Sunday, August 26, 2012

Baseball Game with Grandpa

Baseball: the family tradition with my Dad.  Here we are at the Padres game, Axel and Honus are goofing off while Dad carefully writes down the lineup for scientific tracking purposes



the family photo - while Dad has one eye on the game



 Axel thought it was hilarious to use his baseball glove (inherited from Honus actually) as a hat



Me and my dad and my son at the ball game, it doesnt get any better than this



I'll keep this picture just in case he becomes a big baseball star later . . . doh! the glove is on the wrong hand!


Guys are so cute at sporting events . . .




Petco park has a great hill behind the field where all the kids can go to get a break from the game.  Axel was already there by the bottom of the first inning.  


Honus showed Axel the classic "roll down the hill" game.  Repeat, repeat, repeat . . .



Velodrome

Tuesday nights in the summer there are fixed gear bicycle races at the San Diego Velodrome.   Whenever we can find someone nerdy enough to be interested in such an obscure sport (hello Dad and Honus!), we invite them to come out and watch the races with us for a nice little evening picnic.  


Half the time we dont even know what the races mean



 Luna and Axel just like hanging around in the dirt



Honus and Axel in the stands



such handsome future hipsters . . .



Later, when the races got a little boring, Honus and Axel played in the dirt together





Legolove

Legolove



 Too short to reach the water hose game?  No problem!  That's what Grandpas are for . . .



 Those LegoLions are pretty fierce



 We always ALWAYS gotta ride the train



 Honus visits San Francisco



Axel prefers New York




They settle on Paris - Las Vegas




The nerds went crazy for the lego Star Wars exhibit




 Vader is not so menacing in mini lego form






Sunday, August 19, 2012

Up High Like Wyley

Today at the dog park Axel asked to climb the fig tree.  
He refused my help because as usual, he wants to do it himself.



When he got to the "top" of the tree trunk, he pointed to the upper branches and said "up high like Wyley".  He is clearly drawing inspiration from his 9 year old cousin Wyley who is a SUPER climber! 


Fun in the Pool with Ellis

Ellis babysat Axel for me today while I was at practice and Karsten was in Chicago for a conference.  The heat wave in San Diego continues, so they busted out the kiddie pool and set it up on our deck



Luna watches while Barbapapa (the European toy figurine) jumps off the fire truck



Ellis showed Axel how Barbamama wears the pants in the family


Axel absolutely LOVED it, he couldnt stop talking about Ellis and the pool all night. Thanks Ellis!!






Friday, August 17, 2012

Toddler Mosh Pits

This is what concerts would be like if two-year-olds ruled the world:



Axel gets his groove on with best friends Hazel and Mason at the Hullabaloo summer concert series in Mission Hills.  I can totally picture them 15 years from now as teenagers doing the same thing. 






Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Legoland with my BFF

Last Saturday Axel went to Legoland with his best buddy Mason.  The impending excitement during the car ride over there was ridiculous: oh boy oh boy, you mean I get to see BOTH Mason AND Legolang?!?!  Its just too much!!

First they played at Duploland:




Then they rode the train together: 



then they went on the boat ride:



Then they tried the airplane ride, which Mason loves, but Axel got scared.  
We couldn't get off until it was over, so it was a little traumatic, poor little guy!




Then they climbed the rope ladder onto the castle fort and got all sweaty running around:



Since we're in a "heat wave", we decided to cool off at the water park





When baby Hunter joined, things got a little crazy



Overall, a totally fun day! 






Saturday, August 4, 2012

New Preschool

Last week Axel started at a new preschool.  We were really excited because the facility is awesome, it is near our house, he can be there for the next three years, and the staff seem experienced, friendly, and pretty relaxed. But we were also a little worried about the transition because Axel is such a shy kid and he also really liked his old day care.

Well, needless to say, it turned out to NOT be a problem.
When I came to pick Axel up on the first day, I spotted him running around and laughing with the other kids.  When he finally saw me, he ran up to me smiling, gave me a big hug, and then ran back to the playground saying "One more minute".  I let him go, but then he wouldn't come back, so eventually had to drag him to the car crying "more school, more school!"  Good thing he is going to be there every day!

Axel's new preschool classroom:



Axel shows off his playground, one of four huge shaded outdoor play areas


 Axel's new teacher is Miss Debbie



Thursday, August 2, 2012

Grandma Ruth

We love you Grandma, it was so fun to have you here visiting with all of your children and grandchildren. 









Family Reunion: the Beach

Nothing says California quite like the beach.  So of course we took our family to see the ocean


More exciting than the water was the sand itself, an endless source of amusement for the kids


Best if you hurl yourself to the ground and roll around in it 



 Only problem with that is you get sand in your face, eyes, ears, mouth, nostrils, hair, pants, diaper. . .



Tillie collected seashells




Axel taught Annabelle the proper technique for catching a wave



The poor girl from Seattle never sees the sun . . .



Django and Axel take pouring sand very seriously, no time for talk








Family Reunion: Sightseeing

We did lots of sightseeing with my family while they were in town visiting. 

Axel and I rode the train with Django at Legoland



Tillie and Scott took the fairy tale boat ride at Legoland


The cousins played on the canon in Old Town



Tah-Dah!!  


Uncle Scott gave the kids a group hug/ wrestle session in Old Town


As you see, they hated it 



Maddy June rode the Skyfari at the San Diego Zoo


Annabelle pointed out the animals you could see from being up so high



Wyley climbed up high herself on the polar bear exhibit



And finally, we hosted an awesome BBQ for the "big family reunion", with four generations of cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandmothers.  We are so happy everyone could come and be all together. :)