Sam is obsessed with superheroes these days, so of course, we had to have a super hero birthday party! Sam and Campbell wore their superhero costumes, and we invited all the guests to do the same.
Sam and our cute neighbors, Jack and Beatrice, made a fearsome trio.
We had superhero-themed food: hero sandwiches, super salad (quinoa), fantastic fruit, power shields, and kryptonite kupcakes.
I made some pinterest inspired decorations.
And we made a photo booth so all the superheros could get pictures of themselves flying through the air. Sam and I did some sample shots ahead of time so everyone would know what to do. Campbell wanted to get in on the action too!
After lunch, we had a special visitor…BATMAN! He played games with the kids, led a superhero training session, made balloon swords for the kids, and sang happy birthday to the birthday boy.
We are lucky to have a neighbor and friend who is a great photographer and took most of these pictures. If you are local, go check out his website: http://tomkisephotography.com All of the good photos are courtesy Tom Kise.
A few weekends ago, we found ourselves in California, yet again! What can I say, it is a fun place to visit! This time, we were there for Ben’s work, and we were lucky enough to have Ben’s parents stay with Sam and Campbell while we traveled to CA. We stayed at a beautiful resort, Cavallo Point, which is situated right at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.
We woke up on Saturday morning and walked to the lobby to get some amazing croissants. This was our view as we sat on the porch and ate them.
After the view, my next favorite thing about the resort was their amazing grass. We called it Truffula grass–doesn’t it look like it would be in a Dr. Seuss book?
Unfortunately the weather on Saturday didn’t stay nice for long.
Before…
and after. Where did the Golden Gate Bridge go??
Even more unfortunate was that Saturday’s planned activity was a brunch cruise on the bay. We went anyway and although it was wet and cold, it was very fun!
View from under the Golden Gate Bridge
Ben and me
CRAZY hair!
Saturday night we had a delicious dinner at a local restaurant called Fish. (sorry no pics!)
After the fundraiser, Ben switched over to Chief of Staff mode. That meant no more fancy hotels (government dime). But luckily Ben works for the most beautiful congressional district in the US, so we still had a good time. Between meetings, we had time to tour some of the district’s local businesses.
A winery
Marin French Cheese (soooo good!)
And a sustainable goat farm
And we even got to spend a day in San Francisco! Turns out the Ferry Building isn’t just a clever name, you can actually take a ferry from Marin to SF.
We also got to visit with some of Ben’s college friends, one my of college friends, and Ben’s cousin.
Ben’s cousin, Lani, took this pic, but somehow we neglected to take a pic with her. Oops! Next time!
Britt and me, 10 years post-college. Ack I feel old!
On Tuesday we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. It was a beautiful fall day and we got some cute pictures, two nice looking pumpkins, and some yummy treats.
Awww!
Ok, now let’s get to work!
Couldn’t resist including this one. The pumpkin patch isn’t all rainbows and gumdrops!
Today was Campbell’s first day of school! We took the opportunity to do another photo session. These kids are so cute!
Campbell LOVES her new backpack and her lunch box. She has been carrying them around the house ever since they arrived.
The weather today couldn’t have been more different from Sam’s first day. Last week it was hot and sunny and this week it was cold and rainy. But at least we managed to get a few shots under the awning before we went in. And Grandpa Char is here visiting so we were even able to get a photo of the four of us.
Campbell’s teacher told us at the orientation that we should make our goodbyes short and sweet, as that is easier for the kids. So almost as soon as we walked in I handed Campbell to Ms. Ellen, said goodbye, and left (well, I may have peeked in just once!). She didn’t cry, but did look a little confused. When we picked her up she was SO excited and ran up with a big hug for me. Both of her teachers said she did a great job. And we ran into one of Sam’s teachers from last year who said she peeked in on Campbell a few times and it looked like Campbell was having a blast. I love that both kids are in a school with so many caring teachers!
Unfortunately Sam had a case of the sniffles this morning, so we kept him at home just to be safe. Hopefully he is feeling better by Wednesday. It was really weird to have Sam with me but not Campbell. I kept feeling like I was forgetting something all morning! But Sam and I had some fun one-on-one time!!
Yesterday was Sam’s first day of preschool! This year he is in the 3/4’s class and goes three days a week.
Leading up to the first day, Sam was very apprehensive and kept telling me he didn’t want new teachers. He loved his teachers from last year. But when it came time to drop him off at school, he put on his brave face.
We talked ahead of time about the fact that he has to go into the classroom all by himself this year, find his cubby, and put his backpack away. And that is just what he did!
We stood in the hall with him for a minute while he took in his surroundings.
Then, without saying anything to us, he walked straight into the room, did what he was supposed to do, and started playing. Ben and I were so impressed. I was kind of hoping we’d get a family pic before he went in, but I wasn’t about to call him back out to the hallway after he had acted so independently and bravely!
When I came to pick him up at the end of the day he gave me a huge hug. Then in the car he told me lots of details about the first day. Sounds like he had fun and made some new friends.
Then as a special treat, we went and had some frozen yogurt!
I hope Day 2 goes just as smoothly. Love that little guy.
