Big Boy Bed!

It seems like Lucius is growing up so fast! After he climbed out of his pack-n-play in Vegas, we decided it was time to convert his crib into a Big Boy Bed! He thinks it's great and hangs out on his bed. He calls it his bee bo beh. The first night he did fall out once so I put a comforter on the ground to pad his fall. It seems to be working out so far. Before I know it, he'll be shaving!





Playing with his favorite kinda toy: Trucks!!!





Lucius climbed into the Z and Michael was tickled. He said" get the camera, quick!" with a big grin. He's cute!


~j

Las Vegas

My mom recently moved to Las Vegas. Lucius and I had to jump on the opportunity to visit her since she's so darn close! Even though they have been living in their house for 3 weeks, their furniture still hadn't arrived yet. Thus, a huge indoor playground for Lucius to run around in! He had a blast! It was great to see my mom, even though it reached 106 degrees! Air conditioning you say... she keeps the house at a balmy 85. Nice, huh? Needless to say, we spent some time at shopping malls and Target. It's fair to say, Lucius loves his Halmoni (he pronounced it Um-e). He was calling for her all week! They laughed and ran and played all over the place. I can't wait to go back soon and see her and Dennis. I think the next time we go back will be mid December.

We went to this mall because they had this great play area. However it was under going renovations for the entire week we were there. It's a good thing we found these carts with a car attachment. For Lucius, it's just like an amusement park!




Halmoni and Lucius





Having lots of fun!










Sweet Baby!



~j

Gram & Grandpa's Visit

The weekend following our trip down south, my grandparent came up for a visit. Like I mentioned before, it's hard to get quality time in when we visit the fam, so it was a real treat to have them all to ourselves!! We had loads of fun. Lucius loves his great-grandparents. He couldn't stop asking for Santa! While they were here, we went to Tilden park to ride on the steam trains and the Merry Go Round (yeah, we do that often... but Lucius LOVES it!!). On Sunday, we had a BBQ at my brothers' new place, which is about 8 blocks away!! It was great. I continually feel blessed and extraordinarily lucky to have a such a wonderful family. That's probably the greatest gift Lucius will inherit.

Catalina & Disneyland!!

We all went to SoCal for my cousin Travis' wedding on Catalina. It was our first time there... and maybe our last. It was quite a pretty penny for the boat ride out there... However, it was a gorgeous day. We got to spend the weekend with my cousin Jess and her sweet baby, Blason. It was great to get some one on one time with her. So often, we are surrounded by dozens of family members, it's hard to get real quality time in.

Sunday, the day after the wedding, Patricia took us to Disneyland for the first time. Another sunny and hot day. Surprisingly enough, the lines were not too bad. The longest was Dumbo... but honestly, I can understand why! We rode on lots of fun rides and had a great time. By 5pm, Lucius was done for, and Grammy Patricia took him home while Michael and I rocked it out for the rest of the night. Very cool. Overall, it was another great trip down south. I've got a great Mother-in-Law!

The boat ride with Jess, Blason, Aunt Kim, Me, Michael & Lucius





Grandpa and Blason




Post Wedding



The nuptials



Grammy, Lucius and Gramma



Check out the slide show for more Pics!
~j

The photographer

I found Lucius with the camera yesterday. He was not very happy when I took it away. It wasn't until I uploaded the pictures that I realized he had actually taken some pics! This was the scene:


Don't take the camera away!



The prized picture!








I've been working on a new stained glass piece. Just finished today!

Fun in the sun weekend

It was warm, sunny and beautiful this weekend- way too nice to stay inside! So Michael, Lucius and I went to Tilden Park to ride the steam trains and the merry go round. Last time we went, Michael stayed home, so it was a real treat for him.









Had a hard time getting a good picture!
























On Saturday, we went to the Alameda Wine & Arts Fair. Ate some street food and Lucius played with some wooden trains. There was a petting zoo, jumpy castles, beer, vendors, wine, and live music. Good times. The main event for Lucius was the huge inflatable slide. He gets such a kick out of it. I think it's kinda scary. The drop off is straight down. He just laughs and laughs! My brothers and Kolya met up with us and stayed for dinner. It was nice to see them.









Lucius looking in on the petting zoo (he's too afraid of the animals to pet them)







The kids being silly!



We are gearing up for a trip down to SoCal. My cousin Travis is getting married on Santa Catalina Island. We have to catch a ferry there. Should be fun. Then, on Sunday, we are going to Disneyland with Grammy!! Wooo Hoo!! Very exciting. I hear there are many rides Lucius can go on. I'm just curious to see how he will do with all that stimulation and napping in the car??? Maybe we'll have to go for a drive around the parking lot! Wish us luck!





Does every kid do this?? He found my lipstick and proceeded to put it on! Too funny! He does this just like his Auntie Emily!











He is so funny!

Feeling much better...

This past weekend was a total wash! Michael and I got horribly ill with food poisoning!! Poo! (if you know what I mean!) It was horrible, awful, painful and gross! Thankfully, it only lasted the weekend. But by Monday, my girlfriend Erin called up to see if I could watch Eden. Seems she and her hubby got ill too. Hmmm, maybe not food poisoning.... hmmm... So we brought Eden over and had a grand ole time. Lucius can now say Eee Dee, for Eden. We also watched her on Tuesday. I think he thinks that if he just says her name, we'll go get her. He's cute.

