Tutu Madness

This series of photos was taken one night out in the back yard. I bought Sofia her own tutu skirt because she so enjoyed wearing the blue one in the photo shoot. So we put it on one evening and danced in the back yard. The girl twirled and spun until it was time for bed and I think these photos capture her personality at it's finest. The last couple of weeks have seen the real two year old surface, so it was nice to see these smiles and we took such joy in watching our beautiful girl dance with complete and utter abandon.

Pinecrest Finally

Sorry about the delay in getting some photos published of our camping trip up to Pinecrest. We had a wonderful, completely filthy time. The kids were great, the weather perfect, and the food was pretty amazing all around if I do say so myself.


Sofia and Jake discovered the dirt first thing. Good thing that they enjoyed it so much 'cause we all did 4 days without a shower. Mmmm mmmmm good!


A perfect camp site. We had lots of room to set up our trailor, tents, games, a fire pit with plenty more room to spare.


Running round and round and round. Sofia taught Jake how to play follow the leader. These two kids are so cute together. At one point Jake went and gave Sofia a big hug and lost his balance. Both kids went crashing to the ground. So sad when such a sweet moment ends in tears.


Such a happy camping girl.


A perfect spot.


Jake the Snake. We won't mention that a little snake was swimming around in the water on our little beach. Yeah....a swimming snake. Is it just me or is there something a little wrong about that whole thing? It gives me the chills just thinking about it now.


Floating with my girl.


My little boat "Jaffa" got a good workout. The weather was perfect for a little sailing and almost everyone got out on the water at some point.


My little overtaking manouver. Good thing that this was the move that got caught on camera and not my turtle move from the day before. 'Nuff said!!



Jake and his Grandpa. Jake was pretty serious about his mission to bail the whole lake.




Packing up to head home. Let's do it again next year guys. It's a plan!

A Night in the City with Grandpa

Part One of our vacation last week was a trip to San Francisco to catch up with Grandpa Robin. We headed out on Friday for a night in the city. We caught the cable car down to the Ferry Building and had an awesome dinner (except dessert....yes Meg and Gladys, next time we WILL listen to you) at "The Slanted Door". Sofia even gave her chopstick - only one of them - a workout. She loved the pork belly we ordered which is unusual. She is not really much of a meat eater.



We decided the best option on the way back to the hotel was to walk off all of the good stuff we had just eaten. It never gets tiring looking at all of the wonderful buildings in San Francisco.




Story time with Grandpa Robin. We are so lucky that even though we live so far away from Grandpa, we do get to catch up every once in a while even if it is just for one night. Sofia seems to have a special place in her heart for her Grandpa. Maybe it is because he was the first person she met when we came home, or maybe it is the simple fact that he is a super cool Grandad.


On Saturday we headed out to the newly renovated California Academy of Sciences. I don't have too many pictures to share of that. It was super busy and SUPER toasty in there. We did get to enjoy the rainforest display and Sofia did have a good time checking out the penguins. But, far and away her favourite display was of the medicinal leeches. Yip....go figure. The display consisted of a human foor (not real I don't think) covered in leeches. Ever since we have come home this is what we have heard from Sofia.....over and over and over again:

Ewwwwww foot!! Leeches! No Shoe!!

The way she says it is just too damn cute! It really made an impact I guess. What is up with that? I thought the butterflies in the rainforest were pretty spectacular, but not my daughter. She liked the leeches!!



Part two of vacation tomorrow. Off to bed with a girl who has come home with a high fever. Doctor said that it is just some kind of late season flu and we just need to ride it out. Looks like a sleepless night in the making for us tonight.

Photo Shoot

A couple of weeks ago we took Sofia back to our friends at Enchanted Images and had another photo shoot done. We were so, SO organized and had all of her outfits, shoes, hair accessories picked out the evening before. You name it, we had it packed. I was at work and the plan was to meet up with Clyde and Sofia at the photographers. Well, we all pulled up on time, according to plan but as Clyde stepped out of the car he realized that he had forgotten the entire bag with everything inside it. So, we decided to proceed with the session, after all it was all about the girlies face and not about the clothes she was wearing and we were so thankful that we did. We raided the closet at the photographers and Sofia did such a great job (which is always a bit of a crap shoot with a 2 1/2 year old).

Below are some of the images James captured. Please know that these are my photos of photos. The colors and details on the originals are just beautiful and we are so excited to hang these on our walls. And yes, you people in NZ, there are some headed your way. Although I really want to know how my mother's face ended up in the photo with Sofia :-)

The bed is in

Sofia's big girl bed is in!! She was so excited last night that she didn't go to sleep until after ten o'clock and yes, we have paid dearly for that today.

It was a little bittersweet to say goodbye to the crib, say goodnight to Sofia, and see our wee girl looking SO tiny in this big old bed. She's growing up.....fact. This morning, she woke up and said "Hi Mummy!" You could just tell she was so proud of herself.

A trip to the zoo

Sunday, we took a quick trip to the zoo to ride on the new carousel and check out the giraffes and monkeys of course. The new carousel is quite stunning with all of the different animals on it. Sofia got to ride on the babboon and despite the look on her face, I think she had quite a good time. Really, I think her favourite thing might still be the bike ride to the zoo and back.

big BIG girl bed

This is going to be Sofia's big, big girl bed. Have you ever seen anything so beautiful? This bed is on loan to Sofia and I can't wait to get it situated in her room. It is going to be a while as it is an odd size so we have to get a mattress especially made, but once done it is going to be stunning. I am on the lookout now for a chenille quilt / cover of some sort becuse I have a feeling that will be perfect on it. Actually, I kind of like the way the bed looks in the garden outside. Can't you just imagine sleeping out there looking up at the stars?

Thank you M.....this bed will be very well loved.

Empty Nest

So I just realized that I failed to post an update about our wee birds. I am happy to report that all five little chickies have flown the coop. We bid farewell to four of them on July 2nd leaving one little guy to fend for himself. Actually, truth be told, he was probably pretty happy to have the nest to himself for a night. It was getting just a wee bit cramped in there. Anyway, we said goodnight to our one remaining bird and then the following morning we watched as he flew away as well.

So all in all I think it was a great success. And now we are enjoying coming and going through our front door again.

Are you ready for this daddy?

Ay yi yi!! What started out as a super cute photo shoot with Sofia and Bella Bear modeling their matching dresses took on a whole different look when Sofia paired her dress with Mummy's high heels. Daddy, are you ready for this?