Remembering Summer Days When, Baby, It's Cold Outside

Molly's last day of the 2011/2012 school year was in early June. As we looked back on a year of mornings packed full of activities created by college students who still have energy, we wondered what we would do with Molly for 3 whole summer months. For the most part we spent the cooler morning hours at different parks around Davis and the sweltering hot afternoons in the public pools. Would you believe I forgot to take a single picture of Mo at the pool :( Molly found a passion for the pool that is still going strong. The girl loves pools and takes to the water like a fish that doesn't know how to swim. Imagine a lot of gleeful splashing, sputtering, and gasping for air. There were a lot of summer groundhog days in which we park played, ate lunch, napped, pool played, ate dinner, slept, repeat...

Swinging the Day Away

             

Feeding Our Chicken Littles

                                                                               

Chicken Chasing was a Popular Activity

         

As was Tomato Picking...

And Hose Play

But there were a few days that stood out and a few vacations/getaways that were memorable. The 4th of July was HOT but Matt was home (although I have no photographic proof) and we spent the day with good friends and good food. We lazed about, shooing those nasty Davis flies off food while kiddos played in the shade. After snacking and lazing we got Molly to bed before the fireworks' booms could frighten her. Luckily we could see the show from our driveway while she slept. Not a bad little driveway date night.

Grand Ole Flag

Hey Friend

We also drove to the coast to escape the heat and ended up tent camping at a lovely little place called Costanoa in Pescadero. The tent cabins were lovely, with electric blankets to keep you warm at night. It was a great way to ease Molly into the world of camping. There was lots of open space so Molly got to help Matt drive the car around the campground and we were able to enjoy a campfire dinner while she collected pine cones and chased birds around the tent cabin. At sunset we all went to bed together, warm and snug under the heated blankets. I love that you can go from sweltering hot to freezing cold in the span of a 2 hour California drive. And the best part was that the beach was right across the road and we were able to explore the sand and surf, and make sea-star discoveries. At this point Molly was not yet terrified of the ocean...more on that to come (Matt!). All in all it was a lovely little get away! And highly recommended!

Don't Mind Me...Just Driving the Car

Our Tent Cabin Crew

Cozy Huh?

Headed for the Beach

Sand...

And Surf...

And Sea Stars!

Our big get away came in July when we got on a plane to visit Grammy, Poppy, and of course, Comicon. My mom and Brian spoiled us big time and got us a condo on the beach! It was really lovely and we would have spent all our time playing at the beach if Molly hadn't been ROLLED big time in the ocean night 1. Matt was wading with Molly in the surf and failed to notice a giant wave that took Molly down and rolled her around to the point of sand filled ears. I was just a little upset (just a teeny weeny bit) and of course Molly freaked out every time we tried to go to the beach from that point on. But we were able to sneak in a few trips and the ocean was amazingly alive. Day 2  I waded in and almost immediately felt something hefty brush up against my legs. I looked down and, in between waves, I could see giant silver fish and gorgeous leopard (I think) sharks. It was a really neat experience. And luckily our days were filled, with or without tons of time in the sand. Molly got to visit the San Diego zoo with Pearl (one of our most favorite people and my mom's high school Chemistry professor). And she got to see the sea life up close at the Birch Aquarium. We had a blast scooting around San Diego and Matt loved  every minute of Comicon. He got to spend lots of time with good friends Jay, Mike and Deb and even got to do a zombie escape obstacle course. He loved it. I rolled my eyes. We loved our week in San Diego!

Molly Meeting Pearl

San Diego Zoo Bus Ride

Beginning of Bus Ride...

End of Bus Ride

Some Cheesiness

What's in There?

Oooh Sea Anemones!

My mom followed us home from San Diego so that Matt could work overtime and Molly got some extended Grammy time, which she loved (and not just because Grammy brought her Ipad). We explored the farmers markets, brunched at High Hand Nursery and went to the California State Fair to pet the animals. And yes there was some pie pad (what Molly calls the iPad) time involved.

Pie Pad Time!

Goat Love

High Hand Brunch

Feeding the Fish

My Loves

Farmers Market Bound

Famers Market Escape Artists!

Goofing Around with Patrick

And More Pie Pad of Course!

After Grammy left we went back to lazy summer life but we did make it to the UC Davis Band-Uh practice and had a blast drumming and kazooing and recordering along with the band.

See...Lazy!

Our Summer Fairy

Giant Pop!

What to do...What to do?

I'm Bored Mom...

So Bored...

See how Bored I am?

So Bored I'm Going to Fake Pout!

Rockin Out with the Band-Uh!

Little Drummer Girl

All in all it was a pretty lazy summer but it went by quickly, as seasons always do, and by the end we had most definitely made a change from an infant to a toddler child. I welcomed cooler weather and back to school with open arms but now that I am looking at the foggy, chilly weather outside and my cooped up/bouncing off the walls child inside, I am starting to appreciate Summer months more than I ever have before. Here's to future Summer adventures!

Our First Girls' Night Out

Tonight was a wonderful night of firsts. Mo and I had our first girls' night out, Mo marched in a parade for the first time and she went to a movie for the first time. And not only was it a night of firsts, it was a super successful, magical night of firsts. The city of Davis was throwing its annual christmas tree lighting ceremony, including a parade with Santa and Mrs. Claus, free horse drawn carriage rides, and free showings of the Grinch at the Varsity theatre. Last year Matt and I (with baby Mo in tow) went downtown at the appropriated start time and it was so crowded we could barely move through the crowd, let alone find dinner anywhere. So this year I decided to go all in and get downtown super early, which turned out beautifully. Mo and I strolled into an empty Chipotle at 5:00 for dinner and by 5:15 the line was out the door. Most excellent timing. We shared a kids meal and it was the first time I have been able to sit nicely and have a conversation over dinner with my child. It literally brought tears to my eyes. No running around, no screaming. We just sat and enjoyed each other's company and it was lovely. Molly even ate her dinner without spilling a single grain of rice. Other people actually commented on our super cute dinner date. JOY!

I was so excited about the success of our dinner that I decided to buy Mo a GIANT sugar cookie from Peets Coffee. And man oh man do I wish I had my camera out for the look on her face when I handed her that cookie! She stood, rooted to the spot, with that cookie raised high in the air just staring at it with a look of jubilant amazement that such a thing existed. That cookie was so amazing she took her time enjoying it, instead of shoving it down her throat like all other cookies. JOY!

It was only 5:30 at this point so we strolled through downtown looking at all the Holiday decorations in the store windows. I had the Ergo (to avoid the stroller in a crowd thing) and Mo was so excited to get to be "baby" again. So we walked, and oohed, and ahhed, and snuggled our way towards the parade. JOY! We made it all the way to the Co-op and somehow found our good friends Melissa and Patrick in the giant crowd. And then we all joined the Band-uh and walked in the parade. JOY! And if that wasn't good enough we all got to go see the Grinch for free with hot cocoa and popcorn to boot. Mo did well sitting and watching the movie but was SUPER concerned about the Grinch's treatment of Max. "Oh NOOOO!!! DOGGY!" Luckily it was really cute and not too loud. Mo's first movie! JOY!

                                                      Waiting for Cocoa in Mishka's

                             Patrick made friends with the Grinch.  Mo was in no way interested.

And to top off the whole night there were the free horse-drawn carriage rides across the street. There was a loooong line but it wasn't too stormy and we were in the company of good friends so we decided to wait.

We were even "entertained" by the noisiest most obnoxious group of pre-teen girls that I have ever observed. I kept commenting on the lack of parenting and decided they must be hanging out on the corner being obnoxious and rude unobserved untiiilll...It was our turn to ride and the parents of those girls came out of the woodwork and notified us that we would be on the ride together. Oh, geez. And it was as bad as you might think riding with a bunch of sugared up pre-teen girls with checked out parents would be. OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS! They literally scream-sang songs the entire ride at a volume that made Mo shout "STOP!" and Patrick sign "all done." That moment, however, when Mo and Patrick were fed up was too cute to consider the ride a loss :) Patrick's face was priceless. "What is wrong with those girls mom?" JOY! (in spite of crazy obnoxiousness). And after a fabulous night we walked back to our cars (which were conveniently right next to each other) and sped off to our cozy, warm homes to hunker down for the night. This night has been my favorite night of the year and gives me so much hope for future girls night outs!

Thanksgiving at Station 57

Thanksgiving didn't seem very traditional this year. We bought a meal from the Nugget on Wednesday because Matt had to work on Thanksgiving day. No cooking. No fuss. No muss. Grammy was visiting and we had a nice relaxing day eating all the food we didn't have to prepare and walking around Davis in the gorgeous sunny weather. Lovely.

