Owen's First Camping Trip

WARNING: This is a long blog posting, so get comfortable! We decided to go camping at Big Sur weeks ago. We were so excited at the thought of swimming in a river, going on lots of long hikes and watching Owen taste his first s'more. Then, 6 days before the trip, I broke my foot. Determined to go anyway, I gingerly started putting pressure on my foot the day before we left so I could help pack. Thankfully my 13 year old nephew Matthew was able to join us on our adventure (for his first camping trip also) and was a HUGE help in watching Owen and setting up the tents, etc...We got a late start on Wednesday morning and didn't get to our camp site until after 3:00. The first day was spent unloading, setting up and cooking dinner. We had a beautiful site nestled in between lots of redwoods. Owen was in little boy heaven! Being able to live, eat, and sleep outside, and not having to take a bath when he was covered in dirt was a dream come true (for him at least)!

Pointing up to the "big trees"Owen kept wanting to blow out the citronella candles as he sang "Happy (birthday) to you" over and over again. It was hard to keep them lit when he was around!It took him a while to get to sleep in the tent, but eventually the sounds of the owls and the crackling fire outside put him out. The rest of us roasted s'mores and played poker until our eyes grew heavy and we turned in. Owen woke up a few times in the night wondering where he was I am sure, but he was excited to start the day in the morning! After breakfast, the boys went for a nice hike and I got to crawl back into the tent, get under the covers and read my book in between dozing off for little naps. Mommy heaven. Once they came back, I cooked up some lunch and put our tired little camper down for a nap. Matt and I read a book while Adam got a chance to catch up on his nap time as well. Once Owen woke up about an hour and a half later, it was time for hike number two and I decided to go as well. This was the hike Matt, Adam and Owen went on. Apparently it was pretty steep, glad I skipped it!

Our next adventure was flat, beautiful and only one mile round trip. I certainly got plenty of stares and "what a trooper" comments on my crutches. It really wasn't that bad, I was just glad to leave the campsite for a little bit and see something I haven't seen before. We went to see an incredible 80 foot waterfall, McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park that cascaded down to the beach where the crystal clear aqua-colored ocean broke on the shore. Owen's favorite part of the trip was not the pristine waterfall, but the 50 foot long tunnel he could run back and forth in. He must have run a total 5 miles non stop in that thing, shouting "Tunnel! Tunnel! Whoo-whoo!" After dinner, we decided to start the s'mores a little early so Owen would get his share. He was not too interested. All he wanted was the graham crackers. Fine with me, I was a little worried about him eating a ton of sugar before bed anyway! I am sure by the time we take our next camping trip he won't pass them up!

The next morning we packed up and headed home (notice the crutches strapped to the top of the truck...one trip I will not forget!). We did make a stop in San Simeon to check out the elephant seals. They were so cool to watch.

We had a great time overall and I am so thankful for all the hard work Matt and Adam did to make the trip possible.

Owen and Matt became good buddies after this trip. Matt was very patient with him and played "patty cake" whenever he asked. : ) They entertained each other the whole way there and back.
He wore himself out on this trip. In fact the day we got home, we put him down by 7:15 PM and he did not wake until 9:50 AM! Woo Hoo! We all needed that extra rest. Thanks Owen! XOX

Broken Foot

As most of you know, I broke my foot last Thursday. I got up to fill Owen's sippy cup and my foot got caught on the strap of a bag in the kitchen. The fall seemed like slow motion at the time, but it happened in a blink. I fell on the kitchen tiles and broke my fifth metatarsal. Fortunately my Mom lives minutes away and was able to come over after we put Owen to bed so I could get to the hospital. The next morning Owen was so sweet and sat in my lap while we watched Sesame Street videos on my computer.

It takes about 6-8 weeks to fully heal, but I am feeling better already. I started putting weight on it last Tuesday because I felt like I had to help Adam get organized for our camping trip to Big Sur on Wednesday. Yes, you read right, I went camping with a broken foot....To be continued...

Stressful end to a nice day

Today was nice as I met up with family at Shoreline to celebrate the birthday of my late sister in law Cathleen. For those of you that didn't know her, she was an amazing cook, gardener, mother, sister and daughter. She knew how to pull off any craft beautifully and made their home a warm place that everyone felt welcomed in. Happy Birthday Cathleen, we miss you.

After our meals were over and everyone went home, we hung around a little longer to let Owen play on the beach. Owen has a pretty good arm, and pretty good aim. People might think this would be a good trait until I saw him hurl a fairly decent sized rock to the back of a lady's head who was having dinner on the beach! I was mortified to say the least. It took her by surprise of course, and it hurt! I could not stop apologizing profusely asking if there was anything I could do, before she bluntly told me to "go away." Ouch.

