Happy Birthday Isaac !!!!

Happy THIRD Birthday Isaac! We love you a ton! Isaac was born on the 25th of July 2005, in Amherst, New York. Woa!!! Things sure have changed since then. He was born in the most hot and humid weather ever! It was a record breaking summer for Western New York. I am not joking. Every store even Home Depot were out of window air conditioners. In New York there was no such think as real air conditioners or central air. I was so hot.. I remember telling Mike we better get two of those window air coolers or I was going home (flying home that is). You can only take so many cold showers to keep cool. Well, I was miserable. But.. Finally our little boy was born!

Isaac was a really sweet baby. He loved being held by his mommy and daddy. He also liked to eat.

Isaac two week portrait

And here is the sweet kid today! We didn't get to do to much on his birthday this year because Mike had to go into work last minute but we already did the whole birthday shbang on Lillie's birthday. Isaac wanted to go to the park and swing. And so that's what we did. Isaac can swing and swing and swing all day.


We also took him to Cold Stone for his favorite kind of Ice cream... Blue Ice cream

Blowing out candles

Lillie Kate's First Birthday!!!!!

Happy Birthday Lillie!! You are One today!!! We decided to somewhat celebrate Isaac's birthday too by letting him open his presents early. His birthday is 6 days away. I cried last night because I cannot believe that my children are getting so big. My daughter is turning one and my son will be three. They won't be little babies forever. I love them both so much and they bring the greatest joy in my life. Lillie's first word was Uh-oh! She is a great repeater and can speak very clearly. I am surprised. Her favorite word is "daddy" or "dada" which is totally fine by me. "Honey, she wants you!" (See how this goes :) She also says doggie, mama, hot, and several more. She is a great repeater. Her ultimate favorite sound to make is her cackle. And all animal sounds are roars or growls. (I thought girls might be a little different but then she has got a good brother.)

The Cake and presents!

The one year old!

Isn't she so sweet!

Posing for the camera!

One of the many presents.. Two babies! I hope she loves these just as much as she likes playing with Isaac's cabbage patch. It been a little bit of a trial. Cross your fingers for us.

Isaac and friends

These are two of Isaac's favorite people. EE! and Kelsey.

EE! lately has become an imaginary friend who is there when he really isn't.

We were sitting at the table ready to eat our dinner when Isaac told us that we had to wait for EE! because he was coming over for dinner. "Save some for EE! He will want some.!" When we go anywhere Isaac replies that EE! wants to come too. And his favorite place to go is EE's house.

EE! and Isaac watching "Little Einsteins." EE's favorite pastime to do when he comes over to our house is to watch "Little Einsteins" Isaac is very happy to oblige. We have 36 episodes taped..Craziness right. And no, we do not watch them all in one day.

Family Home Evening Davenport Style

Monday, July 14th, we are home as a family trying to hold somewhat of a family home evening. Mike was in charge this time and decided it would be fun to sing primary songs. And these two pictures will show you how it went. Lillie is helping Mike play the keyboard while Isaac is doing his best to help his firetruck do his part. Notice the first and then second photo and how the truck drives his way across the keyboard. I am sure you can imagine how those primary songs sounded. I did my best to sing. :) Gotta love the little ones. Oh and we are adding another to the mix. I think our family home evenings will be this way for a long time. :)

There goes the little red fire truck driving across the keyboard.

Our Small Town 4th of July!!!

Mike's Uncle Ron and Aunt Martha live really close to a place called Wilder Ranch State Park. On the Fourth of July they put on a 1908 celebration where they had a parade and a live band that was dressed in 1908 clothing. The parade consisted of women and children holding signs that read "let the mothers of the country vote." It really made you think how different things would have been if you lived back during that time and how much our country has progressed. It also made you think of all the changes that will come in the future. I am proud to live in this country.
Anyway, all the treats like homemade ice cream, rootbeer, strawberry shortcake all had to be puchased in 1908 money. Isaac was able to brush a horse and then go on a hayride which he really enjoyed. I think he had two ice cream cones for lunch that day.. thanks uncle Ron. :)!!

Our Vacation Highlights

Our Summer Trip Up North

Our Summer vacation started Monday, June 30 and went to Saturday, July 5th. We packed up a car and drove North where we stayed in Cambria for two nights. Tuesday, I was very excited to get up early and see Hearst Castle. It was definately a highlight of our trip. Mike strapped Isaac to his back and I had Lillie Kate in the baby bjorn over my very huge protruding tummy. I must have been a real spectacle because in most of the pictures I look like I am about to fall over backward. This is us heading up the mountain to Hearst Castle. I though Hearst was a mansion on the beach, I was wrong.

Isaac excited to get into the "school bus" for a drive




The outside pool. Another thing I learned is that William Hearst imported Art from all over the world to decorate his home.
Part of Hearst Castle.. there are many different buildings to Hearst castle and each building is built in a different style of architecture. The stories, the paintings, the wall hangings were outstanding. I really enjoyed hearing about all the different people that came to visit William Hearst in his remote mansion... Charles Lindberg, Amelia Earheart, the Wright brothers, Bing Crosby, Myrna Loy, Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Winston Churchill and so many others.

Mike and Isaac in front of one of the guest quarters. Isn't he photogenic?

Lillie and I infront of an Egyption statue of Ra. And I am not tilting in this one.

A few more miles down the road we were able to go to the elephant seal rookery near San Simeon. Isaac enjoyed looking at the seals and hear them snort at each other. Most of them were males and were starting to molt. The females during the month of July are usually out to sea.

Further down the road we were able to see the harbor seals in their habitat. Unlike the elephants seals these ones perfer to layout on the rocks.
We thought these two harbor seals were so cute that we did the unthinkable and took them home.
On Wednesday, we decided to continue up route one. We hoped to take a look at Big Sur but the road was still closed from the fires. In these pics you can kind of see how smoky it was.
Isaac the avid rock climber.
Mike and Lillie touring a rocky beach in Los Padres National Forest.



Rocky beaches mean great tide pools if your timing is right. We love tide pooling! This starfish was among one of our finds that included a sea anenome, crabs, crabs, and more crabs.