Monterey Bay Aquarium!

Artistic photo of the aquarium sign.

Nap on the drive up north.

This fish kept swimming up to Cruz at the Kelp Forest exhibit.

Jellies!

Nick, Cruz and I took a 2 hour drive north on beautiful HWY 1 to Monterey Bay Aquarium to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. The aquarium has many new exhibits since I visited over 10 years ago. We enjoyed "The Secret Lives of Seahorses" exhibit and really loved the new "Jellies" exhibit. And of course the otters were the highlight of the day, Cruz left with a blowfish and stingray toy memento and fun was had by all.

Pumpkin Patch.

We made our yearly trip to La Familia Ranch Pumpkin Patch, a local family run ranch here in Los Osos. Cruz picked out a mini pumpkin, sat on a giant pumpkin, kissed a goat and hee-hawed with a donkey! Though I'd post a picture from last year... wow has he grown so much. Can't wait for Halloween to dress him up and parade him around the neighborhood!

like father like son!

Last night was a rough one! Great hanging with you last night Uncle Jay and Aunt Anna.

Yard Work.

We're visiting my parents in OC and Cruz spent the afternoon yesterday helping grandpa Suzuki clean the yard; he edged, raked, mowed the lawn and at the end of all that manual labor grandpa pulled out the sprinkler for some water fun.

Oldies But Goodies!

Hello ladies!

Bath time fun with Mimi!

Go Chargers... you can't see Cruz's hat but it has a Chargers bolt on it (thanks grandpa)!

I recently got a hold of some of Grandpa and Grandma Eady's photos and though I'd post some of when Cruz was about 4 months old... he was so fat!

First Year of Life.

On August 28th Cruz turned 1. What a whirl wind of a year, I've learned so much about being a mother, Cruz has taught me to live in the moment, enjoy quality time and see each day as a new discovery. We held a party for him this past weekend and thank all our friends and family for loving Cruz as he was your own. Our cowboy spent the day eating, napping, opening presents and hanging out in the pool, and of course had his first cupcake! Cruz has been walking for about a month now and spends most of his day pointing at everything and saying "dat" which I translate as "that", not sure what he's really saying but it's cute.  He plays with his toys for most of the day and has developed a fascination for books. He has about 5 heavy hitters which he practically demands every time we sit down to read, he wants to turn the page by himself, no help from mom. He still loves to give kisses to everyone, usually open mouth and if your lucky you might get some tongue! He can also comb his hair and brush his teeth, he does the motions but he's not actually doing the deed. It's so fulfilling to see him discover the world, my heart is filled with so much joy.

The Most Important Meal

Nothing like starting off the day with some golden coin bananas and a cactus pancake!