Cutting the Christmas Tree Tradition

This year we broke "tradition" and instead of going over to the Sea Bowl to pick out at a tree we went down to Half Moon Bay to the Christmas Tree Farm to hunt and cut our own Christmas tree. O got a ride on the train with Rudy, Tess wanted nothing to do with it so - dad and Tess hung back while Mom and O took a ride on the crazy Christmas train.

Turkey day art

Turkey day art
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

Owen's first solo bike ride

This weekend was a big weekend not only was it Halloween but Owen officially was riding his bike on his own. After last weekend where we had some good 20 second and 30 second solo rides, this weekend Owen soared! From the moment we got to the trail he was off riding. Its pretty amazing how fast it clicked in for him especially since prior to last weekend he hadn't tried without training wheels in a few months. And on Sunday, we went down to the school and he was able to start peddling on his own (without us giving him a push).

Howl-o-Ween

Tricks or Treats

Owen is now an old pro - after several years of trick or treating, this year O was convinced not to be a dinosaur but to go as his second favorite thing... Scooby Doo.

For Tessa... she discovered trick or treating. At first she didn't even want to wear or customer or carry the Elmo bucket to collect the candy but once she saw her brother do a couple houses and there was candy to be had... she got over her fear pretty quicky. At one point Tess she had to climb up three big steps to get to the door. The elmo bucket was becoming cumbersome with its heavy load so she heaved up to the top step, climbed up, picked up the bucket and knocked on the door.

33 Seconds.

Big break through in riding the bike today. Owen was really getting the hang of it (sans training wheels). We would run along side and count. First it was 11 and then he hit the 20 second mark and by the end he was able to go 33 seconds. No major wipe outs

Birthday Scrapblog

Owen's 5th Birthday Party

The big bash was quite fun. Even though it was unseasonably cool we all were warm enough running around and jumping in the Scooby-Doo bouncy house, Scooby-Doo cake, Scooby-Doo Pinata, Scooby-Doo Balloons) (In case you couldnt guess, the theme for the party was Scooby Doo It probably would have been dinosaurs but we convinced Owen to go with his second favorite) Lots of fun and friends - Kyle, Kaiya, Kiley... as well as Justin/Jordan, Shelby, Madison/Joey, Nicholas/Michael, Rajeev, Ari - also Sammy and Sloan. Some more pics at Flickr
Or if you want to check out some pictures from Birthdays past click here.

Owen's requests

In the past two days Owen has informed mom that he wants 1. to be able to stay at home by himself 2. He wants his own TV

Rock n out at dinner

Rock n out at dinner
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

Owen's first baseball game

Owen taking a swing at the Phils/Giants game. Owen's first baseball game was a lot of fun, hotdogs, chocolate ice cream and a soft pretzel (although O didn't like the pretzel too much)

More produce from backyard

Tess apparently wants to go for a walk

Friday night bowling!

A fun night bowling for Owen's friend's birthday (Charlie). Tessa ate more french fries than the bowling alley could make.

The fruits (make that vegtables) of Owen's labor.

The fruits (make that vegtables) of Owen's labor. We planted some
seeds for some peas and carrots a few months back, O did a great job
remembering to water and keeping pests away (mostly his sister,
although I think a few carrots might have been yanked a bit earlier).

Tess enjoying a nice sunset dinner

Another 4th in San Diego

Another 4th of July and another great time down in San Diego at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Don's. Owen got to swing at the Pinata for Uncle Dan's birthday (something he got to do during one his first trips down). No trips to Sea World or the Zoo this year but plenty of great beach time. Tessa is definitely a fan of the water. You had to watch her closely because she was convinced she could walk to Hawaii.

Skunks 3 - Rupert ZERO

Summer Swim

photo.jpg
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

Busted out the pool for the first time. Tess loved it. (no action swim shots)

first baseball glove

first baseball glove
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

Owen lived up to his end of the bargain (dancing during his Spring Show) so we lived up to our end... (and yes Owen is sleeping with ball in glove in between the mattress)

Owen's Spring Concert 2009

Here is a bit from Owen's big Spring Concert tonight, - "It's a Small World" - The class did a number of songs from in different languages from "Volare" to "Sho Jo Ji" I will put up more but here is a taste from Owen's dance "I Wonder" (he gets his smooth moves from his dad!)

Tess staying "InTouch"

Tess staying "InTouch"
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

Owen's first sleep over

Owen preparing for his first sleep over at his buddy Kyle complete with backpack and dinosaur sleeping bag.... Owen the next day after staying up until 10:30 and waking up at 6

Paper Mache

Memorial day weekend was a bit grey but it gave us an opportunity to do dabble in some new projects - Paper Mache.... of course we made a dinosaur (Swimming Stegosaurus to be exact).

