Rancho San Antonio

We continue to hit some of the Bay Area's hotspots. This week we checked out Rancho San Antonio. Once again, Kai wanted to get out of the stroller and do some walking.

After all, there were streams to jump over

 Bridges to cross

And tree stumps to climb

But the highlight for Kai was checking out the wildlife. We saw several deer:

 

And a lot of wild turkeys

I got a little too close to this one and he skunked me

Kai could have spent all day chasing those big birds (Kai LOVES chasing any ol' bird, but the bigger the better), but Yo was afraid the resident hippie types would get mad so he put the kabosh on our Kai's fun:

So instead of harassing the wild animals, we headed over to the farm to make friends with some domesticated animals instead.

I couldn't get over how cute the baby lambs were

Yo couldn't get over how pregnant this goat was

Kai finally found an animal that he was allowed to touch

He could have stayed there all day. But the cat had other plans. So we moved along. Slowly.

I think going at a three-year-old's pace was a bit of an adjustment for Yo. He did a lot of hurry-up-and-wait(ing).

 But it did give him time to write some work emails.

I didn't mind walking at a snail's pace. It gave me more time to snap some pictures.

And even managed to get out from behind the lens to get a couple of pictures of me with the boys

 

We got back to the car with time to take just one more shot

Finding purpose...

I'm still adjusting to my role as a full-time stay-at-home mom. For the most part I am loving it. I can't imagine a more fulfilling way to spend my days than hanging out with my two sweet boys. But just because I'm home now does not mean that my drive has gone away. At heart I am still an overachiever and someone who feels happiest when I am being challenged (or at least challenging myself0. Now that I don't have work as an outlet to satisfy my need for personal growth, I've decided to make some goals for myself that add meaning and purpose to my life.

One of my big goals this year has been to decrease my consumption. Yes, I'm talking about that good ol' carbon footprint that we hear so much about these days. I know it may be cliche, but it makes sense for so many reasons. Not only is it good for the planet, it's good for the wallet... and for my health, as it turns out.

For now I am taking baby steps toward a more carbon-friendly lifestyle. I made it a goal to stop using bottled water. Instead I carry around one of these:

I've made an effort to buy more locally grown foods. I am more conscientious about turning off lights when I leave a room and when I am hot or cold I try to add or remove layers of clothing instead of being so quick to go to the thermostat.

One of the biggest changes I've made is using these:

Instead of this

Whenever I can. My mantra has become, "If you can walk there, why drive?"

And I've learned quickly that most places that I go to are within walking distance. Yo and I splurged and bought a double Bob stroller off of Craigslist last month.

 

Yo and I are not your "designer stroller" type of people. But I have t say that the Bob has lived up to all of the hype. It is comfortable for the kids and so easy for me to push. I have literally logged hundreds of miles on foot since we purchased it. I have also only filled up the tank in my car ONCE! I figure that the stroller will pay itself off in no time with the money I am saving on gas alone.

At first I used the Bob for little outings--a walk to the park, to pick Kai up from school, etc. But after realizing that these places were a lot closer on foot than I had thought, I kept pushing my limits to see how much further I could go. Now, most days, I leave the house with both boys in the morning and don't get home until 5ish, just in time to feed the kids dinner and to wait for Yo to walk through the door.

A typical day might go something like this... I walk to pick up Kai from preschool, we swing by the library and check out some books, we stop by a duck pond to have a picnic lunch, we go from there to a park and play for a couple of hours, I walk from there to a store or two to run some errands, we meet up with friends for a quick playdate and then we head on home. While we walk, I get to talk to Kai about all of the things that we're seeing. We sing songs. We play games. The kids sleep. I get exercise and fresh air and the added benefit of seeing where we live in a whole new way. 

To accommodate this lifestyle I've made a couple more small investments. I upgraded my diaper bag to this monstrosity...

It's designed to strap onto a double stroller and is big enough to carry a day's worth of supplies for two kids.

I also got a pair of these....

They're the Sketcher's Go Walk shoes and they are honestly the most comfortable shoes that I have ever owned. They are light as a feather, designed to wear without socks and have super cushy soles. I can log 10 miles in these shoes and my feet still feel comfortable. I've only owned them for a month or so and I can already tell you that I will be buying a few more pairs (and no doubt wearing these totally out before I'm through).

So if you're out and about in the South Bay, keep an eye out for me. I'm probably out walking in a neighborhood near you.

Apparently it's genetic...

When you make kids who look a lot like your spouse, you begin to look for any hint that your genes, too, exist inside of your children. That is why I was so excited to see that both of my boys inherited my weird feet with in-turned little toes--not my best feature, but at least it's proof that their mine.

I'm not sure that facial expressions would technically be considered genetic, but who wants to get technical, anyway? All I know is that I made a super pathetic, pouty-lipped face as a kid (an possibly as an adult if you ask my parents) and so does this kid...

I mean, really?!? Does it get anymore pathetic, or cuter than this? I think I would find this face endearing regardless, but it makes it all the more endearing thinking that maybe this is how I looked to my parents when I was pouting. 

Oh, Ari! I can already tell it's going to be hard to say no to you. That little face could just break a mama's heart--and make me giggle at the same time. It's a lethal combination.

Aren't second-born children the greatest? ;)

Adventures in the Bay

I don't know if it's this beautiful weather or the fact that we are all finally getting a little bit more sleep around here, but recently Yo and I have been packing the action in on the weekends or really, any time that Yo gets off of work. All of these little adventures that we've been going on make me appreciate the Bay Area and all that it has to offer even more. We have lived here for 6.5 years now and it seems like we have only scratched the surface on all that there is to do. There is a lot more that we hope to scratch off our to do lists before we leave, too. But for now, here are a few of the things that we've been up to recently.

