Pismo Beach

Our second annual trip to Pismo Beach trip was this past weekend, and boy did we have a blast. Aiden LOVES the beach and LOVES the water. He had so much fun running along the beach - he must have run miles along the water. We made sure to get a little beach time in everyday. I was sad to come home, when you stay in such a beautiful place for a week, it's hard to come back to grey skies and a view of the empty dirt lots across the street! I'm so happy to say though, that Aiden loves the ocean just like his momma, so daddy is outnumbered :)

There were sunset trips to the beach...

An afternoon at the farmers market...

Starting with a walk over the swinging bridge

 And buying some yummy fruits and veggies - love that they have all this in January!

Dancing and singing along to the one man band - who pointed out "the little dude who has the groove" in between songs. Aiden loved it and so did the singer :)

A little stroll through town

Afternoon trips to the beach...

Playing in the waves with daddy

Playing "run toward the water while momma tries to stop me"

Playing in the sand with Nana, building a sandcastle, digging in the sand, throwing the sand like a crazy kid and of course - just getting really, really dirty

A walk to see the butterfly grove...

A stop on the way to check out the ducks

 In the sun the butterflies were warm enough to leave their "clumps" and fly around

And find partners

But in the shade they stayed in their clumps - it looks like leaves or flowers on the tree, but that is a big cluster of butterflies.

 We got to see a couple more clusters of butterflies

 And then walked down through the woods to the beach and tried to snap a family photo...

  

At least they are better than last year's try at a family picture!

A day in Morro Bay...

A walk through town, checking out the boats and the sea lions playing in the water

Aiden got to fly his first kite (well, help daddy anyway)

 The kite was a butterfly shape, of course!

The beach at Morro Bay was windy and much colder the Pismo Beach. So, we didn't stay long. I asked Aiden to smile for the camera and this squinty cheese face was what I got. Ha ;)

And of course a few trips into town and a nice dinner out for me and Jeremy. It was a great break! I can't wait to go back next year!

January at the river

We took advantage of this weirdly warm, dry January day and headed out to explore the trails by the river today. What's with the weather, it's supposed to be cold and rainy - why is it so nice outside? There were people in shorts - I mean, it's January! Anyway, Aiden is at the stage where he wants to walk everywhere himself - he doesn't want to be in the stroller or backpack, he wants to be a big boy. While we did carry him up the steep hills and around the busy roads, he did the rest of the walk on his own 2 feet. He did so good, watching his step around all the rocks and tree roots - he even navigated a set of large wooden steps. We are so proud of him, especially when we realized that the last time we walked this trail Aiden was in his hip brace (see picture below)!

And of course, here a picture of our last walk here - April 2010, Aiden in his brace. Looking at this just made me realize that Aiden is not a baby anymore. He is a little boy now. When did that happen?!?!? I think I will go cry now ;)