Friday, October 28, 2016

Biker Gang



Sunday, October 23, 2016

Shopkin Swap

The toy store had a Shopkin event today that Mady was very excited to attend. The kids colored a placemat to display their Shopkins for trading. Mady made some good trades and had a lot of fun!

Friday, October 21, 2016

Harvest festival

After school, the kids got (parts) of their costumes on and we went to Coast Guard Island for the Harvest Festival. We had some dinner and candy, went on the haunted hay ride, a horse drawn carriage ride, played some games and did some trunk or treating.

This pony was a the cutest fugitive.
A small hay maze that no one got lost in!
 Mady's haul from trunk or treat. We didn't bring buckets, luckily we had this hat!
And of course, when we got home we celebrated Daddy's birthday with scary carrot cupcakes. Yum!

Preschool Pumpkins

Mady's school met at the local pumpkin patch for a day of fun. Teacher always asks the kids to wear red or pink for identification on our field trips. We usually fail at this task, but today Mady had the idea to wear one of her brother's field trip shirts! The pumpkin patch in close to our house, so we decided to walk and enjoy the sunshine.

Mady's hair looked so pretty, we just had to take a picture.
 Making corn angels.
 With friends, trying to build a tower out of corn kernels.
 With her two best friends on the hay stack.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Applesauce

After helping Aunt Jean make applesauce in North Dakota, Mady and I have been wanting to get a sieve so we can make delicious applesauce at home. For my birthday, Gma gave me the sieve! Today Mady and I made up our first batch and the family devoured it!
Now we need to find a source of apples to keep us going!

Monday, October 17, 2016

Toothless

On October 3rd, Zachy lost one of his top, front teeth.

By October 17th, three teeth were gone.

The tooth fairy was wearing a trail to our house!

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Children's Playground

Not quite as rainy today so we decided to head over to Golden Gate Park and the Children's Playground in San Francisco. The kids had fun climbing, zip-lining, swinging, pokemon hunting and riding the carousel.

Mady is getting strong!


Daddy was happy to find a rooster to ride.
As we were walking back to the car, we decided to explore the tunnel under the road. We also heard some music playing and thought it was coming from the woods. It was actually a group of people playing in the tunnel! Mady had fun dancing, but thought the echoing was too loud at times.
A half silly, half regular photo on the steps of the Conservatory of Flowers.

Friday, October 14, 2016

Wet Pumpkins

The forecast calls for rain, rain and more rain! Something California desperately needs. But when it rains on pumpkin patch weekend, it gets tricky. Our research seemed to indicate that going south instead of our usual north would help us avoid the rain. Unfortunately, that was not the case and we were woefully prepared....and very wet. But, we still had fun!

Getting lost in the a-maze-ing hay maze. Many of the paths led back to the starting area. Phil was the only one who actually found the exit.
There was a haunted house (Alex and Zachy braved it), a little train (Mady's favorite) and pony rides.  Zachy was the only one willing to chance the smell of wet horse.
A little added bonus on the way home was a stop at Dunkin Donuts. So yummy, but not near our house.

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Movie Date

Alex and Zachy had a couple of days off from school this week. Today we sent Mady to Lunch Bunch and went to the movies and lunch.


We all had a fun time!

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Basket Weaving

Alex's class has been studying the Ohlone people from the San Jose region. As part of the cultural understanding of the Ohlone, the kids are weaving baskets. I stopped into the class this morning to help the kids get their baskets started and on the right path. Some of these 4th graders are experts already!

I don't have a picture of Alex's finished basket. It is now at school awaiting the Open House display, I'll post a picture then!

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Fly by

This was Fleet Week and the Blue Angels were in town to help celebrate. We didn't get to the airport this year to watch them take off and land, but we still had the chance to watch they fly right over our house!



Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Lindsey Wildlife Museum

The third grade travelled to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum for a day of fun and learning. The classes were broken up into three groups and rotated through a few stations. Each station discussed a different animal habitat. Our first station was the terrain on Mount Diablo. Surprisingly, when the instructor asked the complete group if they had been to Mount Diablo, Zachy was the only one to raise his hand.  One of the inhabitants of Mount Diablo, is the tarantula.
Our instructor also told us that if we were to head on up to Mount Diablo this weekend, around 4-6pm, the ground would be swarming with tarantulas. It seems it is tarantula mating season. Another mom and I decided that we most definitely would not be heading to Mount Diablo this weekend.

