Mikey turned 27!!

Mike celebrated his birthday last weekend and since we moved to California, there have been only two things that he has talked about non-stop, Pinocchio’s pizza and surfing, so it was only fitting that we did both for his birthday!

We took the scenic route to Gilroy on Saturday and had our “usual,” extra large pepperoni with an extra slice (meaning more pieces, so we can give some to Josh who inherited Mike’s love for pizza). After chowing down, we picked up a t-shirt from the joint, which he’s added proudly to his t-shirt collection.





With working full time, taking classes at the local college and taking on the task of worship leader in our church (on top of husband, father and designated golf buddy for Dad), Mike hasn’t had the opportunity to give surfing more time beyond watching the surfers in the ocean frolic in the waves from the driver's seat on his way to work… that is until this past Sunday. Josh and I gave Mike the ultimate in “cool birthday gifts” this year: a surfboard. I thought it was a pretty great gift and even gave myself cool-wife-points. It turns out it was indeed a good gift considering he’s been in the water 4 of the last 6 days (it would have been 5 except that he didn’t know the first rule of surfing when he went to work on Monday – never leave home without your board and wetsuit. He promptly corrected himself on Tuesday.) The only possible show-stopper to this super-cool gift was how to get it to the ocean, but alas, an 8 foot surfboard does indeed fit into a 2-door Honda Civic. :)

Sunday was the big day and after being singled out in church for his birthday, Mike promptly unwrapped his new toy. He was forced to put his patience to the test, enduring 9 holes of golf with Dad and Greg (tough life, eh?) before being able to take his toy for a ride… and a ride it was! Mike was able to stand-up on the board on several waves – a huge and rare accomplishment in the surfing world for a first-timer. In fact, this was a day full of firsts for Mike - first birthday in California, first time in the Pacific Ocean, first time in a wetsuit, first time getting out of a wetsuit, first time trying to surf and first time standing up on a surfboard. Dad took video while I took pictures from the shore and we got it all recorded for future reminiscing.













After an exhausting swim, we headed back to Dad and Debbie’s for dinner. Rib-eyes, grilled chicken, baked regular and sweet potatoes, sautéed green beans, Caesar salad with homemade dressing and Texas toast was the menu. Homemade lemon merenge pie was the birthday dessert of choice (recipe courtesy of MeMe) and Debbie made a rhubarb and strawberry crumble that was fantastic. We sang “Happy Birthday” as Mike blew out the 7 candles on the pie and we toasted with champagne as we took out nearly the entire pie that night.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I think we got the “best birthday dinner” award and I’m still getting hugs, kisses and thank-you’s for the surfboard.

My personal favorite moment of the weekend was when I told him he looked like a surfer and he gave me this smile:



HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKEY! I LOVE YOU!

We were fortunate to get to see one of my favorite co-workers from the East Coast ! Robin flew out here to visit her sister in Carmel - they invited Tiff, Joshua and I over for a nice dinner.

Busy Month !

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is free the 20th of every month for Monterey County residents. Tiff took them up on the offer, and took Josh and some other friends from church. Josh is hanging out in the play area...



Few weekends ago, a few of the guys from church and I went hiking down at one of the Big Sur state parks. It's absolutely beautiful there.



Josh's new trick !



Josh and Grandpa, hanging out at the beach ! The two were scoping out a new state beach while Dad went back to Delaware for a surprise retirement party.



Hangliding's big around here - add it to the list... right after surfing !



Grandpa went to the farmers market to get strawberries for the little guy. Good luck finding strawberries this big in any other part of the country ! Our neighbor works for Dole and said that the reason they are smaller everywhere else, is because they are at the mercy of California.... So I think he meant, that we get the big juicy ones, while you're shipped the duds ! Sorry - take that up with Dole !



Joshua had a surprise visitor on Easter ! Pops showed up in his annual costume to surprise the kids in the neighborhood.



As you can tell, Josh LOVES the Easter Bunny...



The newly engaged couple - to get married next April ! CONGRAT'S BLAKE AND SARAH !!! The two were in the area this past weekend to check out wedding locations. They plan on getting married in Monterey.



Willi and Debbie scored tickets to the Pebble Beach Food and Wine show for us this weekend. Top chefs from all over the country, over 250 wineries, over 50 food booths, all you can eat and drink - at Pebble Beach ! Tickets for this event run between $100 - $5,000 per person... We all went for free :) Willi and Debbie took Saturday, while we took Sunday - not to mention, we were escorted around in a sweet Lexus where the back seats had built in massaging units - the seat reclined, an ottoman popped out, vibrated, heated and cooled seat, all while getting a Shiatsu massage... Wow.

It's a bird... it's a plane...

...no, it's Super-Josh!!!





Mommy's homemade pasta sauce is one of Josh's favorites.



Mommy helping Josh walk among the rocky beach at Pfeiffer State Beach.



Josh kept eyeing the camera, so I took some pictures of my little photogenic ham!







Daddy on a study break. :)

March Already??

This weekend, we took a trip to Gilroy, for our favorite West Coast pizza. We love California - but they have some work when it comes to cooking a good pie.

Anyhow, we stumbled on this place a few months ago. The owners are from New Jersey and they know how to cook a fantastic pizza - and we all know, East Coast has THE BEST pizza (Chicago a close second). Simple, tasty and great. The owner said that when he moved out here in 80's, he couldn't find a decent pizza, so he decided to make his own. It's a small place - 3 tables, and a counter. A family of three runs the shop and always gives us great service.

The sign in front says it all:



Willi and Debbie cooked an awesome dinner that night (sorry, no pics) for us and the neighbors. Josh hung out with Stella and Debbie, while the group of us went over to Maria and Mike's (the neighbors) for some Rockband and dessert.

This morning, I woke up around 7am, let the wifey sleep in and took a trip down to Big Sur with a tall cup of coffee. It was absolutely awesome. There are a ton of hiking trails that lead down the mountains and to various beaches; so I stopped off at one of the many we have yet to explore... There were whales everywhere. Not only could you see them when they came up for air, but they were showing off with fins and tails out of the water. It was great - a storm was just about to come in, and I was perched on a small cliff overlooking the water.





(note to self - do not wear flip flops and plaid pajama pants while hiking)

I decided to make my way down to the beach. There happened to be a natural fresh water stream that ran into the ocean. Very cool. You could see all the layers of sand it eroded away over time.







Finally made it down to the water for a couple nice photo's.





Tonight we were treated to a photo finish sunset from our apartment balcony.