Kiddos, sunshine and family schtuff!

So this morning Bray had a vocal competition in Montecito (where the actual Music Academy is). Unfortunately, the one babysitter I know here is out of town this weekend, and thus I was unable to hear him sing. So, instead the kiddos and I decided to take a little jaunt around the wealthy, beautiful Montecito. Ever since my first time here, back in 2005, I have always loved the immediate area around the Academy. Bray and I truly hope to vacation here someday, if not own a house! ;) Dreams are wonderful things, aren't they? Anyhow, I thought I should take a few pics since it was a gorgeous, clear day...and silly me, I forgot to take some of the Academy and the grounds-they are amazingly beautiful-but I promise to do this before we leave! Here are some of our morning, as well as some random kid-ones I haven't had time to put up!
Hope you all enjoy, and to all you Garfield relatives, enjoying the reunion, wish I could be there!This is a side shot of the 4 Seasons Biltmore Hotel, right on the waterfront. The man in the pink shirt stepped in front of my shot just as I took it! Bray and I have had drinks here (on someone else's tab, as they range from minimum of $30 for a margarita to $52 for a martini!) but we would lovveeee to stay here someday!
I have seen at least 3 weddings here, all with Rolls Royces (sp?) as the getaway car.
The ramp down to Butterfly Beach, in front of the 4 Seasons.
Walking down the street from the Academy to the Beach(if you see the hill going up in the distance, you turn the corner, and there's the Academy!)
Looking out at the lookout...they never tire of seeing the ocean! Course, neither do I-it is definitely a testament to God's power and beautiful creation! (side note-look how tall Madeline is getting-that dress was down at her ankles at the beginning of the summer!!!)
Because of the wealthy community surrounding this beach, it is very quiet, clean and rejuvenating! I think it's my favorite beach here.
An Indian head dress Gege sent Hobbes...for some reason, he thought he should have it over his eyes for the camera...I have no idea.
Madeline, trying to bug Hobbes during his favorite movie, "Surf's Up."
kisses!
Finally, Hobbes decides to give her some attention!

4 Years and Counting!

Today is Bray and my 4th wedding anniversary! Can you believe it? He unfortunately has rehearsals until 10pm tonight, but last night, I found a note asking me to go to breakfast (with the kiddos) bright and early this morning! We went to "The Anderson's," a wonderful Danish pastry shop/restaurant in Santa Barbara. We lovve their food, but don't go hardly ever due to the prices!
I was pretty stoked already, but then when I came downstairs, I found this nice little surprise on the table...not only was it yellow, it was a purse! Hello! And super cute, picked out by my one and only hubby! YAY for anniversaries! All in all, it has started off to be a wonderful day!4 Years as Mr. and Mrs. Bray Wilkins!
Kiddos, playing in a cool telephone booth..

We do this alll the time-there are tons of fountains to throw money into!They usually sit there holding the money for awhile...
Daddy kisses!
Hobbes, unfortunately, has not distinguished between live friends, and statue friends. hmm.
And I guess that we have not taught him manners-what is he doing?

Eating yummy pastries...
and our second child, eating yummy pastries...I love how in both pics we tried to take, they just wanted to stuff their mouths!

Goings On

Hi Everyone!
Well, as usual, things have been-in Hobbes' vernacular-"crasies." (crazy) We have managed to sneak in some family outings, amidst all of Bray's rehearsals, and we even went on a date! Yes, that's right-I found a babysitter! I've been trying to take as many pics as I can-but when we are each watching a kiddo, it gets tricky to take pics.:)
So here are a few pics of all our goings-on...we found this neat park that's right on a look-out over the ocean, and even has a steep path down to the beach! We go to the beach at least a couple times a week, and I've taken the kiddos to the library twice. Hobbes is really getting the 'library-mode' down. He goes and sits at the table in the kid corner, I get him a few books, and then we read as much as we can before Madeline interrupts by pulling as many books as she can off the shelves...and then we check-out our books, and head home. I've tried to get her to color while we read, which she'll do for a few minutes, before she decides to taste each crayon color.:) ahh, she is a typical girl-so busy!
My sweet husband surprised me with this one morning...made my day!

Walking down the steep hill to the beach-Hobbes even ran up it on the way back!

