Sin City with Dude

Last weekend we took a quick trip to Las Vegas to celebrate Dude's birthday. I was a bit nervous about hitting up Sin City with a toddler in tow, but I had quite a few people reassure me that they had done a similar trip (with success!) when their kids were around the same age.

It was different to visit with a little one, but we had a great time! Kendall swam in the Palazzo pool, browsed through the shops at The Venitian, ate at Tao and Otto, and thoroughly enjoyed herself in the oversized hotel room bathtub. I'm sure she has many trips to Vegas in her future, but I'm glad that we made the first one a memorable one!!

BBQ with Friends

We love it when our friends Jeff and Jasmin Bethel come to town! This year we joined them for a bbq to celebrate Jeff's dad's birthday. Jeff recently took a job at Oregon State University, so we're hoping that we'll see them more often now that they'll be in the same time zone!

Kendall sampling some of the food

Check out that mini!

First of many shoot arounds

She scores!

The Davis grads, spouses, and future Aggies

Most people go with silver, but we went with Mexico...

On July 22nd, Dan and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary! Five years!! Can you believe it?!?!

For a traditional five year anniversary gift, you're supposed to give wood. More modern gift givers choose silver. Dan and I opted for a five-day, four-night trip to Cabo San Lucas. We did a similar trip for our first anniversary, and thought we'd try it again. We're glad we did, because we had the best time!

We stayed at the Barcelo Los Cabos, which is actually closer to San Jose del Cabo than Cabo San Lucas. It didn't really matter though because we were at an all inclusive, so we only went into town once to do a bit of shopping. We spent our days by the pool, and relaxed at some great restaurants and bars at night. I was shocked, but the food was AMAZING! We've been to some all inclusives with some horrible food, but this place was great. Nex time we'll take Kendall - there was a ton of stuff for kids to do, including a little water park! I forgot the camera (of course - I always forget something), so you'll have to settle for a couple of shots that I found online:

And yes, it really did look like that.

Kendall wasn't forgotten about. She spent the time with Gram and Dude. They lavished her with new toys and played with her all day long. When she woke up yesterday morning in her own bed, she actually asked for them. That tells me that she had a great time.

Finally, I have to mention that the modern gift giving guides weren't lost on Dan. My wonderful husband actually took the time to find out the rules for fifth anniversaries. Before we left on our trip, he gave me a beautiful silver Kate Spade picture frame, complete with silver wrapping paper. I can't wait to fill it with one of my favorite memories from the next five years!

Daddy's Day Care

How did I manage to get such a wild child?

These days, my most used phrases are, "Kendall, don't climb that!", "Get down!", "You're going to hurt yourself" and "Be careful!!". I'm not surprised when she falls and hurts herself, but she always seems to take it to another level when dad is in charge.

This past weekend, I came home from an afternoon of shopping with my mom to find Kendall like this:

Not only did she take a nasty fall on the neighbor's front porch, but she also managed to climb up one of our kitchen barstools, fall, and hit another barstool with her head on the way down. Kendall takes it all in stride and even managed to "smile" when I was taking her picture:

Later on, I left to run to the supermarket. I was gone about 20 minutes. When I came home, Kendall had a gigantic goose egg on the other side of her head. Apparently she jumped off the couch and landed head first on our tile floors, between the couch and the side table. Can anyone say "Parents of the Year"??

The Official 18 Month Stats

34 inches tall (99th percentile)

27.5 pounds (88th percentile)

18.5 inch head circumference (64th percentile)

A letter to Kendall at 18 months

Dear Kendall:

You turn 18 months old today. Gosh, how time flies. I can't believe that you've been with us for a year and a half now, but then again, it feels as if you've always been in our lives. We've been so blessed to watch you grow and change. In a lot of ways, it's sad to watch you leave babyhood behind. Dad isn't sad, but mom kind of is. Then again, I'm so excited to be a part of what lies ahead.

It's so neat to watch you're imagination run wild as you start to interact more with your toys. You love to feed your animals, and you'll always make sure that they eat before you take a bite. Stuffed animals are your favorite and you've gotten in the habit of taking one or more to bed with you every night. You just starting to really get into your Little People and kitchen sets.

I can already tell that you're one smart little cookie. I hear new words come out of your mouth every day now, and you're constantly trying to mimic things that we do. Speaking of cookies, you're starting to acquire a sweet tooth - asking for cookies for breakfast and digging into whatever dessert we may have in front of us. You like to brush your hair and your teeth, but I think you really just like eating the toothpaste. You also say "thank you" quite often, and at the appropriate times.

