Hiking Santa Rosa Plateau

This actually happened before the next post but I did them out of order.  So, don't forget to check out the "Rock Climbing" post below if you haven't seen it.  Anyway, a few weeks back we drove up the road about 15 minutes (just right outside of town) to the Santa Rosa Plateau.  Everything is so green b/c of the rain right now that it is just gorgeous.  We had the most refreshing hike just enjoying the expanse of beauty that went on and on.  We couldn't believe we were so close to home and in such wilderness.  Gavin fell asleep in the backpack which tells you just how relaxing it was.  While we were there we saw so many people jogging or going going on walks but at the same time we were alone most of the time.  It's such a great place to go!  Just another reason why we love it here!

Rock Climbing with Seal and Heidi Klum

On Sunday we went to a beautiful spot in Malibu where the rock jets up right next to the gorgeous ocean, almost on a secluded end of the beach. It was so pretty. Two of our best friends, Linus and Tiffany also came and we were all hanging out on the beach waiting to climb when up toddled the cutest little boy. He stopped to look at us and I was waving at him and laughing b/c he was so darn cute all bundled up on top but with no pants on (I guess so he could play in the water) his dad was right behind him and said Hi to us and we said Hi back and then he walked over to meet his family. That's when Benjy looked at me and said, "Erin, that's Seal!" (If you don't know him he's a singer and he sings that song "I've been kissed by a rose on the grave" Then I really looked and saw that distinctive face and then looked to see if the girl w/ him was Heidi Klum. I didn't think it was b/c although she was tall and skinny, she had short blonde hair and a hat and glasses but she wasn't as tall as I thought she looked on TV or in pictures, so I thought maybe it was her sister or something. We were two of the few families on the beach so there were several times when Gavin went over to their boys to see what they were up to. Before I knew it was her for sure (there was a little entourage w/ them) I asked her how old her little one was. She said he was 15 months, I told her Gavin just turned a year and she commented on what a great walker he was for being so young. Then I knew it was her by the accent. Later Tiffany and I were taking pictures of Linus as he sport climbed the rock to set up our top rope and we were standing next to Seal as he took pictures of Linus too, he turned and asked us how we were doing etc. He basically took pictures the whole time as each of us climbed and we overheard him explaining to Heidi about how Linus was setting up the rope. We were all tempted to ask him if he wanted to try it but we were trying really hard not to be annoying b/c obviously they felt comfortable to stay there since no one was harassing them.

At the end of the day the older boy came over to play with our tractor and Tiffany was talking to him and playing with him. Seal came up and was trying to get Henry to come with him since it was time for them to leave. He joked with us about how he never listens. Then he told us to have a nice day and that was it! It was really cool!

Anyway, aside from that we had a really fun day. It was very windy but sunny and gorgeous! Tiffany and I made it to the top. It was her first time and she did awesome! I had to fight with my mind a few times since I hadn't done it since before I got pregnant and I was nervous to fall. I gained strength from a few things, one was looking down and seeing Gavin smiling up at me and pointing and mouthing the word "Up, Up". Another motivation was looking down and seeing Seal taking pictures of me. I thought, "Shoot I don't want to fall!"

So, enjoy the pictures. It was so fun. Gavin was so good for having slept only 45 min in the car. He just loves days like that and is such a trooper b/c he enjoys the activity and the great outdoors! Sorry, no pics of Seal and Heidi Klum, as I said we didn't want to be annoying. The coolest thing was that we were just hanging out doing our thing as if they weren't superstars! Luckily for me it was a cold day so Heidi was all bundled up and not in her bikinni since she is a Victoria's Secret Supermodel!

More Pictures from Gavin's birthday party

Gavin's First Birthday

On February 28th Gavin turned 1! On Saturday March 1, (mommy's 31st birthday) we celebrated! Curious George was the theme so I had it all decorated with vines and leaves and Curious George monkeys! Our friend Marcie made him a shirt that he wore which had the number 1 and his name with a Curious George on it. His sitter Doreen gave him shoes that squeak when he walks and to top off the outfit he wore my brothers jeans from when he was a baby in the 70's. They were hip man! Anyway, we had a great time! Friends and family came and everyone got into the Curious George spirit. He got some great monkey plates and a bowl and cup and silverware to eat with now that he's a big boy. He also got lots of great books and a toy car from the movie Cars AND a mini guitar so he can play with daddy! He was really amazed by all the gifts!

He had, of course, his own little cake to smash and was much more interested in squishing the frosting between his fingers. He immediately wiped it all on his face which made for some great pictures! He loved having all the people around! We had practiced singing, "Happy birthday" before hand and blowing out the candle. He wanted us to sing again when it was time to blow out. He looked around and started singing, "Haaaaay" so we sang a little more and then he attempted to blow out the candles with more of a spitting effect and I finally helped him get it out.

Later that evening we celebrated my birthday with BJ's pizza and ice cream cake (that's right two cakes in one day-we don't mess around!).  There was only one present I asked Benjy for and he came through!  I got a silver charm for a necklace with an imprint of Gavin's little fingerprint on it!  It is soooo precious to me and it made me cry.  It was the most perfect gift for my birthday this year to celebrate that at this time last year he came into my life!  I thought it would be tough for Benjy to pull off behind my back b/c he had to find out who makes them and then get Gavin there to do it.  I thought he hadn't been able to do it so he really did surprise me with that gift!

 Gavin was in the best mood all day with only about 45 min nap the entire day! He even had trouble sleeping that night-I think he was just so excited. So... just to commemmorate this past year with him, we got up from 2-4 am and watched one of his new Elmo videos, lit a candle and sang Happy Birthday again and ate some leftover Ice Cream cake together. It was pretty memorable although I was tired the next day! We finally got back to sleep about 4:30 and he was up by 6:30! Thank goodness Grandpa was up!