Eden's 2nd Birthday Party

For Eden's second birthday, we threw her a party at one of our favorite beaches, San Onofre State Park. We knew that Eden would have the most fun at the beach for her birthday, but unfortunately the beach is so crowded during the summer that we had to throw her the party on a weekday instead of her real day which is Sunday. Maybe unfortunate for us but great for her, cause she is just having a birthday that goes on and on, and is loving every minute of it! She got to surf, swim in the waves, and play with her favorite people all day (all of her cousins). It was an incredible day, which we are all still recovering from, but it was worth every bit of energy spent.

Eden and Max

Blueberry Cake - a special request from the birthday girl

It took quite some time for Eden & Easton to warm up to each other, but once they did they had so much fun!

Eden was obsessed with the quilt grammy made for her right from the start. Since the party she has been dragging it around everywhere.

This is a boogie board we gave to Tara many years ago. Tara is ready for a newer and shinier version so it looks like Eden will be able to keep this one soon. She will be stoked!

Eden and Jon

These two are too much. They really are peas in a pod. They look alike, act alike. I couldn't ask for anything more, and I can never seem to get enough of either one of them.

Jon Spearfishing

I don't think we ever posted this video. It is a really neat video Jon made while free diving. I don't understand why we never posted it to the blog, but it seemed fitting to do so tonight while I was on this posting spree.

Waterworld

I have to say that lately I am exceedingly grateful for this place that I live. I can't begin to describe my daily delight in all of the magic that we are able to experience here. From walking into town and to the pier to paddling on the harbor and riding the waves, this is just such an incredible place to live and my heart overflows with gratitude to live here. Over Jon's last 4 day we all spent a lot of time in and on the water soaking up all of the magic that this place can afford.

We have been blessed with an abundance of fresh white seabass this summer. Eden loves it raw - eats it like candy (there might be footage of her eating it in the fish print video, if not we will have to get some, but I am hesitant to video her doing it cause I don't want her to be embarrassed by it or feel that it is unusual).

We have taken her out on the jetski a couple of times now and it is just so much fun! She calls it her "vroom, vroom".

This is on Popi's boat. Eden LOVES going on the boat - talks about it constantly. On this particular day she caught a ton of little fish, saw the seals, and dolphins, it was pretty amazing, but she was exhausted by the end.

On the last day of Jon's days off we all went down to SanO in the evening and Jon took Eden surfing. I guess they had been swimming a bunch prior to that and Eden would hold onto Klamath and kick her little feet as he swam her into the beach. I missed that though cause I was paddling while that was going on, which is too bad, but hopefully they will do it again so I can get it on video.

Madison Wisconsin

Back at the end of June/beginning of July Eden and I took a trip out to Wisconsin to see Lewis & Annie. There were many special moments during that trip and it was amazing to see Eden's sense of adventure and her thrill over seeing new things and places. Below are a few pics and a very special video of Lewis singing to Eden a song he wrote for her 1st birthday.

Jon and Eden saying goodbye at the airport. I don't know if you can tell from the pic but she was feeling pretty big time about the whole thing.

Eden showing dolly the plane before we left.

At a zoo in Madison, not sure what we were looking at here.

These three were pretty excited to be reunited again

Gyotaku

For Zion's room we decided to make a fish print of one of Jon's big white seabass' to frame. The first two we made were the only one's that turned out. Since then we have tried to improve upon our methods with no success. This is a video of the process.

Memorial Day - Another Day of Firsts

We had a very special day this past memorial day. In general it was just one of those perfect days with the family made all the more special by the fact that Jon was home after being gone a lot over the last couple of weeks. The most notable thing that happened is that Eden sat on the nose of the board while we paddled her around the harbor - this was a first for her, as attempts to try this maneuver in the past have been anything but smooth, normally she wants no part of it at all. This time, she saw her cousin Tara riding on the nose of Mimmi's board, and she was all about it after that. Then, later in the day, we walked down to downtown San Clemente like we often do in the afternoons, and Eden walked Klamath all the way home. Every step of the way, it was incredible! And as you will see from the pics, she was very proud of herself in the end. The last pic is just of Eden watering the plants, one of her very favorite activities in the world.