O-town

Many people have a very narrow idea of what Oakland, California is like. After our visit, I'd say that it's a great town that often gets a bad rap. Are are some photos from our friend's house.

This was our last day in the Bay Area. It was wonderful to be able to catch up with our friends and to visit one of our favorite cities.

Hey Cuz

My cousin Nicki drove down to the East Bay to have dinner with us one night of our visit. She and her husband Nico brought their son Spero for us to meet. Check out the Greek Boys:

From Noe Valley to Santa Clara

On July 5 we did a mini tour of the Bay Area, to catch up with a few old friends. On a typical overcast SF day, we went to our favorite SF neighborhood Noe Valley to the home of Allen & Jeffrey. After hanging out at their house, we went to have a little brunch. Here is Kai hanging outside of Toast with Jeffrey, waiting for our table.

And Kai had a giggle fest with Allen, who is a kid's kid himself.

Later on in the afternoon, we turned our rental car south and headed to Santa Clara to visit the Flores Family. Stephanie & Ken's son Nicholas will be two in August and is a CUTIE!

Who would have guessed that these two NAU Riley girls would hang out with boys this cute! :-)

Happy 4th of July!

On the 4th of July the Urbanos took us to Alameda for a good old fashioned 4th of July Parade. Here Clayton pulled Kai towards the Parade Route.

We staked out a spot on the curb of the street. Kai is tired, but clearly patriotic.

After the parade we retired to the Urbano abode where we started BACONFEST! Figs wrapped in procuitto, salad with bacon bits, and the crowned jewel of the meal was our smoked, bacon draped chicken.

YUM!!! God Bless America!

Ferry Building & Friends

One of our days visiting in San Francisco we got to catch up with some other friends. We started the day tasting our way around the Ferry Building. Here Kai and Brendt were enjoying the view from the pier.

We had lunch with Nicola & Adam Flowers. Kai was clearly enamoured with them.
Then we went to visit with Jason & Sara. Where they got creative with household items to make them into kid's toys. First Jason came up with the world famous sock toy.

Then Sara gave Kai an fancy updo. . .

All and all it was a wonderful day!

Bedtime Stories

Last week we took a vacation to the Bay Area. We stayed with some friends of ours, the Urbano Family, in their lovely home in the Oakland Hills (think redwoods and deer). Their son Clayton (who happens to share Kai's birthday but a year earlier) and Kai became fast friends.

Here are the two boys getting a little bedtime story from Becky.

Sometimes you Push, Sometimes you Get Pushed

A few weeks ago, we went to a concert in the park with a few of other family of friends. Kai managed to 'borrow' someone's wagon in which he was pushed. . .
While other times Annabelle let Kai drive. . .

I look like Uncle Josh!

Mr. Personality here is all dressed up like his Uncle Josh.

He doesn't normally keep a hat on, unless otherwise distracted, but he seemed to like his "I'm just a skater boy" look. I sure do!

The Sand and the Sun

For Father's Day we did a little beachside picnic. Maya and Kai had a pretty good time and lets just say that they wore the sand well. :-)

Opa!

So this one is for my Pops. He brought Kai Taki, the talking bear that sings songs in Greek. Maya & Kai got down to Taki's little songs. You'll notice that Kai says Opa at the end!

We love you Papou Victor!

Hmmmm. . . who do I look like?

It's funny, I think people always say that children look like the person they're standing next to. For Kai, people look at the light hair and ask where that came from. Lately I've been tempted to tell them that we rescued him from a Swedish Orphanage. Looking at this photo, the resemblance is pretty clear.

A beautiful day!

Over Memorial Day weekend, Brendt's cousin Cade married his longtime sweetheart Shauna in a elegant, personal and playful celebration at Cade's parent's home in Tucson, Arizona. With the sun setting over the mountains they said vows that were very much their own. The occasion also brought together all the Wilson cousins for the first time in quite a while along with all their kids. Here are a few of the highlights from that wonderful event.

