Fun Times at Long Beach Bay!

Labor Day 2008...

Sunday of Labor Day weekend, we went to a potluck w/ a bunch of friends at the Bay. As soon as we arrived, Mattie saw the water and wanted to go in... she was momentarily distracted by her friend Sylvie and a banana, but then it was to the water!
Watch out sun worshipers, there is a new sunscreen sheriff in town.. apparently in this case, it is "like mother, like daugther" :)
Mattie's friend Koa had a cool kayak to ride! Daddy got quite the workout rowing his ladies around the bay...
And there was also a cool boogie board boat to ride, as well as a play house (i.e. big cardboard box)!
But at the end of the day, a toddler who has only had 20 minutes of sleep wants to just sit calmly in a pool of sandy water and chill... and yet, she didn't fall asleep on the way home! Just one 20 minute snooze the whole day?!?!?!?!?!?!

There are more pics over on Sylvie's blog, as well as Sylvie's cousin Amanda's blog- check them out!

Apparently we've taken in a neighborhood child...

There are a bunch of kids that play outside downstairs, all around 5-10 years old... today Jenna saw Mattie and I looking out the window and motioned to me that she wanted to come up stairs. She needed help finding her dad, and would I help her look for him.... Of course I would, even though I know she wanders around outside w/out her dad all day. We went to the laundry room, we went to the pool, and dad was no where to be found, so she asked if she could just come up and play w/ Mattie. I said alright (thank God we are normal people!) and she played w/ Mattie for almost an hour. She read to her, demonstrated how to dance like a monkey (shown in the pic), crawled in the tunnel with her, and shared an apple and banana with her. At 6PM she said she was supposed to go the pool and we had to eat dinner so we sent her on her way. Five minutes later she was back at our door asking for dinner "because her dad said all they had was cereal"... so Sadri and I each gave her some of our pizza. Then we sent her on her way again and said goodnight.... only to see her at our door again 5 minutes later, this time with her puppy. Jenna is very sweet, but can you imagine if your 6 year old had this kind of freedom??? Yikes! I just pray she doesn't befriend some scary person who preys on children!!! Or am I just being over-protective and super paranoid???

Play date with Baby Sierra!

Mattie finally got to play with her little friend Sierra! Sierra is 4 1/2 months old now and Mattie has known her since she was in her mommy's tummy, but they don't get to play very often b/c their mommy's are both so busy!
Sierra got to ride the swings for the first time today, she sits up so well for her age! And check out that smile, I think she will have many more trips to the park for swing rides...
Mattie wanted to show Sierra how to avoid the paparazzi b/c she figured cameras will be chasing her all around too (since she is so cute)!

Mattie is 16 months old today!

We went to the Long Beach Aquarium for the first time today. Mattie loved checking out the fish with her friend Sylvie! She loved it so much that we bought season passes so we can go back lots over the next year....
And she was so brave to stick her hand in the pool of rays and sharks!

Beach Day!

Today we went to HB with some friends... Here Mattie and Sylvie are fighting for Nadine's lap and food, while Aaron calmly swoops in to get Mattie's cup on the ground....
Then it was time to check out the ocean... Mattie's last trip to the beach was scary because the waves were so big... Today she was nervous at first, as you can see her pondering what to do about that vast amount of water in front of her. Mattie's friend Aaron is playing in the sand in the background with his mama, if you look closely :)
Usually brave Mattie finally decided to have fun with the waves, but she still had to run away when they got too close... so far the ocean seems to be the only thing she is afraid of!
Mattie says bye-bye to the water for now... it's about nap time!

The weekend....

Mattie eagerly awaits her carosel ride at South Coast Plaza on Saturday...
Later that day.... can someone get this kid a hair brush???
Playing at Irvine Spectrum with Grandma J on Sunday ;)

Reunited at last!

Mattie and her dear friend Sylvie had been apart for quite some time, as Sylvie was visiting Norway for awhile.... here they are, together again... and Mattie is stealing Sylvie's food again....
But seriously, such big girls! Sylvie is almost 15 months and Mattie is almost 16 months old!

Baby Isaac comes over to play!

Mattie was soooo facinated with baby Isaac today! He ate and slept most of the play date (as most 4 week olds do) but we managed to get a picture of him awake here... yawning, because its time to go sleep some more!
We got to walk to a new yogurt shop called Cantaloop, which was so delicious by the way, but the best part was that Mattie got to mooch off of Auntie Lee and mommy.

Mattie finally gets to go in Aaron's pool WITH Aaron!

Yay for naked swimming w/ Aaron!

More fun times with cousin Ryan!

Mattie's and Ryan's first trip to Cold Stone as walking toddlers. Mattie showed us just what she wanted! Sorry kiddos, just a taste of ours for now, maybe you can get your own next year...
Mattie plays with her great grandma at Ryan's first birthday party.... what pretty necklaces and they were made of shells!
The birthday princess destroys her cake! You go girl!
Mattie shows Ryan how to climb on adult chairs, but Ryan is still a little unsure about that uneven surface under her feet...
Mattie and Ryan check out the cool fountain with Auntie Amy right before they have to leave to go back to the hottest place in America, I mean, Arizona ;)

The Arizonians (temporarily) Visit!

Mattie was so excited to see cousin Ryan, that we went over as soon as she woke up (still in PJ's)... she continued with her sharing food thing, and offered Ryan some fruit for Bfast :)
Later that day we went to beach so Ryan could see the ocean for the first time!
And a nice stranger offered to take a pic of all of us! Mattie's dada was at work, so he didn't make it into the family picture :(

More pool time!

Could I really resist putting up another picture of Mattie and Alyssa in the pool again?! They wore their bathing suits this time, and Aaron was sleeping yet again! We can't wait till he gets on the "one nap a day" schedule, so he can play after the morning walks!

Concert on the lake

Mattie and her BFF Tatum enjoyed the concert at Woodbridge lake this past weeked... Mattie was especially excited to see Tatum's bellybutton!
Tatum's "gamma" wins for the best pose of the night... are they all smiles or what?
The mommies... who just happened to match.. honestly, we did not plan this!
The girls were super excited to see their new BF Isaac again... of course he was sleeping through the whole event, but his mom is quite the trooper, getting him out of the house at just two weeks old!

Friday

More fun pool times, this time w/ Tatum and Aubrey! Aubrey's grandma lives in Woodbury, which has an amazing resort like pool area, so we just had to check it out on such a hot day!
For all you baby fans, here is a new photo I took of Isaac on Friday! He has changed so much in the last two weeks!

The only place to be when it's hot, is NAKED!

After the mamas pushed strollers around in the heat for an hour, the kids got to cool off in the pool... oh to be young again... back when hanging out in the buff was not offensive to anyone....
Mattie and Alyssa had a good time playing in the Gordy's backyard, although they did miss Aaron, who was napping... And have I mentioned "check out that gut" recently?

The new face of "Got Milk?"

Need I say more?