After cycling through all of the different stations, we went outside to have lunch and some free time on the play structure.

 Back inside, we had time to explore the museum,
 greet some of the residents*,
 and compare ourselves to our flying friends.
 And of course, a group shot before heading back to school.
*The Lindsey Wildlife Museum is also a rehabilitation center for native birds and animals.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Extra Random Moments

Zachy worked hard on his poster for school. A lot of effort and creativity was employed.
 A beautiful sunset over the city.
More of a glare over the city, but you can see the silhouette on the right side.
Harvest moon on the rise.
One of many funny Pokemon signs along the beach.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Getting Stronger

Typically, Phil will take Zachy to his gymnastics class, but today, I got the chance to see what Zachy is learning. He is definitely getting stronger!


Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Eat Real 2016

Today we ventured over to Jack London Square for the Eat Real Festival. There were so many food vendors and delicious things to taste. Our final stop was at the frozen custard truck for a yummy treat.

Well, our final food stop anyway. We spotted the Oakland Symphony's instrument petting zoo and had to check it out!
I just love this shot of Mady marching to her own beat!


Yes, we know Alex's hand is completely wrong. We corrected it, but they were making such sweet music.....

New Accessory

We have been working towards Mady receiving hearing aids. She has some mild hearing loss and she has been able to find ways to work around it. Today was her fitting and she is now the proud owner of  purple/orange/pink with sparkles hearing aids. She also has two goodie bags full of information, batteries and other supplies.
As you can see, she is pretty excited about them!

I had thought that the colors would make them stand out too much, but that doesn't really seem to be true. The pink part will be updated every few months as she grows, so who knows what color she'll pick next time!

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Fast Break

Even though Mady just started school 3 days ago, she and I took a quick break to head up to Seattle for a very special visit.

Mady is already a seasoned traveller, and had no trouble finding the correct gate for our departure.

As we were boarding the plane, the flight attendants asked her if she needed any help with her suitcase. In response, Mady gave the bottom of her case a little kick to get it back on its wheels and started down the aisle. The flight attendants were impressed with her skills!
For the rest of Saturday, we hung out with Gma and Grandpa D at their house and Mady explored and investigated all of the toys.

Sunday

Finally Sunday morning arrived and Mady, Gma, and I loaded up lunch for Auntie Nichole and Uncle Harry. It was time to meet Baby Elsie!

We spent the afternoon cuddling with Elsie, picking apples and blackberries in Auntie Nichole's backyard, and even took Elsie for a walk.


Hanging out with Uncle Harry.

 Mady did a great job of pushing Elsie.
The definite highlight of the day for Mady was finally getting a chance to hold Elsie. (mine too!)
Elsie is still so little that Mady had a hard time figuring out exactly how to hold her, but she did a good job and wanted to hold her even more.




Monday

Today we planned a day at the Puyallup Fair. At the main entrance we saw an awesome carving of Big Washington.
And then later, he was walking around saying hi to everyone!
Mady looked around and picked out two rides. By the smiles, I'd say she picked some fun ones!

Mady was so pumped up, she lifted the car over her head!
Training to become a new member of the Justice League.
Telling Wonder Woman what her special power is.
And finally, the power pose!
Pedal tractors and a miniature town course to drive through.


There was a draft horse show, with many different horse and wagon combos. These Shetland Ponies were a crowd (and our) favorite. After each team showed off their skills, they paraded around the arena one last time. The Shetland ponies were the last team and instead of leaving, they put on a high speed showcase!
Of course, who can resist fair food? Mady enjoyed some cotton candy and a big favorite was the famous elephant ear. So yummy! Many years ago, Gma and our neighbor tried to recreate the elephant ear at home. It was a disaster. The only place I have ever seen them is at the Puyallup fair, and they are worth the wait!
Hugging the Pig (Mady was able to pet one of the little piglets today too!)


Tuesday

On our last day, Mady stayed with Gma and Grandpa D while I went back to visit Nichole, Harry and Elsie. I even convinced Nichole and Harry that it was a good time for them to run out for a little bit while Elsie and I played at home. Elsie sent a selfie to Mommy so she'd know everything was going great!

When Mommy came home, both girls were extra happy.
It was so hard to get back in my car! Thank you for letting me snuggle!

Traffic was a bear on the way home, but eventually it broke up and the Mountain was out too.

Silly time with Gma and Grandpa D.




Wednesday

Time to go back home.