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We were able to pack lots of activities in few short weeks. After our camping trip, we immediately threw ourselves back into our normal summer routine. Keegan’s school’s Summer Fun program was in full force, with lots of water play, and messy fun. When I was picking him up he was either dirty (paint mud, you name it) or wet or both!

They had swim day once a week, and fortunately this year the weather cooperated. And every week they had a different theme: teddy bears, paint, animals, or pirates. AArgh.

Another yearly event at his school is Cowboy Week: the kids dress up as cowboys, have outdoor picnics and even nap outdoor.

cowboy Keegan and his loyal horse

Of course, the week’s best part is Pony Pictures. Two real ponies are brought to school and the kids take turns riding them. We have come a long way from the “crying cowboy” days, and Keegan now enjoys the photo op and the rides.

We have also had a couple of parties: we went to my friend Gary’s BBQ in Mission Bay, which is always great, especially for us adults. Then we went to Mila’s 5th birthday party…It is hard to believe we are already celebrating 5th birthdays.

The party was at an indoor playground, which is wonderful because now the kids play independently and the adults can relax and chat (and munch down on some good food).

Keegan discovers Air Hockey

Pool days are also aplenty, and we are fortunate, living in San Diego, that many of our friends have pools larger than ours. Alyce have invited over three different pools so far! And even without play-dates, there is fun to be had with super soakers!

Naps are now more irregular, and Keegan have skipped them many times, which is not good for anyone. He is cranky, tired and irritable and so are we…He still need some rest. However, the silver lining is that we can stay out later in the day, since he can nap even at 2 or 3 pm.

He has also using his bike a lot more…still with his training wheels, and he will sometime join the neighborhood’s kids riding around. In fact, peer pressure works so well with him, we got him to ride for a couple of miles, all the way to the park and back. For one thing peer pressure is not working: getting rid of his training wheels. We will not give up.

We closed up the month with a trip to Inflatable World, one of Keegan’s favorite places. It is an entire parking lot filled with inflatables slides. It was really hot, but Keegan was a trooper and he had a blast. He even conquered the Sunken Ship, which somewhat scared him last year.

What a great month:  if you don’t get to go on vacation during the summer, San Diego is definitely the place to be!

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Every year we try to get some photos taken, more or less professionally (meaning without spending as bundle), since we don’t really have lots of pictures all together. This year, one of the moms at Keegan’s school was looking for some families to shoot for her portfolio(=free session), so we took advantage of the offer.

We met with Fatima, who turned out to be Italian, born and raised. It was quite funny, actually, since we did not find that out till half way though the shoot! And I have seen her at school many times before, and never suspected she may be Italian. Funny. Anyway, we met in Mission Bay, in a very windy, but sunny day, and we spent about an hour shooting.We started out by the water, on a large pedal boat, and then moved to the grassy area.

I am posting some of the images, which turned out very nice. Thank you Fatima.

some of the shots were family portraits…

… some of the shots were all about Keegan…

… and some of the shots were more fun…

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We finally made our much talked about and much postponed camping trip. We have bought a large tent at the end of last summer, and we were all looking forward using it, especially Keegan. We finally made our first micro trip the first weekend of August. Keegan was so excited and he has been talking about it for a long time. This of course, did not stop him from whining and complaining the whole trip, and really making it very difficult for all of us. But we will not give up.

Keegan has been skipping (or better refusing to take) his naps lately, unfortunately, so we are in this transitional time where he does not want to sleep, but he is very cranky if he doesn’t. Fortunately, the campsite was about 1 hour away, so he got a short one in the car (do we need to go back to driving around so he sleeps??? Flashback).

We picked a camp site near Lake Cuyamaca., in a pretty forested area.

Our spot was perfect: large, shady and somewhat away from other campers. We easily set up our cool tent: it is a “6 people” tent (not sure how they would all fit), but fits us perfectly, with a zippered divider in between the two sections.

We blew up our mattresses and got settled in. Keegan especially liked his sleeping bag and his cool McQueen backpack.

We tried to go for a walk, but Keegan did not want to walk. So we had dinner instead. Matt got everything perfectly organized, and he grilled delicious hamburgers.

Keegan smiling before his meltdown because we forgot ketchup

We finally dragged Keegan to a short walk at sunset. The mountain top seemed like it was on fire. The picture does not do it justice.