Zoning out to Elmo's Potty Time

We eat in the nude at the Acker House!

A busy week....

Had some good times these past few days. Most Importantly, it was Michael's birthday. We celebrated by eating brunch at Otaez, in Alameda. It was nice to get out and not cook. Michael's birthday was on a Thursday and he had to work. So, the real celebration commenced on Saturday. We went to Water World with Chris, Niccole and Kai while Lucius spent the day at Erin's house. It was a blast. I can't even remember the last time I went to a water park. It was a warm and sunny day AND they sold booze! Good times. We used a waterproof camera and have to get the pics developed.

We also did some East Bay exploring and made our way to Lake Anza in Tilden Park with Erin, Mary Jane, Eden, Sara and Race. Another warm and beautiful day and they sold ice cream and espresso! Only in the Bay Area! It felt like a mini vacation.

Birthday Flan!

Happy?

Hangin' out at Kelly's house with the kids! We got together to welcome home Alex and Araliya from their long trip to Sri Lanka. It was good to see them doing better! Araliya got very sick in Sri Lanka and was hospitalized for many days. We were all very worried for her and glad to see them home!

Storytime before bed. He's so sweet. We read the same 3-5 books a night: Big Dog Little Dog, Moo Baa La La La, Hop on Pop, Hands Hands Fngers Thumbs and Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear? I can recited them all from memory complete with the voices and sound effects!

He loves wearing my shoes, cute. He says "Mama, Shoos"

I thought that these monkey bandaids would help distract Lucius from the pain of a boo boo. I think they actually freaked him out! He wouldn't even let me take them off. Poor Baby! Scraped both knees real good.

The Fam at Lake Anza post Chocolate Cherry Coke Float

Pretty cool huh? Unfortunately we went on a Wednesday. Turns out that's day camp day. There was about 75 kids. You can see that the water is marked off? If you swim outside that area, you get fined $250. Ouch!

Finn, Lucius and Race post haircut. We went to Sara's house and there Bridget cut all 3 boy's hair. Race and Lucius didn't do well. On the other hand, Finn faced it like a champ. Either way, they all look very handsome!

Happy Independance Day!!

Had a great day today. Saw the Alameda July 4th parade for the first time. The Garvie's, the Hunt's, the Ward's and the McConnell's all rocked it out at Kathleen & Dave's place. After the parade, Dave fired up the BBQ and busted out some great food. Then the kids all jumped into the kiddie pool. It was a great time, considering Lucius didn't nap. BUT, he did go down at 7pm for the night, as opposed to 8:30! Happy Independence Day!!
~mami jen
ps, thanks to Grant & Erin for the photos. Can't figure out how to make them fit in page.... sorry!

1st Annual Acker Sterling & Hunt Family Vacation!

Beautiful sunny Lake Tahoe. The weekend before July 4th, the Sterling's and the Hunt's joined us in Lake Tahoe for a super fun weekend filled with horseshoes, bocci, bbqin', hot sunny beach, bubbly hot tubbin' good times! (oh, and babies too!) We had so much fun... we decided that it was not long enough time and that we need to do it again!!

(Some photos are courtesy of Stacey.... Thanks Stacey!)

~mami jen

The view from the beach umbrella

The great house!!

The boys playing Bocci Ball

Stacey and Thomas

The Mountains

Sunday was Stacey and Greg's Anniversary. We celebrated with a steak dinner... Yum!

Mami & Baby Lu

All the kids!

Lucius Loved the hot tub. But really, who doesn't???

Arrr! Ye be walkin' the plank!

On June 20th, we meet up with the Sterling's and the Hunts in Vallejo for a Pirate Festival. It was a rip roaring good time! The Acker's love to dress up and we looked great... if I do say so myself! There must have been 15,000 people there eating smoked turkey legs and wearing eye patches. They had a tall boat that was firing cannons and live music to dance to. We had a blast dancing, drinking and exploring all of the vendors booths. The most fun was at the gambling corner where is was like a Chuck E. Cheese. One game was called Mouse Maze. Basically, there was a round, roulette style table and which ever # the mouse went to won! Then you could exchange your winnings for prizes. We had a great time and for sure won't miss next years festival!

Father's Day

We had a great time on Fathers day. It began with a ferry ride to San Francisco. This was the 2nd time Lucius rode the ferry. He loved it. Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day: sunshine with a cool breeze. We met up with Niccole and Jose for lunch at Boulettes Larder, a restaurant where our friend Laurie works. It was nice enough to sit outside. We ate everything! Lamb chops, sardines, beignet's and a fresh salad. We left feeling full and happy. We caught the ferry home, but this time we we rode around the bay and got a great view of Angel Island. It was a great day even though Lucius peed on me and Michael. Ahhh, the joys of parenthood!

The morning ride, 1st stop, Jack London Square!

Lucius loved the boat ride!

Waiting to board the ferry at Peir 41

After a well deserved nap, we all went to Foster's Freeze for dinner (Papi's choice!) and there Lucius had his very first ice cream cone. What do you think.... did he like it?? You will see to the right, there is a link to our videos on you tube. I posted a short video of him chowin down on that cone. Check it out!

Mmmmm, Ice cream!!

~mami jen