Bonfire at Capistrano Beach

On Monday we had a bonfire at Capo Beach. We had a ton of wood in our backyard that we needed to get rid of and we thought a bonfire was the perfect way to do it. We got there early to grab a pit (because even on a Monday bonfire pits get saved early) and Braden played in the ocean. He didn't like it when the waves got above his knees so he relocated to the sand where he played quite happily for a long time.

Everybody brought so much food! It was all so delicious. We had sodas, hot dogs, brownies, watermelon, chips, s'mores, and more.

There were tons of kids.

Brooklyn Trotter came over to pat Braden on the head and sit with him for a little while. I think she was trying to figure out why Braden found the sand so fascinating.

Logan Didlake was a little sugar baby. He was covered in sand and loved crawling around in it. He is so cute and so tiny!

Braden started to get pretty pooped but still wanted to stay awake and play with everyone.

It was a beautiful night to be at the beach.

The older kids had a great time roasting marshmallows and making s'mores.

Later on, Matt burned some old stuff that he wanted to get rid of. It was a cathartic experience. :)

Towards the end of the night, Braden finally got so tired that he passed out.

We had such an awesome time. Thanks to everyone who came!

Two Picnics, One Weekend

One of our favorite things to do is to go on a picnic. We love relaxing, we love being outdoors, and we love eating; this is why picnics are perfect for us. The first picnic we went on last weekend was at Rancho Santa Margarita Lake. There are tons of huge shady trees at the north end of the lake and it's our favorite spot to lounge. We have to keep Braden is his stroller or he runs away as fast as he can, which is a lot faster than you would imagine a one year old being able to run.




Braden was so cute but since he refused to eat anything that we'd brought to eat, I just took lots and lots of pictures of him. Matt thinks it will somehow scar him. I beg to differ. When Braden is an adult I'm sure he'll appreciate the eight quadrillion billion million pictures I took of him when he was little.

He is such a goofball! I love my little buddy.

Our second picnic was at Braden's friend, Mia's, birthday party in Dana Point.

The food was delicious and the company was awesome. Dana Point has free concerts during the summer so we even had live music.

Braden's favorite parts were the dogs and the bubbles.

Mia's mom, Jessi, and Matt have been friends since they were teenagers. Jessi is the sweetest. Her dad is Filipino so Matt had a great time talking to him and his family in Tagalog.

Mia was a crack-up as usual. She is so cute. It was a great 2nd birthday.

Orange County Fair

On Friday night we went with the Shermans to the Orange County fair. It was a blast! We all piled into the Shermans car after everyone had gotten off of work and we totally expected the fair to be crazy busy by that time but it wasn't at all.



Troy and Sarah grabbed some fair food, Sarah's selection was Australian battered potatoes with ranch dressing. She was so brave!


We headed over to the animals and the kids were so thrilled. Braden kept saying "hi" to the animals in the hopes that they would pay attention to him.





He kept reaching out his hand to try and pet the animals, but when an animal got close he'd pull his hand away really quickly and act shy.





Braden finally found something he could reach, the baby chicks.

There were all sorts of fun animals including the handsome fellow pictured below. How does he sleep? Does he get massive headaches? Amazing!

Braden was so intrigued with the ginormous (compared to Braden) horse and tried so hard to be so cute so that the horse would actually pay attention to him. But alas, to no avail.

Braden liked the huge HUGE HUGE snake we saw but all of the adults were pretty convinced that the snake could bust out of its teeny-tiny enclosure if it really wanted to so we high-tailed it out of there. Seriously HUGE. This picture does it no justice at all.

The kids were so good and so cute. They were adorable as always! Lucy can say Braden's name now and it's pretty much my favorite thing in the world.

We were horrified by the food signs we saw everywhere. Good ol' county fair fare. Fried EVERYTHING. Ugh. Just the thought of it makes me sick.

And c'mon, chocolate covered bacon?! There isn't a single person in the history of time who has honestly said, "You know what I could really go for right now? Some chocolate covered bacon. Nothing hits the spot quite like chocolate covered bacon." The only people who buy this stuff are morbidly curious and hate their stomachs.

We happened upon the Chinese acrobats (which Matt and I love to see every year) and it was by far Braden's favorite part.

Braden was cheering and clapping the ENTIRE time. He was the most enthusiastic person in the crowd by far. It was awesome.

He was so excited, the stroller could barely contain him.

After the fair we stopped at Golden Spoon for some frozen yogurt and then drove home. The kids passed out, they were sooo tired. We had to transfer Braden from the Sherman's Expedition back to our car, but he didn't wake up at all.

That's right, we left our child sitting in the parking lot all night. He was covered in dew the next morning. And couldn't lift his head for the first 4 hours he was awake because he'd been sleeping in the same position all night.

Yeah right! Lucy went to bed and the adults talked a while before we drove home, Braden and all, and put Braden to bed.

We had such a great time!

Disneyland with Natalie and Kai Part II

This last Tuesday Braden, my mom, and I met Natalie and Kai at Disneyland again! It was so much fun to spend more time with them. The kids were really great.



Kai was still a little perplexed as to what crazy, weird place we had taken him to, but he still had a good time especially since he could give Braden lots of hugs and kisses.




The boys were very brave on the swinging gondolas on Mickey's Fun Wheel. Braden was smiling and laughing and really enjoying the ride.

Among the couple of shows we saw, we went to Playhouse Disney.

Braden was standing, clapping, and bouncing the whole time. It's the third time he's seen this show but he still gets so excited every time.

Kai didn't know what to think about it all.

The boys had lots of fun playing together and just being boys.

And, of course, Kai had to sneak lots of hugs and kisses!

We miss Kai and Natalie already! We can't wait to see them in Thailand!