Water, Water, Water

We were supposed to be camping this last weekend with our friends, the Miles... we have had this planned for all summer, knowing that it would be a challenge with 2 very curious and active toddlers sleeping in a tent, cooking on a stove and being outside for 48 hours straight. We had big plans and kept it simple - go to Lake Casitas (about 40 minutes from Santa Barbara) and stay for Friday/Saturday nights and come back on Sunday mid-day. Seemed like the perfect plan... until it hit 105 at Lake Casitas last week and I was the first to say heck no! Not being a fan of heat at the beaches, I couldn't see myself choosing this path for the weekend inland where there is literally no escape from the heat... then Dave (Mr. Miles) got sick and it looked like it wasn't meant to be for us. So, we ditched it, chose another weekend this coming fall and ended up going to the water park at the lake on Saturday anyway... we missed Dave, but it was SO much fun! The kids were in heaven, we felt cool for 3 hours and we ended the night with beers and fish tacos at sunset at Padaro Beach Grill while the kiddos played in the massive sandbox. Perfect!

All in a days work

We needed new toilet seats and Ben was just the person to help daddy with this special job! (notice how he's holding the light for Steve to see in the pure daylight?) :) Good Times at the Caputo's!

Seriously....

Could I love this child any MORE?

Weekend Fun

On the heels of a very chaotic week of travelling back and lots of catch-up and work to be done, we had a great weekend. Our friends, Pablo & Erin got married at the court house and then had a very fun celebration at Arnoldi's... one of our fave places to eat! With Arnoldi's comes bocci ball, which Steve looooves playing with his Italian boys!

We hit the grocery store, where Ben loves to push his cart and then finally got Ben a helmet for bike riding... I'm SO excited for him to learn to ride his own bike so we can go cruising together, however that will be a while, so for the meantime, our friends, the Shaw's lent us their co-pilot seat for Ben. He's completely obsessed with all things bike now and loves to wear his helmet, whether he's on the bike or not! I guess that's a good thing?

Here's some weekend shots...

Minnesooota trip

Our travels to Minnesota brought about many new experiences.... first and foremost, I travelled alone with Ben for the first time. All went amazing...he was such a little trooper and with Elmo on the DVD player, crackers and apple juice next to him, all was good!

The trip back proved otherwise... Steve joined us in MN for the last few days and then we flew back together. We were grounded on the take-off area for 3 hours before getting in the air... it was quite a scene (computer problems or something), so we made the best of it and again he did a great job of remaining patient and calm. (I wish I could say the same for his parents!) We ended up missing our connecting flight, then delayed again and finally got home to SB around 8 pm. It was quite a day, but he powered and we're all the stronger and more flexible for it!

All in all the trip was great... my parents have a stunning 5 acres that sits on the Snake River in northern Minnesota and being the incredible green thumbs that they are, it was just beautiful and so peaceful to be there with the gardens, the fountains, the quiet. Ben has really created a sweet connection with his grandparents... grammy & pop-top!

We packed it all in -- saw tons of friends and relatives and as I said, Steve arrived and we headed to Wisconsin for his 1/2 marathon. He shaved 12 minutes off of his last race time and did it with a smile through the POURING rain!

Here's a few of my favorite shots...