We're Off to Cali

My mom, Amelia, and I went to San Diego to visit my grandparents and aunt and uncle from September 18-21. My grandma's birthday was in a few days so that was one of the main reasons for going in September. Our six hour drive took about eight hours because we had Amelia and needed to stop a few times for food and bathroom breaks. Amelia was a trooper and did quite well considering she was strapped down in the car seat. Last time we drove to California Amelia was just under one month old. That was a pretty rough trip.

All strapped into the carseat and ready to go!

Our first stop was in Gila Bend for a snack, stretch, and potty break.

When we arrived, my grandparents we anxiously waiting to see Amelia. She had grown a lot since they had seen her at one month old. They love to 'show off' their guests to all their friends; Amelia was a huge hit! Everybody just loved her and thought she was adorable.

It was birthday dinner night; they celebrate all the September birthdays on one night during the month. There were balloons at the tables and immediately Amelia pointed to our balloon and said 'ba'. We tied it to her chair so she could entertain herself while waiting for food.

After dinner, we headed up to my grandparents room. Amelia took a short ride on my grandma's walker.

We stayed at my aunt and uncle's house during our visit. We went for a walk after breakfast the first morning. The weather was nice but I wasn't to keen on the humidity. I was quite sweaty after our walk.

We went to The Spaghetti Factory for lunch on Saturday. I had never eaten here but I enjoyed the chicken fettucine alfredo dish. Amelia had fun slurping the noodles into her mouth.

My mom gave Amelia some spaghetti to eat and she got a little messy in the process.

Look at all the water...can I go in mom?

This is fun, I like getting wet!

Ooh kelp

Wet sand feels pretty neat

I see you mommy and I'm coming to get you!

After church with greatgrandpa and mommy

Playing in the sand at the nearby park

Hey mom come and play with me

Posing for a pic by the large ship and anchor in the middle of some sand

Going for a walk along a river. We saw a sealion swimming and popping it's head out of the water every five seconds.

Alright mom I'm ready to go home...this time I'll do the driving

Eating some ice cream at our stop in Gila Bend

Cousin Charlie's 1st Birthday

Amelia and I went to Tucson for my nephew's first birthday party. Amelia and cousin Charlie played for a little bit together and then he got to open his presents.

Amelia was fascinated with this little plastic lawn chair that Charlie had.

For some reason Amelia wanted to go into the playpen that was setup. Maybe it was because it was filled with balloons and stuffed animals.

Me, Amelia, my sister Heather, and her son Charlie.

Again Amelia on the chair...told you she was fascinated with it.

Here Aunt Heather, I brought you some tissue paper back.

What's this thing on my head?

Hey mom! It's your adorable little present...me :)

Walking outside on the astroturf.

Sharing cake with mommy.

Labor Day BBQ

Clint's family had a BBQ party for Labor Day on Monday. I went swimming with Amelia this time since Clint went swimming with her last time at the 4th of July party. Amelia got to wear the adorable ladybug swimsuit her Aunt Melissa bought her for her birthday. There is a cute sun hat that goes with it but Amelia isn't very fond of things going on her head just yet. I placed Amelia in the pool chair floatie while Clint snapped some pictures. She didn't want to smile a whole lot but we got the funny one of Amelia pointing to Clint while sticking her tongue out at him. I brought her pink ball to play with in the pool, which was good entertainment for a while until she spotted the duckie pool thermometer. People finally started arriving to the party and Uncle Brett cannonballed into the pool and splashed me and Amelia. Clint did a great job and capturing our expressions!

Rain Hair

Amelia and I went with Clint to his rugby practice at Mesa High School so we could walk around the track. There were clouds and lightning in the distance when we left around 7:30pm to head home. We got home around 8pm or so and it started to rain outside. Clint thought Amelia should go outside and experience the rain so out they went. The lightning was a few miles away and the thunder was getting sort of loud so I told them to come back inside so she could go to bed. I got a few pictures of her silly wet rain hair. She doesn't have much hair still so when it's wet and sticking up you can see that she does have some hair. The hair is getting long in the back and right behind her ears.

Bubbles

Amelia received a little bubble machine for her birthday so I decided to pull it out as a fun activity for her. I placed it on our countetop where she couldn't reach the machine and let the fun begin. At first she just sat there, pointing at the bubbles, and babbling. Then she decided that she wanted to touch them so she smeared the bubbles that were piling up on the floor. Her legs and hands were very soapy so she would slip and slide when crawling around. She kept crawling over to me because she was so excited and wanted to make sure I saw what she was doing with the bubbles. I'm glad Amelia enjoyed playing with the bubbles but now when she can see the bubble machine, she will point to it and whine because she wants me to turn it on. I think Amelia will have a fun time playing with bubbles in nursery in 4 months :)

2nd Anniversary

Clint and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary a few days early because we would be busy with different activities on September 1st. My wonderful mother-in-law came down and took care of Amelia while we went out to dinner at Chili's. We then went to the Superstition Springs Saver movie theater. We watched Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. It was nice because it was only $2 per ticket but it was ridiculus trying to get our tickets! We stood in line for a while at the main box office and when we got up there the lady said it was cash only. So we went inside and got some cash from the atm and then stood in one of the consession stand lines; they can sell tickets I guess too. This line took forever because all the people in front of us were getting drinks and snacks. This lady and her son totally cut in front of us so I was getting more frustrated every minute. We finally got our tickets and had to sit in the very back corner because it was so packed. We were late so we don't know what happened in the very beginning of the movie. We enjoyed the remainder of the movie however. Clint wanted a Slush Puppy so we drove to a Shell gas station that sells them and got one on the way home.

I can't believe we've been married for two wonderful years...I love you Clint!