Date Night Dilema

Me:  Vinny, with Daddy out of town tonight, how 'bout we go out to eat on a date?
Vinny:  But Mommy!  I too short to drive the car.

Back to Reality

Well, to say we had a whirlwind of a time on the east coast is an understatement.  Everyone says you need a vacation from your vacation, but in our case, our home is a vacation.  My love of this city continues to surprise me.  So once the suitcases were unpacked and laundry finished, almost anyways, it was time to get back to the beach!  It's just that easy to do.

Not five seconds after dropping our bags, Vinny makes his first sand angel of the day.

Time to start digging a hole.

First time buried in the sand!

Struggling to work his way out of the hole.

Another first:  Stepping foot, on purpose, in the Pacific Ocean!  Vinny actually wanted to dip his toes into the water, and since the waves were remarkably calm, he had a bit more confidence...but do note the death grip on my hand.

Summer Vacation 2012

How did I forget to publish this???  Our trip back east this summer brought us to Connecticut AND Virginia.    Here's Vinny in his death grip take off position.  Seems I've passed my fear of flying on to him, no matter how hard I've tried not to show it.

Fun times with Cousin Blaise!

Cruising in the jeep...

Playing at the Science Center...

Riding the Carousel in Bushnell Park....

On the bench of course...

First trip to Bart's for a hot dog...

Mystic Aquarium

Hanging out with Babci, Dzadui, and Uncle Tommy

Driving down to Aunt Missy's in Virginia for Mommo's funeral service.

This just sort of sums it all up.  In our haste to get to the airport, we forgot Ant's briefcase.  So with a little backtracking and the help of Greg and Bill, we were on our way.  Oy.

Before I forget...

A while back I was driving back from the mall with Vinny when we passed by our church.  

Me:  Look Vinny, there's our church.  Do you remember the name of our church?

Vinny:   Ummmm....

Me:  You remember, Holy(eeeeeeeee)....

Vinny:  Moly!

Preschool Pictures

Vinny's First Official School Portrait

First Lutheran Preschool, Monrovia, CA

3 years old

Part of the beauty of being the director of the little preschool is that Vinny and I get to carpool to work everyday.  He's always referred to it as "Mommy and Vinny School" so we had our picture taken together, too!

Teachers:  Ms. Isis and Ms. Thelma
Best Buddies:  Matthew and Jayden
Favorite Songs:  the ABC's and Baby Bumblebee

Favorite Prayer:  Tick Tock (Tick tock, tick tock, now it's time to pray.  Tick tock, tick tock, as we softly say:  Thank you for our food today, Jesus.  Amen)

Favorite Activities:  projects that require glueing shapes down (he is very careful, methodical, and neat);  running, climbing, and digging out on the playground.

Best thing he learned this year:  Jesus died on the cross and went to heaven to be with Mommo.  A little backwards, but here's the story:  While walking into our church one Sunday, Vinny pointed to the cross and noted that Jesus died on the cross.  Later, while reading a story about Jesus' ascension into Heaven, Vinny stood up and announced "Just like Mommo."  And there you go.  He's 3 and he gets it.  

Disney Days

Here We Come Mickey!

Thanks to his good buddy, Evan, Vinny's enthusiasm for Mickey Park has improved...so much so that he even asked to wear his ears!  So, before the summer crowds infiltrated and our annual pass became restricted by blackout dates, we took one last trip to Anaheim to meet up with the Lafko's in Disneyland.

For weeks, we looked at pictures and YouTube videos of rides and characters.  Still, Vinny insisted he would only ride the bench on the carousel.  Graciously, Evan agreed to ride with him, and then made friends with the Gramma that sat next to him.

Then it was off to the next "bench" ride on Vinny's itinerary, It's a Small World.  He always wears a serious face, so we had to keep asking "Vinny are you happy?"  He'd nod or say a quick yes, so we'd have to remind him to smile.  And this is the result:

Still holding tight to Daddy's leg, taking in all the sights, sounds, and hidden characters in It's a Small World. 

Next stop, a ride that Vinny chickened out of last time, Winny the Pooh.  It was a strange ride, but we had an interesting experience...   

Near the end of our ride, the cars stopped and a voice came over the intercom explaining they had a "sticky situation" (I can't make this stuff up, Disney has thought of everything) and the ride was no longer operational.   So we waited for rescue and before long we were being skillfully escorted out of our honeypot and through the Hundred Acre Wood on foot.

 

We were all disappointed to find out that the line for Buzz Lighyear's ride went to infinity and beyond, and we just were not up for waiting in it with 3 little ones, so we thought it would be just as much fun to use Vinny's Buzz Blaster toy to shoot the Little Mermaid and her friends.  That's probably not very politically correct, but it did prevent a major meltdown, AND helped Vinny muster up the courage to want to go on that ride again!  So little by little, he is starting to like the rides, just as long as they are not too fast, too up and down, or too 'pinny (spinny).

