the fair

over the weekend, we went to the fair! 

even though Dean was pretty tired the whole time, he enjoyed watching all the people and lights. we got some greasy fair food for ourselves and Dean to try and he loved it (no surprise there). while our friends, Zach and Val went on plenty of rides, we hung back and went on the only one I cared about; the ferris wheel! Dean hated it and cried the whole time. poor kid; I really didn't expect him to notice we were on a ride. hmmm...other than that, we had a really great time and I loved taking a billion pictures because we went right at that perfect time, from sunset into evening...

...Val was a little scared to go on that ride.

...thanks for the invite, Zach and Val!

say instagram!

a bit of my life lately, from my iphone...

walk around our block

happy friday everyone! 

Dean and I go on walks when we get bored...which is about every day. we especially enjoy them when the weather is what it was today; perfect! not humid, not hot, but sunny and warm. Dean likes to play at the little park in the neighborhood and I like taking his picture. it's what you call a win-win.

...reaching for the leaves

...we were swarmed by some pigeons today. someone in the neighborhood feeds them and did so right before we got there. I captured some of the madness below. it was just like 'the birds', except nobody got hurt.

3 years

for our anniversary, Tom and I took a mini-trip to orlando! we planned on going to the keys, but when we realized it would be too cold to be in the water (and raining), we decided to go north and make a trip to the temple. we left saturday morning and barely made it to the orlando temple in time before it closed; literally, we were the last ones in the doors...and we didn't stop once.

that evening we went to universal's citywalk, where there are shops and restaurants and walked around all touristy-like. it was our first trip away from Dean since he was born, and it was admittedly nice to sleep soundly through the night and wake up whenever we felt like it...

we spent the next day at universal studios and had a great time, even if it was seriously cold. it stayed in and below the 50s our whole trip and that day was by far the coldest (and the one we spent outdoors). we learned a little trick about theme parks while we were there; when we asked the workers where a ride was, she offered to go on one of the best roller coasters with us (the hulk). she took us through the exit and we skipped the entire line! then, she took us on another (dr. doom)! it was so amazing and since we saved so much time waiting in line, we were able to go on some rides twice.

the trip was so much fun, but we were happy to see Dean again. thanks Grandma and Grandpa for watching him!

...gotta do cheesy surfing photos, of course. tourist.

a cake

for Dean's actual birthday, we spent the day with family. Tom's mom made Dean a delicious chocolate-cherry cake and we sang to him and encouraged him to dig in. we let him 'cut' the cake, even though he mostly just slapped at it. he didn't exactly know what to do with his slice, and sort of shoved his face right into it. he also really enjoyed all the attention he was getting. my sweet Mom sent us a package with some birthday toys for Dean (and a shirt for me!) and he's been enjoying them too.

typical interactions

this is a typical interaction that happens with Dean on a daily basis. he's at that age, that grab-at-everything age. for me, it's earrings, any necklace, even my bright lipstick! but for Tom at the zoo on saturday, it was his sunglasses. I caught the whole thing on camera; the initial grab, the retrieve, the  victory playtime and even the 'I win' face. Dean, you sure make our lives more interesting and keep us seriously on our toes.

zoo miami

to do something fun to celebrate Dean's 1st birthday, we took him to the zoo! he had a great time and so did we, even though we were all exhausted by the end. Dean did a good job staying in his stroller most of the time (which is a big deal for him) and was just as entertained by the animals as he was by all the children that ran by.

...Dean got up close and personal with some monkeys. you can't really tell from the picture, but in the right pic, that was a gorilla that got up and moved over and leaned his back against the glass.

...each time Dean was interested in an animal, he'd reach his little hand out.