Skye's birthday treat!

Ok so it's April already and I'm way behind on my blog! Put it down to a new baby and new job!

Just so we don't forget what we did for Skye's birthday I thought I'd throw a few photos down
for memories sake!

After a lot of humming and hawing we decided to go to the zoo for the day for Skye's birthday. We ended having a fantastic day out!







Skye at the duck pond in the children's zoo.













Skye rides a tractor in the childrens zoo












Skye, Mummy and Fiona!













A tiger - to prove we were actually at the zoo!













Back home Skye gets her birthday cake!













I think she has her appetite back!












One last jump on her new trampoline (from Granny Meri) before bed!!






I think Skye really enjoyed her birthday treat at the zoo!

Skye's 2nd birthday

A week before Skye's 2nd birthday she came down with the stomach flu. We thought it would be long gone before her birthday but NOOOOO... We all endured the most horrendous week of Skye bringing up everything she ate or drank. Meanwhile wee Fiona who was only 9 weeks old at the time luckily managed to avoid the dreaded bug! It was a horrible week which ended in Skye having to go into hospital overnight for an IV because her minerals and salts were all out of whack (she just refused to drink pedialite!).

We were going to have her birthday party on the beach this year, but cancelled two days before because Skye was so sick. It was so sad to see her just lie there all limp and stagger or just lie down every time she tried to walk anywhere. The IV worked wonders and I managed to take her (and myself) outside for the first time in a week! Skye, Fiona, Tommy and I spent a few hours on the beach...poor John had to go to work...






Skye on her birthday morning...














At the beach, still looking a bit tired....
















Getting back to her old self!














Skye keeping Fiona happy and Tommy waiting for his ball to be thrown!

First ski trip of 2007!

Our first ski trip of 2007 was to be to Bear Valley for the yearly Bear Valley telemark festival. Since this was to be Skye's first try on ski's we thought that some practise sessions at home were in order:






Skye trying out her ski's. The outfit needs some work too!





After a pretty uneventful journey up to the ski resort, we arrive at Bear Valley and settle into the MAS basecamp lodge for one night. The weather is crazy! After months of no snow, the white stuff finally arrives albeit of a very wet variety! John get's to ski all day on Friday and I juggle the kids and move all our luggage from the Basecamp lodge to the Bear Valley lodge where we'll be staying on Friday and Saturday night. This is no mean feat whilst having to chase a toddler and placate a newborn. (Fiona is only 8 weeks old).

Skye also gets to see snow again ...although to her it's probably all new since I don't think she remembers being out in it last year. When she first sees it she get's all excited and shouts 'bubbles'!






Skye checks out the 'bubbles'







At lunchtime, we go up to the ski resort to visit Daddy. Fiona is tired out by this time....







Fiona recovers from a hard morning! (whilst we eat lunch at the resort)




That night we are going to the all-u-can-stuff burrito bar at the basecamp lodge so it's bathtime all round beforehand:





Well, when I say bath....they didn't actually have one so we had to improvise. Fiona didn't seem to care too much!




The party was fun and Skye found a little friend Claire to play with for the night. Alas, no photos were taken.





On Saturday morning we wake to lots of snow!














Skye can't wait to get out in it....






It's mummy's time to ski today. But when she tries on her ski boots, she realises she has two left feet!!! She has brought one old boot and one new boot. Arrrgghh. So off she goes to search for a pair of boots to rent. She finds a pair but they are kiddies boots and are a size to big! She goes of skiing in them anyway.

The weather is really bad and her feet hurt so much that she survives only about two hours and we pick her up at lunchtime and go for a nice lunch in the lodge. We end up having a nice afternoon together at the lodge and at night go to the Telefestival banquet which is fun until Skye gets a Dora the explorer fork handle stuck in her mouth and screams bloody murder. Our cue to depart the party :-(

Sunday we have a nice breakfast and check out of the hotel. Then it's off to try out our chariot with the ski attachments. Here's Daddy on the trail with Skye and Fiona all cozy inside:







On the trail...peace and quiet at last as the two cherubs are sound asleep!











Eventually Skye wakens up and gets her first ski lesson on snow!














Skye's not so sure she likes it!












Time to build a snowman.....













Mummy helps out!












Did Fiona take this photo?















Nope! She was sound asleep in the chariot!




So it was an 'interesting' weekend! There were good times and bad times but I think the good outweighed the bad (although John may beg to differ since he got a speeding ticket whilst driving home ;-)) It definitely won't be a weekend we'll forget!

Now I have to start the unpacking....sigh...

Lots of crying.....

Life is hard for a newborn baby. After spending 9 months in a warm and peaceful place with no worries, suddenly you are out in the big bad world where it's cold, you're made to take baths and wear diapers and you don't have your food supply at your beck and call! The only way to let your needs known is to CRY! And the LOUDER the BETTER!!







First sponge bath...














Diaper changing is no fun!














Of course, all that crying is tiring....














Sometimes I just sleep....













And I love taking naps with Mummy....








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Skye's a big sister!

On December 14 2006 at 6.25pm Skye became a big sister! Fiona Meredith Larsen came into the world and made her presence known immediately! Her lungs certainly work! She is the cutest baby and although she doesn't sleep quite as well as Skye did, she is making progress.

Here are some photos....






Baby Fiona just 30 minutes old...














John and Skye with Fiona














The proud big sister!








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It's October 10th!!!

Oh dear - it's been quite a lapse between my last entry and this. Well I'll blame it on being laid of from my job at the end of July and getting a new job last month. Not to mention being pregnant at the same time! I am now 30 weeks pregnant so only 10 more weeks to go until Skye will have a new wee SISTER!!! I don't think she has any idea what's coming but I'm sure she'll get used to the new addition in time. She now has her own baby-doll which she carries around, sleeps with, feeds and kisses all the time!

