Uncle Ben & Auntie Quinn's Wedding- US Virgin Islands

We had an amazing trip to the US Virgin Islands for Uncle Ben and Auntie Quinn's weddding. We spent the first 5 nights on St. Thomas then the next 2 on St. John where they were married at Trunk Bay. We played in the water every day, Grandpa O and Daddy went SCUBA diving, we went on little hikes and explored all over the islands. If it wasn't so far away, we would go back right now!! 

Packing for 4 is always tricky...especially with life jackets & scuba gear!

 And of course having two little ones help pack didn't help!!

We spent the night near SFO for a 6 am flight....that ended up being delayed 3 hours. Poor kids were tired before we even left the airport. It didn't help that Grey had a cold and is notorious for throwing up when he is congested. It was a rough night! Poor guy tried sleeping on the floor at the airport. Notice the duck in his hand...it survived ALMOST the whole trip. It was left in the rental car (it fell out of his carseat as we were unloading, unnoticed). More to the story later on....

 Zoe loved the ride through the airport!

 We bought each of us a seat and we lucked out that no one else sat beside either of us so we had a total of 6 seats! Zoe passed out soon after take off.

Since our flight was delayed leaving SFO, we missed our flight from Miami to St. Thomas. The kids loved spending the night in a hotel and getting room service curtesy of the airline! They also got new clothing since everything else was checked to the virgin islands and went on without us. I had packed an extra change of clothes and swimsuits on the off chance we made it to the islands without our luggage, I didn't think it would be us left behind so they got new Miami sleep shirts!

 Watching the boat take off with Grandpa O and Daddy going SCUBA diving. Our little condo was amazing with a beautiful view, pools, beach, and a few restaurants just a walk away.

 Zoe loved watching the iguanas and birds

Megan's Beach on St. Thomas was amazing. So calm and warm...wish I was back there now! Our kids would love to be beach bums, they felt right at home!

 Daddy trying to teach Grey how to snorkel. Maybe next year will be a little more successful!

And of course, we can never pass a fire station without going in to say hi. We learned quite a bit about the islands here. And you can tell life on the islands is a little more laid back. The firemen started the truck for Grey and let him turn on the sirens and honk the horn. The people across the street at the market and the cars in front of us all scattered!

The views were amazing!

 The rum was amazing too!

Zip and I went on date night one night to Iggy's and Zip ordered these appetizers to share...there was enough to feed about 10 people. Twice.

Grey loved all the pirates!

 Quinn's sister lives on St. John and we had a baby shower for her there one day at the beach. It was such a fun day just hanging out, meeting people who lived on the island, and of course, Zoe loved all the shoes they left everywhere for her to try on!

We stayed at the St. John Inn on St. John. Here was the patio for our room. Loved the hammock and the iguanas that hung out there.

 Zoe and daddy dancing at the rehearsal dinner

Quinn's sister's boyfriend worked at ZoZo's! They were nice and sent us a package of stickers in the mail. 

Bride and Groom before the wedding with the "ring man" and flower girl

 Cutest. Flower Girl. Ever.

Grammie made this dress and it was so stinkin' adorable!!

Matt and Ben turned around so they wouldn't see the bride until she started walking down the aisle.

 Grey took his job very seriously!

 the stunning couple

 Luckily, Ben and Quinn didn't mind the Grevin finger print in their wedding cake!

 Zoe was a party animal!

 During the speeches

 I seriously love these two. They were amazing the whole entire trip!

Back to the duck story. As we are going through customs, Grey realizes he no longer has his duck and breaks down in complete despair (he had been a rockstar the whole entire trip and decides to lose it right there). Luckily, security convinces him that when he comes back next time,  his duck will have amazing stories to tell about his life in the virgin islands. Duck is busy cruising all the beaches and showing other boys and girls where to go. Daddy tells him that they can get another stuffed animal when we get to the gate. So....meet Ringo, the iguana from the Virgin Islands.

Soccer Summer

Our summers are filled with soccer, soccer, and more soccer. Grey joined kinderkickz this year and LOVES it. His soccer bag is always packed and waiting by the front door waiting for his next soccer practice. His green uniform that matches daddy is always out and ready to go for when he goes and watches daddy on Sundays. Needless to say, soccer is a big part of our family :) And our family includes alot of the soccer community!

August was a huge soccer month for us...with lots of highs and unfortunately lows this year.

Zippy played at Sonoma State so every year they have a big alumni soccer game. The one advantage of living just around the corner from the college is that we get to play host family when everyone comes to town! The Parish's came to stay with us and it is always such amazing chaotic fun to hang out with them!! Tanya and I decided that the kids need to have outfits to support their daddy's this year... I think they turned out pretty good!

Enjoying some adult time later after the game...one of the alumni has a winery, Malm Cellars. Wonderful evening!!

