Tumbling with Alex

Friends

Project

Painting is fun!


Red for the roof. Look at that concentration!


Green for the walls

Alex started a project yesterday, painting a little birdhouse to put in the yard. He picked out everything, from the birdhouse type to the paint colors to the painting scheme for the house. I'll post some pictures of the finished product when it is complete.

A Lemon Tree

Daddy and Alex transplanting the dwarf lemon tree


Some major concentration happening while transferring the soil to the container


Watering the tree (put your whole body into it!)

We went to the nursery yesterday and Alex spotted some lemon trees, which we always seem to look at when we visit any nursery. We decided to try one out at home, so yesterday afternoon, we transplanted the dwarf Meyer lemon tree and hopefully with some tender loving care it will produce some fruit for us someday. Alex is quite happy to have a lemon tree (as is Mommy)!

Let's Go to the Zoo!

So Much Fun!

Fun at Swanton Berry Farms

Enjoying the beautiful weather along the coast near Ano Nuevo

Pelicans overhead

Pelicans closeup


Daddy and Alex playing at the beach in Santa Cruz


I love the beach!

Just a few more pictures, to go with the video from this weekend. We had so much fun on Saturday, picking strawberries and then heading down to Santa Cruz to enjoy the beach. Originally, we had planned on going to the beach for the day, but then the weather report looked unfavorable, so we ditched that plan and decided to go strawberry picking. Once we got down to Pescadero, it was sunny and nice, so after berry picking we went the extra twenty miles or so along the coast to Santa Cruz and it was a lovely day! Since we hadn't planned on going to the beach, we didn't exactly have beach attire, hence Alex's long sleeved shirt and pants. He went right into the water, even though it was brrrrr....cold and had fun playing in the sand and chasing seagulls. At the end of the day, he proclaimed "I love the beach!" Daddy is super happy! We'll be back again soon, with our buckets, shovels and towels, ready to chill for the day.

Strawberry Picking

Today we took a drive down the coast to Swanton Berry Farms (near Ano Nuevo State Beach/Pescadero). It was a fun little adventure for the little guy as well as mom and dad. I remember when my parents took me strawberry picking and how excited I was to pick and taste farm fresh berries.  I think our boy was "v-cited"
The video is about 1 min long, enjoy.

Random Notes on a 2 Year Old Boy.....

Alex is such a funny little guy and I try to jot down notes about the cute things that he says or does on a daily basis. I have been collecting a few of these things and hadn't actually written a post, so I wanted to give some insight into what has been happening here.

A couple of weeks ago, we were driving in Tilden Park on our way to go biking. It was very wooded and there were some large eucalyptus trees which basically made a canopy over the road. I mentioned that there were lots of trees and Alex replied "dipterocarps!" For those of you who have not seen the documentary "Equator: Battle for the Light" hundreds of times, like we have, dipterocarps are a type of tropical lowland rainforest tree, with greatest abundance in Borneo. We told Alex that we have been to Borneo, where there are lots of dipterocarps, and someday, we will take him there and hopefully see all of his friends from "Battle for the Light", including the elephants, tigers, orangutans and gibbons. I don't think that he realizes that it is not far from where many of his relatives live and we will actually take him there. How excited will he be when we do actually go there? I can hardly wait to see! As a result of this documentary, he is also quite interested in jackfruit and durian, both of which are not easy to come by here. I'm sure he will enjoy eating them when we go to Asia again.

Speaking of eating, Alex remains a super enthusiastic little (or perhaps I should say BIG) eater. He likes alot of different foods and especially enjoys curries (not hot) and stews with rice. All cookes love getting compliments on their food, but when you hear, "Mommy, it's tasty!" coming from a 2 year old, it makes you especially happy! I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but Alex also has his own rating system....no need for Michelin stars or Zagat's survey around here. He gives an elephant trumpet if he likes something, which is quite comical. He just came up with it on his own, somewhere around the same time that he declared that one afternoon, that "elephants sometimes eat tofu". At Easter, Auntie Carrie was happy to receive an elephant trumpet for dinner and has since received them for a couple of batches of banana cake, so she knows how good it feels. The elephant trumpet is a coveted prize...I hope for one every evening at dinnertime.

Other cute things said recently....
* We were making bread the other day and Alex exclaimed, "just like the little chicken, Mommy. Like the red hen." Yes, indeed, that little red hen did make her own bread, didn't she?
* "Alex likes ice cream, it's nice!" His response when we took him out for ice cream a week or so ago.
* Alex is always interested in the chilis that we put on our food. We have told him that when he get's big he can also try the chilis. The other day he said, "in five minutes, when I get big, I can try them." Everything is basically in five minute increments with Alex. We often use that time increment, so now it is a standard measure for him. Perhaps if everyone thought of life in five minute increments, we would be more happy!
* "Make it HUGE, Mommy!" In reference to wanting me to turn up the volume on the stereo in the car, when his favorite "Mama Hey" song was playing. Totally cracked me up!
* "I LOVE sunshine!" He says this all of the time now when it is sunny.
* "Mommy looks so nice, your hair all cut." How he greeted me today, when I picked him up from the co-op after getting my haircut. What a way to make your heart melt. Sweet (just like Daddy!)

