Fun Family Friday night out!

Tonight we went for dinner at Chick-Fil-A. Derek had his first Chick-Fil-A back in college but I never discovered it until I moved to Davie, FL in 2002. He went to the one at Dadeland mall (I lived within walking distance for a couple of years!) and I went to the one at Broward Mall. It was one of the things we really missed when we moved to Los Angeles. They had some locations down in Orange County but we always ended up there on a Sunday, and one of the companies' tenets is that they are closed on Sundays. Finally one opened here in town last Fall. We've been a handful of times but usually just through the drive-thru window so it was fun going in and sitting there tonight. O. sits in the booth next to us mostly now. He loved his chicken and papas, preferring ketchup or bbq sauce over the ranch or honey mustard. After dinner we went across the street to a new baby superstore, Buy Buy Baby (affiliated with the Bed, Bath and Beyond chain) to look at mattresses for his toddler bed. He had fun test driving the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe and Cozy Coupe convertible and the Radio Flyer 'My First Scooter' (which daddy liked) before lying on one of the mattresses to test drive it as well. After using our 20% off coupon to save some bucks on the mattress we went next door to Sprouts Market to stock up on produce for the weekend. It was fun spending the evening doing errands with the family, and very quiet out. Lots of customer service on a Friday night too.

Happy birthday Aunt Susie!

Just wanted to wish my dad's sister Cynthia (Cynnie, Susie, Cynthia) a very very happy 70th birthday today!

A look back at 2010

I had a severe case of post-holiday letdown blues over the past 24 hours. It hit as soon as the Rose parade ended, and has only just let up as of about an hour ago. I wasn't feeling New-years-y at all. Speaking of the phenomenon of creating adjectives by adding a y to any noun, I have seen it in television and print media over the past week. A line of yogurt calls their flavors "dessert-y" and a minivan calls their back row seating Captain's chairs "captain-EE" Is this because no one bothers with language due to all the texting short cuts etc? Anyways, I digress. This post is supposed to be a reflection of the year that has just ended. Here are some snippets and pix from the year. I may come back and add other pix later.

January-Owen's baptism 1-10-10 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Churc, Tia Jean visits for baptism, Whole family goes to Kouza Cirque de Soleil show (even O!) in Orange County, Owen starts sign class with Miss Moira on Fridays 11:15-12:00





February-trip to Rhode Island (Owen's second plane trip) to meet Great Grandpa Leo, Buonnano's and Hopkins. Knieste family visits LA (Owen's first plane trip was to see them in Long Island, NY in Oct. 2009 along with Aunt Priscilla)






March-playdate with Camilla Rose and Liam



April-starts Music Together class with Miss Moira, Don and Susie visit from VA, visit to Gentle Barn, L.A. Zoo and Palm Desert vacation with momma and daddy over Easter (O's first earthquake at Tommy Bahamas)






May - baby #2 conceived! trip to upstate New York for Daddy's 20th high school reunion. meets Clives, Grandes, and Bices plus!
(3rd plane trip)






June- Owen starts babyswim classes at Swim Academy twice a week. Owen's first birthday! He had a very fun monkey-themed birthday party at a local park. We announced our pregnancy to family. Gramp Joe visits for Owen's birthday month. San Diego Wild Animal Park visit with Gramp and visit cousins Cyerra and Mike in Temecula.





July-Jean, Ben and Sam visit. We visit Disneyland and Magic Mountain, they babysit for our fourth anniversary date. Momma and Owen visit Grandma and Grandpa in Florida for a week. (4th plane trip) O meets Meg and Jaden, Susie and her girls, Cynthia and her boys, and old teacher friends Laura, Jen, and Tricia and their kids too! O. starts walking! last bottle

August-momma starts her 15th year of teaching

September-Owen starts parent-tot playschool,Kidspace museum with Will (Pasadena), Santa Barbara Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa (Labor Day),Grandpa and Grandma's birthdays





October- family trip to Pittsburgh for Ben and Sam's B'nai Mitzvah (5th plane trip), fun at the pumpkin patch, Owen is a puppy for Halloween




November-cousin Oqwe comes for a playdate. (he has been traveling since May/June in Puerto Rico and Atlanta) Owen immediately takes to him and ever since says his name several times a day! Visit to Yucaipa to see Camilla Rose and mom and dad wtih Hannah and LIam, momma finally gets to go to library story hour*
*luckily because the program will end in December due to the city taking over library services next July.



December-wonderful to spend the final two weeks of the year home with Owen.