Posts Tagged ‘Mike’
8th Anniversary Bouquet
September 6th, 2011 Posted by momitomi in Tomi | 638 Comments »Today was our 8 year wedding anniversary and Mike surprised me with a beautiful flower bouquet when he got home from work. He knows I like different flowers and he didn’t disappoint with this arrangement. I am so lucky to have such a loving and caring husband and I couldn’t think of a better dad for my kids. I can’t wait to have many more years with him.
Live Oak Music Festival
June 29th, 2011 Posted by Mike in Kids | 608 Comments »We have been talking about doing the Live Oak Music Festival for quite a few years now. But the relatively high cost and our total inexperience with camping has kept us away. But this year with some guidance from our friends, The Zimmerman family, who are Live Oak Pros we finally made it.
Live Oak is a Music Festival to benefit Public radio that is put on every Fathers Day Weekend. It’s three days of music, arts, crafts, camping and friends. The music was a great mix of Americana, Roots, Reggae, Rag time and Folk. Every morning at 8 people line up to get into the main stage area so they can lay claim to their place for the day with their low back beach chairs. If you get up to explore the kids area, or the arts for sale, or grab a bite to eat your seats are up for grabs so someone else can enjoy the show. Its an understanding that when you come back they will get up so you can enjoy your seats. Its just a really great friendly vibe from everyone there. There was a lot for the kids to do in the dedicated kids section. Aubri made her own hula hoop and Dylan got to create a rocket. They both made multiple paintings, played some ping pong and tetherball, and ran around with their friends Leo and Ruthie. They also saw a few friends from school that we didn’t even know were going.
On top of the excitement of the festival it was also our first family camping trip. We got to try out our new tent, mattresses, sleeping bags, etc… It all went even better than i expected. With the help of Maurica the tent was up in less than 20 min, and I even got it back in the bag when the trip was over. Tomi didn’t think it was possible. The kids were great. They both loved sleeping out in the tent and slept really well. They got to find firewood and roast marshmallows, which I think was the best part of the trip for them. They didn’t want to leave and I think they would both be very happy living in a tent the rest of their childhood.
Live Oak will definitely become a tradition for us that we go to every year for a very long time. It has also made us realize how fun camping is as a family and it has inspired us to seek out some new camping spots. We already have multiple trips planned for the summer. So stay tuned for more summer camping posts. See all the pics from the weekend here
Dylan loves live Oak this much
Aubri and the Rollie Polie
Aubri's Hula Hoop
This was an intense stare down
Family Disneyland Trip
May 9th, 2011 Posted by momitomi in Kids, Tomi | 792 Comments »Recently we took a family trip to Disneyland. We loaded up the kids and met my parents and brother down in LA for a mini vacation. We spent three days at Disneyland and we all had a really great time. It had been a really long since my brother had been there so, there were lots of new things for him to see and do. Aubri had a great time going on a lot of rides that were more her speed. Her favorite ride right now is Small World and we rode that quite a few times. She also really enjoyed the Jungle Cruise. Dylan proved to be a little more adventurous this trip. The first ride he wanted to do when we got there was Pirates of the Caribbean and he also agreed to go on Soaring Over California. He also took his first ride on The Matterhorn with Mike and Jacko and he really seemed to like it. Both the kids also really enjoyed getting their faces painted. Aubri chose to get hers painted like a puppy and Dylan went for a dragon mask. My dad and brother spent some time off by themselves and hit up some of the bigger rides. We always have a really fun time when we are at Disneyland, but I think that this trip was really special because the kids got to enjoy it with their grandparents and uncle. Hopefully we can do another trip like this again soon . To see the album of photos from this trip, please click here.
Posing with Mikey
Little Miss Aubri Kitty
Dylan with his dragon mask
Jacko getting ready to ride Toy Story
Me with my little goofball
Monterey Bay with Jonny and Casey
March 29th, 2011 Posted by momitomi in Tomi | 777 Comments »One of the places that Jon and Casey wanted to go to while they were visiting us was the Monterey Bay Aquarium. So, Mike took off of work one day and we all went. We started out the day having breakfast at one of our favorite places “First Awakenings”. It is a great place to have breakfast and they have a really nice outdoor area that we really like when the weather cooperates. After that we headed over to the aquarium. I think everyone had a really great time and we got to see some beautiful fish and many other creatures. After the aquarium we headed over to have dinner at Bubba Gump. The restaurant is right on the water in Monterey and it has a beautiful view. It is one of Mike’s favorites so he wanted to be sure that we ate there while we were in Monterey this time.
Jon and Casey in a clam shell.
Aubri and I snuggling in a penguin egg
After dinner we walked down to a place where you can get out on the beach and walk down to the water. The kids had a great time burning off a little energy there and exploring with their Aunt and Uncle. Below are a few pictures from our trip. Please click here if you would like to see more.
Uncle Jonny checking out the Monterey Bay with Aubri
Auntie Casey checking out the rocks with Dylan.
Visit with the Butterfield’s
January 8th, 2011 Posted by momitomi in Kids | 503 Comments »This weekend we headed up north to the Bay Area and we were able to stay and spend some time with our friends, Josh, Amy and their daughter Alina. Alina was really Dylan’s first friend, and they haven’t been able to play with each other for quite some time. The last time we were all together Aubri was still pretty young and wasn’t able to join in the fun at all. We knew the kids would really enjoy playing together again and getting to know each other again.
