These boots are made for walkin'

Well, maybe not these boots, as far as Kendall walking in them, but it sure does make for a cute picture!

Galloping Kandid Maddy

We had a meeting of the blog worlds the other day. Jen and Maddy moved to New Zealand almost a year ago, but they were back in town for a layover on their way from Rhode Island back to New Zealand. So we all got together at Melissa and Mookie's house. It's been a while since we were all together, so it was fun to see the changes.

At first, Kendall was playing shy, so she didn't really smile that much. See?




But then Melissa and Jen started dancing like crazy and making silly sounds, so the smile eventually made an appearance.





So, that was around lunchtime. After that was naptime for the girls and the mamas, so we met up again for dinner. A fun time was had by all. Melissa and I wish Jen would've stayed longer (or better yet, move back!), but something about her missing her husband made her want to go back to kiwi-land.

Celebrity Golf Tournament

A few miles from our house is the Trump National Golf Course. A couple weeks ago, they had a Celebrity Golf Tournament, so we went to check it out.

We saw Michael Chiklis (from The Commish and The Shield and one random episode of Seinfeld).




Also, Erik Estrada from CHiPs.




People we saw but didn't get pictures of - Don Johnson, Rick Dees, a guy from Home Improvement (he wasn't a main character, but had a recurring role), and a few other people we recognized, but weren't quite sure who they were.

Music Machine

I'm sure some of my readers will remember The Music Machine from their childhood. Well, it seems like the "Patience" song gets sung around our house alot these days.

If you'd like a walk down memory lane, you can go here and click on a link to hear a snippet of the "Patience" song.

Goodbye

Well, since Pinky informed me that it's been a little too long since my last post (like you're one to talk!), I'm finally updating.

Grant's brother, John, moved to Okinawa just about a week ago. Before he left, we had a going away party for him at our house. The good thing about our house, is we only have neighbors on one side, so we have this huge empty lot next to us. Pefect for a party like this. As you can tell from the pictures, it was an absolutely beautiful day, and we had a nice cool breeze blowing through to keep it comfortable outside.

We rented a bouncy castle from the base (which, in case you didn't know, is the cool thing to do around these parts when you have a party). The grown-ups enjoyed the castle - or rocket, I think - just as much as the little kids, but we didn't get any pictures of that.









Melissa, Dave, and Mookie had to go to a wedding that day, so they were only able to come for a short time to the party, so they came back over that night after the party was over.




Anyways, the party was great, even though it was for a sad occasion. We'll miss you John!

Fun!

We've been enjoying Edie and the family while they're here in SoCal for a short visit. We were even able to get together with Andy and Megan and the kids in Balboa Island, just like we did last year.

Playdate!!

We had a playdate yesterday at Emily's house. I cannot tell you how much fun it was - for the kids, and the moms! Emily had this cool little mini-waterpark (that I'm totally considering buying now), and the kids just had a blast.







And this was Kendall just minutes after leaving Emily's house.

Hot Dog!

Sorry...

Sorry for the lack of blogging. My parents were here for 10 days, and just left on Saturday.

We had a great visit with them. Here's some pictures...








A really cool thing that happened while they were here, was a little mini-reunion. My dad has a son and grandkids that live down in San Diego. I've met Victor (my dad's son) and his wife and son before, but haven't seen them for 7 years. And then 2 of my dad's grandkids, I hadn't seen since I was 6, and they were way too little to even remember me. So it was like I was meeting them for the first time. My dad's granddaughter, Amber, has a daughter of her own now, which means my dad is a great-grandfather, which is kinda weird!! It was so nice to meet them all.

Best $7 I've ever spent!

So, at church, they have this little Fisher Price Doodle Pro in the nursery. When Kendall goes in the nursery during Sunday School, this is the thing she gravitates toward, and we have to pry it out of her hands when we leave.

So, I got the great idea to buy one of our own, and take it to church with us, so maybe she'll actually sit quietly thru the service (instead of yelling, "choo choo" when a train passes).

Today, we were meeting up with Edie and the kids, and Kendall was being a little restless before we left. So, I went to Target before I met with them, to buy one of these things, thinking I could pull it out if she was being particularly ornery (like that word?) to calm her down.

So I bought it, and kept it in the bag.

Well....fast forward to us driving down Hollywood Blvd, checking out all the freaks in homemade costumes. I pulled over in front of the Chinese Theatre, so the kids could get a better look, when all the sudden, Kendall started screaming! I quickly scanned the area to see if there were any characters that would scare her, but I didn't see any.

The next second, frickin' Freddy Krueger - of all people - stuck his head and his long Freddy Krueger fingers in Edie's window, and said, "Sorry, I didn't see the kids." To which Edie told him, "Okay, so keep moving!!! Go away!!!"

Needless to say, Kendall was pretty upset by the site of him, so, I whipped out the handy dandy Doodle Pro, and she immediately stopped crying, and started "drawing."

She's been attached to it ever since.

Kandid Kendall

I was cleaning the kitchen yesterday when I heard Kendall talking outside (I leave the back door open alot, so she can come and go as she pleases). I broke out the camera and took some very sleuth-like video footage.

A Day At The Beach

This weekend, Mike was in town for a visit. So a bunch of us got together for a beach day at Hermosa Beach. Lots of fun was had by all! It was such a perfect day for the beach - not too chilly, and not too hot.