Thanksgiving 2012

This year, for the first time ever, we hosted Thanksgiving.

I am unbelievably thankful for the 27 family members who crammed into our dining room (and also for those who couldn't make it).  There was not one single thing that I didn't have help with, from the turkey to the clean up.

The Wombat absolutely refused to try a bite of anything, so here he is with his yogurt during the feast.

He did love the whipped cream though.

Happy Holidays!!!

Wedding Weekend

Earlier this month we attended one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to: My sister-in-law and now brother-in-law's ceremony at Slide Ranch.  The venue was totally unique and STUNNING, as was the bride.

Brigitte and the bridesmaids got ready in the super cute cottage that we stayed in, courtesy of my father-in-law, in Muir Beach.  This place is definitely going to be somewhere to return on vacation someday.

The Little Wombat was the ring bearer.  Unfortunately he had to walk a very loooong way holding his cousin's hand and so there were some tears but he managed to make it down the aisle....where I was waiting with a sucker to keep him quiet for the rest of the ceremony.  He was his normal, adorable little self the rest of the ceremony and reception, which was a relief since this is how he reacted the first time I tried his complete outfit on:

There were too many things for The Wombat to explore at the venue so he forgot to be upset about his attire.  Plus I also bribed him with sticks.

I was busy keeping this little one year old from throwing dirt at guests, sticking his hand in the extra sheet cake (OMG I would have DIED), wandering too close to an electric fence around the chickens and just trying to keep up with his four year old cousin. That being said, I didn't get to take as many picture as I would have liked to, but their photographer did an amazing job!!! He was super on the ball and had them up on his website a few days after the event. You can check out the rest of his pictures over at Duy Ho Photography but here are a few of my absolute favs:

The first glance. Oh, how I love this picture!!!

The ceremony.

The kiss.

Landon hugging his second cousin :)

Our little family.

The bride and groom did all of the signs, centerpieces, bouquets, basically everything themselves.  Seriously, amazing.

The party.

We could not be more happy for them!!!

The following day we were able to have a little family fun at the beach, which was just a short walk from our cottage.

It's not often we get to visit the ocean so it was a nice treat to wrap up what was already a great weekend :)

Pismo Beach

Last week some unfortunate circumstances led us to take a trip down to Pismo Beach.  My mom's cousin and uncle both passed away and since my mom was already at our house helping us move, Landon and I drove her down to Pismo to be with family.

L and I kept busy by being the errand runners - food, clothes, what have you.  And we also played at the beach (get ready for picture overload)...

I love Pismo because the sand is so soft and doesn't get stuck in little toes.  Plus there are swings EVERYWHERE.  And if you know anything about The Wombat, you know he loooooves swings.

And we visited Dinosaur Caves Park, which is pretty much the cutest park ever.  It has a random mix of dinosaurs and sea animals.  I love finding unique parks like this!  It's nice to switch it up a bit from the mundane play structure you see park after park.

Takin' a ride on the USS Imagination.

 

And a ride on a dolphin:

 



We even braved a ride on the tire swing:

My offer to drive sort of just fell out of my mouth before I had the chance to think about the potential disaster this sort of trip could be with a one year old who just learned the word "no"  but a few hours later we were all packed up and on the road. I didn't have time to count all the things that could go wrong.

Which is good because nothing went wrong.

We spent 20 hours in the car in a four day span and this kid maybe cried for 10 minutes of drive time and slept straight through every night. He was quite the little road trip trooper.  I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to show our support to our family and to spend some quality time with my mom (it's not often we get to hog her all to ourselves). 

Family Hike

We have a lot of house buying stress around here right now...home inspections, loan applications, insurance, signing, signing and signing loads of paperwork full of leagalese that we can barely follow.  Every time we turn around there's more papers to sign or something was dated incorrectly or someone's name was wrong.  BLEH.

Then trying to pick out paint, flooring, carpet and discovering we have not so similar taste. UGH.

So last week we decided to take a break from it all and have family day up at Wright's Lake. 

It's a really easy, flat hike all the way around the lake.  Landon got to ride on Ben's back the whole way.  He loves being in the backpack and is always content for our hikes :) 

Oh...uh this is our new dog, Dozer, who probably deserves a separate post unto himself.  He looooves the water and he loves playing fetch so when we combined the two, he was in heaven.

The Little Wombat didn't really know what to make of it.  

After we hiked around we found a little spot with some sand to play in (well, by sand I really mean mud) much to Landon's delight.  He threw the ball in the lake for Dozer and verntured ankle deep into the lake.  I totally didn't even think to bring his water shoes and there were too many little rocks and twigs for him to go barefoot.  Luckily, his little hiking boots are dark brown so no harm done. 