Finally, "Name That Tune", was it a gameshow? If so, too bad Alex wasn't around yet to be a contestant! I think that he would have had the potential to be a star on that show. He is amazing at recognizing songs on the radio, sometimes just within the first few bars, before any words are even sung. He will shout out the name of the artist from the back seat, or if he doesn't know who it is, he often asks, so he can learn. Some of his favorites are the Black Eyed Peas, Train, Jason Mraz, Lady Gaga and Michael Buble. The other day he asked me who was singing something and I said "OMD" (yes, I know, it was the easy listening station), and he said. "Those are letters." I said, "Yes, they are." "Letters like Grandpa L." I guess when you think of it, Grandpa L and Grandpa Al really do sound the same.

So, as you can see, Alex is a curious, cute, funny little guy, who keeps us on our toes and keeps a smile on our faces every day.

Piano!

In addition to the cool Nikon binoculars, which I received as an early Mother's Day present back in April, (thanks Daddy, they are great!), we received another package this week.....a keyboard! Alex was quite excited to see what was in the package and wanted to play it before we even put it on a stand. As you can see, he certainly likes it!

What a super fun weekend will do to you....

Alex fell asleep before he even finished his beef stew at lunch.

A Very Happy Mother's Day Weekend....

Alex, Momma and Xena out walking around Lake Temescal


Alex wholeheartedly stopping to smell the flowers


All happy and ready to make breakfast!


Look at the little chef go!


Alex showing his chopstick skills. Look closely, there is a blueberry in the grasp of those chopsticks!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mommas out there! It has been a lovely weekend here thus far. Yesterday we took a nice little walk around Lake Temescal where we saw some ducks and ducklings, a couple of cormorants, an egret and some coots. Lots of birds out yesterday! Last night we had a nice barbeque with the Bertain Family.

This morning Alex and David made a nice breakfast of blueberry waffles and fruit. As you can see, Alex is a great little helper in the kitchen and his chopstick skills are getting quite good. He was picking up his blueberries with the chopsticks too. Very fun to watch! It is raining and cold outside, so we'll probably just hang out today and then this evening, we are planning to go to the Chia's new home for dinner.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms!

Morning with a Friend

Alex feeding the duck some yogurt with blueberries


Climbing the tree


Our monkey boy


Will checking out the alphabet on the walkway

Alex and Will enjoyed playing at our house yesterday, both inside and outside. Some "cooking" in Alex's kitchen, building with Legos, playing in the sand, writing with chalk on the front walkway, and climbing trees. What more could you want on a beautiful Friday morning?

San Francisco!

To San Francisco we go!


Boys are so easy to entertain. They always find something to play on. This was a distraction on our 1.5 mile walk to the aquarium.


Touching the sea stars....look at all of them!


Alex and Johnny at Gott's with grilled cheese sandwiches, fries, milks and of course, cannot forget the ketchup. Definitely a day of treats!


Waiting for the streetcar.


Momma, it's a W! (Still his favorite letter)


On the ferry ride home. San Francisco and Bay Bridge in the background.

Alex and Johnny went on an adventure today, filled with all kinds of excitement! We decided to take the ferry from Jack London Square over to the Ferry Building. We checked out the Farmer's Market and then walked down to the Aquarium by the Bay, where the boys saw many types of fish, sea stars, sharks and even some rays which they were able to pet.

After that, we took the streetcar back to the Ferry Building for lunch at Gott's (formerly Taylor's Refresher), hung out at the Ferry Building for awhile chasing pigeons out by the water and driving "boats" (otherwise known as benches) and then we hopped back on the ferry to Oakland. It was a fun filled day!

We were out and about for about six hours and when we said goodbye and got into the car, Alex said "goodnight" and within about three minutes, he was sound asleep. Always an indicator of a good day.

Singin' in the Car

Rockin' Out!

Here's Alex rockin' out this afternoon in the front yard. He loves to sing and dance as you can tell. And, perhaps we should get him a piano too, because he loves to pretend he is playing.

Tour de Cure 2010

Our family all ready to ride for a cure!


Stopping to drink some water


David and Alex on the way back to Yountville


The clown painting a garbage truck on Alex's arm.


Wiped out after the ride and all of the excitement

Thanks to everyone who supported us in the Tour de Cure ride for diabetes up in Napa County today! As a family, we raised $675 thanks to everyone's generosity. When I looked at the event website, it shows that at last count, Team BioRad raised over $47,000 and the event today raised $865,000 which can be put to good use towards diabetes research.

We had a very fun and scenic ride up in Napa Valley. Alex enjoyed seeing all of the vineyards and rows and rows of grapes, the cows, tractors and even a California quail. It was a gorgeous day, which made for great riding weather. There were lots of other families out with their kids as well, either in trailers, on bike seats or riding their own bicycles. Alex was inspired and said that when he gets big he wants to try a "big" bike.

After the ride, there was all kinds of fun, along with lunch, wine tasting and massages. Alex jumped like a crazy boy in the bouncy house, did some coloring and even got a garbage truck painted on his arm. Yes, of course, he asked for a garbage truck. It came complete with garbage can, lights and a road. He was quite happy!

What a great day and all for a great cause. Thanks again to everyone who donated. We appreciate it!