Hat!

The sun has been a stranger of late and we all are feeling a bit stir crazy and moldy. Therefore, when we woke up on Saturday morning and saw the sun shining we rushed to pack up the car and head to the beach. We had a moment of panic as the closer we got to the beach the colder and foggier it got, but as soon as we realized it was a fog bank sitting right along the shore we did a U-turn and headed inland to the lake.

Luckily the fog bank stayed off shore until late in the afternoon and so we were actually able to enjoy almost a full day of sun. And Oliver enjoyed a day in the sun with his hat - I finally remembered it!

Happy Birthday!

We were supposed to head to Maine this weekend to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday. He had requested a picnic of lobsters out on an island. However, with the forecast being for dense fog, rain, and temperatures in the 50s, the party was relocated to our house - where there was actually sun! Although we weren't able to do an island adventure, we did have lobsters and celebrated in style.

My dad is a big fan of chocolate cream pie so we had one in place of a birthday cake. Oliver decided that he too is a big fan of chocolate cream pie - sin fact, he liked it so much that he climbed onto the table, stole a fork and commandeered the pie.



Happy birthday dad!

Bogey, Bogey, Eagle, Par

One of Oliver's favorite toys is a set of golf clubs. The set, complete with a golf bag, has provided hours of entertainment -- running up and down the driveway with the bag, poking all the plants (inside and out) with a club, whacking (lovingly) his friends with a club, taking a club and knocking glasses off the table, and (occasionally) knocking a ball around the yard... Today Oliver had a special treat - we took him mini golfing. He went a few times last year, but he was too little to play. Today, however, he had a fantastic time out on the course.

And here we are, at the 18th hole. The crowd is silent as Oliver, the youngest player on the course today approaches the green...
He makes the swing and - well, it looks like he is a little off balance, but makes a good recovery...
He walks over and assesses the situation. Although it is not where he'd like it to be, all in all, not at bad shot...
It is quiet again as he ponders his next shot...
It is hard to tell what he thought of that lost shot. But it looks like he is off and running to find the ball and to take another swing...

(You do have to pardon my golf speak. I've been dragged out onto a course about 4 times and I think it was 4 times too many. Although I hear it is a great sport, it is not my cup of tea. The truth is all I really know about golf is 1) you aren't supposed to drive the cart up right next to the hole (learned that the hard way) 2) others on the course don't necessarily appreciate improvising and playing golf polo, 3) tank tops and flip flops aren't considered the right attire and 4) Tiger Woods is supposed to be pretty good.)

Dirt-patch play

Despite our best attempts, out lawn is not coming in very well. Depending on the day, we usually have a dirt patch or a mud bowl, with a few patches of green thrown in, rather than a nice rolling, soft, green lawn. Oliver seems fine with this. In fact, he chooses to play in the dirt patches rather than the green areas.

The other day Oliver's friends, Maggie and Tommy, came over and joined in the dirt-patch fun. Oliver loves Maggie and Tommy and is excited that Monday is their last day of school so he can have more time with them.


Any one have any lawn suggestions?

Legs

On Saturday Davis's cousin Taggart woke up at 2:30 in the morning and made a 6 hour drive to meet up with us in San Francisco. While we do think it was a bit crazy, we were very glad that he made the trip. We hadn't seen him since our wedding and it was both wonderful to catch up and to introduce him to Oliver.

Our first stop of the day was the aquarium. Oliver was much more interested in the aquarium than he was the zoo. We have two fish at home (Fish 1 and Fish 2 -- we don't want to get too attached in case our fish nurturing skills aren't up to par) and Oliver says hi to them daily - we actually think fish (pronounced ishhhh) might be his fourth word (dog, duck and quack being the first three) (the little guy clearly has a special spot in his heart for animals).

The aquarium had a tank where we were allowed to touch the animals - carefully and with one finger. Not trusting Oliver's rule-following ability, we just let him take a look at the fish swimming around.
Another animal at the aquarium was a snake. Davis is not a big fan of snakes, but wanted not to project his feelings - and allow Oliver to come to his own conclusion. At this point it looks like Oliver does not agree with Davis - he seems pretty in to snakes.

We had lunch on Pier 39 and Oliver loved watching the sea lions clap and play. I think he would have stayed there all day watching them - to pacify him (and us - the sea lions were pretty neat) we had lunch overlooking their "playground." Entranced by the sea lions, it was one of few times Oliver has sat still in a restaurant high chair.

After lunch we decided to do a walking tour of San Francisco. While I understand there are a lot of hills, I do think Davis mapped out a route (a 6 mile route) that was all uphill. Oliver chose not to be involved in the trek and slept on Davis's back the entire walk. However, once we arrived on flat ground he woke up and wanted to push around his stroller (next trip he gets to push the stroller up the hills).


The men in Davis's family have very distinct legs - Oliver is no exception. We had hoped to take a picture of all the boys - Oliver, Taggart and Davis - either at the pool or walking down the street - just to show the strength of a certain gene pool. However, once Oliver caught on to our plan he would have none of it.
However, if we had been a group of Japanese women, or Banana Republic employees, Oliver would have struck a pose. While in Banana Republic a woman saw Oliver checking out the clothes (trying to rip multiple items off of hangers) and asked if she could take his picture. We said - sure. Next thing we knew Oliver was surrounded by about 10 Japanese women all snapping pictures of Oliver. After strutting around a bit, Oliver got down on the floor, rolled around, and smiled - and smiled - and smiled... When the women left Oliver then found himself surrounded by Banana Republic employees. Again he wiggled and smiled and was in heaven.

Thank you again to Taggart for making the drive to see us. We had a wonderful time and we do hope that it is not another 2 and half years before we can get together again.