Our Trip to Half Moon Bay

We took a few days in the middle of July to travel out to California to visit Joe's sister, Deb.
We had an amazing time. This was Cambry's first trip to the ocean. The weather was cool, making the water even colder, so we did not actually get into the water. No the less, we enjoyed our time by the water very much. The sounds and smells of the ocean are soooo soothing to us.




Here's a picture of Cambry in Sausalito. We took the ferry from San Francisco to Sausalito one day. Cambry would tell you the best part of that trip (other than the boat ride) was when she and mom fed her snack to the birds. As you can tell, this was quite exciting.

Cambry loved every minute she spent with John. From the minute he came home, she was by his side - eating what he ate, and doing things just the way he did. He had this incredible calming effect on our typically wound up child. This was a whole new side of her for us to see. In the picture they are sharing a 10lb, "everything but the kitchen sink," pizza and a rootbeer. Now that we are back home, she pretend calls John often. "Hi John, this is Cambry. Cambry take an airplane to see Debbie and John in a few weeks." This is followed by a long silence. She will then say to me, "John's not home, he's at work. We'll call him later." (So sweet)

Aunt Deb's almost world famous garden.

Ohhh, one of my favorites. Wafting the food she just prepared with her Papa, the master chef. Sunday night in Half Moon Bay, Deb held a house party for us as well as her friends. Cambry and Papa Joe spent the day preparing food for the guests. I won't mention that Deb and John contributed to the cooking, this would take away from the Kitchen Masters. John and Joe went down to the bay and bought fresh fish of all kinds right off the boats. The meal as well as the presentation were stunning. (I of course expect nothing less from my man.) This picture is priceless to me. Cambry was so proud to be working in the kitchen with Papa Joe.

On the last night we were in town, we all went out to an elegant little place just off of the water. This is a picture of Cambry, displaying poise and dining etiquette, as she serves herself a slice of crayon. Not the first course the rest of us chose, but hey, the girl has taste.

Thanks for sharing our trip with us. I hope everyone is doing well. Drop us a line or give us a call when you have time. We would love to hear from you. Take care.

Mid Summer Thoughts

"Go see Debbie, How many days Mommy?" This is a phrase we hear frequently these days. Cambry (and the two of us) are very excited to be making a trip to see Joe's sister in California this weekend.

Here are a couple of photos from our June outing to the zoo. Feeding the birds was her favorite.

Playing outside in the $10 pool is priceless.

Two sweet little smiles to share with you!

These two pix are from the 4th of July. We ventured downtown for the fireworks. It was late, she enjoyed it...until... "Fall down and hurt the knee at the fire-yerks." Getting even the tiniest scrape if the end of the world. We of course had to leave right away. :) She is still taking about it, along with the scrape from Grandma's and the one from the zoo (both over 1 month old, completely healed, and invisible.)

On the bright side, her language skills are incredible. She has gone from using 3 words in a sentance at 18/19 months to creating whole stories, using verbs in the corrrect tense, and labeling objects with several adjectives. Amazing! (All mother's say that don't they?) I know that signing with her for the last 18 months can be thanked for much of her mind blowing language development.

Here are a couple of pictures of her first pony ride. We are at a little carnival the day after the 4th of July. She insisted that I stand back; she could do this on her own. Such an independent creature and still just as meticulous as ever. Some of her favorite things lately are: motorcycles, airplanes, swimming pools, tennis shoes, high heels, coats, and "Sfub - Bob" (Sponge Bob). The cutest thing she says, well one of the cutest, is "Mommy maked a mess." She says this everything I am bent down cleaning up one of the messes she made.

That's it for now. I hope everyone is staying cool. Look for us next week, pictures of the ocean and the beach! Take care.

US Olympic Swimming Trials

We went to the trials on Saturday night. What an incredible experience. There is a certian rush you get when you watch live competition - especially competition of this level. We saw a World Record swim and two American Record swims. We had stunning seats (thanks to Joe) in the third row. Not close enough to get wet, but almost. :) The pool was phenomenal! The minute you approached the doors of the Quest Center, you were overcome by the aroma of chlorine. The time lapse of the pool contruction was something you had to watch several times. And to top it all off, Gary Hall Sr. was taking a few laps during general warm up. Totally awesome!

My Cup Runneth Over

What more can I say? She is my perfect little angel. :) This was taken on 6/10/08.

A great photo from a few weeks ago: Cambry enjoying one of her favorite meals... "Newies." Also know as noodles. She picked up the eating with your hands technique from our Indian friends. lol.

Having a blast with Uncle Matt in Grand Forks over Memorial weekend.

The after nap space cadet.

Grandma Chris's 69th Birthday! We had a special cake and it was delicious. We all had a great time out that morning. Some of us even had blue poos in the morning to remind us of the fun we had.

Cambry is nearly potty trained now, sassy as ever and full of interesting things to say. She almost mastered the english language and can repeat everything you say - for better or for worse. :) Some of my favorite words and phrases (mostly because they do not come out quite right): "Tamry Hoo tups." (Translation: Cambry has hickups.) "I-noosy-ous" (Translation: Rhinocerous) Oh, and the 6:30AM request to Papa Joe to watch "Baseyball" is always classic.

We will be back later with more Toddler Talk.

For now, we have HUGE news! Well okay, you already know we are pregnant. The update is that all is well with our growing baby BOY! "Definately a boy," to quote the ultrasound tech. A laid back, stubborn, totally health, and cute baby boy. I named our first child, so Joe has announced that he will be naming the second child. Boston Michael Gerardi will be his name. (No final decisions until we sign the birth certificate.) We are anxiously awaiting his arrival. He will arrive sometime in October. Check out the great photos below.

Thanks for checking in with us. We are truely blessed and excited to share with you. Have a great weekend! Take care. Oh, and I will post a belly bump picture later. (I am still at the ackwardly fat, uncertain if I look pregnant stage. :) )

All Girl

Cambry's 1st Haircut

Before...

During...

After...

She was a perfect angel the whole time. Maybe because she was earning chocolate chips? Chocolate just may be the way to a girls heart. :)

Testing...Testing

We are just testing this blog business for today. If everything goes well, this will be the place you will find family updates, new photos, and cool stories. Take care!