Double Trouble Friends

 Elena and Emma started school together just over a year ago. 

The girls are very cute together.  They play well together and are always talking about play dates.

We recently discovered the girls are double trouble when together.  The girls were left alone for a few minutes--they proceeded to color on the walls, carpet, mantle and couch with markers!!

 Neither of the girls have ever displayed any behavior close to that incident but together they are double trouble.

 and yet so sweet!

Blues and BBQ: An Evening at the Park

When we purchased our home, we weren't looking at this community but of course houses were inflated beyond belief and we found ourselves looking for a home east of the coastal mountains. Our street may be a bit odd (including ourselves) but the City of Santee is really growing on me.  Since we moved in, the town added a YMCA and a sports complex--which is now home to live music on Thursday nights.

 The summer concerts in the park are free and the musicians are different every week.  This is our first time since after work activities are difficult in general with Elena.  You can bring your own dinner or purchase food from select vendors.  This week Phil's BBQ, locally owned and operated, set up shop to give us a taste of their yumminess.  They don't need to drum up business because in their two current locations, lines wrap around the buildings, but they are getting ready to open a third location...this time in Santee.  We were sad to see one of our favorite restaurants close but excited for this addition to town.  Elena devoured the plate of ribs. 

 Yum, yum...finger licking good!

 Though the Blues bands were great, this three year old doesn't sit still for long.  So we took a walk around the fields--keeping her active and still allowing us to enjoy the music.

 We happened upon a mound in front of the kids' play area.  Elena wanted to roll down the hill with the kids....this is her first time rolling on a hill.  She was comical to watch--trying to go down with her head facing down and legs up but she finally caught on.  She was having a blast!

 Sad to leave the hill, Daddy distracted Elena with some dancing.

 Elena continues to eat well and is growing tall and strong.  Here's a good height comparison.

Next summer we hope to get out to more concerts in the park and maybe a Friday night movie or two at the Lakes.  Santee doesn't have a modern movie theater, though there are a few near by.  It's nice when the screen goes up at the Lakes nearby and we still have a drive in theater to enjoy too.

Hope you, too, are enjoying the summer activities!

Farmer's Market Cherries

Today we headed over to Sea Grove Park (our wedding location) for a picnic with Elena.  We had a relaxing time overlooking the ocean.  Elena loved waving at the people on the train and chasing the birds.  She even made a friend who let her try his balance bike.  The kids were very cute playing together, though maybe a bit too close to the cliff edge for my comfort.  On our walk back to the car, we stopped at the local farmer's market for cherries.  Yes, Elena and I were craving fresh cherries.  Just as luck would have it, Carl had just enough cash for us to splurge on an after lunch sweet dessert.  Elena and I had a few at the market, they were so good we had more when we got home.  This is Elena enjoying the cherries:

Hope you are enjoying the amazing summer fruit too!

Visit from Grandparents, Rachel's Birthday & 4th of July

We just wrapped up a visit from Gramazona and Grandpa Pat.  Carl took some time off to clean up the garage.  Then he and Pat focused on one wall.  They tore down the dilapidated shelving haphazardly installed by the previous owners installed drywall on the wall.  It is completely amazing what a white wall can do for the garage!  We still have more work to do in the garage and it has taken us 5 years but I think we can finally fit one car in the garage :)  5 years in the house, wow, that went fast!


Here are some snapshots from the visit:

 No visit is ever complete without a beach day and no beach day is complete without sandcastles!

 This just also happens to be my birthday.  Carl and I took off for dinner and had a lovely meal over-looking the Pacific.  Here is a picture of us cleaned up after hours at the beach.  We came home to chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles...and a request to have 2 cupcakes :)  2 cupcakes are okay in my book when they are baby cakes :)

 Happy 4th of July!

We hiked Mission Trails Park...from the entrance near our neighborhood to the old dam.  Elena did great and walked nearly the entire way, about 2 miles.  She was fascinated with all the scat we found--calling attention to it, trying to figure out what was eaten and by which animal.  As Gramazona said, we have a naturalist on our hands.  We also saw a coyote a few times, Elena was very excited!

 It took a year for Elena to overcome her fear of her helmet but now she's loving her bike and always asking for a bike ride.  She's always excited to go and is getting really good at pedaling all by herself.

Also wishing Grandpa Newman a very happy birthday!