First time on a snowboard

Back in January, we took Owen and Tucker up to the snow so that Owen could try snowboarding. We went to Soda Springs which really caters to kids and had a blast.

Once he had a few sled rides, a few tries down a little hill off to the side, and a few bites of snack, he really got into the fun of going up the moving carpets to the top of the hill. We took turns running down the hill with him, holding his hands as he got the feel for it. By the end of the morning, he would let go for a couple of feet towards the bottom and crash into the big soft foam squares scattered around the training hill.We made a game of it and Owen really enjoyed it.

Here is a short, albeit a little bit shaky, video of Kris running down the hill with Owen:

I HEART Santa Barbara

Last weekend, we hit the road and made our way to Santa Barbara. My mom, Grandpa Lou, and Rod were house sitting for a dear friend of theirs who happens to live ON the beach in Carpenteria, just south of Santa Barbara. It was a beautiful location and a great trip.

It was the first time I have spent any time in Santa Barbara since childhood and even though I grew up only a few hours away from this beautiful place, I only visited there a couple times as a youngster. I fell in love. I am sure as a kid I would have enjoyed it but I'm also pretty sure I saw the town differently this time around. Now, I appreciated it for more than the pretty beaches and coastline, although they still captured my heart. I was wowed by the view of the Channel Islands and the serene green hills layered with history, wild flowers, and stunning mansions. I was able to close my eyes and dream of long hikes to the mountain peaks, boat rides to watch whales and dolphins swimming and playing, trips to the tide pools, fishing, playing and hiking on the Channel Islands, trips to wine and ranch country, and I can't hide it- hopes that if I stayed long enough, we would run into the Psych crew during a stroll along the boardwalk. I could go on and on, but I think the title of this post says it all.

While we were there, we took a few long walks on the beach, watched the boys play with their cousin Charles as they built sand castles and frolicked in the water. We played at the aquarium and we were also fortunate to meet up with our friends, Brian and Andrea, for a stroll along the pier and a lovely lunch in down-town. We did get caught in the rain a bit, but still managed to take Owen and Charles for a covered carousel ride across the street from the beach and a drive to see the Mission. The rain didn't bother us though. Some how, I think the cozy beach house, heavy music of the rain and roar of the surf combined with good company, happy kids, yummy food, Scrabble, and a warm fire just put us all at peace.

My fingers are crossed that we get invited back some time!

Here are a few pictures from our weekend..

Kristin showing how close we were to the sand

i think his sweatshirt should read: I heart SB

fun in the sand

proud builders

Kris & me with Gramps @ the Sea Center

Swimming lessons

A few weeks ago we decided to try a swimming class at our local kids' gym, so we switched Owen out of his gymnastics class and into the swimming class on a different night. We wanted him to get some practice in over the winter so that he's ready for the upcoming summer swimming season. Even though he loves playing in the water and swimming with us, he's still very terrified of getting his head wet, so we thought some practice and water time would help him.

He's loved the class from the start, but last week was incredible! They had a zip line set up for the kids to try towards the end of the lesson. I didn't think Owen would go for it, but he never hesitated or even looked to me for encouragement. He just went for it! I was so happy to see him excitedly try it out and was thrilled when he landed in his teacher's arms. He smiled at me once he was back in line for his second turn.

The whole scenario just melted my heart.

floating practice

even though this picture is blurry, i love it because he was so happy riding this whale

p.s. yes, yes, i did want to jump for joy, but instead i just played it cool by busting out a double thumbs up and a goofy smile on my face.One day soon he's going to figure out that his mom is a total dork.

First family bike ride

Last weekend, we went on our first family bike ride. We had a blast! Owen rode his balance bike and Tucker cruised in the bike trailer. We figured out a way to strap Owen's bike to the trailer so he could ride one way there and relax on the way back. It worked out perfectly. We loaded up with snacks and water, and rode to their school, along the Folsom bike trail. It was beautiful out and it felt wonderful to be out exercising and enjoying the unusual warm weather while being together as a family.

We made a picnic stop and arrived at our destination about 30 minutes later. From there, we decided to go check out the bike-skate park. Lucky, for us, we ran into one of Owen's best buddies, Aiden, and his family. Owen and Aiden practiced riding the balance bike down the hill and then they had a blast jumping off a rock.

We rode home, over the new Folsom foot-bike bridge, and really enjoyed the trail. It was the first time on one of the paths and we enjoyed the serene trail immensely. There are a bunch of hills, and I even though I had to use the lowest gears, I impressed myself by making it up every hill without walking (these are minor hills, but its been a LONG time since I have that type of work-out)! I figure- it helps to count the small wins!

