Painting The Streets

San Rafael hosts an Italian Street Painting Festival and we went to check it out.  

 Artists working on their paintings.

 Maya sees Riley there.

 Horse painting in progress.

 Maya does her own chalk painting.

 Maya shows off her work.

 Fancy!

Dexter at 21 Months

Dexter is 21 months old and growing fast... 

Here are some approximate stats:

Weight: 32lbs (around 90th percentile)

Height: 34 inches (around 61st percentile)

Teeth: 14 (7 upper, 7 lower)

Dexter is becoming much more social.  His interest in other people has really started to blossom.  He has been very attached to Mom and Dad for a long time and it's nice to see him beginning to enjoy other humans.  He isn't jumping into other's arms yet, but he's intrigued by what others are doing.  

He continues to get better at understanding how the day works and is getting a little less frustrated.  He loves to play with Maya, but he also lets out most of his frustration on her.  She has been very patient with a little boy who will kiss her one moment and hit her the next.  He loves being outside and walking around the neighborhood.  In typical boy fashion, he has become very interested in cars and trucks, construction vehicles, trains, etc.  He likes to draw and loves going to storytime at the library with our babysitter.

Dexter is still a solid sleeper and a great eater.  He has a bunch of new teeth and is eating a wide variety of foods.  He's pretty good at sitting at the table for a decent amount of time and is getting a little better about not throwing everything on the floor when he's done. 

Communication has slowly improving, but it still doesn't seem like it is one of Dex's priorities.  He's added some new words like 'up' and 'cheese' and 'moon.'  He is understanding so much.  He can follow commands and really seems to know more of what is going on.  He loving books and right now he's really interested in books with lots of labeled pictures.  He is very intent on learning about what everything is.  He loves pointing to parts of the face and having us name the parts or playing other games that help him learn words.  

Dex is having a wonderful time exploring his world and we are enjoying exploring with him.

"Mommy Comes Home" video

Momma was grateful to have a chance to catch up with friends in Colorado, but she was very happy to get home.  It appears the kids were happy too...

Meanwhile...

While Momma was away, Daddy, Maya, and Dex had plenty of fun at home.

 Cuties.

 Dexter and a sandwich board.

 The boys go biking while Maya is at camp.

 Hugs.

 Bad hairstyles.

 Breakfast.

 Drawing.

Sliding.

 Reading with Daddy.

 Book worm.

 Dexter pushes his cars in the stroller.

Daddy does hair.

20 Year Reunion

Momma spent a long weekend away from home, the kiddies, and the hubby.  She headed off to Colorado to go to her 20 year Evergreen High School reunion.  Much of the old clan came back from all over the place.  It was a great four days and the longest time Momma's been away since becoming a parent.

 Here is a pic from 20 years ago of some of Kearsley's best friends.  Starting from top left going clockwise: Dani, Regan, Kearsley, Sara, Kirsten, Susie, Andrea, and Ben (in the center).  Everyone could come to the reunion except for Andrea.

 Sara stayed with Kearsley at her parents house.

 We all headed off to the Little Bear (our local bar) for the big event.  A rare occurrence to have Sara, Kirsten, Ben, Dani, and JJ together.

 The next night good friend got together for dinner.  Nicole and Travis.

 Regan and Ben.

 Kirsten and her husband, Jonathan.

 Ben and Kearsley.

 Then Susie and Joe arrived.

 Now at Kirsten's parent's home.

 Kearsley poses with Kirsten's parent's famous Lamborghini.  She actually got to take a ride and it does go very fast.

 Then Adi and Mae took it for a spin.

There they go!

 Kirsten's newest little guy, Matthew...

...and older brother, Christian.

 The last day with us all in one place.  What a wonderful trip!

Daddy Is In Charge Of Hair

Daddy takes care of baths in the house and sometimes takes some liberties with the hairstyling.

 Maya with an up-do.

 Dexter slicked back.

Bikes

After far too long, we finally purchased some adult bikes.  We hope to have some riding in our future!

 Grown up bikes...

...with one very happy passenger.

Lunch With Double A

Lucky for us, Annabelle and Allen came up for the surprise and we got to spend a bit of time with them the next day.

 Dexter tries to impress the guests with his downward dog.

 Maya surprises them.

 Enjoying outdoor lunching with Double A.

"Surprise!" video

Here is a video taken by a friend of the actual surprise at Todd's 40th...

Surprise For An Old Man

Todd is about to turn 40 (June 25th).  Momma decided that something epic was required...or at least something surprising.  A few friends arrived from out of town a lot of others came from in town and we took over the bar at the local bowling alley.  Todd appeared to very happy and very surprised.  Special thanks to all who attended and to all that participated deviously to create the surprise.  

 Todd was expecting to go to dinner with our friends Sam and Jess which ended up being a trip to the bowling alley.  Here is the big surprise.

 Todd tries to take it all in.

 Now it's time for some bowling.

 We ended up using about 6 lanes.

 Todd in a very cool bowling shirt with Kathy.

 Birthday cake...

...for the birthday boy.

 His cake was made by a very talented friend, Jen.  

 Dr. Flare is very happy.

 Our friend, Vince took some wonderful polaroids of some of the guests.  Here's Kathy and Coleman. 

Karin and Alex.  

Chris and Laura.

Kare and Derek.

Megan and Kevin.  

 Tia.

 Megan with some well placed bowling gear. 

Michele and Mark.

 Sophie and Jake.  

 A couple that bowls together... 

...stays together.