Perfect Beach Day

My friend Jessie and her daughter, Angelina, came down for the holiday weekend. We were so exhausted from having so much company that we weren't very good hosts. But we did manage one fun trip to the beach. Joli and Angelina were so cute wearing their sunglasses in the car on the way to the beach.
I was so excited when Joe told me that we weren't just going to drop him off at the base, that he was going to come with us!! He never goes to the beach with us unless his family is in town! He tried to relax a little on the towel and Joli joined him for a brief second before she decided there was just too much fun to be had!

After some time digging in the sand, Joe and Joli moved on to a fun game of chase and fly. Flying high!
Coming down! I don't know why babies love this game so much. I would pee myself. Well I guess they might do that too. Good thing there's diapers!
Here I am showing Joe and Joli the right way to pack in the sand castle mold so that it makes a perfect castle.

They were not impressed and Joli immediately smashed everything I created. So I started a game of trying to bury her as she kicked sand violently in all directions.
She thought it was an incredibly fun game. Joe just enjoyed watching her laugh so much.
After awhile we decided to join Jessie and Angelina in the water. Joli was fine until we got farther out and the seaweed was surrounding her. Then she began the climb up her daddy's body!

Joe was not sympathetic. He found it so amusing that he kept sticking her back in the water to watch her do it again.
But before too long Joli was soaking wet and had moved from whining to crying. So Joe took pity on her and cuddled her in a towel.
This lasted for a brief moment before she realized that I was going over to check out the huge alligator that someone had obviously spent all day making.

Then Joli and Angelina played in the small pool around the alligator until the waves started coming in.
We were all starting to get hungry so we decided to head home and change before going back out to Olive Garden. Joe hung out and waited for a table while Jessie and I took the girls and walked around the mall. Most people would find it hard to keep two small girls from running off, but all you have to do is ask the older one to help the younger one by holding her hand and they don't leave your sight!

Ice Cream and Bozo Hair

Well we went to Souplantation again. The way we eat there you would think they were paying us! It's very good food though, and Laume wanted to go while she was here, so who are we to argue. Joli has no problem eating there. She gets her beloved little ice cream cone every time we go.

Tonight she explained how cold ice cream is. This is what she is doing in this picture.

Here she is showing off how great it is.
Once we got home and put on pj's, Joli got to take out her hair bands. We quickly discovered how crazy that was!
Here's my ballpit baby showing off her crazy hair!
Laume and I were in hysterics watching Joli practice her diving skills. I think she's been watching the olympics when we weren't looking!

The Animals of Balboa

Joe's mom came to town on Monday and we have mostly spent our time relaxing and playing. On Monday we went to Balboa park and road the carousel. Joli was over the moon!
While riding around in a circle one must concentrate extremely hard, and the best way to achieve this is by sticking ones tongue out the side of ones mouth.

Whhheeeeeeeeeeeeee
Ah ha ha ha ha!
Again with the tongue.

Today we went to the zoo, and I must say Joli looked especially angelic.
Here are the busiest bees of the family.
After much heat and walking, we made a little pit stop for some ice water. Joli thought she would help out with the ice part.

Taking a Break

We had a house full of kids and fun this weekend, but sadly they had to go back home today. So our day had been spent mostly relaxing until Grammi(Joe's mom) gets here!!! Last night we went to our beloved Souplantation for dinner, and here is Joe and Joli waiting patiently to go.
Today Joli was still recovering from a wild weekend, and was still quite tired around lunch time. So she put her blankie over head, and left just a wide enough hole to eat.
Later on, after she had had a good nap, Joli let me put her hair into tiny little pigtails. She just looked so stinkin' cute!! I figure I only have a limited amount of time until she not longer thinks having me fix her hair is exciting, so I better take advantage of it now!

Our 4th Wedding Anniversary

We decided to have a late lunch at Red Robin for our anniversary. This is me celebrating!
This is our perfect angel who made it a very enjoyable lunch! People always ask if we need someone to watch her while we go out, but in all honesty, we enjoy having her there. Sometimes we'll leave her with someone, but today was one of those days that we just wanted to enjoy our family.
Just to clarify, I did not take the pictures. Which is why they are slightly blurring, but still cute!
Joe was very sweet today, and was all about taking pictures and loving us!

I think Joe was trying to convince Joli to walk to the car in this picture. I was still somewhat in Margaritaville, so I'm really not too sure.
Now this picture I thought was the cutest picture of Joe and Joli ever!! They were both smiling so perfectly, and Joli is actually pointing at Joe and saying "I love you". I get teary-eyed just thinking about how much these two are going to miss each other. I always knew the term "Daddy's Girl", but this is on a whole new level!

Like Father, Like Daughter!

Today was the first day that Joe was around to go to swim lessons with us and he got in the pool!!! We were both so excited! Joli did an excellent "this is my Daddy" performance for all her little friends!
I think she must have laughed the entire time, and I don't think Joe was having a bad time either!

It's important to show your child the proper way to blow bubbles. Doesn't he do a great job!?
Here they are doing "Row, rows", which is basically turning the rope and singing "Row, row, row your boat".
Joli's favorite part is the balls and she asks for them most of the time we're there.

This was one of the new things the kids just started, which is learned to pull themselves along the wall.
Last but certainly not least is swimming under the bridge! If you look closely you can see she's still smiling under water!
Joe did a great job for never being to a class before. He watched everyone and just did what they did, and Joli loved every minute of it!

The Lip

There was a small fraction of our weekend that was not so enjoyable. The part about going to Balboa Park and walking around was lovely. Right up until Joe started chasing Joli and she did a face plant on the concrete. Then there was crying and blood, and our tour was pretty much over.

I think she kind of looks like Hitler. Anyone?
She tries to make the best of it.
She was very interested in the camera, which helped out a lot!
No more pictures please!

Here's Joli after going swimming, and her lip looks slightly better.

The Weekend

Here's Joli hanging out and getting ready for the weekend. We actually bought the hat for Jessica's son Cole, but Joli has insisted on wearing it the past couple days.

Part of our big weekend plans were to pick up Joe's brother, Sam, and his girlfriend, Kyla, whom I have known since Jr. High, and head up to Magic Mountain for a fun day of wild rides. We dropped Joli off with my mom and headed off to pretend we are still young and without responsibility.

Here is Kyla and I waiting in line for the newest ride in the park. It was one of the best rides, but was by far the longest line at one and a half hours! Kyla and I weren't the ones complaining though.

These guys were! Everytime we got into a line Kyla and I braced ourselves for the whining! We made the best of it though.
I think I looked pretty cute that day. I was going for hair and outfit with the least wind resistance. I'm still sore!
The next day we headed to the beach! Joli loved having Uncle Sam around to chase her down the beach!
Then Sunday was spent relaxing and recovering from our wild adventures! Overall it was a very good time!!