Another Fun Weekend

OK, so it wasn't all roses what with all three of our key players being sick, but they did manage to have some great moments this past weekend. Grandma and Grandpa Munns came over Saturday morning and everyone gathered at the pool. Erin decided to try to get some sun before jumping in the pool, but with that sunscreen slathered all over her, she didn't succeed much, if at all. Her only solace was that Jake was just as snowy as she was. After having a great lunch, Parker took his nap while the rest of the folks played cards. Then Grandma and Grandpa took Parker to Costco while Erin and Jake stayed home to relax a little. They all went out to dinner at Lone Star, but Parker was fussy and too wound up to eat. Fortunately, Grandpa rescued Parker (or was it everyone else?) and took him outside to explore while the rest of the family finished eating in peace.

On Sunday it was declared (without declaration) a stay-at-home-and-rest day. Although there was still a lot of cleaning, laundry and cooking throughout the day, there were still plenty of moments to just hang out and play. Parker was in heaven having Dada's full attention all day, giving Mama a much needed break to nap, read and have Mama "alone" time. Parker prefers playing with Dada as he is much more creative with the blocks. They came up with all sorts of new ways to use them, and Parker enjoyed the usual destruction of them as well, as portrayed in the first video below. Parker also created a new game with one of his toys - one from which Mama and Dada were not sure exactly what kind of pleasure he was getting, but at least they all got some laughs from it. Mama managed to catch the tail end of it on the second video below.

Play Date Fun

On Thursday Erin and Parker met up with Morgan and Ethan at the local playground. Ethan rode to the park in his favorite car, which Parker decided was the coolest thing at the playground that day. Ethan was gracious enough to let Parker play with it to his heart's content. While Parker pushed around the car, Ethan wandered around talking to everyone at the park and seeing what they were up to. He is quite the social butterfly! Erin and Parker look forward to the next play date with them.

Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Munns

Parker spent Friday night again at Grandma and Grandpa's and got to have lots of adventures with them. They went to two different malls and Parker got to go on two different carousels! He also got to experience the little trains in Costa Mesa that we were unable to ride on Father's day (they only run every third weekend of the month, so they're hard to catch). Above are some pictures from his fun weekend.

A Little Helper

Parker has been quite the little helper lately. He always wants to help put groceries away, put the laundry in the hamper or the washer and dryer, fold clothes, help mama pick out her outfits, put on his diaper, etc. As you'll see in the video below, his "helping" can sometimes create more of a mess, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Visit with Jenny, Steve and Eloise

On Friday, July 11, Erin and Parker went to Jenny (an old co-worker of Erin's) and Steve's house. They have been remodeling their place and it looks great! Erin couldn't believe their yard was the same place she had seen back when she was pregnant with Parker.

Jenny was babysitting her mom's dog, Eloise, and Parker loved her. Jenny, Eloise, Erin and Parker all went for a walk to the park, and Jenny let Parker hold Eloise's leash for a little while. Parker felt all grown up walking the doggie. Poor Eloise got surprised a couple of times when Parker let go (it was a roll-in tension type leash), but she was a trooper about it. Now every time Parker sees a dog being walked, he asks to hold the leash. :) It was a fun visit and nice to catch up with some old friends.

To see Eloise's own blog, and view a picture of Jenny, Parker and Eloise, click here.

Fourth of July Family Reunion

For the Fourth of July, Erin's side of the family had a big reunion at her Aunt Debbie and Uncle John's house in Fresno, CA. Jake, Erin and Parker stayed with Erin's sister, Leann, and her husband Greg and baby Lily, who were gracious enough to put up with Erin's stress and, um, let's call it "crankiness." They moved to Fresno in June, which is 45 minutes away from where Greg is based for the next two years to serve as a doctor in the Navy. Erin's little sister, Sarah, has moved in with them to be Lily's nanny when Leann returns to work as a nurse anesthetist.

At the big party on Saturday, there was a huge BBQ and a hired DJ, who also MC'd some karaoke (more on that, later).








Erin's cousin, Jen, and her boyfriend Rigel are having a baby girl, so a fun baby shower was also given to help them get started with all the baby essentials. Many people participated in creating onesie's for the baby girl-to-be. As you can see, Erin's sister, Leann, decided no girl should go without a bikini.

Some people were hard to catch on camera (where did all those teenage boys go?), but Erin managed to snag a few when people weren't noticing (Grammie with the food, Aunt Sally and Uncle Chris drinking O'Douls,

Aunt Debbie taking pics, Uncle John picking up after everyone, and Erin's cousins Kristin and Mariah whom she had to chase around to get a shot). Uncle Larry on the other hand, the usual ham, grinned easily into the camera.



The youngest gals, Autumn and Abigail, posed prettily.










It was nice to also have Erin's Aunt Barbi, Uncle Wayne and cousin Viktoria from her Dad's side of the family also join in the fray. Viktoria and Lily got along famously.




Greg and Jake stuck close together, a survival technique non-blood family members are prone to do when put in the middle of Erin's family. Erin's sister Leann, decided only an extra large beer would do, and Parker had a great time sweeping in the nude. Even though the drive was rather stressful as Parker is not a happy camper in the car and will not sleep easily anywhere, Jake, Erin and Parker managed to have some fun on the trip and even dared to sing karaoke (see dangerously scary videos below). Erin's brother, Richie, was the star of the show (as you can see, he didn't want his Dad to steal any of his glory).

Beach Fun

On Friday June 27th, Erin and Parker spent the morning at Laguna Beach with Parker's Great-Grandparents Chet and Betty Rice, along with Jake's cousin Carrie and her children, Zachary and Lily. Lily is over two years old and she and Parker got along really well. Parker loved to copy anything Lily was doing. When she lay down on the blanket to rest, he did the same (can Erin please borrow her for every nap time?). They both also loved getting their feet wet in the water and playing in the sand (although Lily was a little more lady-like and preferred not to get the sand all over her while Parker was ready to eat the sand if necessary)! All in all it was great fun and was a day to remember. P.S. Erin apologizes for her scary white legs.

Noon on Sunday

Jake recently had an online article written about him by a fellow co-worker who has started to write about the lives of South Orange County Community College employees. See the article here.

To further add to that article - Jake is now playing in a new band that consists of four other members that are also employees at Saddleback College. They are still deciding on a band name, but at the moment the most favored is "Noon on Sunday" (which is the time they meet regularly to practice). They already have a few gigs lined up, but having had only four practices, they are trying hard to get polished for the first gig which is at the school Chancellor's Open Session, which welcomes district faculty and staff and gives an overview of the year to come. They are only doing covers at the moment, but depending on how things go, they may end up working on original music as well. Jake is the lead guitarist and is also singing lead on one of the songs so far.

To hear some of Jake's music, you can visit the following websites:
Jake's first band, Pepperstomp: http://www.myspace.com/pepperstomp
Jake's solo album, TOOSI: www.outofstyleinnocent.com

Farter's Day

Father's Day this year was quite the adventure. Erin surprised Jake by having Grandma and Grandpa Munns take Parker Friday and Saturday night so Jake and Erin could have some extra time to relax by themselves. Jake and Erin went out to dinner both Friday AND Saturday night as the opportunity to go out to eat without a baby just seemed too appealing to pass up. On Sunday they all got together and tried to go to the free little trains in Costa Mesa, but they were unfortunately closed for the holiday. They all met up at Grandma and Grandpa's instead and had a wonderful chicken lunch that Grandma prepared. Parker was rather cranky and tired and wanted to go home so the TOOSI's packed up and headed home early on Sunday where Jake and Parker decided to spend the rest of Father's Day farting together.

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to the site of the TOOSI's (The Out of Style Innocents) where you can read ongoing tales of Jake, Erin and Parker (OK, mostly Parker). Please come by often to visit us.