SLO/SB -- family vacation!

We took a little family roadtrip in July, and it was a blast.  First we headed to Gilroy Gardens to break up the long drive.  Then we headed to SLO and then to SB to stay with some friends.  We had so much fun!!!

Top 10:
1)  Rachel dropping 2 giant soft-serve ice cream cones on the ground as soon as they were put into her hands at Gilroy Gardens -- luckily she got replacement cones.
2)  Noah's massive food poisoning at "Mama's Meatballs" on our 6th anniversary.
3)  Walking around the tide pools at Montana De Oro state park and holding crabs and starfish.
4)  The worst July 4 parade ever in SB - sponsored by the Tea Party, highlight included the Porsche club of Santa Barbara honking very very loudly.
5)  Watching Sound of Music all together, followed by Ezra and Theo going to bed, Dave and Noah talking dude-science talk, while Sara and Rachel followed it through to the end, loving it the whole way.
6)  Playing at the SB zoo.
7)  Steering Lil Toot.
8)  Crazy meal at the water front involving children chasing pidgeons and running around and playing and eating under the table while parents enjoyed delicious Mean Tais.
9)  Ezra asking the lion statue at the zoo "Do you want a piece of me?"
10)  Ezra giving Rachel shopping/style advice in the dressing room at the outlets on the ride home.

Arlo turns 1!

We can't believe our sweet little Arlo bean turned one on June 12!  He is such a happy, sweet, loving joy and we have been so blessed to have him join our family this last year!  We were lucky that Grandma and Grandpa came to celebrate!  We celebrated his birthday with a beer garden dinner celebration with Grandma and Grandpa and a cake in the park with our neighbors.  It was great!  On his birthday Arlo had no teeth.  Now, one month later, he has 3, going on 5 teeth, and is getting closer to walking unassisted.  Happy birthday sweet little boy.

Transit of Venus

Well, it only happens once in a lifetime, so we figured we had to check out the big telescopes at the science center to watch Venus pass in front of the sun.  It was pretty cool to look at -- you could really see the dark circle of Venus in front of the sun, and there were lots of telescopes to look through. 

See Jane Run Half Marathon!

Thanks to my awesome husband and family, I was able to fit in a few longer training runs on the weekend to train for a half marathon!  While I didn't properly train, and never really ran more than 7 miles, I ran the whole half marathon in 2:16 without stopping, and felt pretty great the whole time.  I was on motrin for a few days after, but it was totally a blast and worth it!  The boys showed up to cheer me on during the way, and the race gave out chocolate and champagne to the finishers.  I don't think Ez had ever eaten dark chocolate before, and here is a picture of him eating my chocolate, and I'm not really sure he likes the dark stuff!

Kidfest and enjoying our hammock!

Here are a few pictures from Kidfest that we went to.  Ezra had a blast in the jumpy houses and practicing throwing the baseball, and Arlo had fun playing with his balloon animals!  Another picture below of us relaxing in our hammock::

Ezra writes mom for mother's day!

What a perfect mother's day present.  Ezra is more and more interested with letters and trying to trace them and sounding out words.  Here, he wrote mom across his book on mother's day!

Two Doctors and a Lawyer

Congratulations Nili Sommovilla.  We are so sad Aunt Nili is leaving us for her residency in NY, but we are so proud of Doctor Nili!  Arlo is practicing so he can be like his Aunt.  Now Bobby Susie and Zeyde Randy have two doctors and a lawyer:)

Mendocino May 2012

Thanks to groupon, we booked a room in Mendocino for a nice 3-day weekend.  It was a great family vacation!  We stayed in room 126, and Ezra, who is really into numbers, really really wanted to go into room 127 and asked that we go to "127" for our next family trip.  We had a great time going to a few wineries, a bunch of beaches, walking around town, eating some good food, and playing in the sand and water.  Ezra and I also searched for a Gruffalo in the deep dark woods ( in this case, a beautiful redwood forest), and Ezra and Noah did one of their all-time favorite activities -- throwing rocks into the water.  Arlo looked like he was ready to join in.

Ezra's school picture!

What a little mensch:)  From May 2012.

Playing around town...

A few pics from the spring -- Lake Temescal and the steam trains! 

Arlo eats beans, Arlo eats dirt, Arlo eats and eats:)

Arlo has been such a good eater!  He loves eating beans especially, and check out these great pictures of him feeding himself at a local taco place.  Remarkably, it looks very similar to this other photo of him eating dirt in the garden:)

Ole Rachel Hellavilla turns 35

We did lots of fun stuff with the boys to celebrate my 35th birthday!  The boys came down to Pescadero with me and Shanna and I ran my first race, a 10K.  The carried signs and Ez helped me cross the finish line!  Noah also organized lots of little parties for me with good friends and it was a very special month.  And Bobby came to visit for Passover, and we went to Andrew and Debbie's with Bobby and Mira and Debbie's parents for a great seder.  Unfortunately, Ezra doesn't have the attention span yet for a seder, but I think he enjoyed parts of it! 
There's a picture of me with my bib above.  Also, we've just had a blast hanging around making a new garden, playing at the park, and all that good stuff.  A few pictures of the boys around El Cerrito and home.