Santa Arrives in a Harrier - VMA-513 Squadron Holiday Party

By now Brenden is pretty knowledgeable on who Santa is. So much so that we had to give him one of his presents a week early and tell him Santa had come early. Confusing I know but trust me when I say his incessant begging of the Thomas Shake Shake Bridge had gotten on my last nerve and I couldn't imagine going another week with hearing him ask why Santa hadn't come. Turns out that two year olds have no concept of time so next year we will be trying to show him when exactly he comes and hope for the best.. hmmmm.

Since Brenden did get the Shake Shake Bridge the morning of the squadron holiday party, we told him he would get to see Santa and thank him for being such a nice guy. Hence the GIANT smile on his face in the picture above. He was so excited to thank Santa!

Of course the day wouldn't be complete without a picture of Dave and Brenden in front of Dave's jet:

Potty Training and a New Year

Well it is a new year and there are many challenges ahead for the Slay family this year. Dave is getting ready to go to Afghanistan for a pre deployment survey. He will be gone for 2 1/2 weeks scouting out how VMA-513 will logistically be deployed there from May to November of this year. It will be our first deployment since Brenden was born and it will be infinitely harder. Our family has become quite close and Brenden just adores Dave to pieces. How do you explain to a two and a half year old that his Dad is so far away and for so long? We will have to work it out as it happens but for now we are enjoying our life in Arizona.

It's January and the temperatures are in the low 70's during the day which makes it so very very nice. We can go for walks and enjoy the sun without being completely obliterated by 120 degree temps like the summer brings. Now I know why all the Snowbirds come here from Canada. The population literally doubles during the winter here - so strange!

Brenden is going full speed. Potty training is going so so. He gets one M & M for pee pee and two for poop. I see why parents pull their hair out during this time! He has started pretend playing with his toys which has been an interesting transition to just playing with them. Now he roll plays and sometimes I just sit back and watch in wonder at how far he has progressed since his second birthday.

Dave was packing for his preliminary trip to Afghanistan and Brenden of course wanted to 'help Dada' out. He discovered our scuba gear which we got out to inspect because we are going to Kauai in late January with my parents. He was very interested in the scuba masks because he knew what they were because of Finding Nemo. He wanted to wear mine all night long. So here is a picture of Brenden and Dada the day before he left for Afghanistan. He also wanted to wear his green boots that Aunt Katherine gave him for Christmas. I love how kids just don't have to worry about things like how silly they look to the outside world. They are just all about fun!

Here is to a new year with your loved ones and enjoying every second you can!

Brenden's third Christmas and he finally 'gets' it!

His first Christmas, he was seven months old in Corpus Christi, TX and for the most part Brenden probably was dazzled by the lights on the Christmas tree. His second Christmas we were in Cherry Point, N.C. and he was a year and seven months old only wanting to grab hold of the ornaments on the tree and sort of into ripping open the gifts. This Christmas in Yuma, AZ he is 2 years and seven months old and he helped me decorate the Christmas tree and saw that I put presents under the tree. He asked what those were and we started talking about Santa and how he brought gifts on Christmas Eve. He didn't really get it until we watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (about 25 times). The light when on in his head and BINGO now there will never again be a Christmas in the Slay household without the extreme excitement of opening presents!

It was a great Christmas as we got to stay here and have my parents, sister and nephew come and spend Christmas Arizona style. The temps got into the low 70's and we sat around and drank wine outside with our outdoor fire pit. No snow, no freezing temps just a mellow good time with family.

The day my parents got into town Brenden started jumping on the guest bed in excitement and flung himself onto the headboard with his left cheek taking the full brunt of the fall. He has a huge bruise which is evident in the pictures I am posting..not a good thing.

On a positive note, Brenden scord big time! He and Dan had fun playing with the PlayStation Move game - although Brenden thought the hand remote was a flashlight so he was playing with a small flashlight moving around and following the moves Dan was doing.

Christmas Village in Yuma, AZ

What an oxymoron but yes they have a Christmas Village in Yuma this time of year complete with a faux ice skating rink that you can actually skate on. Sounds intriguing right? Well we went there and were very much under impressed with the 'village'. It did have some cute photo ops for the kids though so at least I got some cute shots of the family. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Wine Tasting in Paso Robles - ah heaven!

 Girls day of driving a short drive north and having lunch while we get to try some different wineries. There are too many to do in one day or two or three days so we went to Wild Horse, Denner and Opolo. Denner was by far the best and most expensive but we had the most fun at Wild Horse chatting with the gal who was running the wine tasting room. I think we stayed there almost two hours! I ended up having us join the wine club at Denner Winery. Their wines are something that I think Dave will enjoy very much. Shipments are twice a year I think..too bad it's so far away that we can't enjoy the free wine tasting all year long---grrr.

The beauty of the vines in the Fall:

Lunch at Farmstand 46 - so good!

Denner winery - loved the architecture and the wine!

A long overdue visit to Beth and Dominic's in Los Osos, CA

The last time I was able to go up and see Beth was for her wedding to Dominic in October of 2006. Dave said he would ask his parents if they could come out to Yuma and watch Brenden for a week while I got to go up to San Luis Obispso sans Brenden! Don't get me wrong, I love him but it is sure nice to get away and have a whole week of not carrying around a diaper bag! We all need that once in a while. Now that I am here with my 'good' camera I am also able to just focus on taking pictures pictures and more pictures. That is so satisfying to me and I have a whole week to do just that! We started off with a nice walk through the Elfin Forest right by their house in Los Osos. It's a 90 acre natural area at the north end of Los Osos Baywood Park. Great walk with lovely foliage and natural habitat to admire. I took so many pictures it's hard to narrow them down to just a few to post so here goes:

Wine tasting coming up in a few days - stay tuned!

Thanksgiving 2010

Traveled to San Diego to have Thanksgiving at The Slays. I took Brenden to the Wild Animal Park (now called the San Diego Zoo Safari Park) where he 'stared' in a film. A good time had by all and now I am off to San Luis Obispo to visit Beth and Dominic! Enjoy the pics:

Colorado River Crossing Balloon Festival - 2010

Dave is currently away training so I thought we would have some fun this weekend and go to the hot air balloon festival here in Yuma! It was a lot of fun but Brenden was very frightened by the loud booming sounds of the burners blowing heat into the balloons. So much so that he wanted me to hold him and take him back to the car and leave! We redirected him to the castle playground where he loves to play and ended up have a great time. We love the West Wetlands Park!

Happy 235th Birthday Marine Corps!

Dave and I went to the Marine Corps Ball at MCAS Yuma, AZ this year. It had been a few years since I had been able to go with him - 2007 to be exact. We had fun except for the end of the night when we went to pick up Brenden at the Child Development Center only to be told that there had been a case of lice noticed that evening on one of the kids. A trip to Wal-Mart in my formal dress and a bath with lice medication (just to be on the safe side) completed to evening for us - what a 'ball'..

Happy Halloween - Brenden's first year of trick or treating

Brenden and his new friend Brent went trick or treating with the Dad's while I stayed home to give out the candy at our house. It's great to live in a neighborhood that is so kid friendly! Apparently the first house they went to for trick or treating had Brenden confused. They rang the doorbell and when the owner answered, Brenden just walked right in. He obviously had no idea that someone was going to put candy in his pumpkin. Brenden dressed up as an elephant. Silly me bought a toddler size costume that I thought would fit but as you can see in the pictures, it was way to short and small for him. Ahhhh the joys of a gigantic 2 year old!