Christmas 2012

At least he's not crying this year!

Christmas Eve at Tracy and Jim's

Christmas Day at Angela's

 

Santa brought Luca a train set!

Matching shirts from Aunt Cat!

Kiss the cook!

2012 Christmas Cards

 

Christmas Cards from Family and Friends

Four Score and Seven Baths Ago

Luca's impression of Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln

UCLA 38 USC 28

It was a beautiful day to be a BRUIN this Saturday in Pasadena!  It's been 6 years since we beat the Trojans in 2006, and those were some very painful losses, but THIS win was SPECTACULAR.   We had a huge lead starting off, but they closed in on us within 3 points twice to keep nervous wrecks.  It rained horribly for much of the second half, so we looked like wet rats by the end, BUT we were HAPPY rats!!!

Third Time's a Charm

Before Luca was born, Tony and I went to the movies once a week, now we are lucky to go once a month!  So, we have been chomping at the bit, waiting for Luca to get to a theater friendly age.  Finding Nemo lasted about 10 minutes, Hotel Transylvania was about 15, but our third try, with Wreck-It Ralph was a success!  Perhaps it had something to do with the Icee, Dibs, popcorn, and Red Vines :)

Day At The Races

Always a treat when the Breeders' Cup is at Santa Anita!  Well, I'm sure all the venues are nice, but THIS is the only one that I will likely ever make it to!Sadly, there were not nearly enough women in hats in my opinion - but that didn't stop me from wearing one.  It was a beautiful day at the races with a great crowd - just wish the grandstands were always this full!  A big thank you to Mimi and Paca for watching Luca so that I could spend the day with Tony!

Luca's First Bus Ride

Luca rides the bus...to the car museum... pretty much a perfect afternoon for this little dude!  I figured out that this is the perfect weekly outing for us because the museum is a super easy 2 mile bus ride down Wilshire, (and cheaper than parking there) AND when we're ready to leave, instead of kicking and screaming, he's actually excited to ride the bus again!

Happy Halloween 2012!

Last year, Luca had no clue what Halloween was all about, but THIS year, he was ALL about it...our little costumed candy-crazed Captain America was bouncing off the walls until 10p!

HERE are pictures from throughout the Halloween season

Lightning McLuca's 2nd Birthday

For Luca's 2nd Birthday, we celebrated at the Petersen Automotive Center and BOY was THAT the right call!  Small group, just the immediate family and some friends with kids that we thought would enjoy the place, but it was a TON of fun!  Last year, Luca had no idea what was going on at his birthday, but THIS year, he was ALL about it! 

Click below to see:

Highlight Pictures

All Pictures




Here is a video of the cake/singing...

And here is a snippet of the car races down the 40 foot Hot Wheels track!



Our Little Monkey at 2 Years Old

"Hey Mommy, I'm TWO...and I'm bringin' on the TERRIBLE!"  No more taking pictures in the rocking chair - this big boy is making his way up the adorable monkey growth chart that Uncle Paul and Aunt Erin got him for his first birthday!  But of course, the monkey is still his picture buddy!

 

October Photo-Ops

A night out at Los Alamitos to benefit Tony's cousin
Stephanie who was paralyzed 2 years ago.

A play date with Mimi at Giggles N Hugs
and the Century City Mall

Cuddling with his superhero pals watching morning cartoons

Breakfast with Daddy at Coffee Bean

CAKE!!!!!!

Uncle Paul scored MAJOR points with Luca when he let him DIG IN to his Lightning Mc Queen cake that Angela, Catherine and Aunt Velene 

made for him at the Lima birthday party, which was the first of several birthday parties!  Here is a picture of how spectacluar the cake looked before Luca got his paws on it! 

And below is a video of what became of it!

Lucky little Luca also got to celebrate with the neighbor kids and nannies that he pals around with on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Raquel and Dorothy (the nanny for the twins across the street) through a little party for him with pizza and cake!  He is totally diggin' the birthday thing...!

Luca's First Announcing Gig

Think Luca has a *little* more fun going to work with Daddy than he would with Mommy?!

No, Mommy, I Can Do It Myself!

Beach Run 2012

Well, we took the last two years off, but hopefully Cat and I are back on track to continue our annual Manhattan Beach 10K run!  This year, we ran into Cat's friend Holly at the end of the race.  Unfortunately, our times were not correct, as we think we tripped the sensors as soon as we arrived (late) instead of after our stretching session and officially crossing the starting line, so I begrudgingly post our times here:

Catherine 51:30

Carly 1:05:26

 

But, the good news is that we should have NO problem beating these times NEXT year!

Luca and Paca

Mom and I have gone out together the last two weekends, leaving Luca with his favorite buddy, Grandpa...or as Luca calls him, "Paca"!  This is the site we came home to last weekend - and Catherine, who was there grading papers most of the night, can confirm that Luca was NOT the first one asleep... 

Here they are last night having dinner at "Angela's" and I'm betting that little turkey sat perfectly still at dinner with Grandpa, whereas I have to sweat it out rotating crayons and iPad apps to keep him from climbing all over the place!

...and here is what we came home to last night.  Luca is like a little puppy at Grandpa's feet :)

Under The Friday Night Lights

Mom and I scored field passes to the Amat game Friday night, where the halftime show culminated in honoring the '92 football team who went for an unforgettable 15-0 season.  It was an amazing night to honor this incredible team!  HERE are all the pics.

Endeavour's Final Flight

Luca and I went to Universal City Walk to watch the historic final flight of NASA's Endeavour space shuttle atop a carrier aircraft over LA.  Kinda like the whole Kings' Stanley Cup win, it might be a few years before Luca realizes quite how cool this was...

We had quite a bit of time to kill while we were waiting, so here is a little video of Luca avoiding the water fountains at City Walk...

 

...and here he is "cooling off" - it really was a hot one that day!  Oh, and do notice the Buzz Lightyear wardrobe, in honor of the space shuttle sighting :)

Can I Still Say "Early 30's"?

Kicked off the birthday weekend with dinner with the fam in Pasadena at El Cholo Friday night and then it was back to Pasadena the next day to continue celebrating, witnessing a UCLA win over Nebraska in the home opener at the Rose Bowl!  Can't remember the last time I went to a game - it was so wonderfully nostalgic! 

Sunday was a very relaxing day of watching football (and eating more cake!) at Nonna's.  I guess getting older isn't so bad when you got pretty wonderful people to celebrate with! HERE are all the pics.



Pool Party!

Angela and Randy had us all over on Labor Day for a huge spread of delicious food and tons of fun in the sun.  Luca has been shy with the water up until now, but now you can't get him out if it!

So cute to see ALL the cousins (and Toby!) on the raft together!

Postworthy Snapshots

Walking up to the restaurant to meet Tony and
Luca after work, and just loved this shot of them :)

How we roll to Mimi and Paca's for a long weekend!

Trying on the sticker mustache that was part of
a marketing gimmick for some beers we tried in DC

Meeting Honey, the Mandala's new puppy!



When Daddy's in Charge of Breakfast

Gregory Goes To College

If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I don't think I would have believed it... GREGORY moved to the EAST COAST for college!  Yes, the LAST little birdie has flown the nest and has settled in nicely at Catholic University of America.  Mom and Dad moved him in on Thursday and Luca and I joined in on the weekend festivities.  The campus is beautiful and the people are really great.  Fortunately, with "FaceTime," I think he will feel a little less further away over the next four years, but I still just can't believe it...good luck, Greg!  See ya at Christmas!  HERE are the highlights from the weekend and HERE are all the pics.

Travel Town

Luca has quite the obsession with cars and trains, so I decided to take him to Travel Town in Griffith Park, which was basically a giant train park where he could explore trains of all sizes.  The only way I was able to get him to leave was to tell him that the trains had to take a nap, so as we left, he waved, saying "nigh, nigh, choo choo tane!"  The good news is that it's free and only 9 miles away, so we will definitely return soon and often...can't wait to go back with friends and a picnic lunch!  HERE are all the pics.

Lightning McLuca

Look who got his first set of wheels!  Tony had been taking Luca to Toys R Us for the last few weeks to "visit" McQueen, and then finally caved and let Nonna and Nonno pitch in for an early birthday present!  Here are some fun videos from the past week...

Test driving on Sunday
Luca gets his wheels
1st driver's ed class

Loganrita Daycare

A HUGE thanks to Aunt Tracy, Ezra, and Avery for taking care of Luca while Tony had to go to work on Monday!  Loved getting these fun pics throughout the day...and Aunt Tracy translated Luca's description of his day: "I got there, we played cars and trains. I ate a FEW bites of lunch.

Avery's music teacher came, Aunt Tracy took me in her room and tried to get me to read books, watch cars and take a nap. I wasn't having it, so we played cars and trains. Then we went back to the living room, and played cars and trains. Then, Aunt Tracy tricked me by putting on Mickeys Clubhouse and putting down my blue pillow. I accidentally fell asleep for about 40 mins, woke up, and we played cars and trains. BTW... I Love cars and trains. :)"