Then and Now: Taiko Edition

Just before we left for vacation (as in the hour before we left) we made it to Pearson Park in Anaheim for our 3rd Annual Taiko Drumming Night with the Foxes and Yoichi. This was the second year with the kiddos, and it was even more fun this year as they watched! They enjoyed it so much more. And now on to the "Then and Now":

Taiko Drumming 2008:

Declan and Daddy

Taiko Drumming 2009
Declan and Daddy

11 weeks old

14 1/2 months old


Declan and Colton 2008

Colton 2009

Declan 2009

He got his own seat this year!

And spent some time with Mommy!

I love this tradition of ours, and look forward to it every year! :)

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I am also experimenting with this post. I have a lot of past entries that I want to post back when they happened, and I am using this one to see if I can do just that.....I guess we'll find out right................NOW!

Monterey

D excited to go to the Aquarium. You can't see but Trevor and I were pretty excited too.....cause we had just found free parking! :)

Checking out the Leafy Sea Dragon.....

and the penguins!

Declan in a clam!

This thing the kids are playing on was like a water-bed, it was supposed to mimic the ocean...or something like that. I don't remember!

We were waiting to watch the "Sea Horse Magic Show" (which was REALLY lame), and they had fun dance music playing. Gemma and Dec got their groove on.....

(Um, we didn't think we'd be in the sun, so we didn't bring Declan's Dodger hat. For some reason we did have his beanie. So when we ended up outside for an extended amount of time.....the beanie went on. He's really stinkin' cute though, huh?!)

They gross me out a little bit, but I LOVE jellyfish pictures!

I wanted a picture of Hopie and me and our cute hairdos, but the sun was having none of it!

Ahh, success! Thanks Grace for the shades!

On our last day of vacation, we attempted to find the beach. However, Hopie got sick and it was decided that the beach was out. We found a super neat park (Dennis the Menace Park) and the kids played until it really was time to go.

Declan really liked this suspension bridge!

Or was it daddy's jumping? :)

First solo ride on a slide...

It looks like he likes it, but he did exactly what I thought he would do: lean back and be un-happy. He also held on to the sides, so it probably didn't feel good on his hands. Sometimes this boy needs to man-up! :)

Entering the "hedge maze".

He found the center! "Yes!"

Gemma came to join in the fun!

Uncle Chris showing us how it's done....until he noticed his child up on the platform with no one to watch her.

Big sun bridge.

This slide was made of individual rollers. It looked like a lot of fun, but when you're actually up there, and you have your little child with you, it's a little scary! You build up speed pretty well when you're an adult! We survived it though, don't you worry! :)

This is how Gemma rolls....

Daddy and D.....he was actually making the sound it looks like he's making!

Hopie's turn!

At the Aquarium Cafe, we bought a bag of strawberries, which came with a side of chocolate for dipping! How nice for D! I just thought these pictures of him eating them were adorable! He took HUGE bites!

Mmmmmm chocolate!

On our way home, we came across the Blue Angles. Well, I guess they came across us! At first the were SO CLOSE to us, which is how we could tell who they were. I'm so bummed I didn't have my camera out in the beginning. So these are the shots I did get of them. Crap were they close to each other!!!

THE END!!

San Fransisco

Again.....there are A TON of pictures here. As there will be for Monterey. That's just how it is. :) And again, I will let the pictures tell the story of our trip, starting with our arrival in San Fran!

Bathing Babies!

Hopie did not appreciate Declan's splashing....

Or Gemma stretching out.

D taking a walk with Daddy on Pier 39.

Carousel take 2! MUCH nicer this time! No balancing needed! :)

Declan was on a dolphin.

Gemma was on a panda.

And Hopie was also on a dolphin. I love this pic of Danny!

I know his face is covered, but he's actually smiling in this one!

The fam with Alcatraz.

D and the seals....or sea lions...I don't know. Ok, just looked it up. They're sea lions.

I wanted a shot of him and the sea lions with him facing the camera. He didn't want to face the camera.

On our way to lunch we got some fruit for Dec: a mango, strawberries, peaches. It was the first time for the mango and he LOVED it! Yeah!!

Hanging out at Ghirardelli Square, enjoying the flower potts.

with Gemma...

and Hope!

Off in search of lady to give flowers to.

"Where are all the ladies at?"

"I guess you can have it mom."

Ok, Trevor is not trying to lower Declan into the fountain, as that is what it looks like he is doing. Declan was actually trying to step into the water (something his daddy did at a young age himself) and Trevor is pulling him back up. Like father, like son.

Check out that loooooooong string of drool going down Trevor's back! Yeah teething.

A little blurry, but SUPER cute!

Hopie and Gemma touching the water, something Hope HAD to do! :)

Daddies and daughters.

Trolley time!

Hopie channeling Auntie Becky from the mid-eighties. (I also had chocolate ice cream ALL OVER my face when I was young and in San Fran.)

Looking down the steps from our second floor rental....

and looking up from the street. Yes, it was THAT steep!

The kiddies hanging out on our last morning in the rental. It was a REALLY nice place with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a super nice updated kitchen. The linens were wonderful, the place was spacious. We could close the kids into the living room and dinning room and let them (kinda) run free to play. There was a TV and DVD player, so "Happy Feet" was on the whole time we were there. I would TOTALLY stay there again!

Declan and Hopie playing under the dinning room table. They had fun bonking their heads on the glass. Kids are weird. :)

More playing...

I don't know what they were doing, but don't they both look like little models?!

The typical shot of going down a steep San Fransisco street. It looks crazier in person though.

Declan didn't really care much for the steep hills. Actually, this is how he felt about being in the car seat period.
Golden Gate Bridge

RUBY!! :)

Yeah, this freaked me out a bit, I had to turn away.

Family pic on the Bridge.

Dec with the Bridge.

Lunch at Golden Gate Park.

Gemma hanging out at Twin Peaks.

Family pic at Twin Peaks.

Next stop: Monterey!