Beck & Ellery: May, June & July

I'm falling behind with the blog! There's just too much fun to be had. It is summer in San Diego after all.

Ellery turns 4! Happy Birthday big girl!...

This is going to come as a surprise but she wanted a princess party...

Dirty boy in a tutu...

Beck's 1st day of preschool! Of course he had to pose with his bat...

He loves it like I knew he would. His teacher, Mrs. Vicki emailed me these pictures...

What's not to love? I am also enjoying my M/W mornings. My to-do list hasn't shrunk much because those 4 hours fly by but I did get my garden up and running. Beans, tomatoes, carrots, onions, watermelon, basil and what's left of my lettuce (damn bunnies).

On our way to Jordan's swim meet in Coronado...

Go! Jordan! Go!...

Ellery got these Tangled decals for her birthday and I cringed a bit with her excitement. I'm not a huge fan of decals but they brought her so much joy, what the heck. Put 'em up!...

Pool party = Chicken fight!...

And what's a party without s'mores?...

Which were so good, we made them again the next night...

Lake Murray...

The new koala exhibit at the zoo...

Ellery is doing so well at swim lessons. She'll swim the length of the pool and back without any help...

Except she won't do it at home. She prefers the gator...

Happy Birthday Katie!...

They snagged the best spot on the beach...

We had our first snake sighing on the property. Thankfully, she was a gopher snake...

After the sighting Beck requested a snake drawing from the car wash attendant...

DPR's newest (and cutest) employees...

SeaWorld!...

Introducing the newest member of our family, a pooch named Dottie...

I guess you can say I got a maternal itch and needed to scratch it. I was talking to Zach about it and I said "well, it's either a dog or a baby." His response, "you can get a dog every year." Sweet huh? I've always loved the Cavalier King Charles breed so about 10 months ago I contacted the rescue club of SD. They never got back to us with a match so the breeder club put me in touch with Dottie's previous owner and sure enough, she had a retired show dog looking for a home. Being a show dog and all, her actual name is Dottie Covington Somethin' To Talk About. Really. She is 5 years old and I think her hearing is going but she is the most easy going and snuggly dog I've ever known. She adores Elle, Zach and myself, likes Nola and Brighton and puts up with Beck...

The previous owner was and hour and a half late dropping her off which was an eternity for a 4 year old. I broke out the Playdoh to try and pass the time and Ellery made "treats for Dottie"...

Fast friends...

Zach sold his motorcycle at the same time I found out we were going to get Dottie. Literally. His Harley was pulling out of the driveway with it's new owner when I got the email and I have to admit, I felt a little bad. It was like a piece of his manhood rolled away and a show dog rolled in. We had some really good times on the back of that bike but priorities change once you have kids and so we both knew it was the right decision to sell that dust collector. What made matters worse is that his college buddies came down from LA that following weekend - on their motorcycles. Salt in his wound. Here's the boys, Zach, Julien and Hoa...

We spent the day in Ocean Beach...

Only in OB...

Papa Dance is in town!!!!...

Burning off some energy before a Father's Day dinner...

Rian and Bennett's birthday party...

Poor mans pool and they loved it...

First of many cool tricks he learned from his cuz...

Talon and Tiana playdate! We've missed you!...

The Noble Experiment...

Beck and his buddy, Sydney at our 4th of July party...

Look who came to visit and run her 15th half marathon! Crazy lady..

We love you Amy Girgis!...

Solana Beach with Gram and Gramps for a day of fun and an evening with a concert in the park...

This evening goes down as one of the best moments yet. Nothing grand, just me and my little ones playing in the front yard. They were loading up their babies for school and just the things they were saying and how they were interacting made me wish they wouldn't get a day older. I'm so in love with these two. I took a video and one day I'll get around to uploading it...

Milk carton boats. They were simple to make and provided hours of fun. First racing them through the kitchen and then off to the bath...

We went to our first (and last) dog show. Ellery really wanted to meet Dottie's offspring and oh my, it was a scene straight out of Best In Show...

Dottie's previous owner was giving me tips on being a cavalier owner. What makeup to use under their eyes, what headband to use to keep her ears from falling in her water and so on. Uh, no thanks. I realized we were out of our element and decided it was time to go once I saw this woman's bedazzled purse...

Zach surprised me with a weekend at L'Auberge in Del Mar for our anniversary. A couples massage, quiet meals and a long walk on the beach, yes please!...