Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Charlie and to his twin brother Chris!

In celebration of Charlie's birthday we decided to go out to Palm Springs for a night. Because it is so hot out there in the summer, the hotel rooms are super cheap. We got a great deal on a room at a 4 star resort where we spent the evening relaxing in our "heavenly bed" and enjoying the A/C. This morning we slept in, ordered room service, and then stopped at the outlets on our way back home. We had a fun little trip and now it is time to eat cake!

4th of July

We happen to live in the perfect location for the 4th of July. We had a fun day and everything that we did was within walking distance of our place!

We got up early to run the Woodbridge 10k. We did this last year too and plan to make it a yearly tradition. It was a beautiful morning and it turned out to be a nice run. I pushed Isaac for the first 3 miles, and then Charlie was nice enough to stop and wait for us to catch up and then took Isaac the rest of the way.

I knew Isaac wouldn't make it the whole way without a little distraction, so I gave him a Gerber "biter biscuit" to keep him entertained. I had no idea what a mess it would make!

In the afternoon we went swimming at one of our community pools. Then around dinner time we headed over to the 4th of July celebration at our church. There was lots of food and a few lives bands playing. We had a fun time chatting with friends and enjoying the summer evening.

Woodbridge does a firework show over the lake that is just a few blocks from our house. Isaac was way too tired to stay up for that, but Charlie & I just walked out our front door and could see the fireworks from our walkway.

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Does anyone want to come join us next year?

San Diego Zoo

Last weekend we had a fun little get away to San Diego. We drove down on Friday night and used some Marriott points to stay the night there. In the morning we loaded up Isaac in the jogger and went for a run through Balboa Park. Next we headed to the zoo. We had some free tickets and thought that Isaac would like to see all of the animals.

Here he is looking at camels with dad.

And looking at the birds with mom.

This bird exhibit was probably the most interesting thing we saw. Not because of the ducks or flamingos, but because of what happened while we were watching. Some other big bird that was hanging out in there ate one of the baby ducks! It was really sad to watch, but also kind of amazing because the bird swallowed this duck whole and you could see it going down his long skinny throat. I felt really bad for the little duck and the mommy duck too.

Isaac's favorite part of the day was snacking on the flyer that they handed us at the entrance.

Cracker didn't get to come with us to San Diego, but he was well taken care of. He had a fun over night date with his girlfriend Lucie.

Isaac + Cracker = Best Buddies!

It's been almost a month since we last updated our blog, so I figured I better post something. I decided to look back over the pictures I'd taken recently and see if there was anything worth posting. Here's a sampling of what I found:

Isaac & Cracker in the morning...

...and at night.

In the backyard...


...and in the pool.


In the living room...

...and in the office.

What a funny pair! Isaac & Cracker are best buddies. They follow each other around all day. Now that I think of it, I am actually missing some pictures of these guys. I need to snap some of Isaac trying to follow Cracker outside through the dog door, and Cracker laying under neath Isaac's crib during nap time! I'm glad that they like each other so much. Isaac is constantly laughing and giggling at Cracker or crawling after him and even pouncing on him to give him a hug. And Cracker loves every bit of the attention.

(Check out Isaac's blog for his 10 month update!)

Day Seven (The Last Day)

Kauai was wonderful. In Hawaii- it is known as the 'Garden Island' as it is unspoiled and a dream for people who love the outdoors and beaches. It is not as 'built-up' as other places and no building is taller than a palm tree.

We spent our last day in Kauai at the Poipu Beach near our condo. Isaac loved being in the sun and after a week in the sun with SPF 50- he has a nice little tan to him.

Isaac loved to taste mom's Hawaiian shaved ice.

Here are a few pics of our condo we rented. It was a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit with ocean views, laundry, internet, pool etc. And the best thing about it was the price. It made the trip very affordable for two families:

Here is a picture from the kitchen window. If you have to do dishes- at least the view is nice. In fact- this was the best place in the condo to see sea turtles swimming in the ocean.

Here is my brother Chris in the living room.

Here is the view from the balcony.

We are now home! We took the red eye on Saturday night. Isaac slept from the minute we took our seats on the airplane till the moment we had to wake him up to get off the airplane. Unfortunately- mom didn't sleep a bit with a baby in her arms.

Our vacation was perfect. The weather was beautiful, our condo was great, Isaac was a joy, and we loved spending time with Chris, Carly, and Lucy.

And Cracker is very happy to have us back home.

Day Six

We took an early morning walk this morning along the coast with Isaac in his baby backpack. It was a beautiful morning!

We headed back to the northern part of the island today to Lumahai Beach. I've never seen South Pacific, but this is the beach in that movie. When we first got there it was so hot that we couldn't even stand in the sand without burning our feet, but it eventually cooled off a bit and turned out to be a beautiful day. I liked this beach because there was hardly anyone there and because the water was really calm and clear. That is my kind of beach! We stayed there for a few hours and swam, relaxed, and ate lunch.

