Happy Birthday Luke!!

What an awesome year.  What a fun year.  What an amazing year.

Luke is one year old and we can't believe how fast this first year passed by.  We have so many great memories from this first year.  Thinking back to last July and seeing him for the first time.  Bringing him home and introducing him to his big sister, Maddie.  Meeting grandmothers, aunts and uncles, cousins, and family friends.  Diapers and bottles, too many to count.  Lots of late night wakings (and now he's the best sleeper!).  Laying, rolling, sitting, crawling, standing and very soon he'll be walking.  Three vacations and already so many good vacation memories.  Bath times and story times and playing on the floor.  Each day it seems impossible, but we love him even more.

It was time to celebrate.  We had two parties for him (since we love him so much.. and parties are fun!).  The first party included family friends and we gathered at our house about a week before his actual birthday.  Luke got his first taste of cake and it seems that he liked it!  He also got some new toys which of course he loved.

Luke opens birthday presents surrounded by his "big kid" friends

Mom shows Luke his new truck

Dad and Luke read his new book

Happy Birthday Luke!

Luke's "smash cake"... just for him!

So this is cake?

Wow, this stuff taste pretty good

Do I really get this whole cake for myself?

I'm REALLY liking this cake

Napkin please!

Do I have to finish it all?

Better make that two napkins

Dad cleans up Luke right after the cake!  Notice icing dripping from nose!

The second party was smaller, just our family and Maddie's two friends.  Luke opened more presents and he didn't waste any time in trying them out.

Luke hasn't quite mastered the art of ripping open gifts yet

He loves his new scooter walker... thanks Grandma!

Luke has fun with the Zig Zag Race Cars... thanks Mimi!

Big sister Maddie shows Luke how to use his new water table

Luke learns quickly and starts having fun

More playing... one toy... two happy kids!

I'm wet but who cares... it's hot and it's my birthday!

This is SO fun!

 At the second party, Luke tried ice cream... and oh yes he liked it!

Ice cream... yummmm.

California Vacation 2011

With rising summer temperatures and not a drop of beach water in sight, we eagerly set out for our California vacation in early June.  A full-day drive by car, Tom and Angela wondered how the car ride would be with baby Luke and Maddie strapped in the back seat for 6+ hours.  Not surprising (okay, maybe a little surprising) both kids did awesome!  Luke had two short naps, but they were just enough to get him through the long drive without any fussiness.  Maddie entertained herself with a combination of reading, video games, and DVD watching.

Maddie, Angela and Luke prepare to search the tide pools at the beach

Tom, Luke and Maddie dig in the sand at the beach

Sister and brother pose at the beach

We arrived at our ocean view condo in the late afternoon.  It was a fantastic 3-BR condo so everyone had their own bedroom.  We unpacked, spread out, and made ourselves at home.  Tom and the kids went to the pool while Angela made a trip to the local grocery store.  Even though it wasn't "pool weather" by our standards (it was only about 67 degrees every day at the condo), the pool was heated and we all enjoyed splashing around after a long day in the car.

Luke wastes no time after arriving at condo - toilet inspection!

Maddie unwinds before bed one evening

Luke enjoys dinner one evening... don't worry, he washed his hands after the toilet inspection

Luke in PJs looking up at Angela... is it time for bed?

The first 3 days were spent relaxing mostly around the condo, at the beach (about a 2 minute walk across the street from the condo) and at the pool.  We took a whale and dolphin boat tour one day where we saw a pod of over 500 dolphins!  They were swimming all around the boat.  The boat had a underwater glass viewing "bubble" large enough for 2-3 people to fit in.  See the amazing dolphin video we recorded!  We were disappointed not to see any whales, but seeing so many dolphins made up for it.  It was an amazing sight!

We arrive at the marina before our boat tour

Dolphins, dolphins, everywhere!

We also found a nice tide pool area along the beach and spent some time searching for (and finding) sea life hidden within the rocks.  Sea anemones are one of Maddie's favorites to find and there were lots of them in this tide pool area.  We also saw lots of crabs and some fish.

All smiles at the beach

Luke helps adjust Maddie's shirt before the photo shoot

Sitting on the rocks and pondering... I wonder what's for dinner tonight?

Vacation is a time for lots of laughs

Let's play!

What trip to California would be complete without a visit to the theme parks!  We spent one day at Disneyland and one day at California Adventure.  Angela and Tom mostly took turns on rides with Maddie while the other stayed with Luke.  Tom and Maddie rode all of the thrill rides.  Maddie's favorite was California Screamin' (a loop roller coaster) which she is now just tall enough to ride.  There were a few rides that Luke tried and he seemed to enjoy them.  He was a really good boy those two days (and they were both long 12-hour days at each park, too) taking some long naps in his stroller and otherwise just enjoyed all of the interesting sights and sounds.  He was a real trooper and never really got fussy at all!

Maddie and Angela are soaking wet (and cold) after riding the Grizzly River Rapids

Maddie and Luke in Pixie Hollow

Maddie waits for the raft to Tom's Sawyer's Island

Luke is anxious as he waits to visit Tom Sawyer's Island

Luke clapping and feeling happy in Pixie Hollow

Maddie gives Luke a drink of water "baby bird" style at Disneyland

Maddie and Tom complete their third ride on California Screamin'

On one of our last days in California, Maddie asked to try stand-up paddle boarding.  It's basically a large surfboard that you stand up on and paddle.  There was a beach-like area by the marina that offered a perfect place to learn.  We gave it a try, and although Maddie was a bit too small to do it alone, she and Tom made a great team!  Even Angela gave it a try (but didn't like it too much).

Luke explores the ocean for the first time

Tom and Maddie carefully balance on the stand up paddle board

Maddie and Luke play in the grass at a beach park

The vacation ended way too soon and before we knew it we were on the road again.  Thankfully our drive back home went as smoothly as our drive out.  We're always grateful to return home safely from a vacation, but as we unpacked we were already missing the beach, fun, and cool California weather.  Time to start looking forward to the next vacation adventure!

Could these two be any cuter?

Maddie's Kindergarten Graduation

In early June Maddie completed her last day of kindergarten.  I can't believe that the school year went by so fast!  It seems like just last week we were dropping Maddie off for her first day of kindergarten (Angela with tears in her eyes!)... and now it's over so soon (Angela with tears in her eyes, again).  It was a GREAT year for Maddie... great teacher, lots of great new friends and lots of learning.  She has so many happy memories of her first year of "big kid" school (she now says that preschool is for babies).

Last day of school at Jacobson Elementary!

Four kindergarten classes perform songs

The last day of school included a performance by all of the kindergarten classes that included songs and speaking parts by pairs of students (what they learned, memories of the school year, etc.).  It was very cute.  Maddie and her partner (Nikasha) had the line "1st grade will be so much fun!"

No stage fright here - Maddie recites her lines!

After the performance it was party time in the classroom!  There were snacks, games and crafts.  Mostly it was a chance for all of the kids to spend their last day together having fun.

Maddie and Sage: "We're headed to first grade!"

Maddie and Megan - a friendship from day one

The class poses with the teacher for one last class photo

Friends until the end

Teacher and student... say cheese!

Girls posing for photo... who invited these boys?

After school, the party continued at a classmate's house where there were more games, swimming and pizza!  A sign at the house greeted the children after school: "Welcome 1st Graders!"

Getting read to start the water balloon toss game at the after school party

Maddie leaves Jacobson Elementary next year to attend a new school.  Several of her classmates from kindergarten will be in her class next year so there will be a few familiar faces on the first day.  It's only seven weeks until school starts again!

Luke's Baptism

Luke was baptized into the Catholic church on a beautiful Saturday evening in late May after 4:30 mass with many close friends in attendance.  This is "our" church that we attend every weekend and the church that Tom & Angela were married in and the church in which Maddie was baptized.  We've been attending this parish as a couple for over 10 years.  Rick and Lenore, close friends of ours, were chosen to be Luke's godparents.

Children blessing the water before the baptism

Luke getting baptized

The baptism concludes with Luke dressed in symbolic white garments

Luke with Deacon Steve, Godparents Lenore and Rick and big sister Maddie

Proud family

Children celebrate the baptism at the church

After the baptism we celebrated with dinner and cake at our house.  Lots of friends and lots of kids all had a good time.

Sister bear hugs little brother Luke at the after party

A feast of Mexican food after the baptism

Children picnic on the backyard lawn

A final photo before cutting the cake - who loves buttercream frosting?

We feel so blessed to have two wonderful children to share our faith with and we're excited to watch them grow in their faith and develop their own personal relationship with God.  We're humbled to have the duty to teach them our faith traditions.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Maddie has been taking piano lessons for a few months and she really enjoys it.  The piano school philosophy is unique in that they teach only "correct" piano playing technique from the beginning.  They don't use teaching aids or learning aids.  From the first day students start to learn how to read music (not letters or finger guides) and are not allowed to look at their hands.

So far she's learned to play several songs... listen/see her play a popular beginning song in this video clip.

Note: Our piano is out of tune (will be corrected in the near future) so the notes that you hear that sound "off" are probably just out of tune (there might be one wrong note near the end).

Luke Chasing Maddie

This is pretty hilarious...

When Maddie was younger, she used to love to be chased around the house.  Now that she's older (and bigger) we generally don't allow her to run around the house and we don't play the chasing game any more.

For some reason the other night when Tom was carrying Luke, Maddie says to him "Dad, make Luke chase me!"  So Tom starts chasing (but not too fast) Maddie while holding Luke in a superman pose (on his belly, arms outstretched).  As he chases Maddie and she is screeching and giggling with delight, Luke starts screeching and giggling too.  He loved it!

See the video below.