 We won't go back to Disney until September probably, when everyone goes back to school and the hype over the new Cars Land dies down a bit.  From the previews I've seen, it's amazing, and I can't wait to step into Radiator Springs!

Jump 'n Jammin' Playdate

This place was AWESOME!  With the company of my Moms Club, this was the perfect place for Vinny to climb and explore.  On the third level (and yes, I traversed the structure for moral support) Vinny had fun shooting balls out of the blaster.  He even hit the target a couple times!

Bribes

Though not proud of it, we won't deny its effectiveness.  Its enormous ability to get Vinny to do just about anything we ask of him.  We know this won't last forever, but while we are in this stage, we will gladly take advantage of it.  These cool driving goggles are a reward for staying in his stroller while searching all over creation for a special father's day present.

Milestone Alert!

It took but 1 short weekend and Vinny is officially potty trained at 38 months!  We just went hard core, threw away the diapers and went straight to big boy underwear.  Following the advice of many friends and a "3 day potty training" method I read about, we stayed home and worked it out. According to our nephew Justin, potty training was a better deal than Christmas for Vinny, with all the prizes he got for going on the potty.  We didn't have many accidents and he really seemed to get the hang of it quickly, even poopin' on the potty.  Yay Vinny!  You are officially a big boy!!!

2 x 2

Well, seems as though I like to update the 'ol blog every 2 months, so here's what we've been up to this past April and May:

But first some photos from the vault...came across these few mixed amongst some other shots.  This first one is from way back in March when we visited the Reagan Library with my parents.  It had poured all day, but right as we were about to leave, the clouds parted and we had the most gorgeous view of Simi Valley-so clear that we could see all the way to the ocean...though hard to see in the photo, we could see the Pacific shimmering as the sun set upon it.  Stunning.

I knew I had this somewhere!  Vinny and Pat the Hammer helped Daddy put together the big boy bed right before Vinny turned 3.

Back to Vinny's Birthday, here he is sporting his "cool sungwasses" from Gramma and Papa...along with the kitchen we gave him, which apparently the grandfathers both agree is a sign of "a different era."   

Found this one on Ant's phone, this is our view from our cottage in Sonoma with the Prathers back in the beginning of March.  I had to include it  since this scene just brings me peace.  Ahhh... 

Found this one on his phone too...this was from an afternoon out and about for lunch in Old Town Monrovia.

And here's that Easter table scape I was searching for!  Not as elaborate as Gram and Papa's, but still I was proud to carry on our family tradition with Vinny.

And now I think I am back on track with April and May escapades...

These made it to Facebook a while back.  Still makes me laugh!  Gotta love Costco! 

Not sure what led to this fun-coma, but I remember Anthony carrying Vinny in from the car and changing him into pajamas without ever disturbing his stone cold passed out slumber.

One day we'll all look back on Pinterest and laugh about all the crazy crafty projects it inspired us to collect and then do nothing with.  But here is one that I pinned and completed!  A $15 lamp and shade from Goodwill, plus another $15 of fabric and embellishments equals one really cute lamp for Vinny's red, white, and blue room.

Aww, preschool nap time.  He sleeps like this all the time. 

Waiting in line for Toy Story Mania at "Mickey Park."

Getting excited for the ride!  Turns out, Vinny did not love the "pinny" motion of the ride and may be potentially ruined for all rides that spin, bump, or go up and down.  But we have one more trip to Disney planned before our summer blackout days, so we'll see...

Out for frozen yogurt... 

Late afternoon beach day at Hermosa Beach.  

Vinny refuses to even let the ocean touch his toes, but play in the sand all day?  Sure! 

 

My absolute favorite...

Time to Climb!

Our neighbor's church held their annual Fiesta Carnival fundraiser early this month, and to no one's surprise, Vinny wanted nothing to do with the rides.  But after lots of coaxing, Anthony finally got him to climb up this net to get to the curvy slide.  This was a big deal!

You can see him turing around to give me the thumbs up signal on his way up the climber.  Not sure where he got the idea, but I sure like his confidence!  He did this at the carnival, too.  We hadn't been to Library Park in a long time, so it was really great to get out one afternoon to play!

A New Found Field Trip!

We recently discovered the Aquarium of the Pacific, Vinny's new favorite place to visit. 

Checking out the sting rays. 

And the horseshoe crabs. 

These two guys amaze me.  I am one lucky girl. 

Though that's an enormous sea ray right there, Vinny was referring to the "Big Sharks" in this tank.  He loved the sawtooth shark the best.

Finding Nemo!  (and Dory, too!) 

And Crush, the sea turtle! 

Though not impressed with the new penguin exhibit, Vinny did enjoy making a penguin craft and showing it off for a picture " to send to Gramma."  I love how he understnds how I text pictures to my mom.  Now every time we take a picture, he reminds me "to send it to Gramma."   

