New house and Desmond pics!

We are still in the middle of unpacking so expect more pics once the house is presentable. Our main goal was getting Des’s room ready so he could nap and making his playroom safe so he could entertain himself while Mom and Dad started unpacking. Fortunately he loves his new backyard. So many rocks to throw and plants to play with and plenty of room in the backyard to chase bubbles. We also got Sarah’s office semi-unpacked so she can work. We love the blue walls and yellow couch. A dangerous choice, but we think we pulled it off.

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More pics to follow, but enjoy these for now.

Here is some video of Des playing with some toys. He’s getting pretty good with legos and shapes.

Des dancing!

If you ever wanted to know what Sarah looks like when she tries to boogie… the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…

Des playing at the park! With Video!

Des loves the park.  He loves playgrounds.  He has no fear, as you can see.  He did this loop for about 20 minutes and loved every second of it.

He also loves the swings and living on the edge.  His mom does not.

Birthday Festivities

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For our big 3-0 birthdays we decided to head off on a little adventure.  We started in Monterey, where we hit up the aquarium.  Des loved watching the fish, more than I thought he would at this age.  Seahorses were also a favorite.

We then headed to Napa where we ate one of the best burger’s I’ve ever had– Gott’s.  Yum! We walked around Napa a bit and landed at a great tasting room with nothing breakable and, even better, a friendly dog.  Couldn’t have been a better place to drink some good wine.

The next day we made our way to Sonoma, the main event.  We rented a house, which was amazing, and some of our favorite people joined us for a weekend to help us forget we are actually 30.  *sigh*   The only downside was the adventures people had coming to and fro– snow storms, delayed flights, flooding, puking children, no flights, crazy rental cars– culminating in the Linster’s having to drive back home to Seattle in a day. 

With all of that aside, it was well worth the trip (I can say that since I had no travel issues).

We ate some great food we all chipped in to cook, saw some amazing wineries and just enjoyed each other despite the rain and bad weather.  The three kids also had a great time, which made our lives easier.

Thanks again for everyone for making the trip.  I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off a new decade.

Friends!

Some great shots of Des and his buddies.  They are pretty funny to watch these days.  They all love the wagon- but really, who wouldn’t?

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Douglas Family Preserve

Another one of many reasons we are lucky to live in Santa Barbara- Douglas Family Preserve.  Great views of the ocean, off leash for Beau and lots of dogs for Des to chase around.  We try to go at least every few weeks, and every time I wonder why we don’t go every day.  Here are some recent shots from a Saturday morning… coffee for Jason and I and dogs for the rest of the family. 

Yes, our lives are very hard.

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Update

We are WAY behind on the blog, and really on taking enough pictures.  We have some good ones from our recent birthday adventures we will post soon.  Here are some updates on what our little man is up to these days:

• Talking.  Well, sort of.  He only has a few words he says consistently, but is a chatter box and repeating what we say (which means we’ll have to be a little more careful with the language, like, yesterday).   He says daddy, mama, bird, dog amongst others, as well as the sounds of animals.  My favorites are moo, monkey (hee hee) and lion (rawr!) It’s pretty adorable.
• Books.  He loves reading, and can sit through some of the longer ones these days, which is good for Jason and I since we aren’t reading the same 6 page book over and over and over again.  Not that we don’t still do that, just a little less than we were for a while.  He likes to go pick out books from the shelve and bring them to us.
• Outside.  He loves being outside, so it’s good we live in Santa Barbara.  We got a water table that goes with our slide out back, so we spend a lot of time out there these days.  Walks are a different story, as they can rarely be considered exercise as Des stops every 10 steps to check something out.  He is constantly discovering something new– the good, the bad, the totally gross.
• His dog.  Des and Beau are best friends.  And that dog can make him laugh more than any one else.  They are quite a pair.
• Friends.  Des loves daycare these days, and gets to do all sorts of fun stuff– from playing in the yard water toys to dancing with his buddies.  He is also spending some good time with other friends outside of school.  They used to sort of play next to each other but now they actually interact, which is fun to watch, although there is also a lot more supervision needed.  I won’t go into details, but Des did manage to get a chunk of his friend Penelope’s hair.  Oops (and yes, I was mortified).
• Mom and dad.  While he still isn’t a full on snuggler, he doles out the kisses frequently and just loves being with us (at least we think so).  Weekends together are the best, complete with baby yoga.
• Balls.  He still loves them!  His new things is he goes around the house and collects all he can find, which is a lot with all of Beau’s tennis balls.  He then throws them in various places, collects them, and does it all over again.  His basketballs skills are also pretty impressive.

He is a full-on toddler now, which is a little sad but also a lot of fun.  He is starting to show his little personality more and more, both his silly and serious sides.  Sometimes I still can’t believe how lucky we got with such an amazing little man.  I can’t wait to see what he will do next.

Here are some recent pics. Never enough but better than nothing!

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more pickle!

More pics tonight…hopefully.  Here is some more fun with Pickle!

Des playing with Sam

Here is an old video of Des playing with his friend Sam, but cute none-the-less.  We are trying to get some more videos up this week- hopefully!