Rachel Receives the Barlow LA Tour

My friends Rachel came into town for the weekend a few months back & we gave her the 

Barlow LA Tour

Beverly Hills

 Kisses

Smiles

Hollywood Walk of Fame  

Iron Man protected us

Where's the Drool

 Dane: Dude you are drooling right there!

 Roan: Really, Where, Where?

 Roan: Can you see the drool?

Dane: Dude! I told you where it was.

Roan: Tehe, maybe it is your Mom's drool :)

Hay There

Solvang and Camping

Each year we have an annual camping trip with our Vallejo friends. Like here and here. Even though it is with the same people, that we love and enjoy, a new adventure is always had. We revisited Big Sur and took a larger crowd with us and camped for an extra day. 

On the way up to the camp site we stopped at Solvang, an old Danish settlement. 

We ate at this restaurant know for their famous yummy Aebleskiver's

This is what the plate looked like upon being served. 

 And this is what it looked liked afterwards. A very nice plate wouldn't ya say. :)

 Then we walked around Solvang. There were a bunch of shops and Danish landmarks.  

 We sampled some chocolate from one of their shops and the boys got a lot of attention from all the tourist. 

We were only able to stay for a few hours but hope to return in the near future to get the fuller effect. 

When we got to our campsite Roan was a huge help getting everything set up for us. 

 He helped so much he got tuckered out and actually slept a lot while we were there. Camping with a baby was no different than our regular daily outings at home. We played, ate, slept, and he tagged along like a champ through it all. I think he had a blast and enjoyed soaking in all the new wonders. 

 Our matching hats

Jamie and Emily (she is 1 year old) {photo bomb by Stephanie}

 The play pen for the boys. No girls allowed! Each time Emily had one of the boys alone she would attack them. Dane got a toy whacked in the face while Roan was sat on and punched in the chest. Next year the boys will be bigger than Emily so she better watch her back. 

 Taking in the view of the stream

 My favorite picture ever!

Playing on the rocks after climbing them 

 Our men with their camera settings :)

I feel so warm with my hat on :) 

 I thought our shadows were cool

  Roan adored Elijah. They were the best of pals. 

 We had walkie talkies to converse with our friends while en route. "10 4 good buddy"

Nelia and Cocoa

 Not sure what he thought of the water, it was cold 

 Dad was nice enough to warm up his feet

 Emily tried putting the moves of Roan

 The Dads {photo bomb Aaron}

 The Mom's

A hiking we will go!

 

 Love this pic...it just describes how fun and goofy Elijah is.

Twins or not. This is Elaine, one of our friends daughters. Her and Roan could totally be related. 

 

Roan was such a good traveler. He slept most of the time we were in the car and when he wasn't asleep he played and was content. We were able to stop every few hours to rest and feed him so it all worked out. 

On the way home we stopped to view the Elephant Sea Lions. They were ugly but cool to watch. Oh by the way, the view during the drive on the 1 there and back was spectacular. The water was stunning and I saw a whale. True Story!

We ate lots of good food that I didn't take pictures of anything. We had annual cinnamon rolls, mountain man breakfast, steak and asparagus, chocolate cobbler, and new thing dutch oven turkey dinner. I threw down some turkey patties and surrounded them with veggies and topped with stuffing. Baked for about 30 mins and viola! Delicious. Next time we will try it with turkey legs. 

Funny story that we did not have pictures of...Our campsite was attacked by blue jays and squirrels very frequently. Seriously we foolishly left a watermelon out and they got 1/4 through it and we were only gone an hour. While packing up our campsite they kept darting by to call dibs on our scraps.  It seems every campsite we go to we are attacked by something. Year 1 blue jays and squeaker squirrels, year 2 raccoon's, year 3 blue jays and sneaky squirrels. We just can't win. Camping was so much! We can't wait until next year. Hoping to get into Yosemite. We shall see. ;)

5 Months and other stuff

 Roan is 5 months. To be honest month 4 and 5months have blurred together. I think he is the same just more wiggly and awesome, of course. We haven't had him weighed or measured so I am gonna guess and say 17 lbs and an inch longer than last month. We will know for sure when he has his 6 month appointment.

I swear his arms are longer. He can reach out and grab anything within reach. It is really cute to carry something by him and he throws his arms out to dance for the object. When he is hanging onto something and it falls he tries to regasp it but misses. 

He went from being a chatterbox to a spitting bubble maker. We  now call him, "bubbles" and his friend Dane will hence be known as "Chuckles". Bubbles and Chuckles will be going on the road with their act in the Fall. Advanced tickets go on sale next week.

Roan is able to sit up with some assistance now.

When he feels like it he is a rolling machine and moves around a lot. I see the boy coming out in him more and more and though I am excited for his new endevours and interaction with the world, I am also a little freaked out that he is going to be that kid who gets into EVERYTHING! He is startled easily and jumps if someone catches him off guard or is suddenly loud.

He still loves to eat his feet.

He loves the swing.

Roan and Dane are the best of friends. It is so much fun to watch them interact and try and eat eachother. One time when they were together someone made Roan cry and Dane immediately, (seriously within a breath of Roan's cry) Dane started crying too. How sweet is that? He cried with his friend because he felt his pain. We let them hug a lot and I am so glad he has someone his age to play with.

He is still sleeping through the night. He is a very loud sleeper at times and bangs his feet on the matress. He is still in our room and that will be changing very soon because frankly I am loosing sleep.

Roan has sensitive skin. He has a constant rash on his face from drool or something. He also get them around his legs from time to time. We tried keeping it dry and now I am using a cream that was recommened to me. I have been told 101 things to do about it by 101 different peoples unsoliciated advice.

***Just a side note that one of the MOST ANNOYING things about being a parent is getting constant unsolicated advice. I realize it comes with the territory. I try to be polite and not let it get under my skin. For the most part I can handle a few people but when I am tired I seriously don't want to deal with them and begin telling people what they want to hear just to get them off my back. I know my son and I can take care of him and I am awesome at it! Sure I have days where I feel terrible and inadequet but I don't need people making me feel that way and tell me what I am doing wrong by just looking at my son and opening their mouths. I deal with that enough in my own head. When I want advice I ask for it. I don't mind discussion and learning new things. Thanks but really NO THANKS especially when I am tired. Side Note Over ****

As for me life has seemed to be busily passing by. When I started work a few months ago I was working earlier in the day. Now I am working a later shift so by the time I get home I feed my family and do a few things and then it is time to go to bed. I do get play time in with Roan before I go to work. I really look forward to weekends because it allows me really family time. We are settled into our life routine/schedule which will be changing up after July as Lars will be a stay at home Dad while he looks for work.

I haven't jumped on a scale for 6 weeks because I have been afraid too. I weighed myself last week and I have lost 7lbs since returning to work. HOORAY! I still have a little ways to go to reach prepreggo weight and then a little more to reach my new goal weight. I am on my way and feeling more confident. Clothes are fitting better and it is almost like a new wardrobe when I fit back into my old clothes. My goal for July is to hit up the gym once a week. My wrist has been feeling better. I don't have to wear the wrist brace as often. The tailbone isn't as noticable but I am still taking Ibprohen daily for it.

For Father's Day this year we celebrated by doing whatever Lars wanted to do. He said he wanted to test drive Ford trucks and cars and that is exactly what we did. Roan was so good the entire time and Lars had a blast. Then we went on a crazy adventure with our friends and enjoyed each others company. I didn't take a single picture. SO happy Lars is my man and a wonderful Father to Roan.

I love being Roan's Mom. He is so special!

Here is a video of his bubbles performance. I love the constant changes of his eyebrows.