Fiesta Days

While camping in Carpinteria, we decided to spend a morning in Santa Barbara. To our surprise and amusement we found that it was Fiesta Days!

We braved the crowds and tried to get a look at the parade. There were vendors set up with many different booths, and lots of good food. We had great Mexican soft tacos and churros.

One thing we noticed was that there were many people selling decorated eggs. We asked what that was all about and were told that people buy the eggs filled with confetti and glitter and then crack them on different people's heads. (Sometimes even on a stranger's head).We decided to participate in this interesting tradition. Here Brody cracks and egg on his dad's head.

Sienna snuck up on Leilani and got her good.

We were glad our friends the Worthingtons could join us.

Carpinteria

Every year we have a family camping trip to Carpinteria. Steve's family has been doing this for a very long time and it is a great way to enjoy friends, family and the beach. Since most mornings start out overcast and gloomy we decided to go up to Santa Barbara two of the mornings to walk around and bike ride.
They have these family bikes you can rent. Sienna loved it and even wanted to try steering the bike.


Most of the afternoons were spent enjoying the beach. Sienna has no fear of the water and so we had to watch her close. She loved running down to the waves.


Sometimes I would run and grab her into my arms. She thought it was a very fun game.


Sienna loved playing in the sand, but she was not so sure what to think of the boogie board. Her little friend Araia loved being pulled around but I was only able to get this one shot before Sienna decided she had had enough.


Sienna and I were walking and she tripped. To keep her from falling I grabbed her up. She thought that was fun and so she started falling on purpose. Wee is what she calls it. It makes walking with her a little more difficult.

Daddy and Sienna after a long day.

Our friend Crystal gave us a bike trailer for Sienna. She loved it but was not such a fan of the helmet we had for her.


After a nice long day at the beach we enjoyed sitting by the fire. Aunt Tami posed for a picture with Steve and Sienna.

Family Pool Party

Saturday we went to a pool party at Steve's Aunt Jenny's house. We were celebrating the 4th of July with family, food, and swimming.

Thanks Aunt Jenny for hosting such a fun get together. I forgot to bring out my camera until the very end so there aren't many swimming pictures, but I did get some posed pictures.

"Mom I don't want to wear this thing on my head, even if it does look so cute!"

"I said I don't want to wear it, so you may be able to hold my hand and make me wear it but you can't make me smile."

That night Steve and I went out to celebrate my birthday and Sienna got to stay and play with her grandma Judy.

Aunt Tami and Aunt Kim helped watch Sienna too and with all the attention she got she didn't even notice
Mommy and Daddy were gone.

Aunt Tami took Sienna inside by the food.

"Mmmm . . . this tastes good!"

"Do you want some Aunt Tami?"

We had a WICKED romantic night out!

My husband surprised me with tickets to Wicked at the Pantages Theater in LA. I have wanted to go for a while, and for my birthday we went out on our first real date since Sienna was born. Although it was hard to leave her, we knew she was in good hands. We went to dinner at the Grove, one of our old favorite places to go and then we went to see the show. Thank you Steve for such a wonderful surprise. I love you.

What Do I Do?

It is 2:30 in the morning . . . again and my good little sleeper is not sleeping. It has been over a week now that she wakes up screaming around 1:00. Is it nightmares, teething, or just her wanting to cuddle??? I don't know but I am exhausted and want to sleep all night like I could two weeks ago. What do I do? Comfort her? Let her cry it out (which lasts 45 minutes)? I need advice. She seems to be quieting down now but we have been up for an hour. Advice?

Happy 4th of July

Sienna stayed awake this year for the fireworks even thought we spent the day going to her cousin Sierra's softball game and then fighting traffic as we made our way to the VERY CROWDED beach. She liked the fireworks but I think she really loved the ocean waves. Hope you had a great day too.

Fun with Araia

Sienna had a great time at the beach and always enjoys hanging out with her BFF Araia.
They both seemed to enjoy cooling off in the surf.

Beachin it

Sienna has very little fear of the Ocean which is cute, but scary. We had to hold her back and keep her from jumping in.

Staying Cool

We decided to join 100,000 other crazy people in Oceanside on the 4th of July. The weather was great, but the crowds were crazy. Sienna did not care though. She enjoyed the water despite taking a few tumbles in the water and eating sand.

Summer Vacation is over . . .

But we packed a lot into those short couple of weeks. Right after my school year finished we jumped on a plane and headed to Utah for our nephew Blake's baby blessing. Sienna and I have been practicing sign language for plane so once we parked our car she was able to sign away at all the planes that were landing. She loved being on the plane, but not on our laps. Now that she is walking she wants to explore all over. Luckily people were kind to us and smiled as we walked up and down the plane. Here is my cute nephew Blake. The blessing was very nice and we were glad we could be there. Here are the proud parents.

Sienna loved her new cousin and could find his nose. . .

but wasn't quite sure what to do when he cried.

We were able to visit Grandpa Swenson and visit his "drawer of candy". Thank you for the Recess Peanut Butter cups, they are definitely my favorite.

Joyce Caleb and Dallin showed us a good time. They took us to the Children's museum in SLC and to an aquarium where we saw many cool fish and were able to touch a sting ray.

Sienna's favorite thing to do while she was in Utah was to jump on the trampoline with her cousins Dallin and Caleb. It was her first time but she loved it!

Then we were back on a plane for CA, but not for long. After resting for a couple of days Sienna and I went on another trip to see Mimi and Papa in New Jersey.

Mimi decided Sienna needed a big girl hair cut so we gave her some bangs. what do you think of my little girl's (no longer a baby) hair cut? She was just excited to hold the comb. She likes to comb her own hair.

After a crazy day of car issues we picked up my mom's sporty new Toyota and headed down to see Dave and Nicole's new place. It had a pool where we decided to spend most of the day.Sienna loves to swim and the kiddie pool was just right for her since it is only a foot deep.

Swim with me Nicole!Later that evening Dave and Nicole took us to a beautiful church, but unfortunately there was a wedding and we were only able to get a few quick photos in the gardens.

Later that week My mom took Sienna and I to the Turtleback Zoo. Sienna loved the animals and was so excited that she could pet them. Her favorite animal was the pony, but they wouldn't let her have a pony ride because she was to young. They suggested the carousel which was not the real thing, but Sienna seemed to like it anyways. "Wow he is so big when you are this close!"We are back home now and school is starting again tomorrow but we sure did have fun this vacation. Thanks mom and dad, for showing us a good time. We can't wait for you to visit us next time.