Spring Break at the Beach: Year Two

It was our second year spending Spring Break in Seaside with Beka's family (the Thomas side). We had a great time and came back with all kinds of photos. Dean was old enough to enjoy the beach, interaction with his cousins, and plenty of attention from grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Enjoy the photos!

The second day we were there, we went down to the beach after dinner and the weather was wonderful. There was no wind and it was almost warm enough to not wear a coat. Dean and Beka looked especially "cool" in their sunglasses.

I think this will replace our current family photo on the blog. What a great shot of Dean smiling!

The next few photos were some great, "artistic" shots I took while the sun was setting.

I especially like this one!

Here's Beka and her sisters Jennifer and Christina

Dean and his uncle Greg found a sand dollar further down the beach. At one point, Dean decided he'd see if it was edible. Fortunately, it didn't break.

Dean enjoyed his first experience with wet sand. It was fun to watch him try to figure it out... not so fun to clean up the mess afterward.


As I mentioned above, Dean enjoyed playing with his cousins. Dean and Joel played with blocks on several occasions, though it took Dean some time to figure out that it wasn't fun for other kids when he knocked down their "towers" (even though it's great fun at home).

The "family shot" circa 2009

Ah yes... what fun to have kids gang up on me to try to tickle me (not really). Aliya and Emma did their best to overpower me, and even Dean got in on the action. I'm glad they enjoyed themselves... and no one got hurt.

Dean spent a lot of time being excited that one of his "papas" were around.


Cheers!

Happy Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun with Dean this year. He wasn't old enough to go trick-or-treating, but he did enjoy the pumpkins. A few days before Halloween, we went to the pumpkin patch.


Dean was fascinated by all of the pumpkins, so we followed him as he wandered through the patch in wide-eyed amazement.


At one point, he sat down right in the middle of four large pumpkins and had a hard time getting out. With his orange shirt on, he looked like he fit right in!

Once we found the right pumpkins, we loaded them into a wheelbarrow, along with Dean, and looked around the place. Liepold Farms does a great job with their harvest-time festivities.

Dean really enjoyed riding around with the pumpkins in the wheelbarrow...

...and he really enjoyed his own miniature pumpkin, too.

We thought about getting Dean a Yoda costume for Halloween, but he got a Superman outfit for his birthday, complete with cape. He looked really cute in it!


Maybe we'll get the Yoda costume next year.

Happy Halloween! (a week or so late)

Cheers!

The birthday party

I know, this post is a month (or more) overdue, but better late than never, right?

Dean's first birthday was a lot of fun in spite of the fact that Beka and I both woke up sick with terrible colds. We were able to push through the day, however, and still throw Dean a fun party with almost all our family and friends. Enjoy the photos!

On the morning of Dean's birthday, we let him open up a present from Dr. Kutz and Laurie as a practice run. They gave him a copy of his favorite book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He did a pretty good job ripping through the paper.

Once we arrived at Connie's house, Dean showed off by sitting in Grandma's little rocking chair (which he refused to do on previous occasions). He even got the rocking motion down pretty well.

When it was time for presents, Dean was a little more reserved than the practice run we'd had with him that morning. Fortunately, he had help and managed to unearth all of his gifts from their wrappings. Everyone was very generous! Dean enjoys his new toys, books, and clothes.

When it was time for cake, we stripped him down into just a white onesie, figuring any nice clothes would get ruined pretty quickly.

Because he loves food so much, we figured he'd tear right into the cupcake, but he was pretty hesitant to even touch it with his hands. He started at it for a bit, and even tried to bend over and eat it with just his mouth (which wasn't very successful).

Finally,Grandpa Ron come over and helped him get started.

Once he got the idea, he had no problem enjoying chocolate for the first time.

Once he was about done, he was very thirsty. Grandpa gave him a drink, which he accepted enthusiastically.