Fathers day weekend.

Daddy had a pretty good fathers day. It seemed like we celebrated all weekend. It started Friday night. We went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Blue Agave. We sat outside and enjoyed some great Mexican food a margaritas. Then we took a stroll downtown and noticed that there was a free concert in the park. It was a good band and we were all able to dance off our dinner.

The next day we took a long bike ride as a family. Normally this is a daddy and daughter activity because I prefer to go to the gym, but I wanted to switch it up and spend time with the family. It was a beautiful day. Then we ate lunch out at another favorite sandwhich shop and headed home.

Finally, fathers day arrived. Daddy slept in and I made a French toast casserole. So good! We ate it for desert the next couple of nights. Later we walked to a dealership the specializes in classic cars. It's more like a museum because I can't even imagine being able to afford any of those cars. But we had fun admiring all the classics. When we got home it was time for lunch and some fun in the sun. It's cute to watch Ella and daddy play in the water together. Everything he does just cracks her up. Thanks for being a great daddy!!!!

Concert in the park.

Mmm...

French toast casserole for breakfast!

Some summertime fun on Fathers Day!

Daddy and daughter enjoying the warm weather together.

Downtown Livermore with Grandma.

While Grandma Mac was visiting in May we walked around downtown Livermore and enjoyed the sunny weather. There are several water structures down there that Ella loves to play in, and get wet. She and grandma had a blast running around the spraying water, dangerously close to getting soaked. We all slept well after that trip.

Easter 2011

Here are some Easter pics that I have been meaning to post. This was the first year Ella received an Easter basket, as well as seeing the Easter bunny and going on an egg hunt. Ella was less then thrilled to be sitting on the Easter bunnys lap. Which I can't blame her. I've never been a fan of the Easter bunny or even Santa for that matter. But the mom in me wanted the obligatory photo of my baby dressed up sitting on the bunnys lap so I could show it off and put it in her scrapbook. That picture has not been scanned yet. Sorry.

However, I was excited to make her an Easter basket. Any excuse to buy Ella gifts!! She got some Elmo stickers, which you can see she was thrilled about. She also got a new coloring book with crayons, sidewalk chalk, a new summer outfit, a toy car, and a chocolate bunny ofcourse. Daddy helped her eat that ;-) Later that day we went over to the Roebers house for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. It was a fun, and relaxing day.

Little Easter flowers!

Memorial Day Weekend.

Wow. We had an eventful month. Between Ella and I getting back to back colds, ear and sinus infections, Grandma Macs visit, horrible allergies, and rushing Ella to the ER for splitting her lip open, it's no wonder I haven't updated this blog. We have had so many doctor appointments I can hardly think straight. We definitely needed this mini vacation. So here are the pics from our trip to Monterey we kept talking about.

Friday we took Ella to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. She loved it! It was fun to see her so excited about fish. She has known the word fish for awhile but I don't think she has actually seen a real fish up until this trip. She was amazed at all the tanks and even learned a new work, Shark! Every time a shark would swim by she would yell "SHARK!" like we were in Jaws. We even got to touch some star fish. It was equally as fun for me because I felt sentimental about the trip since my mom brought me to the same aquarium when I was little. So it was nice to share the experience with Ben and Ella. We ended the day with a walk down Cannery Row and some yummy seafood dinner by the bay.

Saturday we took a drive down Big Sur. Another trip full of memories. The last time I was there I was scared of all the big mountains and made my mom turn around cause I thought she was going to drive off one of the cliffs! But this time I was able to fully enjoy the views. We even ate lunch at the same restaurant that my mom and I ate at the last time we were there. It was so beautiful to sit out on the deck and see nothing but ocean and green mountains everywhere. After lunch we sat on the side of a cliff and threw rocks into the water. That's Ellas favorite activity. We couldn't see where they were landing most of the time but it was fun anyways. After Big Sur we drove the 17 mile route through Carmel, and gawked at all the decadent homes that lined the coastline and saw a little bit of Pebble beach, and the Lone Cypress. Our trip ended that day with a walk through of downtown Carmel and dinner.

Sunday, last but not least, we visited Ellas Great Grandpa Allens grave in Seaside. I thought it was fitting since it was Memorial day weekend and Grandpa Allen is a veteran. It was kind of a sad moment. Even though I have never met Grandpa Allen I sometimes feel that there is something missing in our family since his passing. After visiting Grandpa we drove through Fort Ord where he retired which was also a bit sad. The base is no longer an active base so there were a lot of disheveled, run down buildings and nothing but retirees shopping at the commissary and exchange.

Even though our last day in Monterey ended on a sad note we had a great time. It was relaxing and fun to build new memories in a familiar town with my family.