The beautiful weather, three Z birthdays, a broken computer and lots and lots of outdoor activities contributed to my lack of blogging in my very favorite month. And what do I have to show for it? Over 200 pictures!
Don't worry, I didn't include all of them. And it seems like the best way to catch everyone up on what we have been up to is to divide our month into three posts. Here is post #1!
I'm sure I have mentioned before that N's parents are civil war reenactors. It is so fun to go to the events where they are and participate in the activities. This was an event at one of our local parks that had all kinds of military stuff...
I think we had gone to the mall this morning because it was pretty rainy and we needed to get out of the house. There was a Halloween store there and BBZ chose his 2012 costume. A ninja! He was so pumped about the ninja swords that we let him play with them that day. Big mistake on our part because they are both broken already!
Even the Clydesdale's were there! These horses are so big and beautiful.
That's what BBZ and his daddy are looking at.
Have you heard of the website dear photograph? Check it out. I thought of that concept when I took this picture. I'd love to have BBZ come back to his back yard one day, reminisce about our sweet Delilah, and take a photo holding this one :)
Later this day we did one of our favorite outdoor activities...bubbles!
My happy boy.
We also celebrated my birthday on Labor Day weekend since N was off work and we were all together. When I woke up, BBZ gave me this and said that he drew me a treasure map to find my presents. He then led me downstairs and under the steps to get my present. He was so excited!
I have since returned to eating dairy, but at the time of my birthday, LBZ and I were still dairy free. I wasn't even going to have a cake, but BBZ said I really needed one. So I found a mix that was dairy, peanut and gluten free, which turned out pretty awesome! I only had one "3" candle from BBZ's birthday last year, so we all pretended to have double vision since I am now 33.
For my real birthday we went to our old neighborhood, which is one of the "best streets in America" and had dinner at one of our favorite places. BBZ won a prize...
...I had a delicious beer...
...and LBZ toddled around our old block with N as BBZ chased behind him. It was a lovely evening and an absolutely perfect way to spend my birthday.
I told N that I really wanted a new car for my birthday. My Xterra, while I loved it dearly, left me stranded 3 times in the last 3 months. So I was ready to start looking at something new. So, N bought me this...
...not exactly what I had in mind, but I'll take it!
The next week I decided to start looking into a new car. I will save the story for another day, but this is what I bought myself! I love it so much. I will be pinching pennies for a little while, but driving it is so awesome. I have never had a brand new car! It only had 21 miles on it when I drove it off of the lot. I love it! And now we have a reliable car to travel with. And miss Delilah can fit too!
For LBZ's real birthday, we decided to have a small little mini party for him. We planned to have a joint party for both boys since all of the guests would be the same, but I really wanted to have a special little celebration just for him since the first birthday is such a big deal. My mom came in town and N's family came over to celebrate.
I love this one. They both love watermelon!
The Friday after LBZ's birthday, I officially gave up the fight against tubes for his ears and opted for the surgery. It was such a hard decision, but it was one that I finally came to peace with. He sailed through it and was barely crying as he woke up from the anesthesia, unlike his brother who cried for at least 20 minutes straight. The doctor said that they sucked out a huge amount of fluid, so much that he wants to see him again in a week or so to make sure the tubes don't get clogged. This still hasn't gotten us to the root of the problem, but at least he can finally have some much needed relief.
The day after his surgery, we had a one-day camping trip planned at our friend's vineyard. Each year , a group of friend's help them harvest the grapes they grow to both sell and to make their own wine. It's a lot of work, but we have fun and have a camping party afterwards on their land.
You know it's not a Z family road trip if one of the boys doesn't pee on the side of the road.
LBZ had a fever that morning which we figured was either from his 1-year vaccines or was a mild reaction to the surgery. It topped at 102.9 and barely came down with Tylenol. So rather than camp like we planned, we packed the boys back in the car and headed home. It was definitely the right decision as LBZ had a hard time sleeping in his own bed that night.
The boys were pretty worn out!
We headed to the park multiple times in September, so here are some random park photos :)
September is a big month for Jewish holidays. As I've mentioned, we are not Jewish, but the boys go to a Jewish Community Center for preschool, so they observe and celebrate all of the Jewish holidays.
N and I try to share the days off, and one of them landed on Monday and Tuesday. I'm already off on Mondays, so N got to spend a lovely Tuesday with the boys.
They had some lazy time in the morning, but it wasn't long before they were off to the zoo!
This is one of BBZ's favorite spots.
N sent me a text that said "That peacock stole my French fry!!! Poor Lu." I didn't quite understand that text until I saw this photo on instagram. So cute!
I love him.
I love this photo. LBZ LOVES to swing, but BBZ does get a little over excited about it and may have pushed him just a little too hard this time.
I love how extra fuzzy LBZ's hair is here. And I love that he is growing into BBZ clothes. When he wears something that BBZ wore, I am reminded of things BBZ and I did while he was wearing certain outfits. I love it.
Notice all of the apples pieces on his shirt below? For some reason he likes to chew on apples, but he almost never swallows it. Just one of his funny things, I guess. He is also waving and saying "hi, da-da" even though N is no where around. He does love his daddy though and runs to him when he gets home form work.
At the end of the month we visited our closest neighborhood park that was having a festival. We played games, toddled around, and watched some performers.
There is a class at BBZ's school called Little Ninjas that N and I have considered signing BBZ up for. We did soccer last year, which was a major fail. I've been hesitant to pay for anything else since he didn't enjoy soccer, but he has insisted that he wants to do little ninjas, so we will see.
I took him to this performance so he could see what it's like to be in a class like this, and he really loved it and wants to take a class. Hopefully they will have a winter class since we missed the fall one.
Whew, so that's the beginning of September! I already have 2 more posts loaded with pictures that I need to post. Hopefully I will get to those soon!
