Pictures!

Abbey had some pictures taken recently. I just thought I would post this super cute collage shot.

Politics!

This is incredible. An exciting new candidate has emerged as a potential spoiler to both Obama and McCain. See more about it here.

Work Delay

So, many people knew that I was planning to go back to work today, but...I delayed going back for another week. There were lots of legitimate reasons to prolong my leave by a week, but it came down to the fact that I just wasn't ready. I'm not sure I will be ready next week either, but at that point, I have no choice. So, here's to one more week at home!!

The phone that ate my summer....

Is now being sold! Yeah! The Motorola Krave ZN4

I know you all want to run out and get one. You can find more info here.

In Other News...

Whew! That was a lot of blogging about California...sorry about that, but we did have fun and I wanted to share our time with you. Anyway, a few other things have been going on lately as well. First off, Abbey can now officially roll over. She now sleeps on her tummy every night because as soon as I put her down on her back she immediately rolls over. I have all along suspected she would rather sleep on her tummy and now I guess she can finally sleep comfortably!

Also, our good friend Mr. Nick finally moved to London. He had been planning it for a while, but there were delays with his work visa. Congratulations on the move Mr. Nick, but we will miss you!

CA Part 8 - The End

We had a wonderful time in CA, but it was time to go back home. A lot of people asked how the kids did on the trip and I can honestly say that they did great. Ben and Abbey were both troopers and made the trip very enjoyable. They also both did great on the plane - especially Ben. Abbey slept through both flights for the most part, but 4 hours is a long time for a 2 year old to sit still and he handled it very well. We got many compliments from other passengers after both flights. All in all, it was a very fun vacation!

Ca Part 7

Finally, after all our fun activities, it was time to go to the main event, the main reason we were even in California...Katie's wedding!! The wedding was located at a beautiful winery in Saratoga - everything was gorgeous and we had a great time...thanks Katie and Eddie for a wonderful weekend!

Here are the happy couple...


It was so great to catch up with college friends that I haven't seen in a while. The wedding was beautiful and the views from the winery were amazing - you can see a little in the background. It was slightly cold though - notice we are all bundled and standing close to the heat lamps!
Paul and I really enjoyed a night out without the kids - thanks Aunt Teesa for watching the kids for us!
I was so happy to be there for Katie's wedding - we wouldn't have missed it! Congrats Katie and Eddie!
Eileen, it was so great to see you too! I thought I would give you a special shout-out since you seem to check the blog frequently! Hope to see you again soon!

Ca Part 6

While in San Francisco, the girls headed out to find some chocolate...luckily Ghirardelli was within walking distance of our hotel!

We then left San Francisco and headed down to Saratoga/Los Gatos area. We went on a very cool steam train ride through the Santa Cruz mountains. Here Ben is helping the blacksmith before the train ride.
Ben loved the train - it was a steam engine...just like Thomas!!
Turns out we took all kinds of transportation on this vacation and Ben really enjoyed each one.

Ca Part 5

We went to the Muir Woods to see the giant red woods. Aunt Teesa and Abbey taking in the beautiful scenery...
Look how wide those trees were!
And so tall too!
They were so big that Daddy and Ben could fit inside!
And then we had to go to postcard row - this is a great shot!

CA Part 4 - San Francisco

After leaving Monterey, we headed to San Francisco! Aunt Teesa flew in and we all went to Alcatraz. Ben really enjoyed the audio tour...

Aunt Teesa with the kids in the prison...
Oh no! Ben got locked in! Let him out - he isn't a naughty boy! By the way, try explaining a prison to a 2 year old without scaring him. You don't want to say it is a place for naughty people (you don't want him to worry he will end up there when he is naughty), but what else would you call it? Luckily, he really didn't ask too many questions about it.
Ben's favorite part though was the ferry ride over to the island. He wanted to go again and again!

Then of course we rode the cable car! Ben really enjoyed that - he loves all modes of transportation!

Ca Part 3 - Big Sur

We drove down Big Sur too. We didn't do the whole thing because we really didn't have time, but the views of the part we did were amazing, so I thought I would share just a few of them.

CA Part 2

I forgot to mention that while we were on the 17 mile drive, we saw a string of these old cars. It was a family who traveled together to various spots in their cars. They were very nice and let Ben get in the car and honk the horn - he thought it was very cool!
Next we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was amazing (highly recommend it if you are ever in the area).
They had a whole room full of different types of jelly fish. They were amazing to watch and I had never seen so many different types of jelly fish - very cool!
They also had a great kids section where Ben was able to touch sea creatures (starfish for example)...
We also saw our own wild life while in Monterey - sea lions! They were very loud, but luckily for us, Ben was able to interpret what they were saying. Apparently, one was telling the other to get off of him. We decided they weren't very polite and should have said "Excuse me Please" instead. Amazingly enough, the next day Ben told us that they were saying "Excuse me Please"! Itsn't it great that they learned their manners while we were there?!? Thanks for the interpretation Ben!

CA Part 1

Well, it was again time to add a state to Abbey's map...so we jetted off to California for a week! We had a fabulous time and perfect weather while we were there. This may take a few posts as we had so many great pictures to share. So, here it goes!

We started off spending a few days in Monterey. First, we did the 17 mile drive, which was filled with beautiful scenery. Here is Ben in front of the Pebble Beach Golf Course.

Here we are in front of the Lone Cypress (Abbey was asleep in the car).
Just another scenic shot.
We stopped and had a picnic at this spot...what a perfect place for a family photo!
Abbey finally woke up to enjoy the views...unfortunately this was our last stop. She missed most of it, but seeing as how she hates riding in the car, we were happy she slept most of the time so we could enjoy the ride!