Mommy and Me Yoga

Twice a week Emma and Olivia lead a mommy and me yoga class at the Santa Barbara Yoga Center. I've never been but from the photos it looks like a blast, little ones running amok but also getting in a few yoga poses, check out Olivia's down dog, she gets her form from her mom not me.

Caruthers Fair

Every year, the first weekend of October marks the Caruthers Fair. . As a kid, I use to show my animals (mainly my brown swiss cow) there and enter baking contests (blue ribbon for my lemon bars:) ), etc. To me, what is so amazing about the Caruthers Fair is that it is still a free gate fair, meaning, it is free to enter. What is more, the small town feel of Caruthers really shines through. Local organizations have yummy food booths (many that support local causes), 4-H and FFA groups bring their animals (pigs, sheep, goats, beef and dairy), local vendors from the area show off their crafts and products, and yes, they even have a "midway" filled with games and rides. This year, I decided to start the tradition of taking Olivia. I want her to experience what I did as a kid, granted, I don't think she will be showing cows in Caruthers, but just the idea of seeing the animals and experiencing this small town free gate fair appeals to me. Her nieces and nephews all show at the fair, so this is a bonus as she gets to see the behind the scenes action.

Olivia's reaction to all of it? Well, she loved the animals but was very careful when it came to observing. My dad (Olivia's papa) went to show her a bigger animal and as he took her for a close up she looked at her papa, shook her head and said, "no, no." As soon as papa showed her a smaller heifer she was ok and wanted the up close exploration. I was impressed and excited. Our little lady already understands boundaries and was able to communicate this. :)

The pictures below are of Olivia on the Merry Go Round and the her Uncle Don showing her different heifers.

Thelma & Louise

Well, not really but I could not resist the title with pictures like these! The pictures below were taken last Friday at our Mamatoto group (see previous posts on what a mamatoto group is) meeting at Shoreline Park. The hit of the playground was this cool "radio flyer" car that both Olivia and Sage LOVED. Although we talked them into sharing, they did pretty well, minus the "not so sure look" of Sage.

Snack Time @ Toddler Times

On Monday we went to our first "Toddler Times" with Laura Sobel offered through Adult Ed. It was AWESOME. Song and music the first half hour, then an hour and a half of out door play with lots of cool toys that we could never fit inside our little casa but that Olivia LOVES to play with (i.e. little tykes car, shopping cart, big swing set, etc) followed by snack time, then closure with reading a story and a small little song.

When it came to snack time Olivia took it pretty serious. Even with her little girlie friends (Isla and Devon). I guess she is already serious about her food palate. ;)

Butterflies Alive take II

Well, if you remember a post a while back, Grandma C took Olivia to the Butterflies Alive exhibit at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History in May. The exhibit closed it's doors on Monday but we were lucky to meet up with some of our mamatoto buddies and check out the butterflies one last time.

We all met at the Mission Rose Gardens for a little play time (see below) and then walked over to the museum just in time to see the exhibit. What was most amazing was to see Olivia's reaction and compare it to our last visit. Although it was really only a couple of months Olivia was so much more AWARE this time. As you can see by the pic's below, Olivia thought the butterflies and the watermelon were super cool!

Olivia's Birthday Bash

For Olivia's Birthday bash we had tunnels to navigate, pools to swim in (hot tub and regular pool, of course balls were included because if you don't know by now, our little lady LOVES balls), finger painting, friends, family and food. All in all a great celebration for our little lady!





Rollin cousins take part in some pool time fun



Dada and Olivia :)



Sage explores the tunnel!



Nala and Cash Roy, hanging out, deciding what drink to open next