Misc. Pics from May

Big Boy Bed (5-18-08)

Dim Sum and Chopsticks (5-26-08)

Reading on the potty and mmm, cob on the corn (that's how he says it)

San Francisco Zoo

Easter 2008

Dyeing eggs was something Carter really enjoyed this year. In fact, I even continued dyeing them far beyond Easter because I found I can get Carter to eat hard boiled eggs (finally). It's amazing what a little food coloring can do for a picky eater! Carter also got the concept of hunting for Easter eggs and had a lot of fun this year!


Carter Dyes Easter Eggs

Hunting for Eggs

Playing with Cousin Charlie

Carter's 2nd Birthday

Carter enjoyed the "extra" special treatment he received for his birthday (he always gets special treatment). We went out to dinner and he had his first kids meal. He normally just eats off of our plates, but we ordered a kiddie dinner for him and he even got a scoop of ice cream for dessert. I'm not sure which he enjoyed more, the ice cream or the candle. Of course, all the strangers coming up and singing to him loudly was interesting too. After dinner we went to Chuck E. Cheese's for some more celebrating. He had a blast and kept asking for "Money. More money mama." A little young for that to be starting already in my opinion, but he had a nice time. It's interesting to see how much he's changed since the video of him at Chuck E. Cheese's in PA 1 year ago. Now he asks for money, puts it in the machine, tells you what ride he wants to go on and all kinds of "big boy" stuff!

He also got to open presents form us. I'll pretend he opened them when we got home on his actual birthday...but he went to bed and got them the following evening instead. I think he enjoys spreading out all of the fun though. He got to open his presents from grandma and grandpa Maurer when they came in the mail before his birthday, dinner and Chuck E. Cheese's on his actual bday, presents from us the following evening, then his bday party with lots more gifts, friends, cake, etc. on Saturday.

I have tons of pictures as always and some cute videos too! Enjoy!

Chuck E. Cheese's Video

Opening Presents

Carter's birthday party video

(cake, etc.)

Carter at Chuck E's last year

(1st Birthday--2007)

My first attempts at surfing

I really did very well, despite my lack of balance that was caught on camera. Once Cory quit recording I got the hang of it and no more flailing around falling off the board. I think I actually rode the rest of the waves all the way to shore and just hopped off onto the sand. Of coures, once the instructor left I didn't catch a single wave. My arms hurt like crazy they were so tired from paddling. Oh, and the backs of my legs got EXTREMELY sunburned. No luck with the waterproof sunblock...guess I should've re-applied.

Hawaii...ahhh!!!

We spent an entire week in Kauai and, yes, Carter got to go as well. It was a family vacation...you didn't think we'd leave him home alone did you? It was a very wonderful and much needed break from everyday life. It started off wonderfully (well the plane ride wasn't exactly fun, but does that count?), we got our rental car and it was larger than the cheap model we reserved. Then we got the keys to our condo. I was really happy we got a condo instead of a hotel room so we could put Carter down for naps and bed w/o being in the same room and waking him constantly. We were pleasantly surprised with a 2 bedroom 2 bath unit that was very large and open (possibly even bigger than our small 4 bedroom 2 bath house). It was close to the pool and had gas grills for bbq'ing dinner.

Relaxing? No way, we wanted to do and see everything we possibly could while we were there...and it was a "family" vacation, remember? It was amazing though! We did our fair share of hiking trails, saw Waimea Canyon (Kauai's "little Grand Canyon") and even hiked the NaPali coast all the way until it ends at Hanakapia Beach. The views were spectacular and totally worth the effort of hiking in the heat(warm for us, since we live on the coast in Pacifica). I think that was the most difficult hike and on the warmest day of our trip. Carter enjoyed riding in the Ergo on our backs while we hiked and it was a great way for us to get his nap in during the day without having to drive back to the condo. We didn't get rained on once the entire week either! I also tried surfing and didn't do too bad. Cory got my first two attempts with the video camera--I promise I did much better as soon as he stopped recording! We also did some snorkeling as well as playing in the sand with Carter (which he absolutely loved and asked to do frequently). We ate at some really great restauants while we were there too! It was really the perfect family vacation in my opinion, aside from some crying fits in the car. Carter's schedule was off the entire week and he ate more junk food than normal (well, that's not hard to do...I should say, he had his first french fries, shave ice, etc. on this trip). Everything considered, I think he did really well and would definitely take a trip like this with him again sometime. 

Of course, the hardest part is deciding which pictures to show you....hmmm???

                                                                                               Yep, I climbed this w/ Carter on my back!    

That's a whale splashing around

Ah, proof that he went to sleep before me ;-)