isle of palms vacation

Wow- it's been forever since I've posted anything. That does not mean, however, that nothing has been going on around here:) We've been quite busy!!

Perhaps the best part of summer was our much anticipated Langstaff family vacation to a beach house at Isle of Palms, SC. All of George's family gets together every 10 years to help celebrate the grandparent's wedding anniversary. This year we celebrated the 60 year love of Grandma and Grandaddy Langstaff, which happened to also be the same day as Grant's birthday! So, we had a lot to be excited about and to share together with all of the aunts, uncles, and many many cousins.


Our getaway villa: 11 bedrooms, 9 baths, pool & jacuzzi, pool table & game room, rooftop sun deck, putting green, enormous kitchen, and only a 2 minute walk from the beach. We even had our own bedroom and bath!!

This was the perfect vacation in that it was an excellent balance of family time and relaxation. Everyone pitched in to rent an enormous beach house just one block from the ocean. Each day was filled with chilling by the house pool, splashing in the waves of the ocean, restful naps in bed and in rafts in the pool, bike rides, bean bag toss, world cup soccer viewing, and of course family and food, food, food!!

Since the grandparents had 5 kids, each kid and their families were in charge of planning one of the evening meals. Not only were they planned, but they were themed and decked out with decorations, appropriate attire for the night, as well as evening entertainment. Here was the amazing line-up:

Western BBQ, Beer, & Bingo Night
Jamaican Night with bracelet making and a dice game called Farkle
Italian Night with... I can't remember what
Hawaiian Luau Night with Limbo under the light of tiki torches
American BBQ with Brats, Beans, and Beer

On Thursday we celebrated Grant's 1st birthday with a special lunch and cupcakes and then devoted the evening to loving on the anniversary couple, complete with a fancy dinner in the house. All of their children chose a different part of the meal to prepare and the grand kids were in charge of appetizers. We then enjoyed a delicious meal served in courses before the rooftop champagne toast.

It's so great to have the opportunity to spend extended time with family. I love that although we don't live near each other, when we get together it never seems like we've skipped a beat. God is so good:)

Here are just a few of my favorite pics from a week I can't wait to share again. Here's to planning for their 70th!!! I will be sure to post a link to our complete Picasa album soon. It seems we didn't create one quite yet!!!


First family trip to the beach. Grant LOVED it!!! Almost to the point that it made my heart skip a beat as he was fearless and literally crawled right into the breaking waves! He also ate a lot of sand, saw a lot of birds, and enjoyed feeling the sand move beneath his feet as the tide went back out.


Fun in the sun each day definitely tuckered him out. He took two 2 1/2 hour naps each day. This picture was taken after the nap that followed his first beach experience. Awesome!!


Grant and his Nana and Grandaddy all decked out in their island best! They brought a few outfits to help him look his best for the themed dinners:) Thank you guys!!


Me after winning the family limbo contest!! Who knew an out of shape mama could go so low?! Both of the new mamas did well, Kristen took 2nd place and has a 7 month old baby girl. This was my prize. An authentic coconut dude straight from Hawaii from when Grandma and Grandaddy vacationed there many years ago. He now sits in the garage and overlooks all of my sewing projects!!


The daily information board showing the two celebrations for the day.


Grant wasn't too sure about the cupcake at first, but once I held it up for him to taste it was all over!


Nancy sure knows how to throw a party! Here is the dining table all decked out for the love birds. Nancy brought all of these beautiful decorations from home. Party planner?! She also spear-headed the decorations and food planning for Grant's birthday luncheon. Couldn't have enjoyed either without you Nana!! Thank you!!

the beach: northern california style

On Memorial Day we decided to take Grant for his first trip to the Pacific Coast beach at Half Moon Bay. Now, it's nothing like what you typically think of as a California beach. It was chilly, a bit windy and foggy, and there was definitely no swimming to be had. But the day was still a big hit filled with excellent tide-pooling, sand in your toes, kites flying high, a picnic lunch, and friends to enjoy it all with.


Carrying out gear, and our baby, to the shore. We had to walk down a bit to reach the ocean. This is the view from where we parked up high on the cliffs.



If you've been around Grant lately you'll know exactly what he is happily pointing to up in the sky. That's right- BIRDS!!! He is absolutely fascinated:)



A beautiful starfish found in the tide-pools.



We took a quick break from hunting for crabs for this family photo.



Grant chillin in the sand, enjoying the day.



Someone is hungry!!! He knew exactly where the good stuff was kept:)

double date

Or perhaps I should say triple date. While George's sister Cristina was visiting a few weeks ago, I took advantage of her extra set of hands and scheduled both Grant and I haircuts with our good friend Alana. I was fully anticipating a wiggly little boy, as I experience everyday:) However, I was pleasantly surprised. Grant was nothing but intrigued with the enormous mirror that stood before us, the cape that draped over me, and the people milling about the shop.