I quickly picked up Owen and sat him down on naughty step for a time out. Needless to say, no more beach. It was time to come home. By my tone, I am pretty sure he got the picture that he was in trouble. I just pray that he never does anything like that ever again! He is usually a little angel on most days, but this was over the top! (On my way home I thought I should have at least bought this woman dessert or something! Oh well. I just wanted to get the heck outta there!)

I had a stern look on my face the whole drive home and now that I am reflecting back on that, I am realizing why kids give you so many wrinkles! For the sake of my face, I hope he doesn't get into too much more trouble! : )

Mommy Happy Hour and New Shoes!

We hung out at the beach this evening playing in the sand, running up and down stairs and tossing rocks in the ocean while I tried to get a sip or two of my margarita in between! It was a nice night with some great moms. Once again I missed so many cute pictures because I left my camera at home : (. Next time.

I did however get a couple of cute pics when we got home. Adam and I did the switch off downtown on his way to work and forgot to pack his shoes! Soooo, I carried Owen around a few blocks on State Street to Nordstrom to get him some little Crocs. I am not a fan of those shoes, but for kids, they are perfect! However, he is in between sizes right now and they were either too small or too big, so we ended up w/ Reef flip flops instead. So cute. This is a picture of him at home with a big yellow balloon he collected from the sales woman : )

El Capitan Beach and Rose Garden

Today we got to hang out at El Capitan State Beach and go for a beautiful hike! The water was crystal clear and the weather was perfect. Owen is such a great little explorer. He hiked most of the trail, minus a few times we picked him up just get going a little faster : ). We will definitely be camping there next year. Nice to be close to home, yet feel like you are on vacation far away.

After our adventure, we stopped at home to grab a bottle of wine, some snacks (ie. dinner) and a picnic blanket. We headed to the Rose Garden below the Mission to meet The Perkins for our own little outside happy hour with the kids. We had such a nice evening letting Owen and Keira run around while we got to sit back and relax. Owen was making quite a few (girl) friends. He's quite the ladies man. One little girl (Hattie) who was 2 1/2 was not thrilled with being poked at, hugged, kissed, or having her hair pulled, but she tolerated it while Owen treated her like a little doll.
Suzanne and Andrew.Adorable little Keira happy as can be!

Owen hugging his new friend Hattie doesn't seem too impressed with his hugs!Momma hugs

Kisses from Daddy! xxx

Music at Stow House

We had a fun night tonight listening to music in the park, having dinner and chatting with new and old friends/family while the kids ran around. I had some great pictures....until I realized that the memory card was in my computer at home and NOT in my camera! Grrr.

Anyway, here are a couple of pics from last week.

Wearing a cereal box on his head as a hat.

He does yoga around the house all day long. He went from the perfect down dog to an almost head stand the other day. I am so envious.

Update

OK, so I have been slacking with the camera the past week, so no pictures for this post. Lets see, since the fourth of July we have had a pretty good week! Owen has been spending lots of time every day in the "pool" (a little kiddie pool) in our (and Nanna's) backyard. He LOVES the water just like his Mom and Pop. If it's not the pool or the beach, then it's playing in the fountain in the backyard, watering the plants or wanting to get wet in the sink by washing his hands. He finds water anyway he can!

Tuesday we tried to go to happy hour at The Beachside (a local restaurant on the beach), but Owen was not having any part of it. He knew there were rocks on the beach just waiting to be thrown in the ocean, so he would not sit still to eat or drink or play. He wanted to be outside; pronto! We inhaled our food and mai tai's as fast as we could (to prevent a major melt down) and we followed him down the beach and threw rocks in the water for about half an hour before realizing it was bed time for our little beach boy.

Wednesday was my Birthday and I got a much needed massage and a great dinner at my Mom's house with family and a few friends with their little ones. The pictures will tell the rest of the story. They were taken on my mom's camera, so here is the link to the website: http://picasaweb.google.com/davidlewisinc/TerriS33rdBirthday?authkey=Gv1sRgCK3sz7D17prB9QE#

Thursday we dropped Owen off at Nanna's for the night and Adam and I took a long walk on the beach and went to the Yacht Club for what was supposed to be "a" drink. Since Adam takes pretty good care of the guys that work there, they completely hooked us up with THREE drinks each and brought out a new appetizer every 10 minutes before we put a stop to it! Our plans to go out to a nice restaurant for dinner never happened, but we had the best view in town and a lot of fun! After endulging at the SBYC, we of course meandered to the Endless Summer for one more drink before we headed downtown to hear a great band at the James Joyce (our favorite Irish Pub). It was a fun night, and well worth my hang over yesterday afternoon : )

This morning I got to redeem my birthday gift from Adam which was Surf Lessons (Thanks honey!)! We met our instructor in Carpinteria and had SO much fun! I had butterflies in my tummy the whole drive down, but once my feet hit the water, I was fine. Our instructor was great! I stood up and rode my first wave all the way in on my very first try! Granted I had a pretty big board which makes it easier, but I was impressed with myself. It's such a cool feeling to be standing on water : ) I think I am hooked. I need to dig out my wetsuit that I haven't worn since Freshman year of college (when I was in the body boarding club) and find a used board soon! I have worked out a massage trade with our instructor for our next lesson of stand up paddle boarding! Yipeee! I can't wait!