Jellyfish are soothing to look at...in a tank. 

Grateful

Boppo came out for Mother's Day Weekend, and while we didn't make it to Mulholland Drive, we did manage to get in a breakfast at the track.  Here's Vinny sporting a pretty good face wound.  One can only jump off the patio steps enough times before one face plants.  Happy to report it healed up well, with just a small scar.

 

On our way out of the grocery store, Vinny was able to swindle a couple coins out of Boppo's pocket to play the claw game.  Hmm, and all this time I thought it was broken...and the little guy fell for it every time.  Let's see how this goes the next time we go shopping.  Could get ugly.

Anthony and I celebrated 13 years of marriage that weekend, too.  He sent me beautiful flowers and we dined at Mario Batali's Osteria Mozza in West Hollywood.  It was a treat.  Sooooo delicious!

If that wasn't enough, Anthony took us to the Hotel St. Regis in Laguna Beach for Mother's Day brunch.  Holy Moly.  This was unlike any brunch I had EVER eaten.  And the view just couldn't be beat.  Talk about living the high life.  We were dining with the beautiful people, that's for sure.  Of course it was obvious that their beauty was purchased...funny how one's face could be so perfectly sculpted and her legs couldn't be more lumpy and old looking.  Oh, plastic surgery.  You are funny.  But I digress...

Our meal was amazing, and the venue was perfect.  But the day was bittersweet.  Joan was heavy on our hearts.  Bill had given me a necklace that Joan wore faithfully, a bear that reminded her of Anthony since his college nickname was "the bear."  I made sure to wear it close to my heart on Mother's Day for her.  Well, when Vinny spotted it, he lifted it off my chest and said, "Hey, this Mommo's bear."

And we worried he would have no memory of Joan.  Not so.

After our late brunch, we headed up the PCH to a beach to play in the sand.  It was a beautiful day.  Another reminder of how blessed I am to be Vinny's mommy.  I thought I would never take any minute of it for granted, but I'd be lying.  The truth is, there are days that I just never anticipated.  Temper tantrums?  Whining?  Time outs?  No way, never gonna happen with this little angle, right?  Ha!  But on this day, I was reminded of how awesome he is, and how happy our little family unit makes me.  Nothing else matters. 

It was cold, but at least the sun was shining! 

Pockets make Vinny very happy! 

Sold!

While here in California, Bill got a call that his house had a serious offer on it, so he went back to AZ early to take care of business.  Sine everything seemed to be moving so fast, I hopped in the car with Vinny the next weekend to help him pack up some things.  We made a lot of progress, but all that packing works up an appetite.  So he had to take a break to dunk Oreos in a glass of milk with Vinny.   Babci will be excited to hear this news, since that is a tradition at her house!

We rarely have opportunities to visit pals when we go back to AZ, but Bill was sweet enough to babysit so I could wish my dear friend and former teaching partner, Jen, a found farewell before she and her family move to Indianapolis.  Happy trails friend!  

Summer Vacation Kick-Off!

And finally, the latest in our California Adventures...The Lafkos swung by for a Memorial Day weekend visit before they head over to Disneyland.  We'll meet them there Thursday night for one last visit to the Happiest Place on Earth before the summer crowds infiltrate.  How cute are these two???

 

Off to the beach.  

Anthony got this tip...mistake number one.  While we did avoid the massive holiday weekend crowds and impossible parking, the location was, well, different.  You'll see in the pictures that follow.  Didn't take Vinny long to settle into the scene.  He knows how to relax.

Leah wasted no time getting comfy in the beach chair, too!  Sweet girl! 

The rocky beach was not ideal for Vinny's favorite ball game, but it was surely good for collecting "ice cube rocks."

So when they say one day California is going to fall off into the Pacific and Arizona will be beach front property, this may be why...check out those cliffs right behind us!  And yes, we had to haul all our $&!+ back up the hill, too...you'll see... 

Up we go... 

Awww... 

Okay okay, the view was pretty amazing.  And yes, this would be one of those "moments" where we shake our heads and ask, "We really live here???"  Yep.  Not too shabby. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...Boomer is not shy.  He wasted no time making friends with Marty. 

Ant and Marty manned the Memorial Day grill while kelly and I took the kids to the Zoo.

The LA Zoo markets the elephant exhibit like no other, yet we hardly ever see them out and about.  So we were pretty excited to see this one up close!

Just like Papa, reading the map (yes, really reading the map and pointing his finger along the path) before we head to our next stop, the monkeys! 

This morning on the way to preschool, Vinny said, "I love Evan." Just 3 months apart, Evan was Vinny's first buddy.  A woman sitting near us at the chimpanzee habitat asked if they were twins.  Nope, but two peas in a pod? Maybe. 

Next stop, Disneyland!  See you Thursday Lafkos!