Another Summer blockbuster

So, I'm finally dusting off my blogging fingers and am going to give an update from our last few months. Maybe I'm going to have to call these "quarterly" updates. Well...no...I'm an optimist. I'll try to do this more often.

One big highlight is that Silas and I took a trip to Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco), Mexico with two of my girlfriends and their kids. We rented a house on the beach. It was heavenly! The weather was beautiful and everyone really enjoyed climbing on the rocks and searching for treasures in the tide pools. I know parts of Mexico have had a lot of issues with violence lately - but Rocky Point felt as safe and welcoming as ever. And with our own private happy hour on the beach (every day!!)...does it get any better?

We also enjoyed a new tradition (second year running) to spend Mother's Day camping with my family. This year we went to Peppersauce campground on the north side of Mt. Lemmon (outside of Tucson). I just had to take a photo of the boys doing dishes because it was so amusing and unusual (ha ha!):

I got some cute pics & videos of Silas playing with with great grandma, M&M, and hunting for treasures with his great aunt Michelle and, of course, Ma-Mo.

see the M&M and Silas blowing bubbles video here

see the Tresure Hunt video here

Silas went to his first Diamondbacks baseball game. I can't say he really watched the game - but we managed to "stay" in our seats until the seventh inning and he definitely enjoyed the food aspect of "watching" a baseball game.

We also went to a very special birthday party where "The Reptile Man" made a guest appearance. Silas was way into it...except for when it came to wearing the snake around your neck. He prefered touching the reptiles on his terms. Understandable, I suppose, and probably a good self-preservation technique. Still, I was so proud of his affinity for snakes!The video footage with the snakes is pretty cool too: Sunshine the Snake and holding the snake.1

Uncle Norb flew into town - and Silas has the awesome opportunity to "drive" his airplane. Again, Silas was way into it and Norb was so sweet with him. I couldn't believe he let him push, pull and twist (almost) all the buttons and knobs. Now every time we see an airplane he asks if Uncle Norb is flying it and I'm pretty sure he thinks he'll get to "drive" again next time we're on a plane.

see the video of Silas and Norb

The Blake Family exodus to San Diego was another great trip - and a smashing success compared to last year (where, if you recall, Silas wanted nothing to do with sand, sea or waves...or Aunt Karen!). We had lots of quality time with the family and also our friends who live in San Diego. I think one of his favorite things about this trip was baby Colin (my friend, Cecilia's, new baby). He really loves babies!

I love how we are related to every single person you see in the picture (i.e. everyone at the beach!).

See how Silas also loves "surfing"!


We enjoyed some quality time with our (great) grandparents too!

I can't forget all the fun times at home riding bikes with friends and family (go Papi!) and splashing around:

Here are a couple pics from our most recent camping trip to the Mogollon Rim with friends. Summer tends to inspire lots of camping trips. Not because the weather is great in Phoenix (duh!) but because we are all so motivated to escape to cooler country as much as possible! (Unfortunately, this was the trip where half the people came home with a nasty stomach flu. Fortunately, I didn't get sick until after we got home and Silas managed not to get sick at all...so we still had a great trip.)
and who doesn't love S'mores when camping? Well...s'more kisses might be even better!

Guess that's all for now! Until next time...

Spring Catch-up

Recently, we had lunch with friends at the Desert Botanical Garden who asked "So, what have you been up to lately?" I feel like we've been pretty busy - but I honestly couldn't say what exactly has been keeping us on our toes (except for the inherent nature of life with a toddler). Anyhow - looking back through pictures over the last couple months, I am reminded of all the little things that fill our lives and make each day interesting.

First of all - we really enjoyed our wonderfully cool and unusually rainy winter. Having our backyard flood every time it rains a lot was less wonderful - but still provided a fun play experience. AND - it gave Silas an excuse to wear his "Costa Rica rain coat".

We dug some big holes for our new fruit trees (2 peach and an apple). Silas enjoyed "digging" with his very own shovel.

