Posts Tagged ‘Tomi’
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.
Midstate Fair 2011
July 29th, 2011 Posted by momitomi in Kids | 653 Comments »This year I decided to take the kids to the Midstate Fair. After living in this area for the past 10 years or so and never having actually been to the fair I decided this was the year to go. When we first got there, we happened across a mutton bustin’ competition that was just starting. For those of you that don’t know what mutton bustin’ is, basically they stick a kid on the back of sheep and the kid tries to hold on for as long as they can while the sheep runs across a field. It was really fun to watch, but in the end Dylan decided he didn’t want to try it. While watching the competition Aubri spotted the pony rides, so that was of course our next stop. Both the kids rode a pony and then decided it was time to get their faces painted. Aubri chose a whale but she wanted it done in Spider Man colors, and Dylan chose a dragon. The girl that painted their faces did a great job and she was super fast also. After this we just walked around and looked at everything that was at the fair. We walked through all the animals and watched a bit of a barrel racing competition. Before we left we stumbled across an area that had a whole bunch of reptiles and stuff in it, called Brad’s World Reptiles. In order to take care of all the reptiles, they allow you to take pictures with their alligator. We got in line and when it was our turn, my mom gave the job of holding the head of the alligator to me. It was actually really well behaved and just went to sleep once it was in your arms. I think we had fun and I definitely plan on going back next year. To see more pictures from the fair, please click here.
Spiderman Colored Whale
Scary dragon face to match his dragon
Alligator
Gilroy Gardens
July 1st, 2011 Posted by momitomi in Kids | 488 Comments »My mom had seen an ad in the newspaper about a dinosaur exhibit at Gilroy Gardens. Knowing how much Dylan enjoys dinosaurs we thought it would be fun to take the kids. Gilroy Gardens was a cute amusement park. It was very nice and clean and we found that it had quite a bit of shade while waiting for rides. The kids really enjoyed the water area of the park. It was where we spent most of our time while we were there. Unfortunately not too long after we got there the power went out. We were told it was affecting most of Gilroy and it was out for about 3 hours. During that time there wasn’t much to do, and we eventually decided it would be better just to head home. Gilroy Gardens was great though and they gave everyone a return ticket so we will be able to go back again for free because of the inconvenience. To see more pictures from our day, please click here.
Riding on the carousel with gramps.
Shooting the water gun.
Enjoying getting wet
Digging for dinosaur bones
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.
Trip to China Peak
February 23rd, 2011 Posted by momitomi in Tomi | 287 Comments »The kids had been asking to go and visit the snow for quite a long time. I finally figured it was time to try to make a trip up there and let them experience the snow. My brother Jack had been wanting to go snow boarding for quite a while, so we decided it would be fun to head up there together and let Dylan snowboard, Aubri ski and Jacko snowboard. My mom came along also to join in the fun and help take care of the kids. The first day up there Dylan took a snowboarding lesson first thing. He really seemed to love it and he had a lot of fun. He fell down a few times and thought it was hilarious and then got right back up and tried again. The first time he fell, the instructor ran down to check on him to see if he was okay. Dylan’s answer while laughing was “that was fun”. After his lesson was over, Dylan decided he wanted to take another lesson, so he signed up for a second one later that afternoon. Once Dylan’s lesson was done it was time for Jacko and I to take our snowboarding lesson. I have been wanting to try snowboarding for years and I was excited to try it out. It was a lot of fun, but it was also a lot harder than I thought it was giong to be. In usual fashion, my brother seemed to take to it pretty naturally and he was showing me up every time. I thought it was funny that when I got out the camera to video tape him he fell because he did really great most every other time. After a couple of hours, I had had enough and I spent time helping Dylan back up the hill so he could get some more practice in. That night we were all pretty tired and I think everyone slept pretty soundly.
Getting ready
Aubri watching with Grams
The next morning Aubri decided that she wanted to try skiing. Dylan thought it seemed like fun also so he was game to take another lesson and see what it was all about. Jack also decided he wanted to try skiing so he took a lesson on his own. Aubri seemed to LOVE skiing. She went down with a smile on her face and she couldn’t wait to get back up fast enough. Dylan lasted through about half the lesson and then he lost interest. He said he really like snowboarding a lot better so my mom took him back so he could exchange his ski’s for his snowboard and get some more board time in. Eventually they took the kids over to a little bigger hill and Aubri was ready with the other kids to take on this new challenge.
Excited to go!
Dylan and Unc's getting their ski's.
We all really enjoyed our trip up to the snow and we can’t wait to go back again soon. This time Mike really wants to come along so he can watch the kids also. If you would like to see more photos from our fabulously fun trip, please click here.
I have also put together a video of our trip. I hope you enjoy watching it!
California Academy of Sciences
February 2nd, 2011 Posted by momitomi in Kids | 476 Comments »
This year we took the kids to homeschool day at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. My dad was able to come with us and we also met our friends from the Zimmerman family there. We started the day off by taking BART into the city and then taking the bus the rest of the way. The kids thought this was a great adventure just by itself. Once at the Academy we started off with Dylan attending one of the workshops. He got to learn all about coral polyps and then build one of them. They used food materials in order to build their polyps so they got to eat them at the end. The Zimmerman family joined us in this workshop and it seemed like there were quite a few people who didn’t make it, so Melanie, Aubri and Ruthie were invited to build a coral polyp also. Aubri and Ruthie found that eating their building supplies before they had a chance to finish building was the way to go so their polyps didn’t last long.
After creating polyps was completed we went out to explore the rest of the building. There is a gorgeous reef area with sharks and rays in it and that was our first stop. After that we just ended up wandering along and exploring as we went. After a while everyone seemed hungry so we thought it would be a good time to get lunch. I think the kids enjoyed lunch time almost as much as everything else. We ate outside and the kids spent quite a while running in the grass and playing behind the bushes. After lunch we traveled back inside and went into this three story dome that had butterflies, plants, birds, and other animals inside of it. It was really beautiful and there were all sizes and colors of butterflies. After we were done in there we headed up to the living roof. They were giving a presentation using one of their resident owls when we got up there so we listened to that and took in the view from the top of building. Once we were done up there we explored a little more and finally ended our adventure with the kids running and playing while snow fell from the ceiling.
We had a really great time, and we were all exhausted by the time we completed our bus and BART journey back into Pleasanton where we were staying. We really hope to go back to visit the Academy again soon and we hope that Mike will be able to join us next time. More pictures from that day can be seen here
Creek Play at El Chorro Park
January 25th, 2011 Posted by momitomi in Kids | 841 Comments »Today my friend Maurica invited the kids and I to meet them for some creek play at El Chorro Regional Park in San Luis. For those of you that don’t know this park, it is located out off of Highway 1 in between San Luis and Morro Bay. It was a really nice warm sunny day and the kids had a blast wandering through the stream and playing with rocks. Right now Dylan is very into collecting flowers and his favorite right now is sour grass. He spent most of his time collecting and making a sour grass bouquet. The other kids joined in with collecting and making their own bouquets after they were done playing in the water. Then we finished off the day playing at the playground before we headed home. We always have a great time with the Zimmerman crew and today was no exception! To see more pictures from this fabulous afternoon, please click here
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.