Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Baby it's cold outside





Frazier Park has a few things going for it.

1. Snow. In Southern California. Every winter.

2. Houses within or in direct proximity to national forests. Trees. Clean air. Crystal clear skies (does not apply during annoying and increasingly more common summer wildfires).

3. Feta mozzarella breadsticks

Sure, yes, of course there are childhood memories and small community elements that are cool as well but the aforementioned highlights top my What I Love About My Hometown list.

Young Harrison, sporting his snow clothes and giant boots, explored Mt. Pinos with Papa Jim and Matt this weekend. I knew he'd love it given the fact that he was already sprinting through the house doing belly slides to test out the gear - and that was before he actually stepped foot in the snow!

Donut + snow play + fun with grandparents = pretty lucky, happy, exhausted 2 year old!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Suenbabies

Tyler, Briana, H and Riley

The first of many slide rides (and attempts by the moms to
get a good pic)

Lunch at the Wilsons - Kelly really had all of these amazing tools and seats
right there at her house to put on a great kid feast!

One

Two (Luke)

Three!

Three of the four Suenbros (our buddy Beckett is
taking a hiatus from California to enjoy Brooklyn for a while). The
boys were all born in a six month span and for a few months
four of us were pregnant at the same time!

After running miles with Riley's soccer ball, the boys were delighted to do
many, many rounds of Ring Around the Rosie

And they all fall down (or in H's case, fell asleep in the car)

Suenho \swayne-hoe\ , noun ; 1. female resident of 6670 Sueno Rd. in Isla Vista, Ca between 1997 and 2000

Suenbaby or Suenbro \swayne-bay-bee or swayne-broh\ , noun ; 1. male child born to a Suenho mom

The three years post-dorm living that I spent in lovely, clean, safe, quiet Isla Vista, my roommates and I resided on Sueno Road in a special little yellow house with an amazing yard. Home to various themed college parties (highlighted by an ice luge or bathtub full of 40s or bedroom full of half pajama clad Gauchos), flaming shopping carts flying off the roof, kitchen floor hookups, late night sliding door visitors (including a skunk, homeless person with dog and a few boyfriends), a bleach infused washing machine, infamous sofa bed, that house also fostered many lifelong friendships and served as the inspiration for the term "suenho". Collectively my roommates and I became known as The Suenhos and during the Spring of 2008 when 4 of us had recently become moms to boys, someone started referring to Riley, Harrison, Beckett and Luke as Suenbros or Suenbabies or Suenboys in some form or another.

It is always such a treat to visit everyone and Harrison adores playing with his buddies. While we were sad to miss a weekend visiting Grammy and Papa, we made up for it by spending the day with some of my favorite college friends and their kids. We started the morning in Dublin with the Wilsons where Supermom Kelly had extra strollers, TONS of cool toys and surplus dining chairs to make for an awesome play date. We took a great walk to the park right down the street from their new house and enjoyed the crazy warm fall morning. After H and Riley took a much-needed nap in the car, we met up at another park in Walnut Creek with Kaitie and Luke, Bree, Lindsay and Sara. The only thing missing from the pics is our spread from Sonoma Market with my all-time favorites: chicken salad, red pepper dip, carrots, bread and Orangina.

Thanks friends for a GREAT day!




Apple Hill = the ultimate Fall adventure

Harrison rockin this year's woodsman hat...not sure exactly how
the trend started but we always seem to find really adorable little man
hats for him and have amassed a whole collection of sizes

Mmmm, real apple cider is so good

When in Apple Hill...

Jen, Kate and Kris

Beating on things with sticks...following the footsteps of my
brother and so many boys before him!

One lovely Fall day, Harrison and I left Matt home working (sorry Daddy!) and joined our friends the Klimas for fun in Apple Hill. It really is a fairly quick drive up the 50 to find amazing orchards and now hills of vines. The kids enjoyed a train ride before hitting the ultimate stop for all-food-apple-related. Unfortunately for my waistline I had to eat an entire fritter and a warm apple wine but it was worth it! The season was in full effect with gorgeous colors and leaves at every turn. So much fun.