Lions, Tigers and Bears!

The OC Fair was in town so we had to go. I loved the fair when i lived in OC and I wanted Ryder to get to experience it too. Nana and Ryder and I met Brandon, Ashley, Hunter and Weston at the fair on Wednesday evening.




Brandon, Ashley, Hunter and Weston had extra tickets to the Circus on Saturday, so we had to join! I can't remember the last time I went to the circus. It definitely was a different experience as an adult. The kids enjoyed watching the animals and clowns perform:

Tanaka Farms

Ashley, Hunter and Weston invited us along to see Tanaka Farms. What a fun experience! It is a fully functioning farm in Orange County. You get to take a tractor ride around the farm as you learn about the food they grow. As we pass certain foods they bring some on board for everyone to try.



yummy tomatoes:


Hunter devouring some blueberries:


Weston trying a carrot:


Ryder trying squash:

Hunter enjoying the farm with his girl:

Old Friends

While I was down in OC I got to see lots of old friends. Some I managed to get a picture of and some I did not. The joy of kids...lol It was great to catch up with everyone. I sure wished we lived closer. Someday!

Erin and I grew up across the street together. I was 2 and she was 3 when she moved in. When she moved to Colorado I always spent time with her for winter or summer break. Then she moved to AZ and was much closer to see. She welcomed her second little man on June 6th and was brave enough to head out on a road trip just a month later to CA.

Ryder enjoying the beach in San Onofre:

Erin's oldest, Camden:


Tyler Aaron Hart:




Nikki Martin and Ann Marie Jones and I went to Mater Dei High school together. She had a Tupperware party and we just had to go. Here are all of our little ones:

Justin Michael Martin - Born June 26

Bodi and Ryder

On my way south I got to stop in Grover Beach to meet the newest member of the Miller family. My cousin Jen and her husband Austin are the couple that married Jason and I. They welcomed Bodin James Miller on May 30th. Bodi is 6 weeks old and Ryder is 5.5 months old.

They held hands:

Ryder kissed Bodi (multiple times):

Ryder tickling Bodi:

Ryder rolled around with his ball as Bodi watched in amazement:

Bodi has the most precious olive skin and very inquisitive eyes:

Swinging, Swimming and Sand

Now that Ryder is able to sit up and interact with his surrounding we are finding more and more places to go explore. We go to the library for story time, enjoy swimming with the rubber duckies, have play dates and hang with mom. Pretty great life I'd say!

Ryder still has amazing blue eyes and we hope he keeps them. Jason and I have Green, so who knows!

Ryder had been swaddled up until a week or so. He loved it and it was a good signal to sleep. until he woke up from a nap and turned over still swaddled. That first night unswaddled was a little scary. Would he sleep? He did ! It wasn't as bad as i thought. I layed him down on his back. He flipped to his belly and fell fast asleep.



Ryder has definitely found out how fun his hands can be. They can entertain him for a long period of time. He chews, licks, sucks, and stares at them. I find him in his car-seat staring at his own hand moving.

We have enjoyed the mom/baby swim at our local pool this summer. Ryder loves the water and loves to kick. They fill the pool up with little rubber duck and the kids play with them and swim after them. Ryder just chews on them. It is only 45 minutes, but Ryder was all wrinkly after his first trip.

We joined an old coworker in San Francisco last week at Alta Vista Park. A great SF park that has massive structures and play equipment for all ages. It is all fenced in for James who sure took off running as soon as we got there. This is Ryder playing with sand for the first time. And yes, he ate some too. Everything goes in the mouth!




We love to go to Maddux Park to play in the swings and squirm around on the play equipment. Ryder giggles up a storm when i push his swing. This park will be great as he gets older and more mobile because it is fenced in!

I ♥ NY

We had a whole bunch of the NY Colombo clan out in CA for a week! It was much overdue and SO much fun to spend so much time with them. We started our journey in Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 with Nick and Kari and their 2 kids Chastin and Kelsey:

Ryder searched for the 2 sea lions that were still there:
We enjoyed the carousel:


We visited the aquarium:




Mark and Pam flew in and we all got to celebrate with a dinner at BJ's Pizza:


Then, we headed out to Sacramento to visit more family:

Grandma Colombo got her time with Ryder:

A rare picture of the 3 of us:

Ryder got to learn what a piano is from his aunt Ashley:
Ryder kept grabbing Ashley's hand to try to figure out how they were making such cool noises:


Lastly, we spent a full day at great grandma and grandpa Colombo's house with all of Jason's family. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, grandparents, great grandparents..etc.

Kelsey and Ryder:

Adorable Kelsey smiling for the camera:

Chastin and Ryder:

Ryder and his Aunt Ashley:

Great Grandpa Colombo always lights up with the babies:

Jason held Ryder while he enjoyed watching all the older kids:


The kids loved the pool: