Lunch with Momo-chan

Just got back from lunch at Drunken Monkey with Monica (aka: Auntie Momo) where she gave Kenzo the cutest happi coat for an early birthday present - arigato gozaimasu!










Keeping with the theme of the present, Kenzo devoured: grilled salmon, tofu, wakame, and misoshiru! YUM!!

Go Ducks!

We had a busy week with our Oregon visitors: beach time, hiking, biking, gelato, dogs, swimming, new friends, and great Tahoe summer weather!

Kenzo got a Oregon Ducks shirt from his cousins so he could represent in Cali!




Maya, Kenzo & Naomi having a little photo session. Do you know how many shots it takes to get one decent photo of three kids?!









Maya and Naomi made quick friends with neighbors Delilah and Ava. The "Marla Court Gang" had a great week of playing together, even going out on Delilah's family boat for a quick spin on the lake!








The girls waited in a very long line to get their faces painted in Truckee one evening at a street party. Have to admit, it was a beautiful job! Naomi looks like she's ready to join Cirque du Soliel!

It's pretty quiet now that the Alvarez family has gone home...Kenzo is going to miss all the action! See you guys in Tahoe next summer!!

Eleven Months Old!

Eleven months old!

20+ pounds, still doing the tummy crawl, but getting so fast! Eating more and more solids with a big appetite for the roasted pork from the D'Lish Burrito Window!

Kenzo was a bit cranky today...runny nose, lots of drool...hopefully teething rather than a cold.

We have the Portland crew here for the week & even Takemi and Rocko came up from Richmond for some quality family time!



Henry and Kara livin' the life at Meeks!












Maya and Kenzo in the shade...

Tak contemplating a swim...










Naomi doing her best pose!













Happy birthday, Henry!













Kenzo and Naomi having a great laugh over popsicles!












Eric and Kenzo enjoying the warm evening at Donner Lake...











Last week, a HUGE group of new mommies, daddies & babies got together at Donner Lake for a surprise party in honor of Cindy Bansen, the lactation nurse at Tahoe Forest Hospital.

We are all so thankful for the time and energy she has spent with each of us and our little ones in the early days of breast feeding and just getting into the routine of things.

Cindy is a treasure to the Truckee Tahoe community and to our little family too!

Party Time

Over to Truckee to par-taay! Michelle and Tom hosted an open house to celebrate little Kylie's first birthday.

Lots of families we met at the "Baby & Me" class were there, so it was nice for Kenzo to see his buddies again.






The party was also for Nicholas, who has the exact birthday as Kylie! Proud parents Kristin & Ben watching Nicholas try his first bite of cake :)










Quinn and Kenzo getting re-acquainted.

Note Quinn's off the shoulder top and (shoot...out of frame) her summer espadrilles...oh, to be a girl!












We are blazing through clothes these days as Kenzo is just growing like a weed! At least Kenzo can help out with the laundry chores...

Summer Love

My good friend, Christie Valenzona (nee Howard) and her sweet daughter Avery (2 years old) came over today for a quick visit. Kenzo was SO happy to see them in his room as he woke up from his nap!

Here's some adorable photos of Avery trying to kiss Kenzo...can you say "arranged marriage?!"



Some face action...












Avery kissing Kenzo's head. She'll take anything!










Someone thought all the attention was pretty flattering!

East Meets West

Eric's cousins Anne & Dirk came out from Pennsylvania to California for a big two week road trip that ended in Tahoe.

We had a great time visiting with them, but it was too quick and short! We gave them a tour of our little corner of the world, which included our favorite: Meeks Bay.





A visit to Squaw Valley....look at all that snow...it's July, by the way!












As soon as they arrived at our house, Annie & Dirk were put to work! Kenzo was so comfortable with them right away...he must have known they were family!

"Thanks for giving me a bottle and a good burp!"








"Ooh, a present? For me?"













It's no wonder the little buddies were performing so well with recording engineer extraordinaire Dirk at the command controls!

"Yes, more singing from the funny dudes, please..."







Kenzo had a great time with Uncle Dirk...and I think the feeling was mutual!

"You are really fun and funny and I'm really glad we're dressed the same!"

Thank you for making the trip out here to meet Kenzo. We are looking forward to seeing you guys again soon!

Ten Months Old!

Ten months old today! 19 1/2 pounds and 27" long...

Waving, clapping, playing peek-a-boo, quasi-crawling, and making a big assortment of funny sounds! Party boy Kenzo is in for a big weekend - stay tuned!

AND....Happy birthday, Auntie Kara! We'll see you guys soon!







Whoops!













It is getting hot here! We took Oscar for a quick swim yesterday afternoon and he would have stayed longer but the poor old guy was shivering after just two fetches of the ball!












Then we popped over to Squaw Valley for a free concert last night. "Stung" a Police tribute band kicked off the summer series. A nice, mellow hour of entertainment for us!











Got a little chilly when the sun dipped behind the mountains!