Happy Birthday Thomas

Sorry we missed the celebration. We love you and miss you.

New Day, New Hike

Yes Zachary, you have a question?

When are we going hiking again you ask?

How about today!

Today we met good friends Luck and Doris (aka Luke and Dori) in Malibu to check out a new beach hike at Point Dume and Zuma Beach. It was a beautiful day and moderate Hike. One of the most difficult parts was dealing with the sand, it's always more difficult to walk in sand. Sand and an incline, a much harder mix.

We also got Zach to check out the ocean. He seemed to enjoy it too. I think there will be many beach trips in our future. I also think it was sensory overload between the hike, beach and other sights (as you will soon see) as he slept from 5:30 pm on. It may be a long night for me.

We saw a few things today that were of interest. First a few mountain climbers traversing a flat wall of the mountain, two weddings being set up along the beach..............

Amazing views,

a woman preparing for a "ritual" along the water (we didn't ask for details),

Doug almost falling off the cliff,

and the highlight of the boys day...........

a bikini shoot.

Though the best part of it all is, of course, having time together.

Make sure you look at the sky tomorrow night. The Leonid meteor shower will be seen. We are hoping it will be clear in Ventura for us to see it.

Zachary's First Fever (BOO)

He isn't feeling so hot today. Actually to be truthful, he is feeling extremely hot, Zach has a slight fever. Here is what he is doing now, sleeping next to me on the couch.

He is still having periods of playfulness and is eating well, so the Doctor isn't too concerned (yes, we called on a Saturday and I don't feel bad at all about it). We are keeping a close eye on him. Keep him in your thoughts and we will keep you posted.

Zachary's grown up look

I thought this was a cute picture of Zachary dressed up for school (aka Daycare) this week. He has officially made it a week there and has had nothing but rave reviews from his teachers. He has kept his pleasant demeanor, still eats a ton (even the professionals are amazed) and smiles like crazy. And he is sleeping through the night! YIPPEE!! Daycare seems to wear him out.


I am back at work too, also getting rave reviews (ha!). I am now working as a Sr. Business Development Director for the American Heart Association. Basically I am running four Heart Walks in Camarillo, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, CA, with a staff of 3 people. It should be fun. I only have to find $600,000 in Sponsorship/Partnerships by June 30. If you know anyone let me know!

Hiking in Malibu Canyon

We are very lucky to live in Southern California. We have an incredible climate with Oceans, Lakes, Mountains, deserts etc. and lots of things to do in those places, if we choose to take advantage of them. While Doug and I do stay pretty busy we kept talking about doing more. Do we go Ocean or Lake Kayaking? Sailing? Surfing? Hiking?

Can you guess which one we choose to attempt first?

HIKING! and we even took Zach. Hiking seems like a cool thing we can do to workout together and as a family. We really want to do active things with Zach as he gets older, showing him how important it is to be fit and healthy, hopefully we can keep it up!

We went to Malibu Canyon State Park and took a trail to the old MASH site (as in where the show MASH was filmed). It was a lot of fun, we loaded Zachary into his Baby Bjorn (world's greatest invention) and took off for the hills. I think we did a good job our first time out. It wasn't a super hard hike (with the exception of one monster hill), but we did a 3 hour jaunt. Unfortunately, we somehow missed the actual MASH site, (I think I made Doug turn around 5 minutes before we got there). But we did hike. And Zachary LOVED it! He was looking around at everything all wide eyed, it was fun to watch him.

And in case you are wondering Hiking is a lot like walking, just off the beaten path on rougher terrain, that actually does make a difference on your body the next day! We probably could have taken a better bag (not our typical diaper bag) but it worked just the same!

Our goal is to keep checking out different trails. Feel free to join us!

Here are some photos..............

We came back and watched South Carolina Football, despite Zachary's best efforts they weren't able to pull off the win against Arkansas. Hopefully it will be better against Florida next week.

Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom

and

Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday Mom!

We love you and wish we could be there to celebrate with you.

And now on to Halloween................

In honor of Halloween, here are some of Zachary's pictures. He was generously given a few different Halloween themed outfits, so we used them in adapting his costume, what was supposed to be a pumpkin, actually kind of looked like a carrot, so be my guest in deciding what you want him to be! Today is also a special day for Zachary as it is the only day of the year he is allowed to wear orange. Not only is Orange sacrilege from the Aggie Standpoint, but it also happens to be an evil shade in the eyes of a South Caroline Gamecock Fan!

So this will be one of the only times you really see him in these colors!

Here are a few pictures of Zach's Halloween Costume(s)See, he hates orange too!

Here he is an upset Aggie Fan, "Fire Fran!"

He is practicing being Uncle Thomas in this one.

Who says my boy has big feet? Clown Costume anyone?



A Good Nephew (wink, wink)

and take your pick a pumpkin or a carrot!

With Dr. Evil (aka Dad)

This is a big week for Zachary, not only is it his first Halloween, it is also his first time to go to daycare (aka Playschool, Playtime, School, etc.), and it is his first week to start rolling over! He and I have been working on his tummy strength for a number of days now and while he rolled over once a few weeks ago, he has yet to do it repeatedly. All that changed last night! Zach rolled right, Zach rolled left and he even rolled once from his back to his belly.

Watch out world, and watch out Mom and Dad, this guy is now moving.

Here is a video of him and his new signature move.

We hope you all have a happy, safe and spooky Halloween!

Keeping South Carolina in our thoughts and prayers.

There is a close connection within most college communities and the University of South Carolina definitely falls into this category. Despite being out of school for 4.5 years now, I still feel a very close connection to the university, its alumni and current students. I wish I could get back there more but will always hold a place in my heart for Carolina and the Gamecocks.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and families of the seven students who passed away this week in the Ocean Isle House Fire.