Tyler's first trip to the beach (and our birthdays!) week64

Last week was a big week for Will and myself - it was our birthdays, and we are both now officially a year older. Funny though, I don't feel any older, but 28 sure does sound a lot closer to 30 than 27 did. I can't complain though, I love where I am in my life right now and I wouldn't change any of it (except, oh, having the motivation to finish my stupid Masters already!) Oh well, we'll see - definitely needs to get done before we think about baby #2.

Tyler lately has become even more interested in computers/keyboards/mouses. He's got to press all the keys on the keyboard and roll the wheel on the mouse. We even have a decoy (no longer working because of Tyler!) wireless mouse we let him play with. But he's smart. He wants one that lights up...lately before bed we'll sit at the desktop and watch YouTube children videos. There are some really cute ones out there! My favorite one to watch/sing with Tyler is called the elephant song. It's cute. Here's Tyler working hard. :)
Thursday was Will's birthday and we celebrated by going out to dinner at a local teppanyaki place called Koki's Teppan and Sushi. Not much of a fan, we only went because we had bought these really cheap gift cards on Restaurant.com. It was nice eating out though, and the chef kept Tyler's interest as Will/I tried to eat quickly. As usual though, Tyler got restless (what is it with this age?!) and we ended up taking turns eating. Fun! I had left work a bit early and picked up some Sprinkles cupcakes to suprise Will with. Yum! I couldn't find a little 'happy birthday' sign small enough for the cupcake, so I convinced the lady at the Alberton's bakery to give me one off of their cupcakes. :) Happy Birthday Will!
Friday we watched the Presidential debate! With everything going on right now with the economy and the election, we were definitely interested in watching. I don't really remember watching a presidential debate ever with this much interest! Come November, Will and I will both be voting for our first times in a presidential election! Yes, I know, but better late than never right? (Our first time voting was Tue 11/7/06 - coincidentally the same day that we found out we were pregnant!). Tyler was very interested in the debate as well (not!).

Saturday my in-laws came over and we headed out to the beach! Would you believe, in the 4 years that Will and I have lived in Irvine, we've been to the beach only ONCE - and that wasn't really so much by choice but necessity (I was president of this organization at work that was having a networking event there)? We really aren't beach people. Anyway, Will's parents wanted to take Tyler so off we went. It was nice and sunny in Irvine, but as soon as we hit Newport Beach - BAMN - heavy heavy fog. We decided to go to the Corona del Mar beach since its supposed to have very small waves and be kid friendly. Even though the pictures below look very cold and foggy, it was actually quite warm - to the point where we were sweating!Tyler was really excited to walk around on the sand. He started walking down the shore with Will's dad and just kept walking and walking - he walked so far before we turned him around. I think he liked the feeling of the wet sand on his toes. Will's mom picked him up and tried to dip his feet in the (cold) water but he was completely not interested.Tyler loves playing in the sand! It was a little tough since he was drooling like crazy and it was attracting LOTS of sand. Plus we were trying to be watchful of him not getting any sand into his eyes.Happy Tyler! One good thing about it being overcast is that we weren't burning up! It got a bit windy at times too. Tyler was quite the flirt, and kept smiling at a group of girls near us. This is how Tyler played with the sand at the beach. He didn't really get at first that he could sit down and actually play with the sand. Instead, he walked around and just poke at the sand with his little rake. Silly Tyler.

Family picture! I'm not sure what Tyler is (double) pointing at. We'll have to come back to the beach one of these days when the weather is nicer. Or maybe not. I don't see what the huge allure of the beach is honestly, lots of sand to get everywhere, and sun burn. This past weekend we also tried out a new plaza that opened on Jamboree near where we used to live. I think it's mostly Korean stores and restaurants. We tried out a place called Chae Bahn which served mostly bibimbap. Tyler was throwing a fit that we wouldn't let him play with the metal chopsticks though. Sigh. I sure hope eating out with Tyler will get easier...
Tyler still loves playing in his little car, although he's still only moving backwards in it. Most of the time, Will and I push him around, and he waves and says 'Hi' to whoever is sitting around. Will will push him around quite recklessly actually, and make vroomvroom sounds and dangerous quick braking swerves. I caught Tyler playing with one of his trucks the other day going 'vroom vroom'! This from a kid who we bribe with yogurtland to get him to say some words! :)And lastly, as a member of the Baskin Robbin's birthday club (yup!) I got a coupon for a free kid's scoop on my birthday! We hit up the local Baskin Robbins where Will/Tyler shared a kid's cone of orange sherbert and I got a regular scoop of Cookies and Cream. Yum! I think this was the first time Tyler has ever had ice cream, and even then, it wasn't really ice cream since it was Sherbert! He loved it! This photo below is of him mid-lick of his spoon. yum!
That's it folks! Hope you all have a nice week!