Yolo Berry Post Wednes-giving
Dinner

 Can you see Mo standing in Lake Puddle-in her non waterproof boots

Mo hasn't needed her "uh-oh" lately but I'm afraid that this is because she suddenly prefers to shove her whole hand in there.



I was worried that Thanksgiving would feel less spectacular than normal because Matt was working, but it turned out to be a fantastic day. We woke up and leisurely watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, spent a gorgeous late morning at West Manor Park, strolled through Village Homes, and we all took nice long afternoon naps.

And on top of all that we got to have dinner in the Apparatus Bay of Station 57, where Matt was hard at work (cooking). I wasn't sure what to expect dinner-wise from busy firefighters but when we arrived at 4pm, there was a full on yummy Thanksgiving spread.

There were even playmates for Mo as Captain Mcthorn's family was also joining in the fun. Mo loooved Collin, Captain Mcthorn's son, and we were frequently told that "we are in trouble" when she comes of age. Ugh.
There was even an emergency at the station when someone blew up a diaper. Big time. And we didn't have diapers in the diaper bag. Luckily there was a way too small diaper hiding in the cracks of the car. Whew. Disaster averted.

Who Me? Stinky Pants?



















                                                 The Difference a Year Makes:

                                                                       2011

                                                                     

                                                                        2012

                                         

Gua-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!

Last week we watched our tantrumy two year old screaming on the floor and thought, lets try tent camping. Logical? Probably not. But, despite all signs pointing to the probability that tent camping would be a literal screaming mess we packed up little blue and headed for the foggy ocean views of Highway 1. We planned our trip around nap times of course and right on cue Mo slept for the first two hours, waking up just as we got to the little hot dog stand in Bodega where we planned to get lunch. Parental high fives! From the hot dog stand, little blue's gps told us we only had an hour to go North! Books, Elmo videos, and Pie-pad (what Mo calls the Ipad) time should fill that right up! Exceeept....for the extra hour of stop and go road construction traffic that we sat in. Ergh. I will admit we got a little tantrumy towards the end. But boy was it worth it! We pulled into our campsite, nestled between the ocean and the river, smack dab in the middle of the redwood trees.

Our tent actually went up quickly, the air mattress inflated, and...we only had a small setback when Molly concluded that we had erected a bouncy house for her entertainment in the middle of nowhere. Hmmm.

Time to run around in the gorgeous grandeur of the redwoods surrounding us! Mo, don't you want to run and play? "Noooooooo!!!!! Huuuugggg!!" It is amazing how a two year olds screams can echo in the absolute peace and quiet of nature. Yikes, said all the old people with their tiny lap dogs ;) So we hugged Mo and went for a walk in the woods. Luckily we came across a treasure trove of blackberries and Mo decided the redwood forest was pretty awesome after eating about a thousand berries. That should be interesting later, in a tent, in the dark (spoiler alert-it didn't happen).

After our walk we hunkered down to eat some campfire grilled trader joes o's. Perfect food choice, as Mo ate almost a whole can herself. Parental high five number 2 !

Then it got dark, and the fire was a little too scary so we retreated into the tent for a little pie pad time in preparation for whatever the night was to bring.

I unzipped our nice warm sleeping bags and laid them underneath us all because I was afraid Mo would be freezing. Then I covered us all with fleece blankets and it was lights out. Mo vehemently refused any sort of blanket but fell asleep after an hour of alligator rolls, ear pinching and eye poking (guess who was on the receiving end of that). Mo slept like an angel, BLANKET FREE, while Matt and I FROZE! How do kids not feel freezing temperatures?! Our saving grace came when a raccoon poked me in the head and I told Matt "I think we have a little friend." Little did I know the raccoon poking me in the head -from outside the tent-was not our problem. Matt sat up and said "Shoo, get out of here!" Uh-oh! Those freaky little raccoon hands had unzipped our tent door and was halfway in our tent!! He didn't care that Matt had chastised him so what's a guy to do? Matt had to smack a raccoon, in our tent, in the middle of the night. What!? Mr. squeakers got the hint and ran away complaining to his friends the whole way back to the trash cans. Then the band of raccoons had a very loud chattering conversation and I thought we were goners. The good news was that the raccoon awakening allowed us to zip up our warm mummy bags and we were all able to sleep for the rest of the night until 7:30am! Major parental high fives. We successfully tent camped with a two year old!! We happily skipped rocks and went for a river walk, reveling in our amazing success...to be continued...will they survive day two?