California 2008

woo freaking hoo!
here it comes, get that elbow ready!

Universal Studios
dipping her sweet toes in the ocean
sand in my shorts!
getting ready for the big dip
still getting ready, getting more excited....

Malibu Maddy and Kalifornia Karis
sucking on a lime....
squinty squished up sour face....
dancing to the mariachi music
sleepy girl tuckered out

Maddy happy to be on her way to the beach
Isis, Maddy, Karis and Fayte - all the cousins in that generation so far
Maddy and Isis cooling off with popsicles
stopping at Rubio's after the beach - I had forgotten my swimsuit so I wore my tank bra in to the water at the beach and needed to change into something afterwards so I wore Jason's shirt. Which left him nothing to wear but my girly blue tank top with slightly scalloped edges.... we were cracking up, he looked so feminine and fabulous in it!
another shot for posterity of my cross-dressing husband

standing up
casting call for Shrek 4
maddy at universal studios (we were wondering what she would think of all the cartoons, etc because she never watches tv or movies so all these characters are new to her, but she seemed to love it and watching all the interesting people)
Maddy hamming it up at Great Great Aunt Jeanne's
Maddy's second plane trip to California (link back to april 2006 to see her on her first plane ride), she did GREAT both ways, sat still and played so nicely - whew! big sigh of relief!

Grandma and Grandpa
me and Jason on the Jurassic Park ride, on the left, second row from the back - soaked!

Karis' first plane ride, happy as a clam both ways!

burying daddy at Malibu
cousins chasing bubbles, Maddy and Isis (born three days apart)
Isis sneaking a lick of cool whip
us with curious george at universal studios
cutie pie Karis at Great Great Aunt Jeanne's house, she loved crawling over and putting her fingers in the holes on Jeanne's crocs (un-toys are the best I tell ya!)

Oh my goodness, all I can say is, good times! Family, beaches, fun - it was just a great trip. Here are some shots of Malibu Maddy and Kalifornia Karis. If you want to be linky-dorky, look at my April 2006 post - it is when we went last time and Maddy was Karis' age. Time flies! I hope we'll be able to go in another one or two years, most of my mom's side of the family is down there and it is wonderful to reconnect. Plus the beaches are so much warmer and the water gets deep quicker and has better waves to splishy splash in than our coast up here.

Fireworks in Philomath

carefully lining them up with two-year-old OCD precision
our little pyre is growing
woo hoo, we have liftoff!

We got a bunch of snakes to light off at my parents house when Brian was visiting. They were a total bugger to light. My dad and I had to build very tiny funeral-pyre-esque contraptions to get them to burn. We were laughing hysterically at our own ineptitude, but Maddy was very patient waiting and waiting and waiting for the much anticipated snakes. Luckily she totally loved it once we got them going - worth the wait (and a whole big box of matches sacrificed for a good cause).

4th of July

We had three sets of friends over to celebrate and it was a really fun time. The kids LOVED the fireworks and trampoline, and the strawberry daquiris went over well with the grown up kids too!

Sand

and this shot I just threw in because I am too tired to make a whole nother post, about half a second after I took the picture the ball smacked me in the nose. if it was a video i'd send it to one of those shows and get $10,000 because she literally knocked me on my butt!

This sand has been around for almost two years now, we got it from the coast and it has survived a couple of moves and lots and lots and lots of visits from Maddy. When my Mom asked us to get her some sand to keep at her house, we had no idea it would become the favorite plaything for such a long time running. The best toys are the free and simple ones, for sure! This morning in particular she raced outside before breakfast to check on her "fwings" (things) and "babies".

Uncle BriBri

a little kiss for Karis
hiking up high
cornered in the sunroom, the tickle attack begins!

at the fountains
drop it in and then....
...watch it float by
he has her cornered on the stairs


Uncle Brian was visiting for the week before the 4th of July - it was a WONDERFUL time, the girls loved him and it was fun to catch up. Maddy now says each time she sees a plane "Uncle BriBri come Co-wo-wa-do (Colorado). Chase six hours!" He chased and chased and chased her around my parents new house, she was in HEAVEN and he was totally exhausted, but they had oh so much fun. He'll be a great dad someday, but for now is the #1 uncle of all time! If I ask Maddy to guess where we are going, she scrunches up her nose and says "Co-wo-wa-do?!" We wish!