Kevin & Kelley's Wedding

Early September 8th, we woke poor Tanyon up to take a plane from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles for his Uncle Kevin's wedding weekend. This is the poor guy's reaction to photos so early in the morning...

 But, after a juice box...

 He was his normal smiley self...

 Flying in a plane with a 2 year old is so much more fun than an infant.  First of all, Tanyon got his own seat, which he was thrilled about.  He loved checking out all of the people, then hearing the plane get started.  Right outside of our window were the wing and propellers, so he was able to see them move and prepare for take off. As we crept along on the tarmac, Tanyon let me know that we were going slow and as we picked up speed, he said with an increasingly loud voice, "Faster mommy, faster!" The passengers to the front of us turned around and I was fearful he was being to loud, but they had huge smiles on their faces and said, "We just needed to see the face that matched that sweet little voice."  The rest of the plane ride was full of commentary and questions from our little guy.  

We arrived early in Los Angeles Thursday morning and hit the ground running.

First, we picked up Paul's family and headed to Venice Beach for a little late breakfast: 

Tanyon did a costume change and got on his beach gear for the occasion. Although he was excited to watch the water, waves and surfers, he was hesitant to get his feet in the water.  Instead he stood a safe distance from the water's edge and directed myself and Aunt Sheila to run through the waves for him.  Right as we were about to leave, he did brave getting his feet wet twice, but decided it wasn't quite for him.

We were then supposed to check out Santa Monica, but Tanyon fell asleep in the car. So, we headed up to the Getty Museum to meet Uncle Kevin.  It was a gorgeous museum with amazing landscape and paintings. We rented a stroller there, so Tanyon could rest while we looked around. 

The view of Los Angeles from the museum:

When we went back to the hotel, Tanyon discovered the joys of the elevator. Up and down he went with whomever he could find. (By the end of the trip, he was recognizing numbers 1-3, because he was in charge of pressing the elevator buttons and telling us what floor we were on.) That night, he went with Paul and the boys to Mexican food in Manhattan Beach while Nana, Sheila and I went to a girls night for Kelley.

The next day, the family was busy preparing for the wedding. Nana and Sheila worked on flowers and Paul and I started setting up the reception. Stocked with some yogurt, snacks, and games, Tanyon stayed at the hotel with Bapa for the morning. Apparently, they had a great time practicing Tanyon's pitching in the hotel room, watching Dora, and riding the elevator. 

That night, we went to the rehearsal dinner where we saw a bunch of Paul's Michigan family and Tanyon met the other nieces and nephews (all 2-3 years old). After dinner, Uncle Kevin used his arms to create a hoop, so the kids could play basketball.  Tanyon is trying to copy him:

Ready to show everyone his pitching skills:

Tanyon hit it off with Lucas and Addy right away.  They had so much fun together.

The next morning, Tanyon got to spend a little more time with Bapa at the hotel, as the rest of the family finished setting up the reception. After a short nap in the early afternoon and a rest in the car, we arrived at the wedding.  Tanyon was still in his jammies, so we spent some time getting ready in the parking lot before heading in. We sat with Sheila and Paul in the 2nd row, and Tanyon really enjoyed the view.

Aunt Sheila explained the exchanging of the rings to Tanyon during the ceremony:

Tanyon did pretty well for his first long mass.  The binkie was needed a few times to keep the noise down, but overall he was fine.  He enjoyed watching Kelley look like a "princess."

However, what most of the kids were looking forward to the most is dancing at the reception:

Kevin and Kelley groovin' on the dance floor:

More pics from the reception:

Tanyon got tired early on, but seemed to rally a few times to keep dancing and to hang out longer...

There was a fire pit to make smores as the night got later.  Tanyon found the table with the ingredients and kept sneaking over to it to steal graham crackers and chocolate.