 The next day, though, was a rough one. While Zippy was out playing with his Over-30 team, one of their teams mates seemed to go into a seizure on the sidelines and had passed away before he got to the hospital. Matt Sokol was only 42 and had gotten married only two weeks prior. Matt had been off the field for the first part of the season and Grey and him had spend many games cheering together on the sideline. He helped watched Grey when I couldn't be there. Grey was only a few yards from him when it happened and was there when the firetruck and ambulance showed up to take them away. It was devastating. It's hard to deal with a loss like this but even harder when it hits close to your children. We told Grey what had happened and every so often, Grey will say, " I really really really miss Matt." It just broke my heart! Here is an article about this amazing person who touched our lives too briefly:
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120819/ARTICLES/120819506?tc=ar

The Black Oaks at the service

 Bagpipe/team ceremony before the next game

Zoe: 18 months

 

Dearest Zozo:
It is official. You are a full blown toddler! Your two favorite words are "NOO-ah!"
 and "MINE!!!" You climb anything you can. You get into anything you can. You try to do anything your brother can. You are exhausting!! Take just this morning. You climbed onto the back of the lazy-boy chair, perched precariously on top, reaching out for a cup that daddy had left on the book shelf. Once I got you down and I went back to getting breakfast ready, you climbed onto the dining room table and proceeded to try to put on one of my necklaces that I had out to wear today...and broke it sending beads EVERYWHERE. I cleaned it up and while I was in there, you grabbed Grey's water cup (you moved the chair out, climbed up and got onto the table in the kitchen where his water was from breakfast) and proceeded to walk around, so proud of yourself drinking out of a big kid cup, until Grey noticed and tried to get it back from you. You ran screaming "MINE!!!" spilling the water all over the place. You helped me clean up that mess but while I was trying to finish packing up a bag for today, you came out with the tooth paste (opened) and trying to put it on your tooth brush. You had managed to carry your stool up 4 stairs and get onto the bathroom counter to help yourself. All of this happened in less than an hour!! I am glad you think you are self-sufficient...but seriously??! It is a good thing you are sooo cute!!

When you are not getting into trouble, you are busy following your brother around doing anything he can do. His favorite thing to do now is jump off our bed. He always is asking me to watch...and it wasn't long before you were standing on the edge of the bed yelling "WATCH!!" and throwing yourself off of the bed, too. You are going to give me a heart attack! It is pretty cute though that you say "watch" now anytime you want to jump. I was playing with you in great grandma's pool the other day and you kept saying "watch!! watch! " and pointing to the edge of the pool.  You have realized Grey can walk down the stairs without scooting on his bottom or going feet first..so you have decided you can do it, too. I think you take a year or two off my life every time you do it! If Grey kicks a ball, you kick a ball. If Grey yells, you yell louder. If Grey comes over to cuddle with me, you make sure you are in the middle of it!

You love to jump, you love to run, you love to climb, you love to slide, you just love being very active. You also LOVE LOVE LOVE reading books. We don't really watch Sesame Street (the only thing I have seen you actually sit and watch was the Olympic gymnastic floor routine and then you proceed to imitate them to the best of your ability) but we have a couple Elmo dolls and books at our house and you love to read anything with Elmo in it. You could look at books all day. You also love love love to accessorize. Buckets on the head, hats, shoes(doesn't matter who's), necklaces, gloves, watches, jackets, scarves, etc...anything you can put on your body.

You are pretty good at entertaining yourself and have amazing patience with trying to figure things out..you really don't get easily frustrated. You also must have no pain receptors either. I have seen you crash and burn so many times...crash into Grey, knots on your head, skinned knees, elbows, you name it...and you walk away like it never happened.

You are still a little cautious of other people though, especially guys. It takes a while for you to warm up to adults but you adore other kids. I am not sure how Andrew's daddy, Brian, managed to charm you, but you absolutely love him. You will even pick up my phone and pretend"call" him. I hear you say "Bri-na!! Hi, Bri-na!!" You still are not a fan of dogs. For as adventurous as you are, if strangers or dogs are nearby, you are climbing my legs and wanting to be held.

One of the cutest things you do is stick your finger in your belly button. Some kids suck their thumb or twirl their hair when self soothing...but you like to stick your finger straight into your belly button to help you fall asleep or if you are in a situation that makes you nervous, like when someone talks to you and you are not too sure of them. The downfall of this cuteness means that you cannot wear onesies anymore or footed pajamas.  And if you are wearing a dress, you bare all to anyone around!

In the last month your language has taken off! Here is the list of your most used words as of 18 months:
Catch
Watch
Zozo
Mine
"NOOO-AHH"
Hand
Tractor
Water

uhoh
mama
dada
grandpa
brother (bru-da)
elmo
hat
shhh (for shoe)
meow (cat)
ruff! (dog)
Why
hammer
"bob" (blueberry)
dinner
up
go
Bri-na (Brian)
Chelle (Michelle)
ball
on

If you notice, I think your brother has a pretty big influence on your vocabulary!! My favorite right now is when you pick up something random ( a hanger or stick) and start chopping with it and you say "ha-mmmer" and start hammering things. Or you will make the "jaws" sound track noise and chase us with something. You are silly and it fits in perfectly with this family :)

Love you,
Mama

Watching daddy's soccer game

Bucket head!

You are just now getting into your dolls. I think you were nursing your baby in this one...

You caught me watching!!

Love your blonde hair. And I apologize now, I am horrible when it comes to hair even myself so you will most likely always have crazy hair!!

It's all about the accessories!

You love feeding yourself yogurt!

You could play in water all day long!

Wee!!