Strollerobics and AquaMa

Since I quit working at the gym in January, I was concerned about how I would maintain my youthful figure. Joining a gym with childcare was just too expensive. Lucky for me, while browsing the City of San Mateo park and rec booklet, I discovered the hidden gem of Strollerobics! That's right all you fellow moms out there--you do aerobic dance routines with your baby in the stroller! And the kid doesn't even cost extra! So I signed up for Strollerobics on Fridays, and the same teacher does Power Stroll in the park on Wednesdays, so I signed up for that too. We meet with our babies at Central Park and power walk, run bleachers and sprints, do push-ups, etc. It is very fun and London gets to watch the squirrels and laugh at her mom. Last month San Mateo sponsored a city-wide exercise campaign and invited our class to perform at the kick-off. As a former cheerleader and BYU folk dancer, how could I pass up an opportunity to be on stage? I debated on whether or not to put the video on here, but couldn't figure out how. Too bad for you and the rest of those scoping youtube!



For the summer, my teacher is doing another seasonal class called Aqua Ma. In this one, you do water aerobics with your baby in a floatie. I'm a big fan of this teacher who, as a fifty-something woman has a great body and possibly more spunk than my sister-in-law, Jill, so I had to try it. Also, I read that babies should be introduced to the pool before 18 months to prevent pool phobia, and London was already starting to freak out in the bathtub, so I considered it my duty as her mother to get her acclamated to the community pool, pee and all. I even got my good friend Meagan and her daughter, Ella, to join us! So who would want to work out on the treadmill or stairmaster when you can have this much fun?

4th of July BBQ

Our good friends, the Beckers, hosted an awesome BBQ to celebrate Independence Day! They even got a blow-up pool for the backyard that all the kids enjoyed. We had a rubber ducky race, made friendship bracelets, and played in the "human elastics!" Of course there was tons of great food--so much that my two pans of Barefoot Contessa flag cake were hardly touched! Oh well...more leftovers for us! London had a great time in the pool, exept when Russell jumped in and made her cry. We didn't do fireworks that night--Tim had worked until 1am the past two nights, so he was tired. Instead, we rented "Breach" a movie about the worst traitor in US intelligence history. Looking back it wasn't the most patriotic movie, but at least he got caught!

Bride & Groom shots

These are photos I shot of Tim's little sis & fiance. I think if you double click the slideshow it will get larger.

Megan & Matt Engagement Pictures

I took engagement pictures for Tim's sis and her fiance on Saturday. Tim helped by coming up with some of the poses, holding up a white sheet for added light, and providing comedic relief! We started out at Kohl Mansion, only to get regulated by some nazi wedding planner: "There's a wedding going on right now inside! They are at the alter!" Apparently we were ruining the view, so we obligingly relocated out of site of the ceremony. Then my battery died, and we had to go home and recharge it and change locations. I'm such a rookie! At least we got some good pictures--how could they be that bad with a couple this good-looking? Megan & Matt then kindly put London to bed and babysat while Tim and I went to a community theater production of "The Woman in Black," a play I saw while I was in London. (I think that's the first time I've used her name and the city in the same sentence--kind of weird!) I'll be taking some bride & groom shoots tomorrow in the city--this time I'll be sure to charge my battery! If anyone wants to vote for their favorite photo, I'm sure the happy couple would appreciate help in narrowing it down...

Berries and Politics...

Yesterday London and I went with some friends to pick berries at a u-pick ranch in Palo Alto! London was my taster and followed me along testing my bounty. We got loads of raspberries and blackberries and made a scrumdiddlyumptious cobbler last night. Yum! As I picked, I had such a good time and thought to myself, "why do people say we need immigrants to do this kind of labor?" And now I must wax political. Tim and I decided that the whole immigration issue is not discussed in the proper context. Really, the question is do the immigrants, with their labor, benefit our economy enough to outweigh the draws they make on our social programs? No! So rather than talking about building fences or the dreaded amnesty, what we really should be doing is getting rid of the social programs that eat up our tax dollars without solving any of the problems they are meant to. Not only would that address immigration, but it would address the sorry state of welfare in this country. Who doesn't like killing two birds with one stone?

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day yesterday. Tim told me not to get him anything, so I tried to be creative in making him feel special without spending a lot. I asked my neighbor to snap some photos of me and London and framed a couple for his desk at work.





My Dad came over for dinner, which was part of the surprise also. We had cashew chicken and orange chicken with homemade fortune cookies. (BTW, Trader Joe's orange chicken was pretty good if you can't get to Panda Express...) The fortunes were "reasons why London and I love you." Thanks to Meagan for the great idea! Dad (Grandpa) brought London a new BYU t-shirt home from Utah, so she had to sport it for our family photo. We also enjoyed the Man vs. Wild marathon on the Discovery channel. I hope I succeeded in making a great Father's Day!

Bedhead

It's a good thing my daughter isn't old enough to be either 1) web savvy enough to know her photo is on the world wide web or 2) be embarassed by it, because if she were she might get back at me by 1) forcing me to play peek-a-boo 68 times in a row at breakfast (as opposed to the usual 37 or so) or 2) dumping the bowl of cheerios on her head and ruining a perfectly good hairdo.