July 2008

July has been busy with both work and fun activities! July 4th weekend was crazy but really fun, especially for the kids. We spent the weekend with our friends the Lewellings and Coes enjoying all the activities in town. We had a parade early in Downtown Monterey, an old fashioned BBQ at Caledonia park - including bounce houses - and fireworks that evening after naps and dinner at our house. (and a birthday party the next afternoon!) By Monday morning, the kids were completely exhausted!

The rest of July was spent in a blur of birthday parties, baby showers, play dates and getting prepared for our trip to Hawaii. Cole and Eva are going with Mom and their friend Amari (and his mom!) to Oahu on the 30th for a week. (Daddy has to stay home and work - but still gets a break too!) We had our friends (Eva's age) Vicky & Sophia's 2nd birthday parties to go to in early July...very fun! Eva got to hit her first pinata! (What? You WANT me to hit it? A confusing concept for a toddler...) Vicky's party was at Lovers Point and Sophia's party was at a Community Center/Park in Seaside...both with lots of daycare friends there! They had such a great time, and Eva is really beginning to like cake!

Eric and I took advantage of our first "Parents Night Out" with our daycare. They have a program that allows the parents to leave the kids at daycare until 10 pm on one Friday night each month and go on a date! The kids get a pizza party and videos with their friends while the parents are out. Eric and I went to see a movie (well, to preview for Cole) and out to sushi for the first time in I can't remember how long! We got done early enough to come home and clean the house for the weekend before heading out to get the kids. Cole did great, but Eva was a little lonely in the under 2 room. They brought her over to the big kids room with her brother, and she was fine after that. She just missed her "Bole."

The next weekend, after we had previewed the movie last Friday, we took Cole to see his first movie at a movie theater! We saw Wall-E (pixar - his favorite) with Cole's friends Lucas, Jonah and Sean. It was great - one of the main characters is "Eeeeva" and he really got a kick out of that! In all, he and his friends had a great time.

Both kids are doing very well in school...Cole has moved up to the preschool class now that he is totally potty-trained (Yes!..one down, one to go!). He loves the "big boy" class and is really learning quite a bit. Eva is starting to get quite a vocabulary...and is talking every chance she gets. (We can actually understand her!) They have both have been great fun to play with and we are having such a great time with them. Now that they can both run, jump, climb, etc at the parks together, they are really best friends...I hope it stays this way!

Here are some photos of our adventures this month! I'm sure I'll have some fun Hawaii photos to post next month. Have a great rest of the summer!

Erin, Eric, Cole & Eva

June 2008

Summer is here!! At least that is what the calendar says. June has started with mixed weather, but we have been keeping busy anyway.

We have had lots of playgroup fun on the weekends. We have gone to the park in Carmel Valley and River School most weekends. The kids love playing with everyone, and the parents enjoy the long naps that follow!

For Father's Day we enjoyed a relaxing day with "Daddy" in the morning. I made breakfast for Eric and the kids and we just played with the kids at home. After naptime, we went to dinner at Pepper's with Grandma & Grandpa Gustaveson and Nana. The kids had a great time, especially playing with the cement whale after dinner (in front of the local museum). We went back to our house for presents and dessert.

We hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

Erin, Eric, Cole & Eva

May 2008

Finally! We have had beautiful sunny weather around here! Well, at least in between the overcast/foggy days.

We actually had some summer weather this month, so we have been busy outside trying to make the most of it. Eric and I finally finished installing the flooring that we started last September! It looks so much better...and is much easier to clean!

The kids have enjoyed the nice summer-like weather as much as we have. There have been some great days at school for them...they especially like when the teachers let them strip down to underwear/diapers and play in the water. We have some really cute pictures of them from school enjoying ice cream and playing in the water to keep cool.

There have been a few birthday's this month, as many of Cole's friends are turning 3. His friend, Rowan celebrated his birthday at a jump house place. The kids all had a great time running around and generally being crazy. Cole and his friend Vid learned all about air hockey, but Cole enjoyed hitting the puck into his own goal more than the opponent. (Sigh) We'll have to work on the rules! Cole's friend, Jonah had his 3rd birthday at the park. We all went up to Santa Cruz to a park up there to celebrate. Even though they had not seen each other since Cole's birthday in February, it was like no time had passed. They had such a good time...and Eva got to see her friend, Eden as well. Towards the end of the month, Cole's friend, Braiden, had a birthday party with a rented bounce house - we had an exhausted boy by naptime!