Being a big boy with Daddy-he 'll do so many 'scary' things when he's with Bray!Holding on for dear life...

You can't tell from this picture, but she was rocking this dinosaur out!
Which made Hobbes want to try...he loved it until he rocked so hard he hit his head on the dinosaur...Ouch!

Looking out at the ocean...
Climbing up like a big girl, and playing peek-a-boo through the bars!


Walking downtown to the beach-with my sunglass-clad kids!

So cool! Here they are looking at some random dog-they have this obsession, every time a dog comes into view, they both shout/scream "Dogggyyyy!!!!!" Yeah, it scares the dogs and the owners.
Big-girl ponytail! It is a lot thicker than it was a month ago-and I think it's pretty cute! Apparently, so does Madeline-look at her checking herself out in the mirror!

And that's all for now-I'll post more after our 4th anniversary on Wednesday!

Little busy helper

Madeline loves to 'clean...' I don't know where she gets it from.:)
However, when she ran to go throw them away, she accidentally ran into the door.Oops!

PS-I don't really let my children play with plastic bags-we were just throwing them away.

My grown-up girl

Madeline loves to 'read...' but she usually wants to read to us,and not the other way around. Can you say independent? anyhow, I got it on video-pretty cute!

Beach Grill at Padaro!

Hello everyone-
Just thought I'd give a few more pics...these are from the last night Charity was here. Bray's compeers, who I believe I mentioned are very kid-conscious, asked to take us to this grill that's about 10 minutes away from where we live. It is right on the beach, has nice picnic tables with umbrellas, and a huge sandbox with tons of toys for kids to play in. It was the perfect setting! You get to watch the sun on the water while you eat, and the kids can play as soon as they're done, and are kept entertained and contained:) the entire time!
They are so thoughtful, it's been really nice. Anyhow, it was a gorgeous evening, and the fog even lifted for a bit, so I took a few pics. Charity is home now, and we miss her lots, when we were driving back from LA, Hobbes kept asking where Charity was. Bray told him she was gone, and that it was sad. Hobbes thought for a second, and then whispered, "Hobbes is sad." It was pretty cute. Madeline also misses her-she wanders into her bathroom every morning, saying "Char--ty, Char--ty..." They had a wonderful time with her! So if anyone else wants to come-just call!

Party Time!!!

The new train!

Hobbes figuring out how the train from Ama and Ampa works...and loving it! He watched it all evening!

Hobbes' birthday candles!

Happy Birthday Buddy Boy!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Hobbes!

Hello everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful 4th! We sure did-we were invited to a parade by Bray's compeers in the morning, and then a bbq at their house following. The kiddos liked the parade a lot-they waved their little flags with vigor (Madeline even 'accidentally' hit Hobbes!) and watched all the cool cars and trucks,etc go by. The bbq was lovely-their house is in a part of Santa Barbara that is the same neighborhood as Oprah's house-which means it's gorgeous! They are lovely people, and have grandchildren, so they were well-equipped for kiddos. We didn't do any fireworks really (mainly due to laws in Cali because of all the fires) but we took a walk downtown that evening, and saw the big ones over the harbor!
Tomorrow is Hobbes' 3rd birthday-can you believe it? It seems fitting we celebrate here, as this was his birthplace!! We had to celebrate today, as Bray's schedule is packed tomorrow. We decided on a jungle theme since Hobbes loves Curious George right now, and we made cookies (I mean, do you expect 3 people to eat an entire cake?:)) and opened presents...his favorite was the train set from Ama and Ampa! Then we all went to Wall-E this afternoon. Hobbes sat through the entire movie-and it turns out, he is just like his Daddy-he comments and laughs loudly through the whole thing! Madeline only lasted about 20 minutes, so we ended up leaving to go walk on the beach (which I enjoyed immensely!). We hope to go to the zoo before Charity leaves on Thursday, and that will be the finishing touches for the birthday bash! We love our boy, and miss you all! Enjoy the pics!

The jungle scene...
Extra cookies...more...

All the presents...Ready...
Set...
Make a wish!

showing Madeline the monkey...a helicopter!!!

the firefighters hat...
Madeline with some of the balloons-which was just as much fun as the presents!Stuffing a birthday cookie in his mouth!