Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall! A Look Back

Obviously I'm really excited for fall, but before I get started on a fall bucket list and throw myself into all things pumpkin I wanted to take a little look back at our summer. It was a pretty special one, after all. Declan made his appearance right at the beginning of summer, and as we ease into a new season, it's crazy to think Declan has been here just three months. It feels like his sweet little smile has been lighting up my world for so much longer. Yet at the same time it also feels like just yesterday that I was pregnant. And his birth. I'm pretty sure those two hours are gonna live vividly in my memory as if they happened just yesterday for a long looong time. So as we're saying goodbye to our first season as a family of four, I wanted to do a little walk down memory lane. In the form of collages, of course.

Some of my favorite summertime memories:

• Declan's arrival! (Also, his birth story and a little pregnancy recap).
• Declan's very 1st holiday - the 4th of July at just 10 days old.
• These favorite moments from June, as well as this list of things I love about Ez, some classic Ezzyisms, and some small but sweet things I want to remember from this season of our lives.
• A short but sweet visit from Auntie B just before Declan was born & lots and lots of family wanting to meet Declan.
• Several SOS moments + lots of sweetness adjusting to the whole newborn & toddler thing (our 1st week, a typical day in our life, another glimpse at daily life, brotherly bonding).
• All the toddler craziness: here, here, and here.
• Watching my littlest baby grow up way too fast.
• Our first family photo shoot, including a dueling meltdown and another impromptu photo shoot with a bee scare. Photos are clearly not our thing.
• Cramming in as much Disney as possible (here, here, and here). 
• Exploring: SF, Half Moon Bay, the train, the museum, and Happy Hollow - we covered a lot of ground!
• And finally, our big move - a huge change, but one that we're very happy with.

Even though we didn't check off all the items on our summer bucket list, I think we came up with lots of spontaneous adventures and made our first few months as a family of four memorable and fun. Can't ask for more than that!

Happy 1st day of fall!

Summer Bucket List: Train Ride

The summer days are dwindling, and we actually had our first bit of cool weather this weekend, but that didn't stop us from squeezing in one more item off our summer bucket list: Ez and Declan's first train ride! I'm talking real trains, not the rides they have at zoos or Disneyland, which Ez has ridden before. 

Bay Area public transportation is so much more convenient than Southern California's and Joe actually takes the train to work now. So on Sunday we took the same train he normally takes every morning and grabbed some breakfast before walking around a wine and art festival. The whole main street was shut down and filled with booths selling jewelry, clothes, paintings, and photos, plus food and alcohol, of course! There was also live music playing, so if we want to really stretch things we can count this as our outdoor concert too, amIright? oh, and I can't forget Ez's favorite part of the festival - a fire truck that he could explore and his very own jr. firefighter badge. He held on tight to that for the rest of the day, and would take mini breaks to just stare at it in silence and awe. 

But back to the train ride. I think Ez's favorite part was the station where he actually got to see the train pulling up. As it got closer he had the biggest smile on his face, and was all tensed up with excitement, but when it stopped in front of us with a loud screeching sound he jumped back and looked ready to hide. So a healthy combo of excitement and fear when it comes to trains. On the ride there he stared out the window the whole time, completely transfixed, but on the way back he was apparently a seasoned pro and more interested in firefighter badges than the train. Declan pretty much had the same attitude toward trains that he has toward cars - it's all good as long as we're moving. As soon as the brakes go on the fussing begins. Impatient little guy.

Summer Bucket List: Caricatures at Disneyland

As you can see, we are slacking on our Summer bucket list. I kept it simple because I knew we'd have our hands full with a newborn and toddler (and I even cheated a little by adding "meet our lil guy" to the bucket list), but then we went and threw a move and all the chaos associated with it into the plans, and everything else fell to the wayside. Not that we haven't been having fun this summer, cause we have! But we've had to adjust and throw in a few So Cal bucket list items before we moved too. 

The LA county fair doesn't start till September, after our move, so we decided to hit up the OC Fair on it's last day, and one of the hottest days of summer. Unfortunately, they didn't do caricatures at that fair, so I made Joe promise we'd squeeze in one last Disney trip as So Cal residents, and get caricatures done in Downtown Disney. 

So, two days before the big move we took a break from packing and headed down to D-land. We hit up the caricatures first thing, before we were all sweaty and well before the nap/meltdown zone. Then Joe balked at the price, insisting it had gone up since last year (which of course it had, because now there are four of us). So, we skipped it and headed into the parks instead. We did something I've never done before, and climbed Tarzan's treehouse. At one point Joe was carrying both Ez and Declan, so that was quite the workout for him. Then we rode the steamboat while I nursed Declan. Afterward it was off to Cars Land, where Ez and I rode Mater's tractors for the first time together (he'd gone before with the grandparents). Of course we had to stop and say hi to our favorite race car, and maybe we might have let Ez pick out one more car to add to his ever-growing collection. We thought for sure Ez would fall asleep at lunch, but he didn't. So we headed for the car, thinking he'd fall asleep on the way there, but he didn't. So, since the stars seemed to be aligning, we decided to go for the caricature after all. Of course, Ez chose that moment for a mini-meltdown, but we managed to calm him down by letting him watch videos of himself while he and Joe got their pics drawn. My lil egomaniac. Afterward Declan and I went, and Declan opened his eyes just long enough for the artist to draw them before he promptly fell asleep. Somehow it all worked out, and I love the results. 

We first got our caricatures drawn at the LA fair two years ago, when Ez was only 3-4 months old. Now it's become somewhat of a tradition, and I'm so happy we have one with Declan as a baby too. I also love how distinct each artist's style is, and how different all three portraits look.

There's still about three weeks of summer left and we live a mile from the train station, so I know which item we're crossing off the list next! Anyone else still working on their summer bucket lists, or has everyone moved onto fall already? I'm already brainstorming all the fun Halloween stuff there is to do in our new hometown.

Our Weekend: Saying Goodbye & The Fair

On Friday night we had dinner with Joe's mom and her husband. We hadn't seen them since before our trip up north, so Declan was like a completely new baby, all alert and chubby. 

We fit in some more family time on Saturday afternoon at my aunt's house. Pizza, margaritas, tag, and cars = something for everyone. 

On Sunday we braved the heat and went to the last day of the OC Fair. One of my summer bucket list items was to get a caricature done at the fair, but sadly the OC fair doesn't do caricatures like the LA one. And the LA fair doesn't open till September, after we move. So I convinced Joe we'll just have to go get one drawn at Disneyland before we go. Darn!

One cool thing about the OC Fair is that Robert Marble had a booth, and I've been obsessed with his animal paintings ever since I saw one on Storage Wars. Such a cool coincidence. We bought two as early housewarming gifts to ourselves.

Declan and Ez pretty much alternated napping the whole time we were there, so we called it a day after a few hours (and a donut sundae).

Back home we got to work packing up all our stuff. It's kinda crazy how many boxes are devoted just to pictures, books, and DVDs. Five boxes packed and we haven't even started on the kitchen or bedrooms. For as much as I move (14 homes in 14 years!), I've never moved this far, where EVERYTHING has to be packed up and on the moving truck all at once. Usually I can go back and forth and take the fragile stuff myself. So wish us luck! This is our lives for the rest of the week: