We're Moving!...To a New Blog.

Please visit our new Prindle Family blog at (www.theprindlefamily.blogspot.com) for our future updates! This blog should stay up for a while (maybe even indefinitely...I'm not sure how it works...) in case anyone wants to revisit any of these wonderful memories :) See you there!

Father's Day 2010

After everyone headed home from the Kona Kai on Father's Day, we took Jared's boat for one last spin around the Shelter Island basin. We grabbed some sandwiches and anchored off of a sandy beach where we could pick out our favorite house on the Point, then Jared and Parker threw some lures in the water for a little bit. Parker informed us that he was fishing for a swordfish--better luck next time. Afterwards, Parker absolutely crashed out asleep on the bow of the boat, exhausted after such an action- and sun-packed weekend on the water. He looked so funny splayed out flat on the bow. We putted around the docks for a while, now choosing our dream sailboat, before we headed back to the launch ramp, pulled the boat out of the water, and headed home. Parker stayed asleep for the rest of the afternoon/evening, not waking up until we pulled into the driveway at home! You can tell by the look on his sleeping face that he was truly zonked!!

Father's Day Weekend

We were so lucky to be able to spend a warm, sunny weekend down in San Diego with Dee and Niki and Jared's family for Father's Day. We stayed at the Kona Kai on Shelter Island, while was truly like going on vacation in paradise for two days! We woke up to look at the boats docked right in front of our room and looked across the channel to the gorgeous homes along the shores of Point Loma. We spent two days swimming in the pool, playing in the sand, going for rides on Jared's boat, eating, and having a huge bon fire at night. Parker played longer and harder than I have ever seen him, with two of his cousins there and other family members for constant entertainment, a playground, water, sand, toys, and not a nap in sight! Needless to say, he fell asleep in about two seconds once he finally did get tucked into bed (way past his bed time). So much fun!

Silly in the Car

Feather Collection

I thought this looked so funny. Parker was really excited about collecting different types of feathers that he found while we were camping--he insisted on always having at least one feather in his hand at all times. I downloaded some cartoons to my ipod for him to watch during his antsiest times in the car, and while on our drive home I turned around to see him so carefully clutching a feather in each hand while delicately balancing the cartoon-playing ipod on his knee. Now that's multitasking!

Sailing Monterey Bay

On our last night in Big Sur, we drove up to Monterey to take a cruise around the Bay on a 47' sailboat. The weather was pretty nice, with a little bit of sun and a little bit of chilly fog; likewise, the sea conditions were pretty nice, with some calm patches mixed in with some bigger swells. There were only two other people on the boat with us (along with the captain), so we got to play around on the boat a little bit--Jared was SO happy to take the helm for a little while, and I had fun bobbing along with the boat up on the bow :) I'd say that Parker went through a roller coaster of emotions while on the boat--he sort of vacillated back and forth between having fun and being nervous! We went out for dinner in Monterey afterwards, which made for a nice way to end our last "real" day of our trip before we headed home.

Big Sur

We spent three wonderful nights camping at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Although we had reserved a camp site along the river, when we got there we discovered that our site was tightly surrounded by poison oak. Luckily, we were able to choose a different site, which ended up being huge and perfect for Parker to play in--plus, we were still able to hear the sound of the river in the stillness of the night! This is a perfect place to camp with kids--the river was an awesome place for Parker to play in, he could have splashed in there all day long. We had more beautiful weather, with just about no clouds or fog and warm days. We were surrounded by other quiet campers, so the nights were lovely and quiet for sleeping. We did a couple of easy hikes with Parker, although while I think he has quite a bit of Mountain Man in him, he certainly lacks hiking skills. He protested against walking on his own so much that it made me miss the days that he was small enough to carry in a front pack or backpack carrier! This is definitely a place that we'd like to come back to for more family camping in the future.

San Simeon

Our second stop on our camping trip was San Simeon State Park. We got there early on a Friday, and were able to choose a great campsite with lots of space and privacy. We only had one night here, so we relaxed and went for an evening bike ride since it was way too windy to walk down to the beach. Parker enjoyed more marshmallows here, too!

Montana de Oro

We headed up to the Central Coast area for about ten days of camping at the end of May. We loved our first stop at Montana de Oro State Park--the location is amazing. There are many easy biking/walking trails that are right along the bluffs over the ocean, making for a wonderful location to ride our bikes with Parker in tow. The views were amazing. The park still had lots of wildflowers blooming, which made for a beautiful contrast with the blue ocean. We had really nice weather here, which remained true for the rest of our trip!

Quote of the Day

"When you eat a fish, after you catch it and you eat it, what do you do with his eyeballs?" 06.02.10

Lego Builder

Parker is absolutely obsessed with Legos--he LOVES to build Lego ships all day long. In fact, tonight he said, "All I wanna do is make Lego ships, make Lego ships, make Lego ships." He has skipped over all of the age-appropriate Lego sets and sets his sights right on the age 7-14 year old sets! I always have to build the sets for him (although I admit that I actually enjoy building them), and then once they fall apart, he just uses the pieces to construct his own amazingly creative ships, which makes him just as happy as a new set built all perfectly. I ordered him a Lego catalog that came in the mail, and he has looked over the pages so many times that it is literally falling apart; he even often browses Amazon on my computer looking at sets. I'm going to try to take photos of his ships from time to time--here is his current favorite.

Water Bug

Parker had SO MUCH fun playing at Grammy and Grampy's pool today...he hasn't been swimming since at least last year, and he has never been very comfortable in the water (his first swimming lessons were a real bust). But I think today was the beginning of him finally having fun in the water, and hopefully things will just improve from here! He was timid to get in with me at first, but once he was in he just wanted to "pedal and splash" all day long! I had to hold onto him the whole time, but he was loving being in the water. I absolutely loved swimming in my grandparents' pool when I was a kid, so I know how much fun he will have once he opens up to learning to swim. Here's to the beginning of a great summer!

Strawberry Deliciousness

Since we had so many ripe strawberries to work with once we got home from the fields, I knew that I would have to find a way to use them all up quickly. I tried out a strawberry pie recipe that I found online, and it was fantastic! Luckily, I already had all of the ingredients at home, and it was so easy to make (especially with help from my little sous chef). The melted chocolate chips lining the pie crust were a ridiculously yummy touch. So good that we'll have to make this a yearly tradition after visiting the strawberry fields!

Strawberry Fields Forever

We went to the U-Pick Strawberry Fields in Carlsbad with Grammy, and had so much fun! You pay to pick a bucket full of berries, and then are turned loose in the fields to choose your own berries--we went for the reddest, ripest, plumpest, biggest berries we could find. There were so many amazing berries in the fields that we could have filled up the bucket within the first two feet of our row. None of us could resist sampling a few berries along the way--especially Mr. Parker, who seemed to have yet another strawberry in his mouth (and all over his face, hands, and sweatshirt) every time I turned around! They were truly the best strawberries I have ever tasted--shows what a difference it makes to eat truly ripe, fresh fruit. We totally overloaded our bucket--we just couldn't stop ourselves from picking because there were so many great berries to choose from--and didn't realize that our shoes were absolutely caked in mud and strawberry mush until after we climbed back in our car! But it was totally worth it--so much fun!

Sailing in San Diego

We took Lil' P out for a lovely Sunday sail in South San Diego Bay last weekend. We launched her in Chula Vista, which was a new place for us to try out. The wind was just right for a relaxing sail, the water was calm, and Jared rigged up a self-steering system on the tiller that allowed him to sit back and enjoy the sights. We sailed probably around 13 miles or so, around and up the bay to the Coronado Bridge and then back down to Chula Vista. We were out for about five hours, and Parker entertained himself the entire time by having me tie different lures on to his fishing pole and then dragging them behind us and watching them jump around in the water. All in all, it was a great afternoon.