changing SOO much lately!

You constantly make me smile and amaze me with how much you already know.

Your vocabulary has totally taken off.

You went in a matter of about two weeks from 5 words to close to 30.

You will also try to say just about anything.

You are totally mischievous!

you love to run away, especially if we're chasing you.

If we say no, you just smile and give us this look.

You are ULTRA-OBSESSED with cars and wheels right now.

You will point out and yell, "car" for every car you see.

This can make for a very long car ride.

You adore your sister and she loves you so much.

I love that you guys play with each other all the time and are so excited to see each other each morning.

If we go to a park and play with other kids, you guys usually end up playing with each other and are happy to be each other's best playmate.

It makes my heart so happy.

Daredevil.

You.

You pretty much keep up with the big kids now and scoff at the kiddie slides.

You will climb anything you can.

You love playing Peek a boo!

I think you like doing this because it makes mommy crack up each time.

You can point to your nose, eyes, etc.

and love to stick out your tongue.

Lately, you also are so excited when daddy comes home and want to wrestle with him all the time.

You also love watching "b ball" with him.

He's very excited to introduce you to college football in just a few short months.

Here are your 18 month stats little man!

I love you to pieces.

Seriously, I could kiss your sweet face all day.

Height: 34.25 inches (94%)

Weight: 26 pounds (53%)

Head: 48 cm (80%)

Touch a Truck

Let it be known that my parents are in town so the blog has taken a back seat to quality time, errands without kids, and date nights with the hubby.

You really do forget how great it is to have family close until it only happens a couple of times a year....and then you just treasure it.

Last weekend before the Lebo's invaded San Diego, we went to one of the greatest family outings ever....TOUCH A TRUCK.

It is a fundraiser for children's cancer in memory of a little boy named, Max.

Every proceed goes to fund research to beat something I pray that I never have to know personally. I cannot even imagine.

We had such an incredible time. The kids got to explore, sit in, "drive" and touch every kind of cool vehicle you can imagine.

It is heaven for any 3 -5 year old boy.

It's "pretty cool" for any 3 year old girl.

It's heaven and torture for an 18 month year old boy who doesn't understand what lines mean and that other kids are waiting to share the prized possession of a wheel.

For the 60 seconds he was allowed to "drive" each vehicle, the boy was in absolute paradise.

It's a strategic obstacle course for any parent of any age.

We ran into people we knew! To be fair, we followed Annie on the left, but we ran into Stephanie!!! Being "new" to an area, you take for granted how used to it you are to walk into a restaurant, grocery store, or Target and do a quick scan to see who else you happen to know who's there. It was a thrill to run into 3 families we knew. We're becoming local!!! =)

Checking out the cars with friends....

I don't think Addison ever got to touch a wheel.

Graham kind of demanded his place.

She was fairly content to be chauffeured around though.

Riding in the big rig.

We bought a handful of raffle tickets, which I was not aware had to be filled out by hand.

I'm pretty sure my husband was cursing my name while filling out 4 lines of information for all 20 raffle tickets.

And walking around to kill time so that we would be "present" for the drawings.

I'm pretty sure he asked me to leave a few times because "you know we're not going to win anything"

Oh.

But we did.

For just about every single raffle we entered.

10 hot wheel cars

$50 gift card to Roy's

4 Birch aquarium passes

AND....

4

Park Hopper tickets to LEGOLAND!!!!

I would say it was a good day.

And that we used every ounce of allocated good luck in a lifetime.

Well worth a little juice in the hair.

Except that would be Stew.

You know my husband would never allow that kind of thing.