Visit to Martinez, July 2011

We went up to visit Omi(Grandma Monika..."Oma is German for grandma") and Auntie Lizzie for a few days at the end of July. They live in Martinez, CA which is right outside of San Francisco. We had a blast- such a relaxing time at Omi's house and Chris and I were urged to sneak out to the city by ourselves for a bit which we did and it was amazing!Here's a few pictures of Omi and Kendall playing a fun German knee-bouncing game with Omi.

Kendall is in love with Omi's dogs: Tyra and Annie. Here is Kendall trying to sit in poor Tyra's lap. Kendall kept sitting on her legs by mistake...imagine being old and having arthritis in your legs and then some big (cute) curly-headed toddler comes up and sits on them. Tyra really was so gracious about the whole thing. She could tell that Kendall just loves her so much, I think.
There was a great park right around the corner, lucky for us!

Omi was a really accomplished basketball player in Germany! She still has some moves. Go, Omi, go!


When your Daddy is 6' 8" you get to dunk the ball!!!


Notice handmade flower necklace on Kaylee's head.


We headed off to San Francisco on Saturday morning and explored a few places such as Pier 39, Union Square, Haight Street, and that big triangular building near Chinatown that I forgot the name of. Coolness.
Finally, a Chris-sized book!
Smile and say, "prison!"

Haha, our hotel was literally 2 blocks from Chinatown. We didn't know this. We get in a cab and ask to go to Chinatown. 1 block later we are dropped off in the middle of it. Embarrass.

Aside from the fun of visiting family and having a short vacation with just Chris and I , we were blessed that Kendall and Kaylee did really well on the (short) plane trip. Thank goodness there were no meltdowns like the baby in front of us on the way home: screaming the entire time! All the while Kendall and Kaylee were sleeping!

We can't wait to go back and visit and bring the kids to SF sometime.

8 months old and bad-to-the-bone

I have been experimenting with giving Kaylee whole pieces of soft food. For example: bananas. She will grab them, put them in her mouth, make a face, and then bash the banana in the table.
I end of mashing it in a bowl and feeding it to her that way. At least she gets to "play with her food," a little bit first!

Kaylee-Bird 7 3/4 months

This is what I see as I push Kaylee in the stroller. How could I not feel like the happiest person alive?When Brandon and Kendall were both little I took them on many walks around the neighborhood, parks, lakes, etc. But with Kaylee it's different. We still go on walks but often I don't get to focus on just her and I - usually we have Kendall and sometimes Brandon with us as well. Therefore my attention is focused on keeping Kendall on the sidewalk or reminding Brandon about something.

Last night I got the chance to slip out with Kaylee for an evening walk - just us two. And it was so special. The evening air was cool, the sun was setting so I put back the shade so Kaylee could look up at the trees and sky as we walked. And I could just stare at her as we walked. My goodness I love this little girl. It's so funny to think that Chris had to "convince" me to have another kid when Kendall was a baby and now I can't remember what it was like before she came to us. She definitely was always meant to be a part of our family.

San Diego Safari Park

Hot day- summer dresses.

Kaylee's First Swing

**Please ignore my agonizingly annoying voice. I am around babies all day long. ;0)

Kendall "Swimming"