Pier 39

We had a blast with the boys at pier 39. The highlight was probably when we went to the arcade. We had only been there about ten minutes when we were down to our last tokens in the last game when Darren and Tim hit a 1000 ticket jackpot. Darren was so excited he yelled over and over again "yay Daddy you did it", it was so cute! We spent an equal amount of time picking out a ton of prizes; two sharks, to claw sharks to pick things up, 3 rings, a car, two airplanes, a whoopee cushion and two flying toys. Six dollars worth of tokens very well spent!

playing with some of their prizes.

I thought this picture was cute, trying to hod both boys =)

Candy Baron (thinking of our doggy at home)

funny faces =)

Aquarium by the Bay

Yesterday we went to the Aquarium by the Bay on pier 39. Neither of us had ever been there and were looking for something to do with the boys. The weather in San Francisco was typical, a little rainy a little windy then the sun comes out at the end of your visit. The boys were amazing, we went all along the pier before the aquarium, to get the boring stuff over with =). Once we were in,
Darren loved looking for Nemo and wanted to know the names of the fish. Braden seemed to really enjoy it too, he was more interested in touching things though.

pointint at Nemo and Dory

silly face

Braden makes the funniest little face sometimes, he crinkles up his little nose and breathes out funny. I probably first noticed it about two months ago and never thought to take pictures of it but I'm so glad I did. I would be so sad if he stopped doing it and I never had pics or a little video of it. He used to growl at people all the time (it really freaks out Auntie Kim) and I was never able to get in on video so happy I got this one at least.

Last day of swim lessons

Today was the last day of swim lessons. Darren got his little report card from his teacher at the end of class that he loved! Darren really enjoyed his time in class and caught on pretty quick. When the teacher was showing the kids how to kick she would always say "kick kick kick kick", so in the bath tub for the last two weeks all I have heard is "kick, kick, kick, kick".

He did really well kicking on his back and his tummy, but by far his favorite part was jumping in the pool!

Safety day

Darren and Justin

Yesterday was safety day in swim lessons. They talked about all the rules of the pool and even floated around in life jackets to get the feel of floating alone. I thought Dare would be scared to be in the pool without me holding him but he was just fine and even smiling.
I think the boys look so cute in their life vests!!!

hot summer days

These past few days have been pretty warm and has knocked Braden out more than a couple times!

I have tons of pictures of Darren grabbing my necklace as comfort to sleep and Braden started doing it the other day too.

Darren's shadow

After posting Braden's nine month blog I began to realize just how much Braden loves Darren. I decided to follow them around for one hour with my camera to see if Braden really did follow Dare. He did! Braden followed Darren to the spare room to get a toy, then to check Mickey Mouse out for a minute. After a quick diaper and outfit change for little man he went to find Darren in their room and proceeded to try and climb up on the bed with dare then to the living room to read. I never realized just how busy the boys really are!

The Fourth of July

We had a great fourth of July, family, fun and of course BBQ (including a hot dog eating contest that Tim won). It was a perfect day for the boys to play with their water table in the yard and kept them happy in the heat. Fireworks are legal in Union City and we learned last year just how much our neighbors get into it. This year was no disappointment, we had three or four houses around us firing off the big ones that you see like at Great America! It was crazy and lasted for hours. They of course woke up Braden, but he came out front with us and watched too, neither him or Darren were too scared by them. Baron on the other hand was hiding under the bed the whole time.

even Baron was enjoying the water table!

waiting for fireworks

Darren update

Darren is becoming quite the little character these days, repeating all kinds of stuff he hears and talking more and more everyday. It is so cute to hear his vocabulary grow, I am amazed at how quickly they pick things up.

We on our second week of swim lessons and getting really good at kicking and blowing bubbles in the pool. The pool picture was taken just before class started and he was so excited to get in!
Our fish, Mickey Mouse and Fish, are also doing very well, Darren feeds them everyday and is being great about not tapping the glass or anything.

The napping pic of Dare and Tim is a cute story, Tim came home from work on Saturday exhausted after working his 4am to noon shifts several days in a row. He came in, had lunch with me and Braden and then asked where Dare was, I told him he was in his room napping. So then I see Tim walk into our room holding Dare, he took Dare out of his bed and put him in ours so they could nap together! Really cute, had to take a pic!

nine months old

Our baby is nine months old today! He has changed so much since the little guy we brought home from the hospital. He is crawling super fast these days, sometimes a little too fast and you don't even realize it until the dog's water bowl is tipped over. I have to say I think his favorite thing to do still is take a bath, he is just so happy in there. I think some of it has to do with being able to play with Darren without Dare being able to out run him or leave him behind for something else, he loves being where ever Darren is, even this morning he followed him to four different places before choosing to play with his own toy.
Hard to imagine that a first birthday is just around the corner....