Novogradac Party

A couple Saturday's ago, we went to Matt's annual company picnic. Reagan and Matt went straight to the pool when we got there. NorCal has pretty hot as of late, so the pool felt fantastic. As demonstrated below...our child can fly! Oh, the ice cream cone. This chic went nuts. The food, as usual, was great at the picnic. It was catered by Back Forty Texas BBQ and also Tucker's Ice Cream had a cart there. The waffle cones were fresh and there were 6 different heavenly flavors to choose from. Reagan went crazy over the ice cream. It wasn't exactly a small cone and she downed the entire thing. She would not let go of it and it got all over her shirt. She made quite a scene. The baby wipes came in handy.

It was a great day and Matt continued his winning streak of the games by taking both rounds of the potato sack race. Unfortunately for him, I was his partner for the egg toss and just maybe we would have won that if I hadn't nose dived backwards over the hedge behind me. I even have the cat-like scratches to prove it. It was a clumsy, awkward fall that actually kind of hurt and I am sure it only added to the wonderful reputation I have at these parties that began three years ago when I tripped during the potato sack race, getting egg all over my hair and taking Matt out with me. I vow next year to remain out of these games.

Apologies for our lack of blogging lately. We are in Utah helping watch my nephew and being with family, so I haven't had much time to post, but I have a gazillion photos and maybe some news to share here and there when we get back, so stay tuned. Love to everyone.

Budding Artist and 4th of July

Reagan showed off her skills as an up and coming artist. The name of this piece is "what can I do while mom is in the shower?" She was so proud of it. As long as the pen only ends up on her epidermis, I must leave it out more often.4th of July began with possibly the best breakfast ever: pancakes, bacon and eggs at the church. This is probably one of the five mornings a year that I do not have Fiber One cereal for breakfast. It was followed by a bike parade in the church parking lot, which Reagan professionally "rode" in. Last year, I pushed her around in the stroller with my cool blades. This year, crippled Matt drove her around on the bike. Reagan loved it. She was surrounded by her favorites: friends on bikes.
For the third year in a row, we attended Singing Flag in Concord. Reagan didn't want to sit still for it, especially with a sno cone and a park nearby. But we enjoyed ourselves and got to see a great fireworks show. Reagan has fun no matter what if Addie is present. They could be doing nothing at all and Reagan will be giddy as can be.

Love this country.

For all you sports fans

Often when I am watching a tv show or a sports game or anything of the sort, someone will look familiar to me or look like someone I know. More often than not, these famous people look like my family. For instance, today as we watched the Wimbledon tournament, I was trying to figure out who Nadal reminded me of. Then it hit me: he resembles our brother-in-law Aaron (slightly...). Someday when my dad's hair turns completely gray, he will look just like Don Nelson, coach of the GS Warriors. When my brother Lance flares his nostrils, he looks like Kobe Bryant. Yes, I know all of these are a bit far-fetched and I may be the only one who sees it (although Matt DOES agree with me on the Kobe/Lance thing). But there is ONE comparison that nobody can deny and all our family does agree on this one: my brother Lorenzo is a DEAD RINGER for Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis plays for the Red Sox, so if you don't watch MLB, don't worry about this post. But if you know my brother, then catch the next game and I promise, you WILL SEE IT! For those who don't know and never will know my bro, here is a photo comparison.

My bro
Kevin (Boston)
My bro (who might make me remove this photo if he sees it)
Kev
Bro

Kev
Bro
Kev
Because of this comparison, I tend to be more of a Red Sox fan than anything else, so tonight when Joba the Hut tried to nail him with a pitch, I wasn't too happy about that. Please see this post where I discuss my temper when it comes to sports and loved ones. Thank you.

Chocolate Malted Krunch Ice Cream

If you don't believe me that this is amazing ice cream, just ask Reagan. You can't go wrong at a mere 1.99 per half gallon. And thanks to Matt, the nutrition facts are completely unknown, so who knows? Maybe it is fat-free or something.


As a side note, have I ever mentioned that Reagan likes to beg?

Reagan's Birthday Bash

Reagan woke up on her birthday to see her new bike, a gift from mom and dad and Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen! My dad made his famous stir-fry. It was one of the best meals we have had in a long time. We even put in the baby corn on the cobs, just for Matt.

My mom and I made a double chocolate pecan brownie cake for Reagan. I didn't have enough of that writing gel, so that is why her cake reads, "Happy Birth R." Ghetto, I know.
Reagan didn't know what to do with the candles, so she stared at them. She tried a couple of times to blow them out, but since it barely caught the flame at all, I ended up blowing them out for her.
She sure did love the ice cream, though. Chocolate Malted Krunch from Thrifty's!!

She opened her presents. Do you like her shoes?


Grandma and Grandpa Roundy gave her the rocket from Little Einsteins to ride on.
It was a great day and I think Reagan really picked up on the mood of the day, that it was all about her.

Lindsey and Loni come to visit

We had my two sisters, Lindsey and Loni, out here last week to visit. Loni put some cute pics on her blog if you want to see them, and here are a few of mine. We had a good time.

Lindsey and Loni love accessories and Reagan loved that she could steal them from their suitcases and the bathroom and she would wear them around.
Lindsey did Reagan's hair almost every single day, which I loved. Doing her hair isn't my favorite part of the day, but I have been better this week. Driving around was pure entertainment for Reagan. She never took her eyes off L&L. Except for this photo, where she was really really tired.
We spent last Saturday at Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk. It was overcast and a little chilly, but we still had a great time.

Reagan and Matt played with this football for a while. Matt would toss it and they would chase after it, pushing each other out of the way. Reagan was laughing her head off, she loved it.
Despite the chill, Matt (as always) had to somewhat venture into the water. His cast kept him from completely immersing in the waves.
Before we headed home, we had to get one shot in front of the H20.
Proof that you CAN still sunburn in the overcast temps! Matt's mom is our own personal pharmacy consultant and she advised us to use barbasol on the burns. The next two days, Loni and Matt were spreading this stuff all over their faces, arms, and legs.
Feeding the ducks at Newhall. Reagan would not leave the bike. It was one of our first outings with it and she loved that I could push her. She threw bread from her parking spot.

Lindsey got in a little "scuffle" with this duck. It was extremely greedy and would get out of the water to come get bread from us. Lindsey would pat it on the bottom and scoot it back in the water, yelling at it. She didn't like his (her?) attitude.
Reagan is a professional eye-roller. We laugh daily at her when she does it, but here is a dark, but somewhat okay pic I finally caught of her starting to give me the "I'm gonna roll my eyes at you" stare. Hugging Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory bear outside the store in Vacaville.
Fishermans Wharf this week was sans Reagan and Matt. It was chilly and Loni was really smart and wore a dress. Lindsey bought Roland (her husband) some pants at the Alcatraz store and Loni begged her to let her wear them. Here they are at the famous Pier 39.

Waiting for the cable car, it was an hour wait! But towards the end, we had some slight entertainment when a guy popped out in a straight jacket and chains and attempted to undo the chains from himself. I was laughing because he looked JUST like Michael Scott does in the beginning of that episode where he is trying to be a magician and drops his key and Jim covers it up with his foot. Anyways, of course, the dude asked everyone to pay up, and Loni did give him a dollar because he was a total riot, even though he flashed his plumbers crack at everyone a few times.
We had to have Boudin again. If you had asked me 5 years ago if I would ever someday enjoy clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, I would have laughed at you. Now I love it. I used to hate sourdough bread and although I still do not like fish, clam chowder is pretty dang good. Oh yeah, and Boudin's chicken salad sandwich is the best.
After we dropped Lindsey and Loni off at the airport, I wanted to cry. I was so sad for Reagan especially. She had been surrounded by family and undivided attention for the last 10 days and now it was just me and Matt. Don't get me wrong, we love Regs and give her plenty of attention, but this kind of attention is different, you know how it is. Reagan still wakes up every morning and says "where Loni go?" However, since we will be spending the last 2 weeks of July in Utah, I don't feel so bad now for her now :):):)