We did a lot in the last few months. We visited Scotland for three weeks in August....






Skye and her cousins: Connor, Michael, Luke and Hannah.







We also wandered about the Edinburgh festival and looked for some shows...







Skye perusing the Edinburgh Festivals guide in the High street.







Skye also heard rumours about the Scottish weather ....






..and insisted on wearing her lovely new waterproofs at all times...even indoors!







After a quick three weeks we were back in California....

Skye did a fair bit of Salmon fishing with her Daddy and Tommy. She's becoming a real little fishergirl!







Here's both Skye and Tommy checking out the salmon!







We also made a start at Potty training!







She has a long way to go!







And in general she just looked darn cute!

Happy 4th of July!

It's 4th of July and time for our first Half Moon Bay 4th of July parade! As part of the Coastside Mothers Club, we even get to be IN the parade! All the older kids decorate their bikes and younger ones get to ride in luxury in their decorated strollers.






Before the parade starts we pose for photos. Skye tries to eat a star!





The parade is fun and I give Skye our flag to wave which she does vigorously, then plays peek-a-boo with it for the rest of the time much to the delight of the crowds. She's a wee attention-grabbing ham!

At the end of our time in the parade we hang about watching the floats go by. Skye is unleashed from her stroller confinement and proceeds to run riot all over the place, handing stars to unsuspecting spectators, waving her flag and saying Hi to everyone she sees! How come all the other kids stay contentedly at their parents sides?






The flag-waving queen entertains the crowd!






Soon enough we have to head home as we have a BBQ to go to. Skye is in the car for no more than one minute before she passes out and sleeps for 2.5 hours! I guess all that flag-waving and socializing is tiring ;-)

A trip to Monterey

After our aborted attempt to fly to Wisconsin to see Skye's Granpma Angie and Grandpa Forest, we decided that we should do something exciting on the Sunday to make up for the 10 hours we spent at the airport on Saturday!

We decided on Monterey. Although it was really busy down there, we still had a fab time. Our main destination was the Aquarium....



Here is Skye getting ready to bounce on the big water-filled bed. She was not at all scared to bounce about on it and threw herself in all directions!








Next it was onto the 'fish' tank where she had fun splashing in the water!










A ride down the slide with Daddy was must and she insisted on dragging Mummy up there three times too!






Then it was into the baby aquarium where she got to look at real live fishes in their tanks swimming around.





All in all, we had a blast there and plan to go back again when it's a little bit quieter!

I love my Daddy!

Today is Fathers day and Mummy and I have been planning for this day for weeks! We spent one night making a card for Daddy which I signed with my colored crayons. We also went to a big mall where I had to try to stand still and smile as a nice woman took lots of photos of me and big light flashed in my eyes. I think I was very well behaved but Mummy may disagree.

Today when we got up we purposely didn't mention Fathers day and went about our business as normal. I could tell Daddy looked a bit sad and disappointed. He gave up waiting for Mummy to cook breakfast for him and started making pancakes for us instead. We took this opportunity to sneak out the front door and to put our plan in progress! We chose some lovely flowers from the front garden and made a little bouquet which we tied with a little elastic band. Daddy was still in the kitchen slaving over our pancakes when I burst in with flowers in one hand and his card in the other! His eyes lit up and he looked so happy! I even managed to resist eating the flowers before handing them to him and was very proud of myself!







Here I am giving the flowers to Daddy....






Later that day we spent time on Daddy's boat where we danced, sang and had lunch. I even got to stroke a fish which dad had caught. We threw it back in the water though....






Here I am looking up at the radio on the boat waiting for some good dance music!









And here I am tormenting my mummy by trying to bite her knee. I don't know why she doesn't find it as funny as I do!





Later on we went to the beach. Daddy surfed and I played in the sand and went for a 'swim' in the sea. I had a great time getting covered in sand and talking to the other people on the beach. What a great Fathers day!!!

Sheep to Shawl 2006

Mummy heard about Sheep to Shawl through some Mothers group list on her computer and decided to drag me along to it. Where were we going now???? As it turns out I had the BEST day out ever!

We drove not too far from home along the coast to a farm/ranch called Elkus Youth Ranch. Mummy used to cycle past this place before I was born and always wondered what it was like. She is so lucky to have me and to have excuses to visit these places. Shame about the lack of cycling, but you can't have everything and I'm sure she'd much prefer my company to that of a pile of metal on wheels ;-)

Anyway, I was so excited to see that there were animals everywhere at the ranch! There was even a lamb called Charlie who thought he was a dog and was being led about with a collar and leash. I'm sure I even heard him bark at one point!

Sheep to shawl is a yearly event here where you learn where wool comes from and how it turns into a sweater or scarf. I saw the sheep being sheared, wool being spun and dyed and lots more. It was so much fun. But the best part was being able to play with all the animals. Luckily mummy had her camera (for once) and tooks some photos....






Me with a lovely goat called 'Curly' coz her ears are curly at the ends.










Me and another goat. This one is a male and has horns. I liked pulling them and luckily he didn't seem to mind!








The lovely fluffy rabbits. They were a bit more timid and didn't like it when I tried to climb in the hutch with them!






Me, Mummy and a little chicken! I really liked this little chick and since Mummy told me that this is where the chicken that we eat comes from, I've decided to become a vegetarian!


I had such a good time running about chasing animals and trying to kiss them! We also had a lovely little picnic before heading home. I hope we come back here next year...maybe Daddy can even join us!!!