We took a mini family trip in mid-May to visit Aunt Krista & Barish in San Francisco and go to a Giants game. The weather was really hot - one of our mini heat waves - and it was really fun. The kids really enjoyed the baseball game and were well behaved until almost 9:30 PM! (Eva did stick her fingers in someone else's soda behind us, but was quickly reprimanded by the owner, and kept her hands to herself the rest of the game!) Cole is actually beginning to understand the game a bit, so he could follow what was going on. Eva just enjoyed the front row seating...she kept standing on her chair, and waving the "audience" behind her. When we finally left the game, she waved to everyone in the stands as we walked up saying, "Bye, bye baseball!" She was quite a hit with everyone sitting in our section. (Little ham!)

We enjoyed a great breakfast on Chestnut Street and some window shopping before heading back home. The kids enjoyed seeing the store where their "kitties" came from, but were sad when we couldn't take all the new kitties home with us.

Every Sunday, we still have our little playgroup for the kids. We have had some really fun weekends and sometimes the bigger kids get to come too. There have been some fun times with our new friends, and even Cole is enjoying the time with the younger kids (and his friends too!) at River School.

We hope everyone is enjoying their summer! Please remember that we are up for visitors anytime!

Erin, Eric, Cole & Eva

April 2008

April was not extremely eventful, but as the weather is warming up, we have been getting out and about more often. (Great for the parents - long naps for the kids!) The only exciting thing that happened is that ERIC GOT A JOB!!! After a couple of months of searching, Eric is now working for Ross Roofing in Seaside...only a 10 minute commute! He really likes it and there is a lot of opportunity for him at this company. Yea!!!!

We went out to dinner at Peppers (local mexican food restaurant in town - yum!) with Grandma Cilandra in early April. Eva got her first taste of salsa, and it was a HIT! I had to eventually take her spoon away, since she was eating it out of the bowl without the chips! (That's my girl!) They both got to run some energy out after dinner at a local park and Lovers Point beach. Cole really can terrorize the birds when he wants to! We finally went home when they started getting cold, but they slept really well that night!

Eva had a little accident this month...she fell and hit her head on the sink at school and split her eyelid open. We had to run her to the doctor to have him tape it shut. Of course, she ripped it out by that evening, so Mommy and Eva got to spend the evening in the ER getting it fixed again. (She left it alone after that!) They did a really good job, and you can barely see the scar...but she is starting to show a slight accident-prone nature!

In April, we started a weekend playgroup with some of Eva's friends. The first weekend Mommy & Eva went while Cole & Dad spent some "guy time" together looking around downtown Monterey at the ships in the harbor and exploring the local parks. The playgroup was fun, and Eva really enjoyed meeting some new and old friends at a new place to play. The playgroup was great fun! We met at River School in Carmel, and the weather was beautiful. It's hard to beat a playground with a view of the beach in Carmel! Cole had a great time with Daddy, but was feeling a little left out, so now we all go on the playdates. (Except Daddy...he gets a couple hours without us to relax or catch up on chores!)

The Good Old Days also happened in April, and the weather that weekend was HOT! (See the photos of Eva & Cole in "summer clothes?") We went down and saw the parade with our friends Summer & Chloe. Cole was a little grumpy the first day, so Mommy & Eva stayed and walked around, but Cole went home with Daddy for an early nap. He was much better the next day, so we went down and spent a fun day riding rides, looking at booths, and playing at the park. Those are the weekends we look forward to all year with the beautiful sunshine!

Otherwise, the month was uneventful. Lots of playdates with friends at parks, and trying to get outside any chance we get. We have even started going to the park after a quick dinner during the week, so that the kids can play a little before bedtime. Longer days, summer is coming...

We hope everyone is doing well!

Erin, Eric, Cole & Eva

Note: I will be adding more photos to this later, but my compter is in the shop right now so I only had these to choose from!