New Bathroom

Jeff and I dipped into the crazy bin about 2 months ago... We decided it was time to remodel our bathroom before baby 2 comes. If we didn't do it now, we just knew we would never do it. So... after Memorial Day weekend, demolition began and we were sleeping on an aero bed in the baby's room for 3 weeks. Not exactly ideal when 7 1/2 months pregnant but it is what it is. It took a little longer than expected but turned out really nice. Here are some before and after pics. Keep in mind we have a pretty small master bathroom and unfortunately, we couldn't blow any of the walls out to make it larger so we did the best we could, used light colors to make it seem bigger and made the ceiling a bit taller... all an illusion...

BEFORE

(These pics were taken before we bought the house)

AFTER

(The color is a bit 'off' in these pics... the counter and floors are the white and grey carrera marble and the vanity and shower subway tiles are white)

Papa's Bday Weekend

For Papa's birthday-day and birthday weekend, we had a lot of fun... Uncle Jon and fam came down from Rocklin to celebrate, the weather was incredible (actually too hot for this 37 weeks pregnant lady) and the activities were exhausting... in a very good way!

Saturday was beach day. As you can see, the sun was out which is odd for June in Monterey. Typically we have 'June Gloom' but Mother Nature wanted Papa to have a great birthday so the sun was out and it was actually hot!

Ben, Jeff and Cousin Joel did all the 'boyish' beach stuff you can think of... build sand castles, dig for crabs, throw rocks into the ocean, get INCREDIBLY sandy and dirty etc etc. It was a really great afternoon!

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Today is Papa's Birthday and real cause for celebration. So, happy happy happiest birthday to you, Papa! We love you!!

Disneyland!

This past March, we went down to Southern California for a good old fashioned Bolgerfest. Little Mike was turning the big 3-0 so we all got together for a week of celebrating, first in Palm Desert and then to Disneyland. Jeff and I hadn't been to Disneyland since 1999 and Ben had never been so it was really a treat to experience the happiest place on Earth thru Ben's eyes and see all the changes the park has undergone. All in all, a really fabulous and memorable week!

On our way over to Disneyland, we stopped off in Coronado to visit Great Grandma B and Nancy. Ben hadn't seen Great Grandma B since Thanksgiving and hadn't seen Nancy since he was still an infant so seeing them on top of going to the beach = a happy little man!

Here we have just entered Disneyland in our matching, tie dye "Bolgerfest Birthday Bash" t-shirts. One thing was for certain, no one from our group got lost this trip!



One of the highlights of the trip for Ben was going to the charachter breakfast. Ben literally would not sit down, he was up on stage dancing with Mickey and crew the ENTIRE breakfast. He had so much fun and it was great to see him enjoy the Mouse Club until... we had to leave... cue water works and toddler tantrum...



Just a few pics of being at Disneyland with the obligatory mouse ears hats!

Notice Ben is tugging on Pluto's whiskers...



Being pregnant, there aren't many rides I could go on other than Small World (which Ben wasn't all that thrilled with) but I did get to go on the Tomorrow Land rockets with him, which was one of the top attractions in the park, according to Ben.



Ben trying the chocolate ice cream Mickey head... what is a trip to Disneyland without said treat?!?



We were lucky enough to stay at the Grand Californian hotel in California world. This meant we could walk out of the hotel directly into the park and beat all the crowds in the AM, then come back after lunch and spend some time in the pool while the millions of Disney-goers were having melt down after melt down in the park. Then go back into the park after dinner when the rides were free and the crowds were gone. This pic below is the toddler waterslide at the Grand Californian which Ben just loooooved!

Bull Dozers, Front Loaders and Graders, Oh My!

I am told that boys love all the big utility vehicle-type-things from my husband and our son is no different. He can literally name each thing - escavator, front loader, cement mixer etc etc etc.

Back in Feb, Ben's fav park, Dennis the Mennance, was under going some remodeling and we happened upon bull dozers, graders etc. You would have thought it was Christmas morning. Ben could care less about the park, he just wanted to play with the bull dozers. Good thing it was the weekend so they weren't in use...

Francis Fam Visits

Our good friends, the Francis Family, came for a trip to Northern California this past February to escape the Chicago winter. Of course we took advantage of the sun and went to Happy Hollow for some rides and fun. We met up with them and their daughter, Ella, who just happens to be the same age as Ben. Ben and Ella had a great time playing together and got along great after not having seen each other since they were 8 months old.

Ben got to go on his first roller coaster ride ever along with his Dad and by the looks of it, Ben had more fun than his Dad!

Ben and Ella rode the lady bug ride just the two of them and really flirted up a storm. It was really cute but a little scary at the same time. At least we know she comes from a nice family.

Jeff's Birthday Celebration, Part Deux

We went to North Tahoe the weekend after Jeff's birthday to continue the celebration. Why? Why Not! We went up with 2 other families, the Koontzes and the Bussi's and had a great long weekend.

Unfortunately there wasn't much snow the entire winter up thru the weekend we made the trek up to Tahoe. From this pic, you can see the amount of snow the kids got to play with. Of course, the following weekend, the snow storms were so huge we wouldn't have been able to get home, let alone even leave the cabin.

Here Ben is bonding with Baby Leo Bussi

 Here are the 2 grand dames (use your best French accent for that) of the house, Maxine Bussi and Khloe Koontz... or as Ben calls her, Khloe Hooooontz.