Reed's Birthday Week

We started the week off with Sunday dinner at Heather's house, in honor of Reed's birthday. We always love visiting her in Palo Alto. Look who was hoping for a piece of London broil:

Reed and I have been trying to go on walks in the evenings.  He has even been waking up and going into work earlier so that he can be home for dinner at a good hour, with plenty of time for a family walk afterwards. I really appreciate how seriously he takes his role as a husband and father. He is always willing to do whatever it takes to be there for all three of us, and it makes a huge difference to our family.

On this particular night, we wore the boys completely out!

Tuesday, I took the kids to our weekly park day. I send an email out weekly to all the young moms in our congregation, and we meet up and let the kids play while we talk with other adults. Cal has been practicing his pedal bike, and is getting really confident. The one thing he has yet to master is starting on his own; I ended up chasing him all over the park so I could launch him on his way every time he stopped. His friend E.J. (3-years-old) was really excited that Cal had a Lightning McQueen bike, and in his excitement, kept accidentally riding straight into Cal's trajectory. He'd yell, "Lightning McQueeeeeeeeen" and zoom right into Cal, who was, by then, also screaming. Nonstop comedy.

Even with the dive bombs, Cal was very good to his little friend, who followed him around the entire morning on his own red bike.

Tuesday night, Reed and I continued our semiannual "fancy feast" tradition at the Plumed Horse. We'd been once before, a few years ago, on Valentine's Day, and didn't have the best experience. We decided to give it another try, and we're so glad we did. This time, the food (and our experience) was fantastic. I tried abalone and antelope, and we both enjoyed copious offerings of amuse bouche from the chef (he was apparently in a very good mood that night). They even brought Reed his own supernova dessert with a candle for his birthday.

It was a great evening. I'm so glad this wonderful man was born.

We continue to enjoy our stay-at-home summer. Wednesday, we had an ice-cream social at our friend's house in the afternoon. The look on Cal's face can probably tell you how he felt about it:

Cal and his buddies enjoying their ice cream:

Cal picked out Reed's birthday present this year, and when it arrived, he begged to play it all day. Reed, good dad that he is, got Robot Rally all set up, and played through it with Cal.

Friday was miniature golfing with friends. This little golf course has been very good to us this year!

We partied nonstop this weekend. It was the first time we've left Elliot with a babysitter, and it went really well. We went out on a date (to see Guardians of the Galaxy--loved it!) Friday night, and then went to a Clue-themed housewarming party on Saturday night. I went as the maid, and Reed was Mr. Green. It was a hoot and a half. We laughed ourselves silly!

The baby did great with sitters both nights. Looks like a lot of date nights are in our near future!

The Week in Pictures

Elliot is a very happy baby. We can always make him squeal/giggle, and he often returns a smile with a big, bashful grin before hiding his face in my shoulder.

 Hie is also pretty interested in being held nonstop. Thankfully, I can usually get some things done by wearing him around in the carrier. My back is sure getting strong!

 Emergency trip to the laundromat this week. We misplaced the key to the laundry room at our apartment complex, so Cal helped me take everything to a laundromat when we ran our of clean clothes.

 Bowling with friends. The worker was so nice and brought the kids two special bowling balls that only weighed 6 pounds. It was still a struggle for either of the kids to lift them, but each of them did manage a spare -- all on their own!

A cooking class with good friends at Sur la Table this week. The theme was "Summer Fiesta." It was so fun spending time with these two girls. (And I even smuggled some pork home to my husband!)

 Dinner and swimming with friends. They made us pizza on their grill (fantastic!), and the kids ran around changing in and out of swimsuits.

 Reed got to try out their new drum set. Look at that smile!

 The kids had a dancing contest while Reed was drumming.

 And finally, ending the week with a splash in the pool with Dad and friends.

 Just a cross section of our summer. :)

Summer of Love: Food Trucks

Reed and I have been wanting to try out the food trucks for a while now, and we decided that getting a group together for dinner would make for a perfect summer's evening. We certainly weren't disappointed.

 About halfway through the evening, the street musicians made an announcement and had the crowd serenade Cal for his birthday. Here he is waving to everyone as the accordion hummed out "Happy Birthday."

We drove home under a starry sky, bellies full of street tacos and frozen custard, ears ringing with accordion music, kids asleep in their carseats. :)

Summer of Love: Beach Day

Summer is Here!

Final field trip: Pizza party:

Last day of preschool water party:

Swim Lessons with Elena and Sammy:

Rob's Birthday Party at the drive-in:

Park visits:

Monday Morning movie club:

Kids Bowl Free:

We Love Summer!