Silas got to meet Elmo at the toy store - he was pretty excited but didn't really show it at the time. Maybe it wasn't exactly what he thought little Elmo would look like in person??

We had a small Superbowl party with our neighbors. Colleen got all the boys AZ Cardinals shirts (since she couldn't find the teams that were actually playing in this Superbow - not that I even remember who the teams were...). Silas helped me make brownies for the party:

I'm not sure if he enjoyed the batter or the prospect of the real thing more.

Thou shalt not covet thy friend's brownie...On a last minute whim, Silas and I journeyed up to Out of Africa in the Verde Valley to meet-up with an old friend of mine and her family who were visiting from Colorado. I think the safari bus ride was the biggest highlight - feeding the giraffes (see you tube video link) and getting so close to the animals was awesome! It was also really neat to meet my friend Julie's kids. She has a 5 year-old and twins who were turning 3 in a couple days. I just love watching the kids discuss being two...



Besides Julie, another old friend (Lisa) came down from Flagstaff. We all used to work together at the NAU Ecological Restoration Institute. I think we may send them this pic of all ourkids for the "alumni news".
Silas and I also took a quick trip down to Tucson with my Mom to visit my grandma and two of my aunts who live down there. As usual, we had lots of laughs and good times. Silas even learned to play his very first video game (sorta).


I guess I share my mother's love of fun holiday traditions - I enjoyed putting together a silly St. Patrick's Day breakfast for the boys (except it was really just Silas & I since Matt isn't into "green" food). Silas & I decorated placemats the day before. If you look closely, you'll notice some miscellaneous green things we decorated them with (feathers, pom poms, etc.).

We had green eggs and green milk with our breakfast (well - green tea for me). We're looking forward to Easter. I think Silas will really get into it since he's been watching the Easter Bunny Is Coming To Town movie all year (ever since he got it as a gift from his Grammie last Easter!) And, finally, Silas loves his night-time rituals - story-time, "fluff my pillow, please" (Matt taught him that one), etc. But one of the funniest rituals I wanted to share is his races around the kitchen with Matt. It is always hilarious and entertaining for me. Kind of a strange thing to always do before bed - but it doesn't seem to cause a problem.

Thanks for sticking with me on this marathon catch-up post. Happy Spring and I hope you'll be hearing from us again sooner than later. (My goal is actually to post again in less than three months - but I generally respond well to peer-pressure and gentle reminders that "it's been a while"). xo.

Christmas 2009

Hi All,

Before we venture too far into 2010, I thought I'd add a few Christmas-era photos. I think this is probably a no-brainer...but Silas really enjoyed Christmas this year. He totally gets the opening presents ritual and he's starting to understand the whole Santa/elves/Rudolf/Frosty side of Christmas. I'm sure he'll be ready by next year. But we all had fun helping him discover the magic of this season.

So - my family has a "Blake Family Christmas Program" every year and as part of that tradition, the youngest kids put on the nativity play. It is always very sweet and unpredictable. Last year I think Silas was a (wandering) sheep. This year he got to be a wise man - and he took his job very seriously.

Did I mention it was only the little kids in the play? Well...almost only.

We choose to do "snowman juggling" for our family act (largely inspired by Silas' interest in juggling after the birthday party juggler!). After watching his dad, Silas did "juggle" for the group. But he really protested singing our "one little, two little, three little snowmen" song. Oh well...2 for 3 command performances isn't bad.

Now, to change gears a little, I just had to mention something about the many expressions of Silas. He is know for being very expressive:

But my dad claims that this photo documents exactly where he gets his expressiveness from. I don't know about that, though...you be the judge:

After Christmas, we went for a very fun little hike in South Mountain.Silas was really into hiking and he went a full mile up the rocky trail, basically on his own. Check out the video of Silas hiking up "big rocks" with his new ladybug backpack.

We spent New Years up at my grandparent's cabin in the White Mountains. Silas didn't love going to the childcare while we went skiing, but he did really enjoy playing in the snow...

...and playing in the cabin. Check out this video of Silas with his aunt "K-K" and her friend Trinity at the cabin.