Visit from Nana and Papa Joe

Owen and T had a great visit with Nana and Papa Joe. They covered a lot of ground when they were out here from Santa Cruz boardwalk to the wineries in Nappa (even visiting V. Sattui).

Wild Flower Hunting

This spring the wild flowers were out in full force and we had a few weekend morning hikes going to look for some. While Owen was really into it, Tess was more interested in her rocks.

Pigtails

IMG_1858.JPG
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

Springing along

Been awhile since the last post. There are a bunch of new pics on flickr. Tess is turning a corner, she is actually "wanting" to walk and communicating with a shake of the head 'yes' or 'no' -- evening waving bye when its time to go to bed. Some words are starting to become apparent but she has the 'pointing' thing down pat. The teeth are starting to come in and she is starting to play by herself (although she would rather bother her big brother).

Grandpop Loughery came out for a visit and Owen didn't leave his side for a minute. It was some good quality time, even managed to pull off a pretty big hike without too much complaining from O.

Now we are prepping for Nana and Papa Joe!

What dropped from your ear?

Some time around 7:30 am...
O and Mom chilling on the couch both trying to wake up... O w/ his OJ, Mom w/ some coffee.
Owen, shakes his head, grabs at his ear.

Plick.

Kim: What was that?
Leans down.
Kim: Owen did that pebble just come from your ear?
Owen: Yeah, I put it there yesterday.

Easter Morning 2009

Hunting for the Easter baskets.... Dad thought he did a better job of hiding them.
Click this link for another video.

On board

click for quick video, playing around with new camera in small gray waves

Staycation

Well if there is a place to have a staycation - Northern California is a pretty good place to do it.

Got a lot accomplished from painting the kitchen to having some fun at the California Academy of Sciences to a day trip up in Tahoe with Owen and dad.

Some video is below of Owen sledding.

sledding in tahoe

Day trip up to tahoe to get some uncrowded sledding!

Spaghetti and meatballs

It's been a while since the last post - some random pics are on flickr to check out. This is a "Loughery" classic that grandpop Loughery reminded me about. I am going to scan "the original" at some point for a comparison and contrast. Home made spaghetti, meatballs and sausage - compliments of mom. Smell good cooking all day on rainy winter day.

brotherly love

Weekend with Dad

Fun weekend with O and T while mom was down in San Diego. We did some projects, played some games, stayed up late and scored some great shells during a low tied. Owen is getting pretty good at spotting the starfish and is very patient in his searches. He even found a baby starfish (pic on flickr - I would have never spotted that). All in all a great weekend - Kind of the same feeling as a weekend bender, with just slightly less of a hang over.

Owen the Director

Owen is definitely the "director" type. Here is some video of Owen's dinosaur movie. This time I showed O had to take a picture of the dinosaurs, move them just a little, then take another picture, move'em, take picture, etc. He picked up on this pretty quickly and didn't really need much help from me after. Owen also sat down during the editing process to give direction on sounds. There is "bonus" footage at the end, an interview with the director.

Inauguration

Inauguration
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

Owen obviously doesn’t quite get what’s going on and might not fully remember – but he asks, “Is Barack Obama our president now? Now he is our boss?” No matter how you look at it – it was a historical day for our country and I hope that Owen and Tessa will be better off for it.

Tess... Well she just digs the Cheerios.

Tessa Turns One

Not quite the big bash that we had for Owen's first birthday - but it was fun and we had our friends Molly, Kiley and Sammy with us. We had some mac-n-cheese w/ hotdogs (okay it was actually Annie's organic and chicken apple-sauge but she'll never know:-) and made some cupcakes (with help from O and Ki). All in all a nice little first birthday - its been a great first year, can't believe how fast it has gone by since this time last year. Tess - to make it up to you for the lack of party- we'll buy you a car on your 16th. (my choice on the car... hope you take "auto shop" in high school) Click here for some picks on Flickr.

Holiday Hang Over

IMG_1343.JPG
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

The tree is down, outside and waiting for the trash pick up.
The decorations are back in their boxes stored in the rafters.
The new toys are integrated into the old ones.
The only thing left from the holidays are the extra pounds that mom and dad kept. But hopefully those too will be removed and not brought back until next holiday's binge.

A great holiday all in all - and sad that it is over. But looking forward to 2009 and the new opportunities it will bring.

I will put some video up (taken with the mom/dad's new Christmas gift) and click on flickr button for some holiday pics.

Our Visit to Santa

With less than a week to go
we headed out through the snow.
(not quite)

Dashing and dodging parking lot traffic
we needed a little holiday magic.
(aka an empty spot)

Owen and Tess
were in their best dress.
(by my standards)

When we finally made it to see Santa
there was a line stretching back to Atlanta.
(seriously)

It was getting down to the wire
the situation was dire.
(O needed to pee)

As the line got smaller and our time drew near
we found out Santa needed to take an hour break to feed the reindeer.

Tessa's first crawl!

Owen's Wizard of Oz

Owen had his debut on stage, starring as lion number two in the Building Kidz version of the Wizard of Oz. Here is our tap dancing phenom.

Owen with Grandpop's trains

A favorite thing to do when we were growing up was to set up my dad's trains during the Christmas season. Below is video of the first time Owen is setting up Grandpop's Lionel trains.

Here is a link to some more video with the Plasticville Houses set up.

A great holiday weekend

A holiday weekend definitely to be thankful for. Great food, family, friends and weather. Turkey day was spent with Molly, Eric and their family. We all had plenty of play time (mountain bike rides, surf, searching for starfish at low tide and strolls along the beach). The surf on Sunday was GiNORMUS - (click on the link to see a picture - the set waves were probably 20 feet).

Mother's little helper

A little help from big brother

Fall Hike

Weather starting turning - good day for a little hike on the other side of the Valley, up Montara Mountain.

Hike two

Widget powered by EveryTrail: GPS Geotagging

As goes Tess, So goes the Nation

Halloween

Halloween trick or treating over at the Kellers

leaf t-rex

leaf t-rex
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

A great fall weekend. We went on a photo safari, nature hunt w/ O's new camera from Nana (future ansel adams in the works). And then some art projects with leaves, of course they had to be in the shape of dinosaurs

Fantastic Four

The big 4
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

Big weekend for Owen’s fourth birthday. Dee Dee came out to visit and celebrate. On Saturday (O’s bday) we took a trip to Lemo’s Pumpkin farm down in HMB. Owen got cold boots at the last minute and didn’t want to do the pony ride but we did do a train ride (actually a tractor disguised as a train). Kylie and Sam (and Molly/Eric) came for some birthday cake. Then on Sunday we went and saw the Blue Angels – still unbelievably impressive. The big birthday gift was a fish tank – 10 fish and two snails. Owen has been intensely tracking their moves.

The Anti-Bib

Tess is not much for the bib these days. This was like the 5th time in a row she did this.

Fun wedding weekend

IMG_0281.JPG
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

Fun weekend in Colorado for Bryan (kim's brother's wedding)

Summertime in Pacifica

The last few weeks the weather started finally changing from the summer gray fog to the warm, sunny beach days of the late summer. We took full advantage this weekend - went to the beach Friday evening and then back on Saturday. There are some more pics on flickr.

Serious Babble

Here is some quick little video of Tessa's first babbles. This was about 2 weeks ago.

Owen's first camping trip

Owen's first camping trip was a big success. We went camping at San Mateo Memorial Park with the Kellers (Tristan and Trevor) and the Andrasicks (Sean and Ben). We all hiked in (2 miles) to reserved camp sites. (Dad mostly pushed Owen in the double jogger - who knew it was an all-terrain stroller). There was a great creek that the boys played in and fire pit for us to make smoores. Pictures are here at flickr.

Ad Man

Tonight Owen had his first real experience with commercials... they work...(he is so use to watching PBS Sprout and other shows without the typical commercial breaks or if he does... they are TiVo'd and we skip by them for him) But tonight - he was watching Nick and had some good exposure to commercials.... so far he needs apple juice - "You can just go to the store and get it dad." And "Chocolate breakfast cereal b/c the crazy bird told me."

Fun weekend

1st hike in backpack
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

We survived (we being, Tess, Owen, Rupert, Bailey and Dad) while mom took a much needed break. We hit the zoo, did a nature hike, ate pizza and burritos.... good stuff.

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Its been just over a year since we went down to the boardwalk at Santa Cruz - this time we decided to stay over night - nothing fancy a Super 8 - (as compared to where Kim is staying this weekend :-) But it was actually super clean and just a few blocks away from the boardwalk, so it worked out great. Some pics of are up at flickr - but the highlight was the dinner at Kianti's Pizza & Pasta bar - check out the video, they put on a little show - the pizza tossing was impressive. Maybe this is something we should have done at Sal's.

This past week was the first time that Tessa started babbling... we'll try to catch some on video.

pasta twirling

owen practicing twirling pasta





the beneficiary of the practice

Tessa's version of River Dance

The 4th in San Diego

We have made a few trips down to San Diego for the 4th of July - and have been lucky to have family come visit us each trip. This year it was Nana and Joe. The road trip down this year was a lot smoother than last year - we thought it would be a good idea to drive through the night because O and Tessa would sleep... they did but when we arrived at 4am - they stayed awake. Owen did well making friends at the different beaches we went to... he had fun digging up sand crabs in Del Mar and throwing rocks in Cardiff but this year he was a lot more tentative when it came to playing in the water. The trip home was probably the smoothest yet - it pays to leave a day early to beat the traffic.

Thinking inside the box

peeking in
Originally uploaded by rick loughery

at least someone had some fun with the new lamp (well at least the box from it)