The next day, we met Kevin and Kelley for breakfast in El Segundo:

Then, we all went to the house to help clean up the reception.  Here Tanyon and Paul happened to be wearing the same outfit:

CONGRATS KEVIN AND KELLEY!
 It was a gorgeous weekend!

Dance Machine

In early September,  our little family went out for lunch in Montgomery Village.  When we were finished eating, we found a concert in the middle of the complex. A Rollling Stones tribute band was playing loudly and Tanyon was insistent on dancing. His new moves were so spectacular, that anyone around him smiled with joy...

1st Big Boy Haircut

Tanyon's last hair cut at home was a bit rough. It involved dull scissors, his binkie to try and keep him calm, and standing in front of a mirror, so he could see that the scissors were not hurting him.  Many tears and quite a hack job later, and Tanyon had gotten a "trim."  

This time, I decided to leave it to the professionals.  First, Tanyon watched another little girl get her hair cut. Although he seemed to calm down, he did tell me, "No Tanyon's turn," several times. When his turn did come, we pulled out all the stops, he sat on my lap, he got to watch Dora the Explorer (his favorite), he got a lollipop (his last one was almost a year ago), and daddy blew bubbles.  Despite all of these tactics, he still cried and squirmed through most of the cut.  Just when we though he was calming down, the hair stylist pulled out the buzzers.  Tanyon lost it and it took both Paul and I to hold him and try to calm him down, so she could finish. 

When all was said and done, Tanyon did have a very decent "big boy" haircut.  He got a new lollipop, because his original one was covered in hair from the squirming.  A few licks of the lollipop later, and he forgot that anything was ever scary. We may go about the process differently next time, but at least he won't have shaggy hair for Uncle Kevin's wedding next weekend...

Here is Tanyon before any cutting began:

 Paul had planned to take pictures of the process, but his hands were needed to calm Tanyon down and hold him still.

Here is Tanyon immediately after.  It seems nothing will be better until he gets to the lollipop:

 Yep, better now:

 What?  Crying only 15 minutes ago, not me?!:

1st day of Preschool

8/15/11

1st day of the school year

First United Methodist Preschool

Dragonfly Class

Teachers: Ms. Linda and Ms. Debbie

Family Reunion

On 8/13/11 Tanyon, Grammie Joan and I went down to Half Moon Bay to the DeMartini Ranch for our annual family reunion.  Apparently, the weather had been terrible for months, but our great-grandparents smiled down on us and brought some amazing bright and sunny weather. The ranch is such a fun and relaxing place.  We really enjoyed spending time catching up with everyone.

Here is April enjoying a slide down the sand dune:

 Bryan pushed Tanyon on the old swing set. Tanyon found this swing immensely more fun than those at our park. This outdated one had much longer chains and got him much higher in the air.

Tanyon spent lots of time hanging out with Papa and watching the older kids paddle canoes around the pond.

Aunt Julia, Grammie Joan, and Aunt April:

Cousin Dan taught Tanyon how to play Black Jack:

 Tanyon is deciding whether to hit or stay:

Helping with Yard Work

Helping get the yard ready for a big party I hosted for my co-workers

8/10/11

Shaving with Dad

8/8/11

Our little Giants fan

8/1/11

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

His favorite player...Cody Ross!

Preschool Luau

Tanyon's preschool ended their summer session with a Luau Party.  They had been learning about oceans and the animals that live in them, so they thought a luau was the closest to an ocean-themed party they could get.  There were many activities for the kids to do. Here Tanyon is "fishing":

 Next, Tanyon spent lots of time helping to build a volcano:

 I volunteered at the lai-making table.  Here, Tanyon is posing with his lai and ocean crown:

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To get Tanyon to pose in his crown and lai, daddy actually had to do it first:

And for the grand finale...the volcano gets ready to erupt...

And, finally explodes with lava (baking soda and dyed vinegar)!

 

 After a little lunch, Tanyon enjoyed one of his first popsicles:

 Saying goodbye to his best friend, Maya: