Blueberry Bonanza

Wow, Levi sure was in the mood for food tonight. I am going to call blueberries as his favorite food so far--Parker will be so proud. Jared claims I am keeping the berry industry in business this year, considering that every trip to the grocery store always includes a basket of raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. Tonight I microwaved a bunch of blueberries to make them all nice and soft and squishy (and extra juicy and messy), and they were just the right size for Levi to pick up. He's really getting good with his "pincer" grasp these days, and can find the tiniest piece of anything on the floor and stick it right in his mouth. Which of course drives me crazy--no amount of sweeping or mopping will keep things out of this kid's mouth. Anyway, he absolutely loved the blueberries tonight, interspersed with bites of some crazy baby food mixture I found at the store---some kind of baby superfood made with lots of green vegetables and brown grains. He was an absolute mess, but so happy. He really is a happy go-lucky kid these days. It was right into the bath with him as soon as he was done!

Bath Time

Last Day of Summer School

Parker had his last day of summer school yesterday, so he has been released into the wild until mid-September. Perhaps this is what they were symbolizing when they had each child release a balloon into the air at the end of their last day! Although I can't imagine that this is a very environmentally friendly practice, it sure was cute and it still kind of chokes me up just thinking about it. I'm so glad Parker was able to attend a month of summer school, it gave him something to do three days a week--fun projects to make, water days, bubble days, special snacks (S'mores! Ice cream sandwiches!)--and he made a new buddy. 

I thought this list of the kids' favorite sea animals was so funny--note the differences in choices between the girls and the boys in the class. They sure do start that whole gender stereotyping thing young...

Grampy and Lee Lee By the Pool

Two of the Sanderson-Prindle boys looking summery by the pool in Carlsbad last week. Thanks, Dad, for giving me time to play with Parker in the pool!

Coffee Talk

My coffee date at the Carlsbad Danish Bakery.

Mr. Giggles

Chow Hound

Levi is starting to like eating solid foods more and more--one day this weekend, it was like a switch just flipped and he went bananas for carrots! If I would have known he'd go so crazy, I would have swathed him in plastic, rather than a tiny little cotton bib! It was cool that Grandpa Geoff was with us to witness one of Levi's "firsts"--the first time he actually opened his mouth of his own accord for a spoonful of baby food! It seems like carrots are his favorite food so far, although he is also liking any kind of mashed up beans, avocado, banana, cottage cheese, yogurt, teething biscuits, and bread. He mostly prefers to try to feed himself (although with the carrots he happily opened his mouth for the spoon), so I'm trying to give him things that he can theoretically get from his tray to his mouth himself.

5 Years Ago Today

Happy Anniversary to us.

"Paige and Jared's Wedding Wine 2006"

Swim Time

Grandpa Mark is in town for a week or so, so we've been able to visit with him a little bit poolside at the condo. It's been fun swimming with Parker now that he has been in his swim classes for about two months; he still isn't swimming on his own, so I'm a little troubled by that, but at the same time, I have to keep reminding myself that he has made huge progress in the water since last summer. A year ago, he often had to be coaxed to get into the pool, even to just sit on the stairs in the water, let alone put his face in the water and open his eyes! So, I have to remind myself that everything is relative...

Mirror, Mirror

Levi was acting so funny with the mirror in our bedroom the other day. I have no idea what he was thinking or trying to do, but I ran to get the camera to try to catch his behavior. It looked like he was trying to kiss "the baby" in the mirror, but I'm not sure...

Lee Lee

The Green Hoodie

This green Patagonia fleece hoodie was a gift from Ian and Krista when Parker was born, and it is still one of my favorite things that both the boys have now been able to wear. It will definitely be a keeper once Levi has outgrown it. I dug up a photo of Parker wearing the hoodie when he was almost the same age Parker is now--it's been a while since I've done a "compare and contrast" blog post!

Rope Swing

Jared and Parker put their heads together and decided to try making a rope swing out in the front yard. It's attached to a limb on the pepper tree, which hopefully will prove to be nice and strong...! Parker loves the swing, and it's easy and fun to push him on it any time of day or evening.

The Gatekeeper

Here is Levi in one of his favorite places to hang out, showing off one of his latest funny faces--I have no idea why, but for the last few days he keeps sticking his tongue out the corner of his mouth. It might just be my imagination, but I think he finds this rather funny.

8 Months Old!

Parker's Garden

One day, Parker decided that he really ought to have his own box in the veggie garden. So we cleared a space for him and let him choose what he would like to plant: Parker's garden is an eclectic mix right now of marigolds, succulents, corn, strawberries, enormous sunflowers, and possibly some bell pepper plants buried beneath it all. His sunflowers are in their prime right now, blooming and so tall that they are best viewed from above, from inside the house.

Happy 4th of July!

When we were making the difficult decision to buy our new sailboat, Prudence, I don't think I took into account too much the fact that we were buying her right at the start of Summer. However, we've been lucky to be able to enjoy the boat, the dock, and the dinghy so much at this time of year, since the weather has been beautiful. We got to spend the Fourth of July down in the harbor yesterday, doing some little boat jobs and cleaning before heading out on a dinghy adventure with the boys. Parker is learning how to drive the dinghy, and he'll definitely have it figured out in no time. Pretty cool for a four year old, eh? The Oceanside Yacht Club puts on a dinghy parade for the Fourth; we missed the parade, but saw some of the funny decorated dinghies as they headed back to their slips. Parker really wants us to decorate our dinghy next year--we'll at least be sure to catch the full parade next time! The City of Oceanside doesn't do a fireworks show off the pier anymore, but Camp Pendleton still does, and we were able to hang out on the boat at the slip last night and watch the show right from the decks of Prudence. So cool! Now we will have things better figured out for next year's Fourth of July. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a fun holiday!

Levi's Adventures...The Results

Poor baby. Levi is totally on the move these days, crawling and exploring and pulling himself up on everything. However, he still topples over and falls down and gets into all sorts of precarious positions. He likes to sit at the front door when it's open and look outside and get some fresh air and try to put bugs and other detritus in his mouth, but so far he has never tried to venture outside the door, as if the inside vs. outside divide created some kind of force field for him. But yesterday he somehow toppled over face-first onto the door mat outside from right inside the front door, and wasn't able to get a hand down to catch himself. So, unfortunately, his poor little baby nose took the brunt of the fall right onto the super rough bristles of the door mat--the ones that are meant to clean mud off of your boots, not kiss a baby's nose. Ouch. He looks so pitiful and goofy with his big scabby scrape today.

Pool Partying

We've had gorgeous, hot sunny weather lately, so we've had plenty of opportunities to cool off in the water. 

Levi's Adventures

Gymnastics

Parker took a gymnastics class at the YMCA for the last two months--he really liked it, and I definitely saw some improvement in his skills. I took a couple of quick videos of him trying out some of the things he has been learning since we got to class early last time. He is pretty good at balancing, and he loves jumping high and being silly (although the class is aimed at really teaching the kids actual gymnastics skills, rather than being a time for them to just run around and go crazy...it's been great for continuing to teach Parker patience, waiting his turn, and listening to the teachers). We are going to take a break from gymnastics for the next month, since he will have both summer school and swim classes to keep him busy. Although he would like to keep doing gymnastics, he also thinks he'd like to give karate a try, so we will probably make that our next activity! It's so great that he's game for trying out all of these new things. It gives him a chance to have fun, learn something new, interact with other kids and teachers, and to become more confident and independent. 

Prudence's Own Blog

I've made a separate blog just for Prudence. Why? Well, I wanted a blog that I can add technical details and hopefully get some advice from other Cal 2-27 owners. There seems to be blogs for most boat models that show repairs and maintenance but I can't find one for this model so I'm making my own.
Click here to check it out but dont' worry about checking it unless details about what window sealants get's you excited. All trips and adventures aboard Prudence will still be posted here in our family blog.