Brian's mom recently bought a house out in Banning with a beautiful view and she had been looking for a good day to have people over for a party. Since (most) everyone had a rest from their jobs (except me - my job never ends!) for Labor Day, we decided that would be a good day for a 'Q out there. My parents wanted to see the new place too, so they came along for the day. Brian's Aunt Charlene & Uncle Dave were down for a visit & Brian's cousin Erin and her daughter Bailey also joined in, so it made for a good gathering!
Isn't her view great?!
It was incredibly warm out there, so Austin & Bailey spent a good amount of time playing in the wading pool. They had a ton of fun once we redirected the slide into the pool. And Hope puppy got in on the fun too!
Dave did some excellent 'Qing for us.
And then we just enjoyed each others' company and watching the kiddos play.
McKenna & Bailey were particularly taken with each other. McKenna laughed so hard at her it sounded like she was crying.
Excuse the out of focus, I wasn't the one behind the camera!
Blame Auntie Becca for the post title. I tried to think of a cute & sweet title for McKenna's first swing experience, but all I hear is Chris Farley singing "Fat guy in a little coat. Fat guy in a little coooat." I was showing her the pics of McKenna and she says "Um...I hope you don't take offense but it kinda reminds me..." It's hard to be offended when she's right! So the title is sticking! Good thing by the time McKenna can read and has the capability of being offended, she'll know that Auntie Becca loves her and maybe she won't be offended either.
So yeah, just past 5 months old, McKenna got to ride on the swings for the first time! We went to Entradero Park by my parents' house. Just like her big brother, she loved it! Big smiles almost the whole time, except for a few "Stop the ride!" looks here and there.
Wheeee!!
Not so sure about this! (I'm pretty sure in that one, if she had the gross motor skill to put one hand in the air and one hand over her mouth, she would have!)
How better to follow up a day of whale watching with cousins than a pool playdate with the very same cousins the very next day? I thought Austin was going to have a joy-filled conniption when I told him we would see them again. Once a month Auntie Suz & I get together with my aunt, my cousin and another friend and quilt. Since my cousin lives very close to my aunt and has a pool (and we actually had beautiful weather for multiple days in a row) it made sense to plan a playdate at their house before quilting one month.
I gotta thank whoever designed their pool. It was made specifically for moms with multiple little kids. The shallow end is more of a wading pool and it gradually gets down to 5 feet or so. While he did do a few face plants, followed by frantic splashing and gasping for air, for the most part Austin was able to get himself into the pool and walk around fairly well without assistance. I, of course, stayed close for those rare face plants, but it made it so much easier to play with both kids at the same time.
Really, Austin had very little interest in swimming. Just like in Catalina, we had some "mandatory" swim time in order to work up his comfort level, but for the most part Austin was only interested in filling and pouring out buckets of water. Apparently "digging" in water is just as much fun as digging in sand.
But mostly he just had a ball with the cousins. They splashed around and kicked together. He figured out how to get Eric's Lightning McQueen crocs on. They played with water guns. It was a wonderful day! Thanks Laurinda!
The last week of August we went on an amazing whale watching trip with cousins! August is not typically whale watching season around here, but there was an unusual number of blue whales in the nearby waters this year. Even if we didn't see a single whale, there are usually a lot of dolphins teeming about the boat that I was sure Austin would love. And if Austin loves boats even a smidgen of how much Brian loves boats, then just being on the boat would be joy enough!
Austin loves his cousins! He's a couple years younger, but he happily tags along after them and they seem to really enjoy having "Austy" around too!
Austin didn't enjoy the whale watching trip itself as much as I would have hoped. He loved being with his cousins and he loved being on the boat for a while, but didn't get the concept of whale watching. I guess it's kinda hard for a little kid to patiently stare out into the open ocean, when he doesn't know what he's looking for! There weren't any dolphins around the boat to hold his attention either. And it was harder than I thought to keep him safe with two little feet on the floor. To be honest, it probably would have been easier to watch him if I hadn't been staring out into the open ocean with a camera pressed to my face anxiously awaiting a sighting!
Despite a little stir crazy little guy, I had a great time! I'm a science/animal geek to the core and loved every moment. We saw not one or two blue whales, but seven!! And they were really close! They were amazing and even more impressive than I imagined. Do you know that their hearts are the size of a VW bug?? That's just mind blowing to me!
Cousin (Auntie) Laurinda & Jake
How cute is Jake! I just wanna eat those little cheeks!
The older boys, Eric & Nick
All the little boys (we also went with my cousin's friend & her boys) dutifully looking for water spouts
My little seafarer
Thar she blows!
I love the continuous drive on my camera. Although it wasn't until later (much later - remember the mama brain?) that I remembered my camera takes video! Woops! You'll just have to settle for the pieced together one. :|
Taking a break to explore the seating
He did have a happy time playing on the stairway.
I know I say it a lot, but gosh, I sure like this kid!
There is one positive point to being so far behind in blogging - I get to relive the summer through my pictures. I had so much fun this summer! Hopefully my kids did too! Actually I know they did, but really they won't remember it either way, I suppose.
I think some of my favorite memories will be the days where we actually didn't do anything or go anywhere special. Just some ordinary at-home days when we tried to mix things up so things weren't quite so ordinary. There were lots of days this summer that, due to odd McKenna nap times or mommy just lagged at getting everyone dressed, we just didn't make it out. Sometimes, before I knew it, it was lunch time (and naptime followed shortly afterward) and we had hardly done anything fun or productive. So when those days came and the sun was actually shining, we had front yard picnic days. They were the perfect remedy for a cooped up, rambuncious nearly 2 year old! A badly needed dose of fresh (well, as fresh as it gets around here) air and sun rays!
Austin seemed to really like it! He'd scarf down his lunch as quickly as he could, so he could get up and go run around with the stick we used to turn on the sprinklers.
Gotta love good chewing shots!
And McKenna got some good tummy time in. Perfectly happy as long as I didn't try to put her on the evil grass.
She's a happy kid, but she was especially happy to be outside I guess. Her smile just melts me!
And this particular day happened to be her first day sitting!
Still needs some work!
Gosh, this kid makes me smile! He is what you get if you tried to bottle joy!
