He may be ready, but I'm not

Kai looked like a regular school boy this weekend. He donned his backpack and marched around the backyard, very importantly, while we did a little yard work.

Well, he may be ready to go off to school, but I'm still savoring his little boy toddler days. Ask me again about it when he's throwing a tantrum. Not our Kai! ;-)

Max-ing Out

On Monday one of my yoga mom friends, Jennifer, and her son Max came over to hang out.

Kai and Max get along really well and thankfully, so do Jenny and I.

First we started with a little watermelon snack.

I think these boys are loving the fruits of summer!

After that, the playing began, and Kai found Jenny's very fashionable hat!
First giving us his, hands behind the back, shy look.
And then, NOT SO SHY. :-)And here is Max in his ever so beloved Elmo shirt. Adorable!

Under the Table and Dreaming

Goes to visit his mommy
She feeds him well, his concerns he forgets them

And remembers being small

Playing under the table and dreaming

Kai seems to think that under the kitchen table is a fun place to be. He climbs over and under and through the table's legs. It's a good time for all.

Can anyone name the song lyrics from the top of this post?

More Style Time

Last weekend, we had a few friends over for dinner. Kai enjoyed following the Style girls around and learning their big kid ways. Here are Eliana and Kai reading books.

And I would venture to guess that the girls were enjoying Julie's Lemon Pie. Yum!

Happy Birthday Eliana!

Last weekend was our friend Eliana's 2nd birthday. Here she is swimming with her dad Tobin.

They had a great pool party, complete with cupcakes and goodie bags, and all the cool kids were out to play. Check out Claire's gear! She's ready to roll.

Kai was working on his pool survival techniques with this elegant, yet efficient, exit strategy. I think the pool was a tad cooler than the pool he swims in for swim class (it's more like a bath).

Like most gatherings here in SD. Kai is often the only boy under 2. Here are a few more of the lovely ladies, Brooke & Carter (oh, and their beautiful moms too)!

Like the gentleman he is, Kai offered to drive Brooke's car. . . more like he absconded with her toy and didn't want to give it up. :-) Brooke generously let Kai play.

Ding Ding, and in this corner

So every night, after bath time, Kai gets a towel wrapped around him and then he runs around the house like superman. Last night he donned his fancy new robe from cousins Kerry and Elaine. If only we all had a robe this plush! The attire may have changed, but the habit was still the same!

My buddy Darwin

Kai adores Darwin. When he gets up in the morning, he always offers Darwin a big juicy open mouthed kiss. He follows Darwin around and shows him tons of affection. Sometimes so much affection that Darwin looks at the grown ups like, "Really? Can I get some space?" and we humor him, because he is ever gentle and understanding of the antics of our sweet toddler.

Here is a video of the two boys playing.

New Photos of the Boy!

He's growing up so quickly! The baby turns into a boy. So we thought that we'd try and get some photos done of him. Awww, so cute

Here is the link to the rest of the photos

http://smilestore.picturepeople.com/my/images?tk=e7abb130-56bf-422b-876a-a01c9156b026

Take me out to the ball game, Part II

Last year we took Kai to his 1st Padres game. I'd say he had more fun at his 2nd!

First of all, Kai thinks that he and Dad look pretty cool in their matching Padres shirts!

And they have pretty good food at the ballpark. And mom happened to get in the way of the popcorn.

But I was really ready to get there in with the big boys!
Lemmie in!

I look pretty adorable in the uniform.
And look at me run!

You know! I might just try and walk on to the Padres! What a game!

Back to where it all started

Sorry, today will be a break from all the Kai photos for a brief moment to take for a walk down memory lane. We went to a wedding for our friends Dan & Nicole Pyle in Carlsbad. When we arrived to the beautiful site, we realized that it was the same beach we were engaged on. It was a beautiful day.

Here is a photo of the newly married Mr. & Mrs. Dan & Nicole Pyle.

And the not so newly married Mr. & Mrs. Gidepakis. a.k.a. Kai's parents.

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. :-)