a day for dads

Father's Day is such a good day to recognize the wonderful men in our lives.  Eddy played golf with some friends on Saturday as a pre-daddy day treat.  So Sunday we woke up to a family breakfast and some pj hang out time, before trekking off to meet up with my parents at a park in Benicia to play, take a short walk, and have a picnic lunch.  Cherishing the great out doors is something that my father has taught me well, and it was extra special to be able to share that with him and my kids.  
Then we came home for naps before Eddy's parents, Andrea and cousins Alexandra and Lucas came over for a BBQ dinner (Auntie Dana is in Thailand as I write this so she wasn't able to be with us, jealous!).  Eddy's father is always up for a good BBQ, but I think secretly he just loves watching the little ones play.
Once again, I realize how blessed we are...to have a wonderful husband and father in Eddy, and the wonderful fathers we both have as role models.  Family is amazing.

our short "hike" from the park

Ryan got the best ride on the way back up the hill 

the boys took the side path, to the top of the big hill, just to see what they could see

Ryan is all about his big boy bike these days, we watched him ride in circles around the park

 And later, back at the house...

nearly impossible to get these two to both look at the camera at the same time...but thought this was kinda cute

I see the future of family get togethers...the boys, and lots and lots of Legos

cheers to a great Bayer family

Nonni and her bundles of love

first and last days

Today was Ryan's last day of his first year of preschool.  It was such a great year for him.  He really grew a lot, both socially and with learning the ropes of a classroom.  And although he is still the kind of kid who takes a little while to warm up to a new environment, likes to hang back and watch what's going on first, he has definitely come out of his shell.  Today at school he even let the teacher paint his hand so he could leave his handprint on their final art project.  And earlier in the week the teacher told me he asked to sing his favorite song, and then volunteered to be the first one to stand in the middle of the circle for that particular song.  Huge progress little man.  Now enjoy your first "summer vacation"!

first day in September (2 years, 10 months old)

last day in June (3 1/2 years old)

"Mom, will you please stop taking pictures already?"

racing Big Red down the driveway 

a stop at Jamba Juice on the way home from school for an end of the year treat 

swim day

It has been hot the last 2 weekends around these parts.  And thankfully my parents are still members at Las Trampas, their neighborhood pool where we grew up swimming....so now our kids can continue the tradition!  Ryan loves their pool, and on this particular day, he made me such a proud mama.  He's finally blowing bubbles, willing to trust his floaty to swim on his own across the pool and back a few times in a row, jumping in to me without any fear of getting wet.  He still won't dunk his face under water on purpose, but I think this summer will be it.  And this trip was Kaitlyn's first introduction to Las Trampas.  She seemed to love it as well.  Bring on the summer swim days!

Nanny, a fish herself, loves taking the grandkids to the pool

still loving the baby pool

nine month photos

As is par for the course of my life right now, here are Kaitlyn's 9 month photos.  She'll be 11 months old in 4 days.  Oh well.  I do what I can.

I wasn't quite prepared for Ryan to participate in the photos on this day, hence he is dressed in his scrubby clothes with his shaggy hair.  But thought this one was cute anyway. 

love this one for comic relief

I am still not completely sold on using Picture People for these photos, but  I got a good deal on this package with a coupon.  It's fun to document these stages no matter what.