After fetching the ball in the water about fifty times, Dozer was worn out and Ben had to swim out to get the ball he'd thrown too far, lol!

It was a great day and exactly what this little family needed!

A Shower for My Sister

My sister in law, Brigitte, is getting married.  Which means Landon is getting another uncle and I'm getting another brother! Yay!  It is such an exciting thing to have your family expanding.  I am so happy for Brigitte, she is just the sweetest sister in law ever.  She was the first person to really welcome me into the family when I started dating Ben and has always been so supportive and encouraging to both of us. 

So in honor of my lovely SIL (who threw me a fantastic baby shower) I threw her a bridal shower.  Brigitte's Aunt Sally was kind enough to host it at her beautiful home. 

Pictured above:  The lovely bride opening some presents, a picture of Brigitte and her soon to be mother-in-law, guests playing Bridal Bingo and the Clothespin Game.

Decor:  Chalkboard Frames, Painted Jars & Bottles, Cupcake Toppers, Cake Stand, Tissue Paper Pom Poms

I always like to creat an address-your-own-thank-you-card station where guests can write their address on an envelope and save the bride or expectant mother some time. It's such a busy and stressful few months leading up to a wedding or a birth that any little cut corner helps :)

Pictured above:  Me, Brigitte and Sydney (my other sister in law)

It was an easy shower to host with such a great group of women. I am so excited for my sister in law's big day!!  It's just around the corner!

Linked to:  Tatertots & Jello, Serenity Now, I Heart Nap Time, Snips & Spice, Nifty Thrifty Things,  I Heart Nap Time,  Not Just a Housewife, The DIY Showoff, The 36th Avenue, A Diamond in the Stuff

Horses eat carrots...my 16 month old knows it :)

A couple weeks ago, Landon and I took a mini trip to visit my parents.  The Wombat absolutely adores exploring his grandparents' house.  There is so much to do, but his hands down favorite thing to do is feed the horses.

I think I have a little cowboy on my hands already. He makes neighing sounds as soon as we start up the driveway.  He also makes neighing sounds when grandma (whom he has dubbed Me-Maw) picks him up because he knows she will take him to say hello and maybe feed the horses some carrots.  He neighs at toy horses, spring horses, horses he saw on a preview for the Olympic Games.  It amazes me, that he has such a recognition for horses in all shapes and sizes at 16 months of age (and really, it started even earlier).

The other day I was preparing dinner and Landon was begging for some food so I handed him a baby carrot.  He took off running and when he started neighing, I peeked into the living room and saw him trying to feed his spring horse a carrot!  The exact same thing his grandma showed him with the real horses TWO WEEKS AGO!!!  This is possibly the cutest thing he's ever done:

I am in serious awe about how quickly the little brains of children develop and the connections they can form at such a young age.  It is such an exciting stage to witness!

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Linking To: Ni Hao Yall: Sunday Snapshot, Simple As That: Simple Things Sunday, The Paper Mama: Photo Challenge, Mama Pea Pod: Outdoor Play

Play Fort

So when it broke 100 for the first time this summer, we decided to stay indoors the whole day.   Days like this are hard on the Little Wombat, who needs constant outdoor time to exert all of his built up toddler energy. 

Days like this are also tough on my furniture because when we skip the park my couch transforms into a full on bounce house. 

So to compromise, we built a fort. 

Landon got really into it once we added the tunnel and the ball pit. 

Here he is hanging out with his dad in the fort.

And here they are defending their fort from mommy's camera :)

All in all, a great indoor day!
          

Mini Mountain Getaway

Ben and I were fortunate enough to get a night away together this week!  My wonderful father in law had given us an anniversary gift (in April) that included a gift certificate to Sorensen's Resort, use of his BMW (which Ben was ecstatic about) and overnight babysitting (which I was ecstatic about).

So on Monday we headed up the mountain.  We stopped for dinner at the Kirkwood Inn.  It's like the best hole in the wall restaurant/bar EVER. The food and atmosphere are amazing.

Shortly thereafter, we arrived at Sorensen's.  There was some wine and a cute little note wishing us a happy 3rd anniversary waiting for us in our cabin.  We hiked around.  Had dessert in our cabin.  Ate the BEST breakfast at the cafe.  We brought our books, mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the silence.  Quiet time really only exists when Landon is sleeping these days so it was nice to have a serene getaway.

We have a toddler in the house who demands most of our attention, which we gladly give, but it is so nice and SO IMPORTANT for our marriage to have some alone time and focus only on each other.  We are so blessed that all of Landon's grandparents are more than willing to give us that chance :)

Some Afternoon Croquet

Ben taught Landon how to play croquet at my sister Jessica's wedding:

How cute is that?!?!