Fourth of July Fun, Family & Festivities!

We went to the Fourth of July Community Choir concert...it was our first time being n the audience rather than being a part of the choir! Here's Max with Uncle Sam!

Family shot!

My little patriotic shark!!

We all went to the pit and had a B-B-Q! Dylan and Grandpa!

Cute shot of Julie, Brookie (the Birthday girl!!) & Jenna!

Camille preparing her yummy chicken fried steak!!

Geoff chillin' with the boot!

Eric thought the caption should read, "why, why, why?!"

Family shot...

Hanky was so cute & considerate...he was so concerned about Eric's brewsky...cute, cute, cute!

Adam cooking over the hot fire !!!! Check out Carli's face!!!

The fellas!! Hanky is so spectacular with Max!!! Jodi, the experienced mom...look at her balance those kids!!!

Julie, Jenna, Carli, Brookie (love the expression), Chuck & Max

Max before we went to the F'n Festival (that's what Julie's friend Jackie called the fun, friends, family festival ).

Chuck & Carli...it's unfair how cute they are...they didn't even mean to coordinate outfits!

Me, Eric & Max

Carli & Julie watching the fireworks. We went to the Evanston High School football field. The fireworks were spectacular this year!

It's got to hurt to look so good!!!

We had a great time and Max loved it, too!!!!

Fathers' Day

Happy Father's Day, Eric. While I have great feelings of love and admiration for my own father...Father's Day takes on a whole different meaning when you are a parent. I always knew that I would have a life filled with joy and laughter when I married Eric, I also knew that he would be an amazing father...what I didn't expect was how my love would grow exponentially as I witnessed the unparalleled love he has, shows and gives Max.

His first day as a father.
The day he blessed Max at church.
Proud father at Max's celebration.

LIKE FATHER...

LIKE SON!!!!

Happy Fathers' Day, Eric! We love you so much!!!

You just won the superbowl!!! What are you going to do?!

So, we went to Disneyland...it's impressive how much Disney paraphernalia there is around!!!

Walking the stroller to the park...we debated whether or not to bring the stroller...when we got there and there were strollers everywhere...they even had designated stroller parking spots!!!

Here we are with Pluto...

Eric LOVES Donald Duck...so, even though his line was the longest...we waited to take a picture with him!

Here we are the Fantasia Family!!

Eric chased down Pocahontas...he asked to take a picture with her because his "nephew Dylan" loves her...yea right!!!

Here we are in front of the honey pots...

Here's Max sitting in front of his own little door!

We climbed into the little tree house and asked a stranger to take the picture for us.

Our first ride with Max....

This is my favorite picture....this is Max's face after his first ride!!! It makes me laugh every time I look at it!!!

People actually stopped and asked to take Max's picture...I think he's the cutest baby in the world...but it's nice to get third party validation!!!

All in all we had a great time and can't wait to go back when our kids will appreciate it more!!!

Max at the beach with the Hoppers!!!

We had a little spare time so we were able to see two of my dearest friends; Kristina and Alan Hopper. On the way to their home in San Clemente, I was telling Eric how much Kristina and I have been through...it's sad how quickly time can fly by.

After lunch, we decided to walk to the beach...which they practically live at!

Here's Max taking his first dip...you wouldn't believe how many takes it took to get this picture...the final results were this picture and my entire back soaked!!!

Me and Kristina! Late nights watching Seinfeld, dancing to New Kids videos, going and doing our assignments for Prop 27, Astro Pops, Pesto Noodles, Child Psychology class, Pillow dancing, New kids on the block concert, flower passing, being blue darts, going through the temple together, man,...She's just the best!!! The very best and I was so happy to get to see you Hopper!!!...and your parents, too!!!

Burberry, Bears, Baked Goods & Boba!

I have been trying to get Eric to ditch some of his seminar...and even though we found out lots of other people have, Eric has stayed for every single meeting...he's such a boy scout (Eagle Scout to be precise) and it's really something that I love about him. He's just not a fudger, he stays well within the lines...that's his style...so, while Eric has been hard at work, I have been given free reign to play as I please...and as I am not a huge Disneyland fan, I decided to go see one of my old roommates, Robin in West Hollywood.

Robin has always been someone I looked up to...you know when you were a kid and you saw a beautiful woman walk by or as an eighth grader, you would see the cool high school kids? That's how I feel about Robin, not that she's older, just so much wiser and cooler.

Anyway, we haven't seen each other in about 4-5 years!!!! Here is a picture of the Burberry Lamb comfort blanket she gave Max. Boy does he LOVE it...he slept with it all night!!! Here are some cupcakes she bought for me...from the same place Katie Holmes buys her cupcakes!!! The one that looks like an ice cream cone is filled with homemade marshmallow!!!

This was a cute stuffed animal she had...random...but funny!

Here she is holding Max! He was so happy...all of my in-laws have lighter hair, so I think he assumed I was holding him while he tugged on the long dark hair...the moment after I took this picture, he looked at me, then at Robin, then at me and back to Robin...then the water works...it was so sad but so darn stinkin' cute!!!

We went to Chinatown to get some grub and saw this stuffed bear in a toy shop...I was going to buy it for Max to take pictures with...until the sales woman (or should I say anti-sales woman) advised us not to buy it as the story of the bear is about a woman and child who find this curious looking bear and take it home to be their pet...one day, the bear attacked the baby and almost killed the mother while she tried to rescue her child (notice the claws)...WOW! We didn't really know what to say after that...apparently, the maker of the stuffed animal is an animal activist...
We just left...

Here we are having bubble drinks...mmmm boba!!! Robin is the best and I was happy and sad to see her... happy to remember all the fun we used to have and had on that day...sad that we waited so long to do it!!!

Let's Get Crackin'

We decided that it was high time that Max conquered the ocean...well, at the least the hotel swimming pool!!! Here he is with Eric.

This was right before he got in...he had the entire hotel swooning over his cuteness!!

He was so cute in the water!!! I had a little less trepidation knowing that I had taught a baby swimming class one summer.

He just kept kicking and treading water...like a natural!!!

For dinner, we went to Taco Bell but thought we would show you a picture of Joe's Crab Shack...just kidding...obviously, we went there.

Here's the shark that the stink shark kept staring at.

The shark got his own bib...

I thought this was a cute shot...I didn't even read what the pick had printed on it until after the picture was taken!

Here we are enjoying our bucket from the sea...I think that Julie's "Feast" that she makes at Meeks would give Joe a run for his money! Still, it was a great night!