Photos by our Aunt Angie Reuser.

The Bride and Groom with All the First Cousins, Spouses and Kids

All the 2nd Cousins

Kai giving Maya a little love

Calley with Kherington

GiGi Dolores and Faboo Miss Kherington

Giddy Up!

While rocking out to a little Men at Work, Kai jumped on the Blue Dog (a favorite birthday hand-me-down) and took off.

Good Morning World

In the mornings, Kai is at first snugly and then happy. Here he is after he hopped into his chair, a family heirloom that his papou had as a child. Don't you just love footie PJ's? They're pretty easy to find up until side 4T, after that it is a bit of a trick! We can enjoy them for a few more years without much hassle.

Belly B

One of Kai's favorite books is Sandra Boyton's Belly Button Book. Likewise, he has an affinity for this part of his anatomy. You'll often find him wandering around the house with two hands firmly on his Bely B, Beeboo, bee-beep, you choose the name, the fun is still the same.

Playing at Nana's

Kai got the great fortune to spend almost 2 weeks in Arizona in May. The first one with his Grandma, and then the 2nd with his Nana. Here are a few photos of Kai and his cousin Maya playing with water in the atrium at Nana's house.

School's out for Summer!

Yesterday was the last day of school at Steele Canyon HS. Brendt will be doing a little Daddy Day Care with Kai this summer and I'm sure there will be many days on the beach with my guys, like this one. This happened to be during our family party on Kai's first birthday.

Bye bye helmet!

So, it's official, Kai's head is round(er). After 4 months of Starband treatment, Kai's head is significantly less flat than it once was. Hallelujah!

This photo was at his final session where they took these amazing computerized photos in 360 degrees to show his improvement. It's noticeable to say the least. I know it's a strange photo, but it is a milestone that we greatly celebrated.

Wonder where the blog went?

Ahhhh, so Kai is so very active these days. It only takes watching us one time for him to figure out how to open a cabinet, drawer, closet, etc. So the possibilites are ENDLESS. :-)

Better every day!

Kai is getting more confident with his walking every day!
Enjoy

P.S. Loving the belly!

1 Year Photos

As if Kai wasn't photographed enough, we did a 1 year old photo shoot.

Photos at this Picture People site.

http://smilestore.picturepeople.com/my/images?tk=9203f1a6-912a-46b7-bfa8-51c7fd71f66d

Just because I like it.

There are so many photos of Kai. I like this one because

a.) it's cute

&

b.) it looks like our friend's son Clayton (on right)

Clayton is exactly one year older than Kai, so I feel like I'm looking into Kai's photos next year when I get photos Clayton.

If only the Urbanos lived closer! Guess we'll have to make a visit to SF soon!

Out of Order!

So I'm sorely late on blog posts. Never mind the excuses. Lets get caught up. . . .

Kai's walking! And yes, we're bribing him with graham crackers. . .

My bow wow buddy. . .

Kai and Darwin seem to have a good child/dog relationship. Darwin knows to be gentle and at the same time wary of Kai. They are both trying to figure out the game of fetch these days. Here are a few photos of our canine friends.

Kai understands that the leash goes on Darwin's collar, but he doesn't quite get how.

The two boys, planning their escape.

Darwin with our friend Ernie's 16 week old puppy Burt. Yes, both names are real and yes, he is already bigger than Darwin.

YUM!

Kai is quite the eater these days. He eats just about everything we put in front of him, with a special affinity for crunchy things like Cheerios and crackers. He's even been known to nosh on a little sushi (cooked fish of course). Here is donning a little broccoli.

Double Dunk

At the end of February, Kai & Addison were baptised here in La Mesa. It was a wonderful day with a small group of friends and family.

Auntie Koma Comes to Visit

Our friend Koma came in to visit from NYC. She was here to meet Kai, and then there was something about a rugby tournie too. . . :-)

Fun with cousin Maya

Cousin Maya lives close by, so sometimes she & Kai get a double dunk bathtime!