Keegan’s portrait of us

We saw a few rabbits and various bugs and an amazing tarantula. WOW, I never saw one in the wild.

We got back to camp just before it got dark. It was past 8, so we started the sleeping routine. Naively, we thought he would be tired, since he did not have a long nap. Our plan was to get him to sleep, so we could enjoy some quiet, adult time, maybe watching the stars, or a movie. Ah! Someone had different ideas. He was literally bouncing off the walls (or mattress), and would not go to sleep. He complained it was too loud, or there was too much light, he would constantly peek in our “room”, and did not quiet down a second. We had to just lie there, in the darkness, pretending to sleep, hoping he would go down. By 9.30, he was still bouncing around, at which point, we figured we may as well go to sleep. I put ear plugs on and I could swear we fell asleep before he did.

The next morning, he was up at 6. We set him up with the DVD player and his favorite movies so we could rest a little more. At home, we can’t take him away form the tv, but of course here movies did not do the trick.

He lasted 20 minutes at most, then  he was back with us, ready to go…but did not want to do anything. He was loud enough to wake the whole campground. I guess it was payback for all he other times WE got woken up by other campers’ kids. Still, we felt guilty, so we had breakfast and packed up the tent. We headed to the lake, a nice, beautiful place nearby. Matt rented a row boat to go for what could have been a nice ride, enjoying nature. Keegan complained the whole time, and he whined he wanted to go back to shore almost immediately, so we headed back and drove home.

We were home by 11 am. The whole trip lasted 18 hours! The irony is that afterwards, Keegan said how much fun he had and started asking when we can go camping again and stay longer. Maybe next time we can try for a whole 24 hour. Jokes aside, even if Keegan made it difficult, we will not give up, and we will try again and again, till he is used to it. We all like camping, so this is something we will do again, hopefully soon. Maybe we can try to go with someone else, so he has a friend to play with, and it would make it easier. I sure wish he would not find us so boring he can’t have fun with us alone. (-:

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It has been a pretty nice summer so far. The marine layer has not been so pervasive as in past years, and it has not been too hot, so we had the chance to enjoy many fun moments.

The nice weather brought a couple pool play-dates. We went to Alyce’s house and splashed in their pool. The water was not quite as warm as Keegan would have liked it, but he still managed to have fun and splash around. We even got to share lunch with them.

We also had a playdate with Van, his friend from school. Keegan remembered  last year ‘s pool party, and he has been pestering me (and Van’s mom) for a repeat. He was excited when I surprised him one day, and I picked up both him and Van and took them home. I can finally drive more than one kid in my car…

The pool water was the perfect temperature, and we all enjoyed swimming and jumping. They have a nice diving board, and we all had turns. It was great. The water guns just added to the fun.

The two kids got along well, if maybe a little too well: they were really wild and loud. We had dinner together, and I took Keegan home, exhausted.

Our pool also offers hours of fun and entertainment. The best part, though, is just get ting warmed up by the sun.

This summer, we also got the chance to see our friend Abby and her family. Abby was my maid of honor at my wedding, and she is also responsible for introducing Matt to me.  She has a daughter that is 10 days younger than Keegan, and we have not seen them since the kids were both less than a year old. It was great to seen them again. It turns out her daughter Nina is very similar, personality-wise, to Keegan, so they got along wonderfully. We met at Seaworld, and between the shows, the animals and the play area, they did not stop one second.

the dolphin show

the Abby’s Sea star Ride

The night-time Shamu show

We also spent a lot of fun times as a family. We took Keegan for a small hike at Torrey Pines, and besides some whining (which come standard this days) he did pretty well. I am glad, because I miss hiking and I am looking forward to take him along on some nice walks.

It was a beautiful day and the sights from Torrey Pines are always breathtaking. Please note the long pants: this one of Keegan’s latest things. He does not want to wear shorts, no matter how warm it. Of course then he complains he is too hot…

…which is why we usually pack some extra clothing with us, so he can change.

We finished our hike with a stop at the beach below. The water was too cold for swimming, but my two guys built a great sand castle, even without tools. And a little sand wrestling does never hurts either.

Of course we don’t need to go anywhere: Keegan always comes up with some fun games…which usually involve an adult’s participation and often ends with bruising. The boys often build forts using pillows, blankets and poufs. try to excuse myself as much as possible.

Wow, this summer is surely going by fast. We still have a few more weeks left so we will try to make the most of them.

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