quick sunday post

we had an impromptu dinner party tonight with eric, colleen, the kids, ron, laurie and jenny. ollie wore his superhero pajamas and we could not pass up the photo op. look at how cute they are!

the elephant seals at san simeon

meredith and i decided to make the trip to see the elephant seals. january is when they give birth, so we thought it would be quite the national geographic experience. it did NOT disappoint! nearly every female seal had a pup next to her, and the volunteer that was there answering questions said that there had been three births so far that morning.

i wish i had gotten a picture of the whole beach because there were hundreds of seals. here is a shot of a male asserting his position as leader of his...harem (?) of lady seals.

a mom with her baby. some of the babies were so new they were wrinkly and slick with birth goo. this is one of the older ones.

this is the biggest male we saw. look at those war wounds on his neck!

here is the baby we saw being born! it happened so quickly we almost missed it and just happened to be looking in the right direction. i believe the seal on the right is the mother. the volunteer said, 'wait for the afterbirth to come out, that's when the seagulls REALLY come.' gross. GROSS!

sullivan was fascinated by the seals. after being in the car for an hour i thought we'd have a hard time corralling him, but he sat, perfectly content, in my arms for a good half hour. my biceps were sore the next day.

meredith got some video of battling males. 'blue planet' people, we've got some video for you...

dancing machine

sullivan was in a dancing mood the other night before bed. as you can see, he is exhausted but couldn't help himself. there are always dance parties at eric and colleen's, and so far sullivan has been uninterested, but maybe he is turning the corner...

monarch butterfly grove

every year hundreds of thousands of butterflies migrate for the winter, and a few thousand of those choose this grove of eucalyptus trees to call home.

we saw these two flutter to the ground in an amorous embrace.

after we ambled through the grove, sully found a little creek and discovered that he LOVES throwing things into water. meredith and i were entertained for bit, but after ten minutes or so, we decided to head home. sullivan went into full blown temper tantrum meltdown. as a carried him to the car, a sweet lady came up to us and said, "i thought he was a peacock!' before we got to the car we heard another man say, 'he sounds just like a raven.' he made quite a spectacle in the peaceful calm of the grove. :)

oso flaco

our outing this day was to oso flaco, a nature preserve in nipomo. we were going to meet eric and the crew there, but sully's nap went insanely long, so we got there very late. we did see them there though, as they were headed back from the beach, so i'm glad we didn't miss them entirely.

oso flaco is a great take to place toddlers because you can use the stroller! the trail to the beach is a boardwalk and it is perfect for a beautiful, leisurely walk.

grandma and pappy arrive and visit the village

grandma and pappy arrived and instantly fell back into step with sullivan. for this outing, we went to andreini's, the local coffee shop, and after we went to the swinging bridge.

arroyo grande has its own resident roosters. this one his my favorite--i just love his feather pants!

always mugging for the camera. :)

sully's new favorite perch is on anyone's willing shoulders.

day at the pier

January 5th:

Meredith is heeeeere!! i couldn't be happier or more relieved. We took a walk on the pier which turned into a crazy game of 'keeping-sully-out-of-trouble.' between bird poo, splinters and painted rails which were impossible for sully to resist chewing, we had our hands full. but it was a beautiful day and sullivan certainly got his exercise.

Sully loved looking at the surfers. Already interested in his future sport.... :)

a sample of sully blabber

i took this video on the way home from the park. He is making new sounds everyday, and so far these are my favorite. Since this was taken, which was maybe last week, he is making different noises that meredith and I have been trying to imitate to no avail. I'll get video of that next. :)

made especially for ryan, who is working hard in new york.

we love you! come home soon. :)

the grandparents react

my parents reaction to hearing that they will be grandparents for a SECOND time in june. they thought i was taking a picture so dad is posing very sweetly throughout.