Summer Vacation Part 4: SoCal

Following our week in Windsor, we went down to Southern California for 3 reasons: 1) Russell's good college buddy's wedding 2) Alana's baby blessing and 3) go to The Price is Right!  [See our Anniversary post for more info/pictures] 4) we had to actually go back home to Henderson sometime!  So, we drove down (and were followed by some of our fam) and had even more fun.

Ssdac (Russell's bud) and the new Mrs. Ssdac coming out of the LA Temple.  It was a VERY crowded Saturday, but we're glad we could be there for this important day.  I think Russell may have even been more excited for this day than our own wedding...

Ty and I had to wait outside during the marriage ceremony because we didn't have a babysitter and I think he got a little bored/loopy.  I just thought this was funny-looking: he's just chillin' in the middle of the grass.

The wedding party.  (Russell's on the far left, in case you couldn't tell.)  The guys got many compliments on their neon green ties.  How many were genuine?  I'm not sure.  At least if there were a power outage, we'd have a light source!

Our little fam in front of the LA Temple.

At the reception that evening, Ty was having a BLAST "dancing" with all of the little kids around.  More like, he loved crawling into the middle of the floor and going up to any kid who was dancing and try to get them to play/dance with him. 

Russell and Ty doing the YMCA, I think.

Ty-Ty and his newly-married "Uncle Ssdac."

The Swift family (my sis) after church where Alana was blessed by her dad. 

Oh, look--another round of Ty's favorite game: Stick-your-finger-in-the-baby's-mouth!  Seriously, I'm surprised she didn't gag.

Ty-Ty demonstrating his ability to climb stairs at Hunter's parents' house.  We don't have stairs in our place so "unfortunately" he doesn't get to practice much.  He was pretty good--quick too--and was quite proud of himself.

We ate at this really good Chinese restaurant (seriously, I had to exercise strong self-restraint to not lick the plate of the lemon fish), but Ty was not really into the whole eating/sitting still thing.  We emptied our diaper bag of all toys/things to get Ty distracted and happy to no avail.  The look on his face pretty much sums it up.  The look on Russell's is good, too. ;)

Ty and his Far-far.  Sure, now he's happy!

On our way back to the car we stopped for a while at a European restaurant.  Okay, we actually weren't in the restaurant, but they had a band playing (sax, drums, piano, bass) and they were fun to watch/listen to!  Soren even danced some. 

Looks like Far-far got Soren!

While the husbands were out doing something manly, Tina and I took our 3 kids to the park.  We played a less-than-awesome game of Tetris trying to get all 3 kids and car seats in the back of the Corolla!  Someday, we'll have to get a bigger vehicle.

We did have fun at the park, though.  Ty found out how fun it is to climb up on the jungle gym and slide down.  We repeated the same path about a dozen times.

And of course we end with nakie post-bath boys playing in Soren's bed.  I think we could move Ty to a toddler bed now if we needed to; he loved playing on the "big boy" bed!

Thanks for letting us visit!

Summer Vacation Part 3: Windsor

Lots of pictures, so I'll write few words.  (A thousand times "lots" is enough, right?)

We spent about 5 days in a condo (well, 2 actually since our group is too big for 1) in Windsor, CA and had a fun time.  Thanks for the place, Mom and Dad!  Naturally, we just have a lot of fun together.

Ty really liked having cousins (and their toys) to play with.  Soren educated Ty on cars and other such vehicles.

Soren, Carl, and Ty playing cars on the bathroom floor.  Why the bathroom?  I don't know.  (And, yes, Ty is wearing a diaper.  That's all he's wearing, but he is covered.)

Mor-mor with the 2 grandkids closest in age--and matching!

There was a little park at the resort, so we took advantage of that...for about 20 minutes.  Carl and Soren made a "train" going down the slide.

I think this picture is SO cute!  Sawyer was there, too, but he was busy yelling at the people in the pool through the fence.

Baths were taken, though since we were on vacation, I fear a few may have been missed.  Whatever.

All in good fun...

Soren and Ty playing under the table.

Ty is helping to read the Mariner's book to Alana!  How nice.

Carl and baby Alana.