After our fun water adventure, we hit a roadside stand for avocados (10 for a $1), perfect tomatoes, garlic, lemons, fresh local salmon and lobster tail. We were off to Carpinteria next for lunch outside at a cute cafe before heading home to pick up our munchkin. : )

After a nice long nap, Owen and I went to Nanna and Pappy's for dinner and play time with my niece and nephew (Katie and Matthew). I don't get to see them as often as I would like, so I try to see them as much as I can when they are staying at my Mom's for the weekend. Owen just adores them. So, we got in the pool (once again for the day), and danced around the house after dinner to Owen's favorite kids song (the Boogie Woogie...which he calls for by name). It has been a great day and a fun week! Now it's time to clean up the house and try to get to bed early once again.

Happy Independence Day!

Today we went to the Stowe House for old fashioned 4th of July fun! Owen got his face painted, rode a pony for the first time ever, and danced to the jazz band! We met up with some friends for a bit, though, the kids dictated what we did and when, so we didn't get to spend as much time together as we would have liked! Riding "Casper" the pony.

Dancin' to the band.

Owen and Keira hangin' out watching the band. He tried to hold her hand and she would not let him. ; (

Owen and Daddy.

Mommy and Owen Day!

Yesterday I got to take Owen to the zoo by myself. I am usually working for a few hours at some point of most days, so my time with him is usually broken up. Thursday, however, I had the day off, so I took him to one of his favorite places in Santa Barbara; The Zoo! We had so much fun together and discovered new things that we had not done yet together, like feeding the goats, riding the merry-go-round, and checking out the koi pond. His memory is incredible. He has the map of the zoo in his head. He would tell me where he wanted to go and take me there on new paths that I didn't even know existed! We finally got to ride the train together too! I have not been on the train since I was in college, and Owen has been at least 3-4 times without me (with Daddy or Nanna). We had such a good time!

Pointing to the alligator.

Feeding the goat.

On the merry-go-round all by himself!

Wearing his train engineer's hat saying "whoo, whoo!" (train whistle)

Later after his nap, I heard silence for a bit too long. What do I come to find? Owen once again scooping up water from the fountian and bringing it in the house. Here is a picture of the evidence (wet foot prints!). And the next picture is of him saying "no no" refering to what he had just done. He knows better, why does he keep doing this? To top it all off, he does it all with a sneaky yet proud smile too! Lastly, I must add that Owen is already doing the oldest trick in the book to stay up later. "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.....Water." After he is in his crib silent for about 5-10 minutes, lately he has been asking for water before bed. Well, what sort of mother denies her little one water? Not me. I always give in and just give him a cup with a splash of water in the bottom so it won't spill, nor take 30 minutes to drink. He drinks a few sips and then inevitably, he blows "bubbles" with the remainder and gets a huge smile. I let him do this once or twice before I take the cup and off to dreamland he goes.

Good Friends and Cute Kids!

Last night we got to see our friends Gabe and Renee and their handsome little boys, Gabriel (3 1/2) and Grayson (15 months). We enjoyed a nice barbecue, good wine, a key lime pie with Malibu rum whipped cream and lots of laughs.

Their boys are so sweet and Owen became instant friends with them and their gigantic dog Merlot (or "Lolo" as Gabe Jr. calls him : ). They always make us feel so comfortable, as if we were in our own home. Owen felt the same way. We were there WAY past Owen's bed time, due to conversations that just kept flowing (it's hard to stop talking when you have so much in common!) Owen and Gabriel hugged eachother many times through the evening which was really sweet to watch. Here are a few fun pictures from our family night "out." You can see the rest on our Picasa http://picasaweb.google.com/adamanton

Owen and Grayson sharing a ball.

Sweet Gabriel hugging Owen : )Our awesome hosts Gabe and Renee.



Me and my macho man ; )
Grayson sneaking some goldfish.
Gabriel really wanted me to take his picture while he was posing. Too cute.

At one point Adam was on all fours helping Grayson walk, while Owen and Gabriel were on his back. It was a wild scene!

Pajama time, Owen was as happy as can be hanging out with his new buddies!
We had just enought time for one guitar solo by Owen.