Two months shy of Two

The Dude is getting bigger before our eyes. He's progressing... growing. His vocabulary seems to double each day, and his memory is pretty incredible.

We realized as the 10th day of August blew past us, that it won't be that long now before Owen is two years old. Some days it's hard for us to remember that he is not yet two.... and other days, it's hard to believe that he's no longer a little baby, and is going to be TWO.

We're bracing ourselves. In little bits we've started to see the "problem areas" that could bite us if the Terrible Two's do in fact show up. He has his Papa's intention, and (unfortunately) his Mama's temper. He is beginning to express himself and understands that he has a voice. Thankfully, his sweetness and his lovingness has grown more profound. He's a lover - not a fighter. And we're holding our breath that it stays this way.



We're just along for the ride.

Beach Bum

We've had record heat here in P-Town the last week or so... and we mean RECORD heat. We're talking 100 degrees PLUS. Yikes. We decided to ditch our non-air conditioned abode and head for cooler temperatures. Luckily, we live close to the ocean where the fog socks in the coast and, for a while at least, you can beat the heat.

Unfortunately, everybody and their brother had the same idea.... fortunately, we are equipped with a mobile hotel...complete with cooking apparatus - we call her "Goldie".

We packed her to the gills with everything we could imagine we would need for an overnight trip (you'd be surprised...), including the dog, and hit the road. We ended up at a campground that had only a few spots left, and we took one close to the beach. It wasn't ideal, but then again, sleeping in our oven-like house was not an option. For only one night, it did the trick. Besides, The Dude was more excited about the beach than the camp spot anyways... so it didn't really matter.

Keep in mind that Owen has really only had one other "beach experience" and that was when he was a non-walker... so this trip was really the maiden voyage for him.



He wasn't too sure at first... but after a couple of minutes of some hands-on sand time, he was hooked.



Really, the whole trip was a big experience for him.... we introduced him to the ocean, organized camping (at a State campground, that is), and campfires!



And, like most things, he took in everything with "dude-like" style. He was calm, collected, and absolutely stoked to sleep in "Poppy's Bus". It was fun to watch.

The next day, we packed things up and headed north. We had a feeling that the sun would be a little bit more likely to break thru the thick fog up there, so we headed to one of Momma & Pappa's favorite spots. It was unusually crowded for a Monday, probably since the temperatures in town were so high, but that didn't matter. Owen was just excited to have some sand, open space and a space to "ice skate" (what he called playing in the waves - not sure what that was all about).











Big floppy hat? Check.

Goofy swim shorts? Check.

Sand in every orifice? Check.

The Happiest Kid in the World? Priceless.