LAX-SFO... Germany?

You know it's a good weekend when you start in San Francisco and end at Oktoberfest. The Desotell Fam headed up to SF for the weekend to attend friend Dorothy's wedding (yay Dot!!) The trip was short, but we were able to do a few of our favorite things.

Nick & Daddy heading to the car to meet Kevin's god-daughter, Emma, and her mommy, Hope, for dinner on Friday night. Mmm - Celia's. Tasty food and even tastier margaritas...


Nick checking out the BART schedule, making sure he doesn't miss his train.


The Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building on Saturday morning - can't beat it. As per his normal Farmer's Market routine, Nick 'grazed' his way through the place.


Mommy & Nick eating lunch at Americano. Nick has mastered drinking out of a straw - although he still doesn't realize that if he's sipping from a straw, he doesn't need to tip the cup up to his mouth. Hence the bib - or we'd have one wet Munchkin.


Nick takes advantage of an open couch - those can be hard to come by during a typical Friday happy hour.


A big day out makes for one tired little boy.


That evening, good friends Kirsten & Sean agreed to watch Nick while we went to Dot & Eugene's wedding. The report was that Nick was a good boy and didn't break anything this time!

The wedding was at the Old Fed in the Financial District. It was beautiful and so was Dot!


Here's the happy bride with friends Bindu & Thushara.


And the two of us enjoying a rare evening out sans-Munchkin.


So, where does Germany come into all of this? Why Oktoberfest at Alpine Village in Torrance, of course! It's apparently the biggest Oktoberfest in all of North America. We returned home early enough on Sunday to catch the last day.


It was lots of fun - tons of kids running around, fun music - balloons for the kids...


And, of course, beer. You can't be at Oktoberfest without drinking a stein of beer, can you?

Yes, more Vegas photos...

I told you there were a lot! Just a few to update here...

I mean, really, don't you want to see that little face?


Someone said this should be our Christmas photo for this year. Hmm, given how my dress makes me look about seven months pregnant, no thanks!!


Nick's face says it all - "Who ARE these people and WHAT did they do to Mommy & Daddy?"


Kevin hates me posting the pics with his wig on, but I just can't help it.

Needles? Pshaw!

Nick had his 18-month check-up yesterday. Nope, no pictures, but just wanted to share just what a big boy he is becoming (both literally and figuratively!!)

First - the stats:
Height: 2 ft., 10.5 in. - almost 3 feet tall!!
Weight: 32 lbs, 10 oz. - no wonder Kevin & I have sore backs most of the time

Second - the needles!
Thankfully, he is up to date on all his vaccinations, so we lucked out there. But he did get a flu shot and had his blood drawn. I wasn't TOO worried about the flu shot, as those are pretty quick. But I was REALLY nervous about the blood draw - as the previous data suggests, he's a big boy and quite strong. So if he didn't want that needle in his arm, you can bet he'd have a pretty good chance of getting out of my grip.

So - flu shot. No problem. Not even a whimper, didn't phase him.
Next - blood draw. The nurses (who, by the way, weren't the nicest ladies when we arrived - were totally enamored with Nick by the time we left) held his arm while I held his other arm and his body. Nick didn't move an inch! Just watched them put the needle in, draw the blood and then put the guaze & tape on his arm. Not even a TEAR. Not a peep, not a scream - nuthin'.

He's getting to be such a big boy...

So, did it stay in Vegas?

Let me just say that it was HARD to pick photos - there were just too many to choose from!! But I tried not to "over-photo" (that's an official blogging term, I'll have you know. Well, not really, but it should be!!) So, here we go.

Friday night - this photo really doesn't do justice to the entire night. Lots of drinks, food, fun, etc. This was Kevin's night out and here he is with the crew at the Pink Taco at the Hard Rock Hotel.


Earlier in the evening, we all joined the crew at Margaritaville at the Flamingo Hotel. The photos from there weren't all that fun. But note to others with babies - it's OK to have them IN the bar, just not AT the bar. Nick was very bummed that he couldn't belly-up to the vat of margaritas that we ordered.

Here is the lovely Cupid's Wedding Chapel where the renewal of the vows took place. Background - Christy & TJ were married over 15 years ago and decided to renew their vows in Vegas by an Elvis impersonator. Not to be folks that would let a prime opportunity to dress up go by, all the attendees dressed up as Elvis. (Well, some of us dressed up more than others...)