Yo and I went on a date night to see the San Francisco symphony orchestra production of Per Gynt.

We took the boys to the Monterey Bay aquarium. It was perfect timing, too, because Kai is obsessed with whales... especially hump backs.

We went up to San Francisco to finally use a gift card that my sister got us for Christmas to Mission Cheese. After eating $50 worth of cheese, we decided that the perfect way to cap off our outing would be to stop at Mitchell's for some world-famous ice cream.

We went for a 7 mile hike in Palo Alto. I was proud of myself for conquering some killer hills, but I have to give major props to Yo who conquered the same hills while pushing a double stroller. I was also impressed with Kai who walked long stretches of the walk with us. 

After walking for a couple of hours, we got back to the car to discover that a certain someone had pooped through 3 layers of clothes.

After a quick wardrobe change in the back of Yo's car, we headed into Palo Alto to eat at Lyfe, a restaurant that Yo has been wanting to check out. The food was super fresh and, as Yo put it, "healthy tasting." Which is a good thing in my book, but it's safe to say Yo probably won't be rushing back there anytime too soon. I, on the other hand, got my first taste of a green smoothie of the variety that everyone seems to be raving about these days. I thought it was delicious and I want to begin experimenting with making these at home.

We rounded out the evening by grabbing some dessert (one can only be so healthy after all) and going to the Apple store to replace my broken iPhone. No more cracked screen hopefully means that I will no longer be sending you all weird text messages. It was really hard to see what the heck I was typing on my shattered screen. Yo had the foresight this time around to purchase me a protection plan. Live and learn. And now I think he is quite looking forward to the day that I will inevitably come to him to tell him that I have dropped my phone one too many times (again) so he can feel like he got his money's worth. That is a good feeling for both of us.

Date Night

Kai's school recently hosted a mommy/son, western-themed dance. Which gave me the perfect excuse to ask my little man out on a date. He couldn't have been more excited or felt more important. He kept asking, "Just me and you?"

We had Pappa take our picture before we headed out for dinner and then to the dance.

I let Kai choose where we ate dinner. Without hesitation he said, "The Habit!" 

Smart boy! We went all out feasting on hamburgers, sweet potato fries and splitting a chocolate shake... with whipped cream, of course. 

My handsome guy waiting for his food. 

The dance was really cute. While it was Western-themed, they played a lot of more mainstream, contemporary hits. Kai was dazzled by the colored lights and big speakers. He wasted no time getting into the center of the action and dancing like no one was watching. He drew quite an audience at one point as one of the smallest dance attendants. 

At one point in the night, a line dance instructor taught everyone a dance. It was the electric slide. One would assume that anyone over 10 in the room would know it, but as it turns out, the electric slide may not be quite as popular in India, and since we were one of very few non-Indian attendants at the dance (and in Kai's school, for that matter), I felt like quite the stud when I was able to "catch on" to this super complicated dance in no time at all. 

There was a professional photographer at the dance who took pics of the mommies/sons next to a horse saddle and against a western back drop. I can't wait to see how they turned out. 

We capped off the night by rocking to Gangnam Style all the way home. The perfect ending to a perfect date.

7 months

Now that Ari is 7 months old (and counting) it truly feels like he has rounded the corner and is on the home stretch to 1 year.... already! Time is flying by too quickly in my opinion. So I take every chance that I get to cuddle with my baby and rock him to sleep, to squeeze his rolls and kiss his little fingers.

But while I lament the fact that he is growing and changing so fast, I am also absolutely loving the stage that he is in. This kid has so much personality already. He is a constant jabberer and gets into everything within reach.

Here are a few more things that I love about Ari at this age:

He has rolls that are to die for! He weighed in at a whopping 18(+) lbs at his 6 months appointment and according to my bathroom scale has put on a healthy 4 lbs since then. With his diet consisting of mostly solid foods supplemented by formula, I have a feeling that those rolls aren't going away any time too soon.

Trying to feed Ari is always an adventure. He's a pretty good eater in general, but he is so interested in everything that is going on around him that it is hard to keep his attention focused on his food. This video shows what Ari typically does when we are trying to feed him.

You might assume based on the above that we have a constant mover on our hands, but other than his bumbo acrobatics and a move he does when he's lying on his back that looks like a hyperactive pelvic thrust (in video below), Ari is quite immobile.

In fact, he still hasn't even taken to rolling. I know that he can do it. But I'm not sure that he's ever rolled, even once, on purpose. And I'm pretty sure that he doesn't enjoy the experience when it happens accidentally. Usually if I lie him down on his back and then put a toy just out of his reach, he will roll all the way onto his side to face the toy and then just stare at it for a few minutes before he rolls right back down onto his back. It's pretty pathetic. When I put him on his tummy, he holds his head up nice and high, but never attempts to roll over. Eventually he gets tired and lets his head drop (like a rock) onto the ground... face first. Needless to say, we don't do a lot of tummy time and when we do, I make sure that there is something padded beneath his poor noggin.

It's safe to say that Ari probably won't be crawling anytime too soon (Yay! More time to baby proof!). But he is really good at sitting these days and would much rather be sitting that lying down anyway. Which has all sorts of fun benefits:

It's even more fun for this mama to take his pictures.

He gets to actively participate in fun activities:

And he is finally able to "play" with Kai. Which mostly entails Ari sitting somewhere near Kai, grabbing anything within reach and shoving it promptly in his mouth.

 

But occasionally sitting leads to hugs and hugs lead to  brotherly dog piles. 

It's a good thing that Ari is a good sport. We love every inch of you sweet, sweet Ari baby!