first foods.

Although I'm still not quite sure how my baby is old enough to be eating solids, it's happening.  We waited until he was at least 6 months.  To be honest, starting solids is not my favorite.  At all.  It's just so much less convienient than nursing, so much more work than nursing, and well, I just really like nursing.  There I said it.  But, every baby's got to do it, right?  I snapped a few pictures to remember Teddy's first bites of real food - avocado.  

 But first, a kiss from big brother!  Going in...

 ...and landing.  These brothers are just dang cute together.

 And above, Teddy's first few bites.  Obviously, he was none too pleased about it.  Poor guy.

Thankfully, he was still all smiles afterward.  Since this, he's had all kinds of foods - bananas, apples, prunes, pears, green beans, peaches, chicken, turkey, ground beef, lots of stuff I'm forgetting and his favorite, sweet potatoes.  He tolerates purees, but definitely prefers soft chunks of real food.  And of course, he still nurses.  :)  Love that boy!  

adventures at the zoo.

So many things I need to blog about!  First - about a month ago we headed down to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park - a huge zoo with - you guessed it - safari animals!  We knew Ace would love it because he looves animals.  Monkeys especially (hello, Curious George obsession).  For the few days before we went, I was on the Safari Park website and found some videos of the animals they have - and Ace was ob.sessed.  He wanted to watch them over and over again - especially the monkey videos.  After that he continued to ask to "watch monkeys" on the computer over the next few days.  Needless to say, we were pretty excited to show him the monkeys in person.  It's funny how excited you get to experience things through your kid's eyes.  

Monkeyyyys!

 ^this face.  This is the face when he is really excited about something but trying not show it.  (Ace, not Kirk).

 The park is huge and spread out , and you take a safari tram around this part^, where giraffes and gazelles and rhinos are just roaming around.  So cool! 

 ^don't mind me, I'm just nursing Teddy over there.

 Watching the Lions^.  We were getting pretty hot and tired by this point.  Sorry, Lions.

 ^Belly chub!  

 The Elephants were also a hit.  So close!  And the cute little baby elephant!

And at the end of the day, Ace promptly fell asleep after being put in his carseat.  We think he had fun.  Good times, Safari Park.  Good times!

beach bike rides.

Anyone who knows Ace knows he's got looots of energy.  More than I know what to do with most days.  If we don't get out of the house during the day he is quite literally bouncing off the walls, furniture, etc.  So some days we head down to the beach trail for bike/stroller rides.  Ace loves that bike.  Almost every day he asks, "Go park ride bike??  Go beach ride bike??"  And dang it if he doesn't look adorable riding it.  Last week I brought my camera along just for kicks.  

Any time that train goes by, he waves^.  Sometimes, I spot people inside waving back and it makes my momma heart so stupidly happy for some reason. :)

We stopped and played at the beach for a while, of course. 

And at the end, we stopped at the pier, shared a couple pizza slices, and enjoyed the view.  I love little outings like this with my two boys and feel really lucky to live where we do.  I'll admit, I'm completely won over with this whole living-by-the-ocean thing (not that it was all that hard).  I don't think we can ever leave.  As if Kirk would lets us.  ;)  

the ramp.

When we were house hunting last year, Kirk had but one requirement - get a house with a yard big enough for a skate ramp.  That's just the kind of guy he is, one of those ones who wants a skate ramp, as much for the kids as for himself. (File that under things I never imagined I would have when I dreamed about my future hubby and family - a skate ramp).  
Of course, we ended up buying the house that does not have a big enough yard for ramp.  Well, it would technically fit, but it would take up 70% of the yard, soo. But we compromised, he did a little scheming and declared that he could fit a mini half-pipe in the garage.  And a couple weekends ago he made that dream come true.  

With a lot of help from his brothers, he managed to build the whole thing in one Saturday.  It was quite the process and I'll be honest, I was more than a little impressed at the end of the day when it actually came out looking like a skate ramp.  I don't give that man enough credit sometimes.  But in the couple of weeks since, that ramp had provided quite the entertainment around here.  I took these pics a few days after it was built.  Isn't it so pretty?? ;)

Ace thinks its the greatest mini-slide ever, and pushes anything with wheels down it - skateboard, his bike, the stroller, his cars.  He loves to watch his dad skate and skate with him.  And don't be fooled by these pics ^ we are definitely helmet-wearing people.  Especially for the little people.  

Low light + fast skateboarding = super awesome action shots.  Not.

Anyways, come on over to our house around 7 pm every night - this is where these guys usually are.  It's a good time.

beach visitors.

We had more visitors! Two weeks ago, my oldest sister Lindsay and her kids were staying at my parents for a couple weeks, and came down to see us one day.  Ace, Teddy and I gave them the special tour all visitors get - a trip to the beach, to Pedro's Tacos, and to get shaved ice.  It was a blast!  Even if it was a tad chilly that day.  I told you fall was coming.

Ace was beyond stoked to have his cousins to hang with all day.  I didn't mind, either.  Now, if somehow all my siblings could just live right next to each other, and also by the beach, that would be a dream come true for me.  It could happen, right??  Come on, guys.  I do have 10 siblings, so I'm banking on at least one of them ending up somewhere close to me someday.  Fingers crossed.

I have the prettiest little nieces.  ^

For some reason I assumed that since it was a little cold and cloudy down there, the kids wouldn't get in the water.  Hence us taking them down in regular clothes, not swimsuits.  Of course, I was wrong.  Ah, well. 

The best shave ice (outside of Hawaii) you will ever have.^  It's sold out of a little coffee shop on the beach trail and seriously good.  It became a regular afternoon treat for the boys and I this summer and I don't regret a single one. 

Missing those cousins and my sister already.  We were glad they liked hanging at the beach as much as we do .  Come back soon!!