Sage got to meet up with some of his friends to celebrate the 1st birthday of Peyton! They had a blast playing together in the play pen and sharing snacks between him and the other kiddos.

The birthday festivities continues as we had a pool party birthday for our friend Alex. Sage was a huge helper with the balloon streamer and loved playing with the balloons all day long.

Sage is really starting to love the pool and swimming even if he doesn’t always love wearing the life vest his dad’s force upon him!

Then we traveled across the country to Richmond Virginia to visit one our best friends and Aaron’s college roommate, Erin and her boyfriend Jake!

While in Richmond we visited the park, the botanical gardens and splash pad, the pool, historic James town as well as some other historic spots. Our visit was full of fun experiences and adventures along with many laughs and good memories!

Sage got to go to his first car show where he not only got to see his grandpa’s car displayed but many other classic cars that have been well maintained or restored.

A quick trip down to Temecula to explore the rose gardens with some of Sag’e cousins was a perfect way to spend the day and enjoyed the outdoors. Sage loved exploring all the different plants and looking at the fish in the pond.

May was beyond full of outdoor adventures including washing the cars (what a helper Sage is), going to the park (even exploring the big kids side), and playing in the yard!

Later in may Sage went to his first parade and loved seeing the floats and listening to the music as everyone celebrated Long Beach Pride!

We finished the month with a trip to Las Vegas to finally meet Sage’s new cousin Jordann! Sage was a quite interested in this little human but was also a bit jealous of his dad’s attention getting diverted to another baby! No surprise there because Sage is used to being the center of attention, and he loves it!

April is a month full of birthdays for both our immediate and extended family so our month was full of celebrations including eating at favorite locations, spa days and exploring the Renaissance Festival! Sage really enjoyed seeing all of the elaborate costumes at the Renaissance festival and seeing all the little shows and exhibits on display.

Checking another National Park of our travel list we took a trip to Death Valley. The hottest, driest and lowest national park in North America! We explored Sand Dunes that felt like we were transported to another planet and we even got to see the basin with the most water in it for the first time in 20 years!

Deja Vu, another trip to Las Vegas but this time to celebrate the upcoming birth of a special little human and another addition to the coolest cousin crew out there! Sage enjoyed playing with other kiddos and celebrating Amy and Andre as they approach parenthood!

We also went camping to a new but local campground in Yucaipa regional park which again provided the cousins with a long weekend of playing together and enjoying the outdoors. Sage had quite the set up and really enjoyed his new camping chair that is just his size!

We finished up the month with an Easter weekend BBQ including dying of eggs, playing outside and eating too much food with friends and family.

After a quick drive to Las Vegas we celebrated family with a GROOVY SURPRISE BIRTHDAY as well as some special time with great grandparents. This time Sage was a lot less shy and got to play with his great grandparents which was wonderful because the last time he was quite attached to his dads!

Our big adventure this month was a camping trip to the Calico Ghost Town campground! The weather was beautiful and Sage spent every possible minute running around with his cousins and quite literally rolling around in the dirt. Sage is really learning to fully embrace the camping lifestyle which gives his dads the fun activity of washing off the earth throughout the day and especially before bed!

We brought in the new year right but taking a trip with family and friends to the Long Beach Aquarium! Sage has consistently been interested in learning about animals but has been obsessed with creatures under the sea!

From the moment we arrived at the aquarium Sage was enthralled in all not the exhibits and we enjoyed having family and friends with us for this adventure!

The love for the outdoors has also continued with constant exploration outside and learning to become more adventurous at the park with lots of obstacles and new skills to learn!

Yet another camping trip in the books and Sage really thrived in his little deer suit and became one with the dirt. Just like his older cousins he was constantly in the dirt digging for whatever he could find!

After camping things were a bit quiet while we prepared for the marathon of Christmas celebrations! First we hosted one of two large family gatherings and Sage was surrounded by friends and family and absolutely spoiled with amazing and thoughtful gifts!

Luckily we were all off from work and able to celebrate Christmas while family from Reno was in town. This time Sage was much more mobile and better able to keep up with his cousins compared to the last time he saw them and they had an amazing time playing.

While Sage is always a bit spoiled… not only by his parents but everyone around him… on Christmas he officially became a driver with his very own Chevy Silverado! Don’t worry, he isn’t behind the wheel quite yet, his dads have the remote control to drive him around but he loves to be in it! Listening to music as always and driving around the backyard or neighborhood is his favorite!

Unfortunately at the beginning of the month we all acquired COVID-19 so we spent about 2 weeks at home cuddling and isolating as a family. While none of us enjoyed being sick we definitely made the most of it and maximized our time together and Sage got lots of walks outside… even if his dads could barely breath!

Sage quickly became even more excited about walking which really meant you couldn’t keep him back from exploring, he constantly wanted to be set down and let loose wherever he was!

Thanksgiving was amazing as we had family come in from Northern California! Luckily sage was obsessed with all the older kiddos and they were equally obsessed with him so we had some built in babysitters so everyone could relax and enjoy the time together!

September was such an amazing month for so many reasons! A little over 10 months after Sage was born our adoption was finalized, and while Sage had always been a natural part of our family something about this ceremony was beautiful. A closing of one chapter and an opening to the many more adventures and challenges to come. Sage was an active part of the virtual court ceremony and the Judge absolutely loved his energy playing with his toys on camera! Following the proceedings we had a wonderful celebration where Sage’s joy of eating created a mess of his clothes, but that’s was being a toddler is all about!

You may see a trend here… but in September.. Sage went to even more national Parks! Bryce Canyon, Zion and Grand Canyon national park in Utah and Arizona! Sage did awesome on all the hikes and loved using his backpack’s carrier which gave him great views of the beauty of the parks! While his patience sometimes ran low, he thoroughly enjoyed endless games of peekaboo and made up songs from his dads!

Sage also went to the dentist for the first time to show off all his growing teeth and attended his first Pride event in Downtown Riverside!

Theme of August was outdoors! Sage spent lots of time outside with his dads doing all sorts of things! While his own pool was being built at home he had lots of swim time in both his grandparents pools and went on some great camping trips where he really became one with the outdoors. Sage definitely likes to get outside and in the dirt and he doesn’t mind getting dirty, which just gives his dads more work of cleaning him up!

Sage also started and did awesome with his baby survival swim class in preparation for having a pool at home! He may not have loved it at first but he did so well with his class and progressed wonderfully!