Grant mesmerized by his surroundings


The first snips




Relaxing in a nearby park post hair cuts. We thought it necessary to reward him, and ourselves with some soft serve from the local drive thru dairy:)

Thank you Cristina for capturing the moment with photos and for hitting the town with Grant while I got my own hair cut!!

moms' night out

Shortly after having Grant last summer I joined the Livermore Mom's club which is a great network to connect with other mothers in your same stage. Being a part of this group really meant the world to me as we got going in this journey of parenthood, and especially for me staying at home with Grant. These ladies are a support system and have really become my dear friends.

When our 'first time mothers of '09 babies' playgroup got started we had to decide who would be in charge. And if you know me you know I like doing that:), plus it gave me something to keep me busy, as well as a way to feel like I was really helping other people. Shortly after getting on our feet we all realized we needed to make an exerted effort to create 'ME' time; time away from our babies and even our husbands. We needed a time to just be 'the girls' and to enjoy our womanhood without focusing on our new babies, or even necessarily our motherhood.

So, we started having a Moms' Night Out event once a month. It has been tough to focus on everything else in our lives, the things that existed for so many years before baby, but it has been an adventure to encourage each other to not talk about our kids and to remember who we are aside from them:) It has really brought us very close. Here are the details and a few pics from some events so far.

1st Moms' Night: Wine & Cheese Party. This was a joint effort by myself and my friend Hillary who hosted at her beautiful home. We needed an excuse to drink again and to taste some delicious cheeses!!


2nd Moms' Night: Recipe Exchange and Potluck. I hosted this event at my home and although the turn out was small, it was really the beginning of some close friendships.

3rd Moms' Night: Chair Dancing Class. Our friend Mindy had gone to a class at this new gym which focuses on unique ways to get in shape. Anywhere from pole dancing, to urban striptease, you can find a fun way to work out at this location!! And yes, we even did the routine in heels... seriously 10x harder, and more dangerous too:)



Striking a pose.

4th Moms' Night: Dinner with a Personal Chef. I had this idea after finding an add in the newspaper. After pitching it to the ladies, our friend Abbey suggested going with her old friend from college who did this very thing and lived only a few towns away. It was a wonderful night with some of the regulars from the mamas group:) We learned new tricks, heard about how to shop the local farmers' markets, and dined on a delicious meal!


Me working my inner desperate housewife while slicing oranges.


Abbey hard at work rolling out the homemade pasta we later made into both fettuccine and bow tie.


Leslie getting her grate on with the lemon.


Our delicious appetizer of baked brie with mini toasts and apples with mint- oh and the amazing fig jam!!!


The gals: Hillary, Abbey, Leslie, and me.

our garden shopping

Here is a small glimpse of what you will see in our newly planted flower beds; although a few of the annuals have already wimped out on us:( Hearty perennials to come in their place:)


Grant chillin in his sunhat atop some potting soil. He was a real trooper, as we were at Home Depot for 1 1/2 hours!! Picking out flowers is tough work!


The back of our Santa Fe filled with goodies. The focus was also stocked up.

come out come out wherever you are!

I posted this as my status update on Facebook awhile back, but just found the pic. I know have a go-to spot to find these elusive items:)

the case of the 4 missing nuks: over the past 2 months i have searched hi and low. countless times i searched under grant's crib, a spot they are often found, but to no avail. so, you can imagine my surprise this afternoon while retrieving his lone remaining nuk from under the crib when i spot the small band of nuks ...cowering in the corner hidden by the bed skirt. i clearly need to brush up on my 'seeking' skills!!


Please disregard the dust:) It caught me by surprise almost as much as finding the nuks did!!

Basically what happens is he tosses them out on the side of the wall, they get caught between the wall and the bumper and do not drop to the ground until the crib is moved enough to dislodge them:) Oh the things you learn:)

makin his mama proud

I've been working all day baking desserts for George's belated birthday bash happening tomorrow afternoon here at the house. I made a special ice cream cake with sherbet (did you know there wasn't a 2nd r in that word?!) in the middle that will be topped with colored homemade whipped cream tomorrow morning. This is a recipe from Grandma Langstaff. Grant couldn't get enough of the dessert tasting, but by far the whipped cream was his favorite. And, being a Cochrane girl, I couldn't resist fostering this love:)




His last name may be Langstaff, but he is a boy after my own Cochrane heart!!



I think I may have created a monster!! This was taken shortly after taking the mixer away:)

George will probably kill me when he sees this post! haha:) Pics of the treats will be coming later with the photos from the big day!