San Diego Pride

This weekend is the San Diego LGBT Pride Celebration.  We braved the crowds and went to check out the parade this morning.  Although Jeff was disappointed that there was not  more music (marching bands, etc), It was still a pretty entertaining event.  It took Quinn a while to warm up to the crowds, but once the police and the firetrucks rolled by he got a smile on his face.

LOVED all of the colorful costumes!!!

Q with his favorite friend, EE

Looks like somebody forgot his pants!

Donuts anyone? 

 Everybody having a good time....Kelly with his finger pointer

Love these Socks!

 Awesome HUGE rainbow flag!

San Diego Botanical Gardens

This morning we did something we've never done before...we borrowed cousin Kyan for the morning.  We loaded both boys in the car and headed up to Encinitas to the SD Botanical Gardens.  I love this place.  It's beautiful and has TONS of stuff for small kids to do.  

The boys sizing each other up in the car:

First stop - the trains.  Here Quinn is waving hello to James as he cruises by on the tracks.

Next up was the water well...lots of fun stuff to do here...dunk your head, throw stuff in the water...

The boys held hands all day as they went from place to play.  Whenever Kyan was out of sight Quinn would start shouting, "Kyan, hand!"  They raced all over the place like this.

We met up with our friends Kim, Dan and their two kids, Dasiy (1yr) and Holden (3yrs).  Here is Daisy in her cute daisy dress!

There are two separate childrens gardens on site.  One with the trains, digging stuff, bubbles and the water well....and the other, newer one, has a huge tree house, a river fountain complete with boats that travel down the waterway, a music station, huge chairs, a building station...and the list goes on and on.  This is an amazing place to take kids.  We stuck primarily to the tree house and the river.

Holden showing the younger boys the "ropes"

The river is Quinn's favorite part.  He could play in this water all day long.

Back to the tree house and more ropes to climb

Headed back to the car hand in hand.  They had a good time together today.

Little Hiker

I must admit that I was a tad embarrassed when I brought the child-sized camelback backpack up to the counter at REI.  Afterall, what 2-year-old needs a hydration backpack?  But the fact that they exist and that Quinn loves drinking out of mine meant that I simply could not resist the temptation, so I convinced myself that he really needed one and bought it.  He and Jeff went on a hike yesterday evening and Q proudly carried his own backpack full of water and drank from it.  He drank so much water that he very quickly filled up a diaper...at least I won't have to worry about dehydration when he's got this sucker on.  :)

This morning we had an appointment with an audiologist to have Quinn's hearing tested.  The tests were ordered by the doctor when I brought up my concern that his speech was difficult to understand.  In the weeks since that first visit his speech has improved dramatically, but we went ahead with the scheduled appointment anyway.  And he passed!  After the appointment instead of taking him to daycare I decided we should have a zoo outing.  We quickly encountered this furry character running about.  Q has always been pretty scared by these guys, but warmed up to the friendly Koala and after a few high fives gave him a hug....and then another and another and another.  I couldn't keep him away from him.  My son became a Koala Stalker!

 Another thing that he's overcome his fear of is the Balboa Park Train.  He's always been fascinated by the train, but was afraid to ride it for a while...now he jumps right in!

June

I've been terrible about posting lately.  Things have been busy bordering on chaotic, but we have managed to take a few photos that I thought I could post.  Quinn is becoming a 2-year-old, expressing his strong will, throwing the occasional tantrum, and charming us with his sly smile.  He's still in love with his wooden trains (and all things trains), is becoming a much more accomplished climber, loves to slide and swing (in my lap) at the park, and is learning to enjoy hide and seek.  He loves to dance to Florence and the Machine and is learning to sing the ABC song.  All in all life is pretty good.  

Here are a few shots of the charmer one evening out on the deck:

One of our new favorite games, Hide and Seek:

A recent hike into Navajo Canyon:

Our Sunday ritual walk to the Livingroom Cafe for breakfast.  Quinn now carries his own toys.

Last weekend we went to a cookout at Uncle Bruce and Aunt Denalda's house.  Q LOVED the pool!