Rumor had it there was a lobster in our neighborhood Halloween night.
Brian donned his fishing gear to catch the delicious lobster!
I got out my official chef's hat and tongs to cook up our little lobster!
I guess the lobster was bigger than we anticipated- he barely fits in the pot! Happy Halloween, everyone!
This year Daniel was old enough to carve his first jack-o-lantern. He had some help from his daddy and Charley-Boy, of course!
Earlier in the day, we visited my dad at UCSB so Daniel could do some pre-Halloween trick-or-treating at the computer science department. While there, he met up with Cole and Will. If you saw Will from behind, you would have sworn the real Yoda was wandering the halls of UCSB.
We met our PEP group at Lane Farms today for our 2nd annual group photo. It's mind boggling to think it was only a year ago when these kids were little infants that needed help just to sit up. I remember last year trying to prop Daniel up against some pumpkins to get a photo and he fell face forward into the dirt. At the time I felt so guilty, little did I know the day was fast approaching when my boy would willingly try to ingest dirt. I think we had more members of our group that were at the pumpkin patch today but didn't make the group photo- it's hard to wrangle the toddlers together!
Daniel playing in the hay pit. I think he wishes we had this in our backyard!
"Does it have wheels? Then I LOVE it!"
Today Daniel kept trying to enter the corn maze.
Daniel giving cutie-pie Natalie a hug.
The Switzer Ohana has bought a house! We have moved to a wonderful neighborhood (the same one that I grew up in), and are two blocks away from my parents and two blocks away from Brian's grandparents. We are so blessed, thankful, and EXCITED about this new adventure in our lives.
More fun times at Lane Farms- running through the orange pumpkins, exploring the bins of gourds, huge sunflowers and multi-colored indian corn. Classic Fall.
The cold and flu season hit Daniel and I this past week with a vengeance. Today we are both feeling much better and Daniel's runny snotty nose hasn't seemed to deter him from having fun. Check him out on his skateboard! (And check out the new haircut courtesy of Daddy, too.) Below are some photos from last week before we got sick.
The cooler weather allowed me to bundle Daniel up in his fleece vest and cute pumpkin beanie (handmade by one of my mom's friends)!
It even rained last week! Because we couldn't play outside we met Annie and Caleb at Nordstrom for a lunch date. The boys had so much fun running around the store amongst the clothing racks. Thanks for being an indoor playground, Nordstrom!
Tyler came over for some delicious Tortilla Soup (yay, it's "soup season" again!) and Daniel showed off his train engine maintenance skills.
We also visited the pet store a couple times. The pet store is right next to Trader Joe's and after grocery shopping a few months ago, I took Daniel inside to see the animals. He loved looking at the birds, fish, bunnies, turtles and other critters. Now everytime we go to Trader Joe's (a minimum of once a week) Daniel insists on visiting. Who knew there was a mini-zoo so close to home?
Today we went to Hidden Valley Park with our PEP group- and we actually sorta succeeded in getting a group photo of the kiddos (a hard feat at toddler age!) Above is Daniel with his buddies Cameron, Asher, Cole, Max, Caleb, Natalie, and Matteo. I guess the picture could also be titled: "Natalie and her harem of boys!" Hidden Valley is the perfect park for this age because the play structure is so age appropriate.
Yesterday Daniel and I walked to Lane Farms to visit the pumpkin patch. He got to pretend to ride two tractors, visited the donkey and goats, played peek-a-boo with the turkeys, hugged the giant pumpkins, hand pumped the water pump (his favorite part!) and played in the straw. Daniel even got to pick out a mini-pumpkin to bring home. Happy Fall!
Has it really been two months since I last updated our blog? We're all doing great but Daniel is ALL OVER THE PLACE! I've started taking my own nap during his naptime because the kid WEARS ME OUT!! He loves running around, making people laugh, dancing, and climbing. He is also quite the little mischief maker. Daniel is fully aware when he is doing something naughty and he just looks at you with a sly smile and laughs.
Here is Daniel at Hendry's Beach (or as Daniel and I call it, "Daddy's Beach"). As summer was ending, the hot weather decided to peak so Daniel and I spent as many days at the beach with our friends as we could. After getting Daniel thoroughly worn out from playing in the sand and water, he'd pass out in the car on the way home and we'd both take a nice, long afternoon nap. Ahhh, summertime!
Daniel also got a chance to cheer me on during the Santa Barbara Sprint Triathlon at the end of August. (See his cute "Go Mommy" shirt?) It was my first triathlon and I had a really fun time.
Brian celebrated his 30th birthday on August 24th. The big day he celebrated by taking his boat on an overnight surfing trip to the ranch. The rest of the week he had several birthday dinners.
Daniel got to hang out with his "cousins" Sequoia and Kai (Val and Jeff's nephews). The highlight for Daniel was being pedaled around by Seqouia in this petty cab/rickshaw. Daniel kept signing "more" and clapping his hands. Daniel loves hanging out with older "big" kids!
For Brian's 30th birthday present he flew with a friend to Mexico for a week and a half long surf trip. He got a few awesome photos and some fun surf. Before the trip, I had glorious plans of spending the time while Brian was away starting (and possibly finishing) making a photo baby book of Daniel's first year. Ummm, yeah, that plan didn't really come to fruition. Not one photo was even uploaded. In the past, when Brian would go on a surf trip, I found that I was super productive at home and would finish big projects. The life of a "surf widow" sure is different when you also have an energetic toddler! Daniel wouldn't want to go to sleep at night- I think he was waiting for Brian to come home. Let's just say that Daniel and I were both really happy when Brian returned home.
Finally, at the end of September, I finished the Carpinteria Sprint Triathlon. This tri was a little longer than the SB one and I think I enjoyed it even more. The best part of the triathlon was seeing Daniel's sweet little face cheering me on. Oh, and getting flowers. I like that too.