For those of you who don't know, the Pedersen genes carry an excellent ability to sleep anywhere.  Soren, the 3rd generation, demonstrates below:  (The kid was only sleeping on a couple of couch cushions on the floor, anyway..."Piece-o'-bed" as we called it back in the day.)

Aaaaand generations 1 and 2 managing to demonstrate just how incredible that sleeping ability is. 

Not to out-do himself earlier in the evening, though, the grand prize for lamest place/way to sleep goes to Kai, who apparently was too tired to go next door and get in bed or even look around for a blanket.  Congratulations, Kai. You look a fool.  Then again, if you're ever on "Survivor: Couch" you'd totally win.

Sawyer, just happy to be playing.

The ever popular Sawyer vs. Ty size comparison.  (Sawyer is a little less than 3 months older.)  Even though Sawyer tried to cheat by standing on his tippy-toes, clearly Ty is the tallest.  My arms also got a welcome break when I picked up Sawyer who is significantly lighter than our little chunk.  It was probably going to happen sooner or later...

Enjoying time in the pool with Daddy.  Ty-Ty really loves being in the pool. 

Yikes!  Stripes!  (And really dorky grins, but that's not important.)

Playing on the steps in the water because, well, Ty just didn't want to get out.

Uncle Kai-Kai throwing Soren up and maybe catching him after.  Good thing the water wings were there to break his fall!

We had a good time playing games, watching the little kids play, and staying up way too late.  We're lucky to have such good family on both sides!

Summer Vacation Part 2: Johnson's Beach

While in Windsor, we made a few stops at Johnson's Beach.  And by "beach" we mean the blocked off part of the Russian River, the waterfront at which we played as children as displayed below.  (Picture circa 1987.  I loved that yellow swimsuit.)

 

And now we bring our kids here.  Ah, the circle of life. 

 There's the ol' snack shack on the right.  The water level was a bit low, so there was plenty of beach and shallow water to play in.  It really is a pretty area; very non-Nevada.

 Far-Far and Sawyer

 On their way to the beach! (Okay, on their way to the car to then drive 20 miles to the water. Same thing.)

 The older girls hiding in the shade for a bit.  I'm sure we have a picture of the 3 of us at Johnson's beach 25 years earlier somewhere...

 

Curt and Lel rented a canoe and we took turns going out on it.  If you look closely (or click on the picture) you can see Curt and Kai paddling, and Leslie and 2 little heads--belonging to Soren and Carl--riding along.

The parents modeling the chairs.  You can see the boardwalk in the background.  See?  It is a beach!

Russell and Julia watching the little boys play.  The water really was perfect for them to play in.  The rocks instead of sand?  Not so comfortable for crawling around on.  Sorry, boys.

Aaah!  Looks like Ty and Soy are joined at the hip!  Don't worry--they're not.  They both were way into picking up rocks, occasionally putting them in their mouth, and driving cars/trucks over them.

This was right before we actually got in the water and swam to the other side.  It's been a long time since I've really been swimming and not just waded...I should probably do that more often!

My mom and Ty-ty playing on the shore.

So Tina may or may not have forgotten a swim diaper for Soren, but she figured he'd be fine for a bit in a regular one.  Turns out, those suckers really do absorb a lot of water!  So much, in fact, that the absorbent stuff can't all be contained!  Gross.

(Side note: pictures were taken over our 2 days at the water.)

Snuggle-upagus.

Much to the delight of his parents, Ty is a snuggler.  He's especially cuddly when he's falling asleep or wakes up from a nap crying.  We like it.  Not one for exclusion, though, Ty has taken his cuddling to new heights with his wide assortment of "cuddle buddies."  I've decided for posterity's sake, that I need to make a list of the things he's snuggled with.  In no particular order:
-A travel-size bottle of lotion: Ty was playing with it in church when I guess he got sleepy.  He held that peach citrus-scented bottle up to his face while he slept.

