Laguna Beach Montage with the Kessels

When Jakey comes to town, Mattie gets in as many play dates as possible. Saturday we went to the Montage to enjoy the beautiful sunny day... Mattie enjoyed chasing Jakey all around the lawn before we headed down to the beach...

A quick stop for a family photo....
Playing around in the sand.... Jakey finds a Captain America figure, and Mattie is happy to hold sand....

Mattie sees a dog off in the distance and a neat cave by the shoreline... she is seriously contemplating which one to go see first...

The dog won... but she wasn't sure about petting him because his hair was all wet!

What a fantastic day! Oh the joys of living in southern California!

Irvine Park with the Kessels

Mattie's East Coast Boyfriend came for a visit so we just had to meet up for a play date at Irvine Park! Mattie is happy to hold Jakey's hand at the zoo... in fact, he led her all around and showed her the animals :)
We couldn't go to Irvine Park and NOT ride the train... besides, Mattie had to show Jakey her favorite choo choo!

Thanksgiving 2008

Trying to keep Mattie entertained for the long car ride down to San Diego (to spend the day with the Silveris)... the sunglasses are always fun, even if it is raining outside!
Gobble, gobble, gobble.....

Chillin' with full bellies after the yummy food.... thanks for having us over Silveris!

"Friends Thanksgiving" 2008

My how friends thanksgiving has changed.... It seems like there are more kids than adults these days! And here is a summary of the evening's events....

Mattie, Sylvie and Nadine check out the Gordy's new bay window..... oh la la....
The kids (Aaron, Sylvie, Mattie, and Skylar) play out back for awhile...
Alyssa, Gavin, and Isaac didn't make it into the pic, but they were there too!

Sylvie "no shirt" enjoys some water on her mamas lap.... (eating as a toddler can get quite messy!)

The ladies pose before we all head home to put the kids to bed! Sylvie is already in her jammies ;)

Truly a toddler...

Mattie can now wear her hair in pigtails!
Mattie and her friend Mollie climbing on a ledge... oh how they love to make mamas nervous!
Two things, only a toddler would do....

Future Diva or Construction Worker?

We went to Lowes today to order new windows... Mattie spent a good 20 minutes arranging orange cones (the kind in the street) in one of the aisles, as if she is preparing for a job with Cal Trans... Then we get home and she stacks her blocks shirtless (building something with out a shirt= construction worker) but wearing a bracelet... Then she must carry her two purses around the house and wears my high heels (no picture).... I think we either have a well rounded child or a very confused child....

Mattie shows Tatum her favorite "hang out"

Mattie was thrilled to show Tatum all of her favorite sites at the LB Aquarium! And these two pics pretty much sum up our girls... Mattie is ready to jump off the end of the boat, Tatum is leary about walking out that far.... and Mattie is trying to give Tatum hugs, and Tatum is not sure about getting one, at least not this early in the day ;) Their personalities are so different, yet we are sure they will be best friends forever! Hopefully Mattie can be persuaded to not try dangerous things rather than the other option of her being a bad influence on Tatum... Otherwise, I'll have Joy knockin' my door down!