Three Cousins

Daniel and Ariana at Yellowbird

A highlight of our week is going to Yellowbird Music class. Daniel loves playing the different instruments and dancing to the songs and he adores his teacher, Alex. The other day Ariana and Christine came with us so they could experience the fun for themselves. Daniel and Ariana had so much fun riding next to each other in the van and yelling jibberish at the top of their lungs.

After class the cousins had an indoor picnic lunch with Granny and Gramps and watched Ariana's favorite movie, "Curly Top." It has been so fun for Daniel to have his cousins in town.

Bye Bye, Chevy!

It's the end of an era! My dad just sold his faithful 1959 Chevy. I wonder if people will still be able to find my parent's house without the landmark parked outside?

Surf the Urban Wine Trail

One of my favorite parts of being on the Moms in Motion triathlon training team is meeting such a great group of ladies. A couple of weeks ago we hosted the 2nd Annual Surf the Urban Wine Trail wine tasting event as a benefit for the local non-profit Heal the Ocean. It's such a fun event with seven different venues participating all in the Santa Barbara "funk-zone", lots of wine, appetizers, prizes and live music. I didn't get a chance to check out all the venues because I was helping out at one of the wineries but I had a great evening with my friends Victoria and Judy.

Daniel and Natalie

Sure, this playdate with Natalie looks like fun, but for an hour before the wagon ride, Daniel was screaming "No, no!" at the top of his lungs everytime Natalie tried to play with any of his toys. As my sister says, "Daniel is really embracing this terrible two stage, isn't he?" Well, put sister, well put.

Last Music at the Ranch of the Summer

Summer is wrapping up with the final Music at the Ranch taking place a couple of weeks ago. We grooved to local band "Spencer the Gardener". I can remember being in high school and going downtown during Fiesta to hear Spencer play- it's funny that now I'm dancing to the same music with my toddler!

At the end of the set, Spencer invited all the kids onstage to dance.  Daniel took advantage of the invitation and danced and jumped himself silly.

Daniel and Will had fun playing with Tyler and his skateboard.

And Daniel made Tyler carry him atop the skateboard all the way to our car. 

It also happened to be Will's 2nd Birthday so he opened cards and his gift at the end of the evening. We sure will miss our weekly picnics with my parents and the Voita's.

Girls Wine Weekend Napa

Three of my college roommates and I decided we were in need of a girl's weekend- thus, Operation Girls Wine Weekend was born! It was a short weekend but so much fun to hang out and spend time together. We started off in Auburn at Peggy and Tom's (Katie and Beth's parents) place. Their home is absolutely gorgeous complete with an infinity pool, killer wine cellar and amazing views. We were treated to dinner and breakfast ala Beth (if anyone is wondering why I never attempted much cooking in college it's because Beth was always around to whip up scrumptious meals for the rest of us) and enjoyed good girly fun (think fake eyelashes, and a last minute decision to see the newest Twilight movie!)

The rest of the weekend was spent in and around Napa. Although we spent a little too much time in the car- traffic was horrendous- it was fun to be together and catch up. We had fun tasting wine, eating food and exploring. It was such a perfect getaway!

Cousins Continued

Did I mention how much fun we've had the past few weeks with Brian's sister Christine in town with her two girls? Chris and the girls are staying at Brian's parents house and it's been great to just swing on by after D's naps to hang out and let the cousins play together. Brian and Christine's birthdays are just a week apart and the two of them have had fun celebrating together. Of course, we miss Christine's husband Ricardo who had to stay home because of work. Ricardo and Christine actually share the same birthday (crazy, I know!) and so Ricardo skyped us and partook in blowing out the birthday candles as best he could.