More pix from my new camera!

New bike trailer...swim class, and my dad and brother's visit...it was my dad's birthday...

Wow--its been a really crazy last couple of months! We have successfully transferred our lives to Alameda, and are enjoying everything that it has to offer! But first let me catch you up since Reid's 2nd birthday. Below: Shanti, our good friend, who was living in Colorado moved back and came to visit with a friend...so awesome to visit and have him back in the state!Above: the boy's friends came over for a babysitting exchange. The boys all had a good time playing hungry Hungry Hippo, and playing outside, thanks to longer Spring days. Below: a cool picture I found of Reid, not really sure what train this is though...further below, a random Sunday banana bread--dragon and Reid stopped by to help me stir, stir, stir!
The above 3 pictures are of KidFest, a yearly event in Concord, its kind of like a fair/carnival with rides, and games, vendors, etc. Rowan and Reid's favorite activity was getting to go inside the ambulance, and firetrucks!! Man Reid talked about it for months--he even still mentions the ambulance and the gloves, of course. Every single time we see someone with gloves on he tells me, "Mommy, he's wearing gloves. " Man we went to the dentist on Monday and his mind just about blew when the dentist blew up a latex glove into a balloon--he really likes his dentist now!


Summer started with a splash!! The first week that I was out of school was awesome--first we got to spend the whole day with two very dear friends of mine from college, Anna and Eva and their girls, (4 between the two of them). We spent the day in Sausalito and painted the town red, with a nudy park visit, a super messy icecream store trip, and followed it up with nude fountain wading--man these kids didn't really keep their clothes on at all--it was a crazy and super fun day!! Can't wait to see the pix--Anna Stump--are you reading this ?? BTW Happy 36th B'day :)
Below: Then we got to visit more friends--this time 3 middle/high school friends in Santa Cruz and more nude shenanigans, as you can see!! We were the four A'sFrom left to right: Amanda, Annette, Angie, and Anna--we should be super heroes or something? We got to spend the day chilling and catching up at Anna's wonderful garden oasis and at Natural Bridges beach--the boys loved the waves, even though the sun never made it out, and diggin' in the sand--I loved being able to just sit and talk to my good friends! Below: Rowan and Max--nudy cave boys!Above: Reid and Max, and further above Reid sporting a black glove that he found at Anna's house!
Later that same weekend we decided to take a camping trip with our good friends Jill and Jason and their daughter Ivy. We went to Lake Chabot, only about 15 minutes from our house, and easy to get to--no roughing it for us quite yet! Above: Rowan and Ivy get creative with the chairs. Below: the kid's first s'mores!
Ahh... corn and looking at the stars/sky?
The camping trip was alright--great company--not such great sleeping--all in one tent--the boys "sleeping" together for the first time..not so good--Rowan and I pretty much didn't sleep all night, and Reid did finally fall asleep at 10pm, but we were all tired and grumpy the next day and opted not to go out on the lake...instead we packed up and went home and caught up on some sleep!

Later on in June, I took the boys to visit my family in Irvine/Tustin. The boys did pretty well on the trip, they did a lot of swimming, and we also took trips to all the cool parks in the area, one even had pony rides! Rowan loved going on the pony! No pictures yet from the trip because I lost my camera! And the rest of the summer has pretty much been spent packing and unpacking! We left behind our old 1912 bungalow for a newer and much more spacious abode in Alameda! The first thing we did (after unpackin, of course) was to outfit all of us w/ helmets and bikes! We now have a bike trailer, which we LOVE!! Now that we live in a bike-friendly community, we hardly ever get in our cars--we bike to the swimming pool daily for swim class, offered at our local pool, and we can also bike downtown for dinner or special treats after dinner, and also to three different parks!! One of really good friends from Oakland also moved to our neighborhood, and we can also visit them by bike. We have really enjoyed these last couple of weeks checking out our new neighborhood and relaxing at the new abode--which even included a Santa Rosa plum tree w/ tons of ripe plums! Will send out another update in a few days once I get some pix off of my new camera--so bye for now--Love to you and your family!!

Hello everyone--April is such a busy month around the Stewart household! First our 7 year anniversary was on the 3rd of April, then Mike turned 35 on the 20th, and then Reid turned 2 on the 23rd, followed up with Easter on the very next day!! Plus I had off the first week of the month, and then Rowan and Reid's preschool was closed the week of the 18th-22nd, so Mike was home with them all week. So lots of time home with the boys and lots of fun had by all. We also had a visit from Nana the first weekend of April and Mike and I escaped for a night to relax by the hot springs at the Fairmont in Sonoma. We had a visit from grandpa for Reid's birthday and had a great time meeting his new girlfriend Maggie, who we all really enjoyed. The boys are getting to be so sweet and loving, giving everyone we meet hugs and kisses and saying please and thank you without prompting most of the time, we are really enjoying watching our little ones turn into well-mannered young boys! Most of the time that is :) Enjoy the recent pix of our adventures! Take care and Happy Easter. Love, The Stewart Family

Hello all--The pictures are in backwards order, but you'll still get the idea...Things in the Stewart household are going okay. We are surviving the winter weather and enjoying little pockets of sun in between. Rowan and Reid really enjoyed Christmas this year...Reid got a bike, Rowan got a light up turtle that shows him the stars and the moon every night before bed. Rowan still uses turtle every night, even a month and a half later! They are both growing fast, Rowan is becoming such a polite, and generous guy--finally getting the sharing with your brother thing down and saying please and thank you many times without being asked (its been a lot of hard work to finally get to this point!). Reid has been going pee pee on his potty once or twice a day lately and we're hoping by summer he'll be potty trained, it will be great to be out of diapers for good!

We took a trip to the snow last weekend, and got lucky that we got to see the snow fall on Sunday morning. So beautiful--the boys loved throwing snow balls, and Rowan was a champion on the saucer, going down by himself and also bring it up the hill on his own. Reid wasn't too sure about the saucer ride--too fast for him, I think! Also our tenant moved out last weekend, so we have been cleaning up and putting some of our stuff back there finally. Mike and I realized that this has been the first time we have ever lived just by ourselves...we've always had roommates, lived in an apt building, or had a tenant. We're enjoying the solitude! The boys are loving having a new play room, and so are we! Hope all is well, enjoy the superbowl today! Love, Mike Angie and the boys!