Oh and Campbell and I had a little fun at home by ourselves!! Shhh. Don’t tell Sam!
Sam and Campbell love to dance! And they have some interesting moves too. Campbell is a big fan of the twerk movement (Miley might have made it famous recently, but we’re partial to Beyonce’s style) and Sam is preparing for his first rave. Enjoy!
This will definitely be known as the summer of California! This was my third trip there in as many months, but the only trip to Southern California, which is basically a different state! I was so sad in July when it seemed like everyone was going to the beach except us (we were stuck at home due to my last graduate classes). So I was SOO excited to head to California for a week long vacation with Ben’s side of the family.
We started out the trip in San Diego for a mini family reunion. All of Ben’s aunts, uncles, and cousins were there, in addition to Judi, Char and Becca. We had a great time swimming in the pool, relaxing on the beach, eating delicious Mexican food, and just hanging out.
Aunt Sarah singing lullabies to Campbell. She was asleep in minutes!
Ben and me in La Jolla. It looks like we are standing in front of a fake backdrop!
Sam and Campbell had a blast digging in the sand.
Could this be any more SoCal?
Then we headed to Claremont to stay with Ben’s parents for the week, where we did a lot more eating, relaxing, and playing. We even got to take some fun day trips to Pasadena and Santa Monica (to visit Auntie Becca).
Lots of fun in Grandma and Grandpa’s backyard.
Fun with the hose
Never too early to learn how to play the piano.
We went to my friend Linda’s bakery, Bittersweet, in Pasadena, but she wasn’t there! But the treats were delicious!
After a delicious brunch at Huckleberry, we went to check out Auntie Becca’s cool Santa Monica apartment. And Campbell got to try on her first fascinator! She’s ready for a royal wedding!
And of course, we went to Disney Land!! It was sooo fun! Sam and Campbell were both totally star struck by all the characters and had a good time on the rides. We can’t wait to go back!
Waiting for the parade to start.
The Dumbo ride was a blast!
Sam was completely dumbstruck when he met these fairies! He literally couldn’t answer their questions coherently!
Sam got some lassoing lessons!
The Jungle Cruise was just as campy as I remembered! But lots of fun!
Amazingly there was no line for “It’s a Small World.” As you can see, Campbell couldn’t get enough!
Campbell worked up quite a little sandal tan. If that’s not the sign of a good summer vacation, I don’t know what is!
Campbell is 18 months old today!! I can’t believe how fast this last year and a half have gone! I was pulling out all the photos for this post, which covers the last three months, and I couldn’t believe how much younger she looked just three months ago! Our little girl is getting so big! We love you more and more each day, Campbell!!
Here are her stats!
Weight: 24.2 lbs (50th percentile)
Height: 33.5″ (95th percentile)
Dancing Queen: Campbell LOVES to dance. Just mention “dance party,” which Sam requests nightly, and she starts bouncing up and down!
Talking a lot these days! It seems like she is imitating us more and expanding her vocabulary. She has also recently started putting two words together. Her favorites are “Hi, Daddy” or “Bye-bye, Daddy!” Some of her words are: hi, bye, mommy, Daddy, Sam (yam), up, yummy, baby, more, please, thank you, helicopter, airplane, apple, pineapple, Henry, hot, hat, water (wawa), broccoli, night-night, outside, cheese, cracker. She can’t say Campbell (although sometimes it seems like she is trying to say it but it comes out as dah-tee) so she always refers to herself as baby, which is so cute.
(This is Campbell pointing to a helicopter and saying “hacata!”)
Says “cheese” almost anytime you take a picture of her.
Gets mad when I don’t let her do what she wants to do, but is easy to distract. (Sometimes taking selfies helps!!)
Loves to point to herself and say “baby” and then to me and say “mommy.” And repeat. Again and again. (This video is a precursor to the pointing thing!)
Loves her big brother. They have really started being able to play with each other and make each other laugh. It’s pretty cute!
But she’s also a little afraid of her brother. If she is holding a special toy and Sam walks towards her she runs as fast as she can in the opposite direction–he’s been known to take a toy or two from her. We’re working on sharing!
Loves playing with my stuff, especially bracelets/watches, sunglasses, chapstick, purse, medicine bottles.
Sleep: Campbell is officially down to one nap (1:30-4/4:30) and it is awesome! I feel like we have so much freedom now! And she is sleeping great at night too (8-8 most days).
Does NOT like baths! She usually cries for most of bath time and refuses to sit down in the tub. This is so different from Sam, who always loved baths!! She also doesn’t love the pool, but has gotten a little more used to it over the summer. She will play a little in the baby pool but when we go to the big pool she clings onto me like a monkey!
Obsessed with our phones! She can even swipe to see more pictures. She can also take pictures of herself.
Likes hiding under the table, which inevitably ends with her standing up and hitting her head on the table. Ouch!
Seems to be having a growth spurt and has been out-eating Sam at almost every meal! She isn’t too picky lately, which has been nice. She loooooves smoothies.
Campbell really likes her hair bows (I think because her straight hair falls right in her face) and often asks us to put multiple bows in her hair!
Here are some more cute photos from the last few months!