Later we went back to Tunnels for more snorkeling. Chris & Carly took turns with Charlie & I watching the kids so we could all have a chance to get out and snorkel.

Here is a picture of Isaac after rolling around in the sand. He is a funny kid. He does not mind one bit getting dirty or wet. He is a good little beach bum!

Day Five

In the morning we went to check out a few waterfalls. Our first stop was Wailea Falls.

Next we headed to Kipu Falls. It is a few minutes walk off the road, but it is a very cool spot. Charlie, Chris & Carly all jumped in and I stayed up on the rocks with the kids. In this first shot you can see Chris & Charlie's legs as they are jumping in. The second shot is of Carly on her way down.

Later in the afternoon we headed back to Poipu Beach. Isaac absolutely loves playing in the sand and in the water. If you let him go he will crawl right into the ocean. He is also getting a pretty nice tan on this trip - even after being slathered with SPF 50 everyday.

After Isaac was in bed Charlie & I left on our date. We had dinner at Shells at the Sheraton which is where we stayed on our honeymoon. The restaurant sits right on the beach so you can see and hear the ocean while you eat. It was nice to have a quiet dinner together.

Day Four

This morning we took a late morning drive up Waimae Canyon. It is called the Grand Canyon of Hawaii and there are beautiful views along the drive... except for today because it was rainy and foggy! The clouds did clear up for a few minutes though.


In the afternoon we headed back to Poipu beach. This beach is great for families because on one side there are a few waves and some good snorkeling, but on the other side there is a calm, shallow protected area that is good for swimming with the little ones. Isaac LOVED it! We put him in his little turtle raft and he had a great time kicking and splashing around.


Tonight Chris & Carly are out on a date while Charlie & I are baby sitting, then tomorrow night we'll switch off. Hope you're having a great time guys!

Day Three

On Tuesday we drove to the northern part of the island for the day. Our first stop was a place called Queen's Bath. It's a small pool right off the ocean that is protected by a barrier of rock so it is very calm and clear. It was a little bit of a hike to get down to this spot but it was well worth it.

We had a good time swimming there until a couple of big waves took us by surprise and came over the rocks into the pool. I was standing up on the rocks at the time, and slipped and banged up my foot. I was positive that I had broken my toe and limped around the rest of the day in extreme pain. But I am lucky because today it only looks bad but it feels much better!

Our next stop was Tunnels Beach which is my favorite snorkeling spot. We spent the afternoon there and had lunch. On our drive back we stopped in Hanalei and got some brownies and lychee fruit.

That night we went to Old Koloa Town for dinner at Pizzetta. Afterwards we browsed in a few of the shops and then headed home. We have been going to bed pretty early every night because we are all so tired. Then we are up bright and early in the morning for another day of fun.

Day Two

Today we drove to Polihale beach. It is at the farthest end of the island before you reach the Napali coast. You have to drive a long dirt road to get there so the beach stays pretty empty. This is Charlie & I's favorite beach in Kauai. Isaac had fun playing in - and eating - the sand. He kept sticking his fingers in his mouth and sucking off the sand.

Here he is after dad buried him in the sand.

On our way back to the condo we went to our favorite shaved ice place in Waimea called JoJo's. We stopped at another little beach for some snorkeling, and at a local shop where we all got to "Ride the Wave!" Coincidentally, Isaac also just learned how to "wave" too!

Tonight we stayed home and relaxed. Chris & Carly made us dinner and then we walked down to the rocks and watched the sea turtles. This is the view of the sunset from our balcony.

Day One

Isaac was still on CA time and woke up at 5:45 in the morning. Charlie loaded him up in the back pack and we took off on a little walk to the beach.

After everyone was up and ready we headed out grocery shopping and loaded up on food, snacks, and drinks for the week. We had breakfast at McDonalds, but decided to pass up on the local platter with the Spam and rice.

We had a nice afternoon at Poipu beach playing in the sand and snorkeling. We went to the Spouting Horn and walked around the little gift stands there.

In the evening we went to the Poipu shopping village and had dinner at an Island burger place. I had a coconut cheeseburger and Charlie had the guava rum burger. Yum.

The Journey

We started out our vacation on Saturday with a long day of travel. First we had to drop Cracker off at Grandma's house in Corona, and then we were off to LAX. We got to sit on the runway for an hour and a half waiting for a "log book"... whatever that means. After 7 1/2 hours on the plane we finally arrived in Kauai! It felt like a very long flight. It wasn't Isaac's best flight, but he did okay.

Between our two families we had 10 checked bags (plus carry-ons)!!! That includes car seats, pack n plays, strollers, pool floats, beach towels, etc. We were a little worried that it wouldn't all fit in our mini van, but Carly was a good sport and rode with one of our giant duffle bags on her lap. With the 3 hour time difference it felt very late by the time we finally arrived at our condo, and we were very happy and excited to be here.