Fun at the park

Thanks to our friends, Meghan and Wendy, we thought we'd try out a new park. It was twice the size of the other ones we normally go to and Drew had the whole place to herself, though I'm sure she'd rather have some kids to play with. After lunch and a nap, Mommy was informed that our 3-day passes to Disneyland expired that day (Sunday), so we got dressed and headed to Disneyland from 7-10! Mom is still recovering.

Drew's 2-year-old photo sitting

Drew has been stellar this week, 4 gold stars. Yesterday she had a 2-year-old checkup and got 3 shots and NEVER even cried. Mommy gave her a cookie in the car for being such a good girl...hoping she made that connection. And tonight she had her pictures taken and was so good we had so many good ones to choose from. She sat, and posed while smiling and we were done in literally 8 minutes. I realize it's really annoying to hear how great/cute one's kids are but we really lucked out with this one ;)

Hawaii family photos

We're just now getting around to scanning the pics we had done.

Break it down, Drew.

Who in the heck still watches Yogi Bear? My dad, apparently. And now Drew's hooked on the opening sequence. For those of you with kids on the way -- it may take awhile to get here but at some point your child will make you laugh hard several times a day.

You have to sit through the end of the Scooby Doo song first.

Swim lessons, entering month 2

Along with the changes that come with turning 2 (goodbye: "danny, dee-dee and tels," hello: "grammy, nikki and kelsey"), Drew is also getting better and better at swimming.

Drew and Meghan (left) working on their backfloats...they look good but both could use a little more practice ;)
Here she is with her instructor, Jon, riding a boogie board.
Working on that backfloat! She should be watching Jon but never passes up a chance to pose for the camera.
I love swimming lessons!

Party Girl!

The sign leading to the backyard...all those years of scrapbooking have finally come in handy!


The ladybug and lizard garden all set up for the party!

Drew's birthday banner, which had been hanging up in the house for about a month before the party...Drew was never quite sure what day was actually her birthday.
The birthday girl, working on her craft...a lizard door-hanger.
Drew and friends, Taylor (who was 3 that day!) and Maya (6) -- both members of the Jarvis tribe.

Opening gifts...true story: I had given her a gift bag to open first, probably one with princesses on it (her favorite, as everyone knows!), and she put it down, walked over to her wagon and dug out the silver Nordstrom box to open first instead... She is certainly her Grammy's girl!

Cupcakes made by Mommy...

Birthday cake made by Grammy...very nicely done! Mommy realized she is not a cake decorator, so she will be outsourcing to Grammy from here on out :)

Obviously quite excited with her cake!

...and ice cream dirt cake, and cupcake and Chex Bug Bites. She sampled it all -- apparently at the same time!

Post-party, post-nap, checking out her new loot!
Thanks everyone! We all had a great time and Drew is still talking about her party, her friends, and of course, the cake!

Drew's Birthday - July 16

She started the day by sleeping in until 10am. Then Grammy and Boppa made her eggs and waffles and gave her the birthday hat to wear at breakfast.
Mommy came home from work at about 12:30 and brought a birthday friend home to play. We then had a nice swim in the 90 degree weather.
When Drew woke up from her nap, Daddy had put her new tricycle (or "motorcycle" as Drew calls it) together so we took a spin in the living room and right out the front door. We decided to kick it old school with the trike and went with the Retro Radio Flyer.
Ready to go to the OC Fair with her birthday crown and her ladybug necklace.

Then we headed to the OC Fair to sample some deep-fried foods and rides guaranteed to jostle it all around.
Drew and Daddy riding the honeybee ride.

Making funny faces in the Jr. Funhouse (which comprised of a couple funhouse mirrors, some sliding steps and 3 spinning wheels to walk on...not great).

Drew, driving Kelsey to Chuck E Cheese's.

Dinner = pizza on a stick, giant sausage dogs, pulled pork sandwich and deep-fried bacon. Yes, deep-fried bacon....I'll give you one guess who brought that back to share!

A fun night for the birthday girl!

Birthday Events

On Wednesday night we took a little picnic to the Montage Hotel in Laguna Beach...we had KFC and some sides from Gelsons - yum!
Drew volunteered to pull the wagon with all our stuff...who are we to disagree?

Our layout for our picnic...if you're not sure, the beach is below the hedge in the back...it's a long way down, but it's there!

Grammy brought 2 small pieces of cake from Savoie's Faire...the same cake we had at our wedding - it was even better than I remembered! Drew also had an Oreo, sugar-high week!

Birthday Week!

Drew turns 2 on Thursday *oh my gosh* so we're busy planning her week of fun. Tomorrow we're going to take a picnic to the Montage Hotel and eat dinner at the park. Thursday we are playing hooky from swim lessons to go to the OC Fair, we did that last year and she had fun so this year should be even more interesting! Friday is prep day for the party and probably a swim day and Saturday is Drew's Ladybugs and Lizards Birthday Party. Here is what the invitations looked like...as you can imagine, there are lots of spots, bugs, pinks and reds involved.More to come as the party gets underway!

My favorites of the trip so far...

...came today.