I love that you're so loving - you kiss EVERYTHING. Sometimes actual kisses, but sometimes you'll just blow kisses. I think that every one of your animals has been kissed a million times. I particularly love when you give me hugs and kisses.

You are also the funniest kid. Always looking for ways to make us laugh. You've developed an "evil laugh" that you'll break out every now and then. Sometimes it's when you're doing something that you shouldn't be doing, but it also just comes out when you're having lots of fun. You're also a daredevil - never afraid to scale a barstool or the end of our bed. You haven't yet discovered how to climb out of your crib, although I'm sure that you could if you tried.

Happy Half Birthday, Kiki! We love you more and more every day!

Our Busy Summer...so far

Summertime is always a busy time around the Weatherby house. So far, this summer has proved to be no different. We're barely into the month of July, and it seems like we've been going no stop since the summer started. Here are the highlights (and lowlights) of the past few weeks:

Caleb made his annual summer trek from the midwest, and wraps up his trip at the end of the week. He participated in 2 full weeks of the Encinitas Junior Lifeguards program, which teaches participants the ins and outs of the beach, ocean and lifeguarding. He had a great time, and we're proud of him for completing it. This program has been around for years, and I know that it is TOUGH!

Caleb actually drove out to California this year with Dan's mom and dad in their RV. Cousin Cati graduated from high school, and the family was here to celebrate. They spent a week at Campland by the Bay in Mission Beach and Kendall was lucky enough to join them most days!

We also hit up the fair a couple of weekends ago and tried some deep fried Kool Aid. It was as gross as I thought it would be. There were some neat horses though:

Dan is extremely busy at work, and I'm still struggling to find a good fit. I was laid off (again!) from my job at Dragonfly Designs, but have started to work (here and there) for a couple of land use planners that I worked for years ago. I'm hoping that business picks up and that I can start working a regular schedule. In the meantime, I'm planning things for Kendall and I to do to beat the heat over the coming months. She'll outgrow this plunge pool before long:

We sure have packed a lot into the past few weeks, but I know that there is much more to come!

Celebrating Carla and Tyler

I know that you're going to be shocked, but this post is NOT about Kendall!

Dan and I do get away every once in a while by ourselves, and we spent this part weekend in Carmel celebrating my good friend, Carla, and her new husband, Tyler. While Kendall spent her days blowing bubbles with Gram and Dude, Dan and I were quite busy with the wedding festivities. I was a bridesmaid, so we went up extra early to enjoy everything!

The Bride and Groom hosted a BBQ on Thursday evening at the farm where the wedding reception was held:

The future location of dinner during the Wedding Reception

Set up for the Rehearsal Dinner

We spent Friday wine tasting at some of Carmel's local wineries, and then spent the evening at the Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner:

The future Bride and Groom

The Bride and Groom gifted their parents with artwork based on photos taken at their weddings

Stacey and I showing off our Bridesmaid gifts

Stacey, Carla and I

Saturday was spent celebrating Carla and Tyler. We were up bright and early to get ready for the big day. The wedding was a beautiful 1 p.m. mass at the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo in Carmel. We followed that with cocktails, dinner and dancing at the Holly Farm in Carmel.

The day was absolutely wonderful. Carla had thought of everything. From setting out flip flops for the women to wear while dancing, to serving pizza at 10 p.m., every little detail was taken care of. Carla looked absolutely gorgeous and Tyler cleaned up nicely as well.

My buddies

Carla and Laura - the Menchini sisters

First Dance

Carla and her Dad

Mom and daughters

I love this picture because it sums up how I spend my time when I'm with my friends. I wish I saw them more often because I love laughing like that.

Melody and I

End of the night...

Congratulations Tyler and Carla! The wedding was beautiful and the weekend was amazing. We love you and wish you the best!

A long weekend at the River

River trips are something that Dan and I have always loved. Our friend Tim has been visiting Parker, AZ and the Colorado River for years, and we're lucky enough that he owns a boat, and invites us to join him every summer.

We decided to join him again over Memorial Day weekend, and had a great time. We stayed in a house located right on the river, which gave us the perfect opportunity for a relaxing weekend. Kendall spent most of the weekend getting into everything that she could get her hands on:

Seriously, pictures like those will never get old.

We all had a great time and can't wait to go back!

Self portrait

At the Desert Bar with mom

At the Desert Bar with dad

Take me out to the ballgame

Sure the Padres stink this year, but that didn't stop us from taking Kendall to a game recently. Dan's company was nice enough to give us tickets, so we treated my mom and dad and enjoyed the afternoon. We had a great time!