Owen learns to ride a bike

For the last few months, we've been on the hunt for a bicycle for Owen. It's been a challenge because he's still on the smaller side and most of the standard 12 inch bikes don't fit him. Last weekend, our search ended. We stopped at a local bike shop for a helmet for Tucker and while we were there, Owen tried two of the small kid bikes. We didn't expect them to work out, but we were happily surprised to learn that both bikes fit him! We couldn't buy the one we liked best right away because it was purple and Owen simply told us that purple bikes are for girls. A few days later, we went back and bought the red one they pulled from their warehouse. We took the bike home Monday night, and he practiced pedaling with the back wheel up. Once he had that down, we took off the training wheels and started to count down the days until the weekend. We bought bike pads Friday night and chatted about his new bike all week. He was pretty excited, but the truth is, we were the super excited ones!

Saturday morning, after an early breakfast, we went out to the local school, and Owen learned how to ride a bike. We brought his orange balance bike because he wanted to start with that one. After awhile, he agreed to try the new one. He was a little nervous at first because he thought pedaling was hard, but within seconds he was going without Kris' help. He picked it up immediately. After a short but successful ride, he wanted to play on the playground. He took off all his pads and he and Tucker played for a long time on the slides and climbing gyms.

After awhile, he tried out his bike again. The second time around, something clicked, and he started to love it. He was making laps in no time and asking to ride down the small hill at the playground. From a balance perspective- he had it down perfectly. It really was absolutely natural for him. Pushing backwards on the pedals to brake and starting were a little harder, but by late morning he had made some progress with both areas. We were at the park for nearly three hours and after nap and a short snack, he couldn't wait to get out front and try it again.

The balance bike experiment worked exactly like we hoped it would. It's so cute to watch him on the bike. We need to practice a bit more with the pedal brakes and starting without help, but he'll have it down in no time. Soon, we'll be able to try out another family bike ride with Owen riding his bike instead of pushing/gliding on his balance bike! As I write this, Kris and Owen are outside - Owen couldn't wait to get outside today and try his new bike! WOO!

The first video below shows Owen's first try and the second video is a few tries later, after the playground break.

little Tucker on his bike!

Horse Tail Falls Hike

Yesterday, we made our way toward Tahoe and spent the morning trekking along a trail up towards Horse Tail Falls. It's been on our dream list for years and we finally decided last week to just go for it. Thank goodness we did. We had a perfect morning. The weather was absolutely lovely, the boys really enjoyed themselves, and we both felt terrific playing outdoors in the fresh, mountain air.

A gracious hiker took this picture of us as we started at the trail head

It's a nice picture for the memory books, but come on what was I thinking when I bought that hat??

our first of many snack breaks

it's all about the journey for us, not the destination

i love this photo and this spot

i spent many minutes of our hike thinking about how wonderful it would be to take an annual family photo here

Kris trying to capture Owen and I at the spot (a few feet over) without the sun-glare

our little hikers

we made it to the first big swimming hole before turning around

Strong Daddy!

I'm sure it's not hard to believe that Owen was asleep before we left the parking lot & that Tucker stayed asleep through the car seat transfer!

Rockets

This past weekend, we threw Owen a birthday party with some of his good pals. Before I get into the details of the party, I have to share a background story about rockets!

On Thursday evening, my Dad and Gianni arrived for a weekend visit. As I explained in a previous post, we celebrated Gianni's 13th birthday and Owen's 3rd birthday in OC a few weeks back. But like everything else I did this summer, I planned that party at the last minute and didn't give my Aunt Donna any time to shop for presents (of course I tried to say that gifts weren't unnecessary, but she wasn't having any of that!). So, soon after they arrived on Thursday night,the gifts were open. 3 year olds only have so much patience when presents are involved. My aunt gave Owen a couple of great toys (thank you!) and gave Gianni a model rocket kit!

We needed a few more supplies in order to build and launch the rockets, so Kris made a list and we purchased the goods on Friday afternoon. Friday night Kris and Gianni built a big rocket and on Saturday we had a test launch.

We had light winds on Saturday which made for an extra exciting test case because they had to "study" wind patterns and try to pick a strategic launch pad location (on the nearby elementary school field) with the hopes that the rocket would float back down on the field. They picked pretty well. We did two launches and both were successful. The rocket easily went 300-400 feet in the air and the wind carried it away from us by at least 300-400 yards. In fact, it landed outside the school grounds, at the park next door. The fun continued as Kris plotted out the best way to jump the fence to get the rocket back. The boys were luckier the second time as the rocket landed inside the park (barely!).

Because the launch was so successful, we thought we'd do a demonstration at Owen's birthday party. Our birthday party plan was pretty simple and basic. A couple of hours at the park with a picnic lunch, playground time, and cake. We figured we'd try the rocket launch and found cute and fairly safe foam rocket party favors to add to the theme. We weren't really sure how it would go, but we were pleasantly surprised. I'll save those details for the next post, and end this post with this final thought -thank you Aunt Donna for Gianni's great gift, thank you Gianni for sharing your rocket!