-A Toothbrush: This kid loves his toothbrush and doesn't like letting it go.  Thankfully, Ty's much better about getting his teeth brushed than he was about a week ago.  Finally, I got smart and got him 1 or 2 extra toothbrushes to hold while I brushed his teeth.  It used to be that a fit would erupt when we were done brushing, headed to bed, and I had to pry Ty's 5-year-old sized fingers off of the toothbrush.  I would be a liar if I said that he hasn't slept with it before.  (Usually we snag it once he's fallen asleep.)  If he has it in his hand, he'll snuggle his bristley little friend.
-Markers/pens: Much like the toothbrush, Ty likes to hold on to markers and pens, which is fine until he learns how to take the lids off.  Just yesterday his nap began with a good cuddle with the yellow crayola marker.
-My wedding ring:  I think I was playing with it and Ty put it on his own finger/thumb.  Before I knew it, it was pressed up against his cheek as his eyes were closing.  I didn't let him take that one to bed; it's now safely on my finger.
-Blankets: Boring, I know, but if this list is to be complete, this needs to be on there.  Ty seems to have a preference for silky-sided blankets and will grab a corner/bunch and bring it up to his cheek, sometimes over his face. He also does this to play peek-a-boo...maybe we just take too long and he falls asleep.
-Russell's tie:  During church (which must be a hard place to fall asleep) Ty has occasionally laid on Russell's lap, grabbed Russell's tie and put it over his sleepy eyes like a sleep mask. Whatever works.
-The Bear wearing a lion: Ty received this little blanket bear as a newborn, which he likes probably because of the silky side.  This is what he'll sometimes bring out of the crib with him.  Since it's small, I don't mind too much.  It also doesn't require batteries, make any noises, or provide a choking hazard, so I guess it's good.  It's kind of become Ty's signal to take a nap, too.  He doesn't need it to sleep, but when I hand it to him, he immediately snuggles into it.  I guess he's had a little practice...this is at 7 weeks old:

To be continued...

Summer Vacation Part 1: The Woods

This summer after our 6-week stint in Reno, we followed my side o' the family out to Windsor, CA. (I think I mentioned some of this in the Tie Party post...)  We used to come to this part of the land every summer when we were little before our Disneyland days and stay in a family-owned cabin.  Since we were only about 20 miles away from the old cabin (which has since been sold), we went to check it out and walk around in Armstrong Woods, a frequent stop during our cabin stay.  The redwoods and other trees were huge and cool-looking.  The little kids had fun walking on the trails, but my sibs and I had fun walking down memory lane.  As Leslie pointed out, it smelled like our summers back in the day.  

Ty definitely did not want to stay in his stroller the whole time!

Part o' the gang

The Espinoza family (my sis and so on)

I know we have pictures in front of this tree (or one just like it somewhere else close by).  The little plates on it give years and events that the tree shows rings for.  I hope they didn't kill it just to show what it had lived through...that would be depressing.

Mor-mor, Far-far, and the grandsons.  :)

Lel and I at a very...interesting looking tree.  No, we didn't match on purpose.  (At least, I didn't...she always be trying to dress like me.)

...And we're still walking.  Tis a very peaceful and lovely place.  If you're in the area, stop by.

Yeah, we really couldn't prevent this from happening.  Dirty little thing.

Uncle Kai with Sawyer and Ty.  I think their little switcheroo is funny: Soy is taking Ty's binky while Ty's grabbing Soy's hat!

Aaaand he's out.  Ty, that is.  Russell did a good job of walking and staying awake.

We checked around for hunters and didn't see any, so Bambi and his mom are safe.  Phew.

Sampling...

We had family pictures taken a few weeks ago at Caughlin Park in Reno, which was lovely, but provided far too many unforeseen distractions for the Ty!  (Such as other people, grass, a dog playing fetch in the pond, sprinklers, air, etc.)  Morgan Mathews did a great job as our photographer and I'm lucky to have her as a friend, too!  Anyway, here's just a few of our pictures.  I'll post the rest as an album on facebook because 1) it takes too long to upload pictures on here and 2) I'll admit that I like comments (it's almost like a conversation and we all know I like those!) and comments are easier on fb it seems.  Even though my hair was completely uncooperative and the aforementioned Ty distractions, I think they turned out lovely.  (Am I allowed to say that?)

 "I love Mommy, she loves me

 We love Daddy, yesiree.

 He loves us and so you see...

 We are a happy fam-i-ly!"

(FYI: all you family members out there, Ty and I sing that "Happy Family" song in the car substituting all of your names in there so he remembers who's in our family and who he loves and all that good stuff.)