We all got there via a mini-bus. Now, I'm sure some of you are saying - did you bring a car seat in the bus for Nick? Well, no. Should we have? Yea, probably. Especially since the cab drivers that were supposed to take us back wouldn't take us without a seat. Hmm... hopefully no one from CPS is reading this.

Nick loved sitting in Mommy's seat watching everyone cruise in the mini-bus.



By now you may have noticed that Nick is not in an Elvis suit (nor is Mommy or Daddy for that matter). Of course when the plan was being discussed, I had plenty of time to order Nick an Elvis costume on-line. But did I? No. Figured the costume stores around here would have them. Yea. That's what I thought. But, no. So, instead, he's a pirate - while I won't go into the full explanation of why it was still appropriate, it was - not to worry.

But - not to fear - others had extra wigs and glasses!!


We figured this is what Elvis looked like when he couldn't find his pills...


Thank you. Thank you very much.


The happy couple... with their donated Elvis gear of course...


The whole crew of 'Elvis-ites'


"Crazy-hair" Elvis and his little pirate


The Ladies


And the Gentlemen...


So after an annoying period of trying to figure out how we were going to get back to the hotel without a car seat for Nick for the cab, we finally got back and headed out to the reception. It was at the Hofbrau Haus - so fun! It was Oktoberfest, after all! Nick decided that he'd let Mommy & Daddy have some food & fun while he caught up on his beauty sleep.


Jon was a very happy Best Man with his two steins of beer


And Laurent? He can sing with the best of them


Mind you with all of that excitement going on, Nick didn't stay asleep the WHOLE time - soon he was up and singing his own jams. Microphones and all.


Nick wondering who the heck is sitting in the car next to his carseat. Why do these Elvis-es keep following me????


So maybe you're wondering what pictures I didn't include? Well, there was some spanking, some horn-blowing, some shots of booze... but I need to protect the innocent. And, sure, yea, I'm talking about Nick. Of course.

Ahoy, it's bath time, matey!! Aarrgghhh!!!

Just a 'drive-by' post - the pictures from our weekend in Vegas are in process. And there will be some good ones, let me tell you. Think Elvis. Think costumes. Think wedding. Think Hofbrau Haus. And think champagne and beer. A lot of it.

So, in the meantime, here are a quick couple of pics, with one Vegas-teaser-pic at the end.

Nick having a grand old time in the bath tub. He especially loves it when he splashes just right and soaks Mommy and/or Daddy.


Of course the fun only lasts so long, Mommy brought out the camera again. I mean, come on Mom, my hair needs washing...


The cutest pirate ever. Take that Johnny Depp!!


I'd love to tell you that the hat and scarf stayed on for the duration, yea, but not so much.

Introducing... Sticker Boy!!

So the Fam went down to the OC last weekend to see the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit at the Bowers Museum in lovely Santa Ana. Nick was a trooper and even got his own audio device (Kevin smartly asked the docents for a broken one for him to "listen" to - good thinkin', honey!!) Nick liked looking at the horsies and the birdies that had long ago guarded the Chinese ruling classes.

After we finished with the exhibit, we headed outside so Nick could burn off some energy. All the kids that came along for the museum event (Tristan, Remy, Justine, Kyle, Noah, Rowan, Riley, Sean and Evan) thought it would be great fun to put everyone's ticket-stickers on Nick. And Sticker Boy was born.


We're still finding stickers in weird random places...

Here's a quick pic of Nick helping Mommy water the plants in the back yard. Thankfully - this time - he got water on the plants and not on his person (or Mommy, for that matter)!!


Gotta give a quick shout out to Nick's cousin Matt's football team - it's hard to see but I can verify that Nick was sporting a Michigan Tech football shirt in this picture. As well as a football, of course! Go Huskies!! (We've got the 'Go' part down (see previous post), we're still working on the Huskies part.)


Sigh, 'shout out' has a whole new meaning now. I suppose as long as I'm not winking at a television camera that is broadcasting across the world and not saying 'You betcha' or 'Joe six-pack', then I'm OK.

Goooooo!

Well, I think we've done it. We've raised a football fan. Nick watching Monday Night Football. He likes to yell at the TV just like Mommy & Daddy. And do a little happy dance too. Unfortunately the video camera ran out of battery power so it's sorta choppy at the end, but you get the idea...