Alina and Dylan, 4/29/2006
Dylan and Alina, 1/08/2011
While there, Mike had to leave for a little while and while he was gone Josh decided to dress Dylan up in his Giants gear. He convinced Dylan to put on the shirt by telling him that it said “I Love Daddy”. If Dylan had any idea it was a Giants shirt, he wouldn’t have touched it. He was all dressed up and ready to surprise Mike when he walked in the door. The first words out of Mike’s mouth were “take that off now”. Luckily I took some photos before Mike got back so we will be able to enjoy the moment for years to come. For those of you that don’t know, Mike is a hard core Dodger’s fan, so Dylan putting on the Giants stuff is about the worst thing he could have done. Even Aubri joined in the fun and got to wear a Giants shirt, but with Alina’s help she added her own touch with a princess crown. I decided on this post to put up a before and after picture. The first picture was of Dylan and Alina meeting for the first time, and the second is a photo from them this trip. It is amazing how much they have grown. To see more photos from this weekend, please click here.
Dylan thought the Panda hat was really awesome!
Aubri got all dressed up also.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
November 28th, 2009 Posted by Mike in Kids | 482 Comments »Wes Anderson probably ranks a very close second to the Coen brothers when it comes to my favorite film makers. So a few months ago when I found out that he had made a children’s film, I was so stoked that I would be able to take the kids to see a movie that I knew they would enjoy but would also have some of the craziness that is Wes Anderson that I would love also. We saw it today and I think he pulled it off very well. He took a Roald Dahl book, the guy who wrote Charlie and Chocolate Factory, and made it his own. I have never read the book but from what I have read about this film he stayed pretty close to the original while adding his trademarks to it; great sound track, almost uncomfortable dialogue, perfectly framed shots, etc… The stop motion animation was nowhere near as polished as what you see with Tim Burton movies but it gave the movie an almost vintage feel that I think added to the whole vibe of the movie. When we left everyone said they enjoyed it, which to me is the perfect kids movie. Dylan enjoyed it for the cute furry animals that talked, and Tomi and I really enjoyed all aspects of the movie. I know not everyone loves Wes Anderson, hes kind of an acquired taste, but I think this is the one film of his that everyone will really enjoy. So go check it out.
Mike and Dylan save the world
November 1st, 2009 Posted by Mike in Kids | 693 Comments »
When we got to Disneyland the first thing Dylan wanted to do was go on the Buzz Lightyear ride. So we headed there first. He ended up getting a little freaked out by some of the things you see while the line winds around so he actually didn’t participate in the shooting of evil. But he sat with me and watched as I saved the world only to find out that both Tomi and Idelle did way better than I did. When the ride was over he wanted to go again, but we never made it for a second round. Im sure evil alien beings will still be trying to take over the world the next time we make a trip to the happiest place on Earth, and Dylan can see if his trigger finger is faster than mine.
Disneyland, October 2009
November 1st, 2009 Posted by momitomi in Kids | 712 Comments »
My mom had a couple of days vacation that she needed to take, so we figured we would take the kids and head to Disneyland. Mike luckily was able to get the time off also, so he came along. We went up on Thursday morning and stopped by to have lunch with Grandma McDonald on our way through and ended up hitting Disneyland around 3 o’clock.
The first ride Dylan wanted to go to was Buzz Lightyear so we headed there first. When we got in to get on the ride Dylan got a little scared, I don’t think he really remembered everything from last time. It took him most of that first ride to really get the idea of the whole thing again, but as soon as it was over, he was ready to go on it again. Aubri wasn’t sure about the ride, and she really didn’t seem like she liked any of the rides the whole time we were there. The only ride she seemed like she really wanted to go on was Dumbo and that was only after Dylan and Grams got on the ride and she was left standing on the sidelines because we figured she wouldn’t go on it. We had a lot of fun, but it is amazing how few rides you actually get to do when you are there with young kids and you have to go on their time and deal with multiple potty and snack breaks. Dylan did go on the roller coaster in Toon Town again and he really enjoyed that. I tried to get him to go on Thunder Mountain Railroad with me, but he didn’t seem so sure about that. Maybe next time I can convince him to go on it with me. One of the highlights we found by accident was getting to ride in the very front car of the monorail in with the driver. You get a great view of the whole park looking out of the front window, and it was really neat at night to be able to get to see all the lights from the park as well as all the lights from the hotels. Both the kids really enjoyed this part of day.
We have realized that Dylan is much more of a daredevil than we used to think. He doesn’t really seem to let heights or speed bother him. When Mike took Dylan on the Jellyfish ride, he was much more nervous to go up high then Dylan was on the ride. Mike kept a tight grip on Dylan even though was hooked in, and he checked his seat belt several times before the ride started. Probably everyone’s favorite ride was Toy Story. It is a great ride and it is really interactive. We just had a hard time getting either of the kids to keep on their 3D glasses so they could get the full effect of the ride. They also had both of the parks all decorated for Halloween and it was really neat to see all of the pumpkins and Halloween related decorations all over. Since we all have season passes now, we are already planning a trip to head back around Christmas time so we can see the park all decorated for Christmas. Click here for more Disneyland Pics.