Merienda

These are the chocolate yogurt cupcake muffins Joel baked Saturday Morning for our potluck playdate. They were so yummy.I kept promising to post a recent update but haven't followed through yet, so I figured pictures from our playdate at Chloe's this past weekend would suffice. It was called Merienda which is a 4th snack time meal between lunch and dinner that is common in the Philippines.These were taken with the new camera I got for Christmas, I have only really used it twice, this weekend for the first time. I ordered a memory stick and a spare battery and was good to go. Having Joel to help made it less bulky and easy to manage.I was amazed at how good the pictures turned out, and the camera was really fast so it was easy to take several in the row. It was still a bit overwhelming and I got totally lost when I tried to change any generic settings, so I kept it on auto.The playdate started at 2:00 in the afternoon which was a really bad time, it was too early to nap before hand but just before the time she would need her nap. She wasn't the only one though, the first three kids to arrive, including Chloe hadn't had a nap yet.Our host was a little sleepy and wanted to give Mommy a big hug and cuddle. Holly did really well at first, but as more people arrived and the playroom got crowded she was a little overloaded.She wanted to escape. So Daddy let her play in the hall where she rode Chloe's Tricycle with help and Daddy pushed her around the little car that she loves. After a break she would come back to the playroom and be happy.Here are Pauline and Tyler. Tyler turned two the day before, "Happy Birthday" he is such a sweetie and so well behaved, he hadn't napped either but didn't fuss once. Mom said it was because he was too busy snacking.This is Luciano, he is 15 months old and his parents Vince and Ines are new to the playgroup. They just moved to the area from Sunnyvale, we had such a nice to talk. Mom is from Germany and has lived in both New York and Florida.We had a lot in common. Dad was French Canadian, so they speak Italian, German, and French to their little fellow, which is so cool. Mom did acupuncture, but she also studied physics and biochemistry in the past, which was very intriguing.Here is Holly climbing up the side wall, Daddy was so impressed. It was his first time to see the play structure in person, versus just pictures. He actually wasn't that fearful of her falling, which I was surprised of.Here is Luciano climbing up the slide, but with his socks on he needed a little help from Dad. He was such a sweetie, very curious and personable. I hope we will see more of them at future playdates.Here is Holly playing with one of her favorite toys, the ball popper. She loves this thing, maybe though because she doesn't have it at home. She likes the wind in her face, and pushing the balls in and pulling them out.Sarah was also in attendance, she came a little later, I think she had time to take a nap. We missed her mama though, Isabel stayed home to do some chores, but we were happy that Daddy ventured out on his own to bring Sarah to play. Holly was happy to see her.This is Raymond (Ray) who is three, and also new to the group. His parent's Bethany and Greg just moved here from Sonoma where they owned a Bed and Breakfast. Ray was a talker and very sweet.He played well with the younger babies and was really well behaved. My camera battery died before the end of the playdate, and Teagan and Rowan, and Satine came even later in the afternoon, just before we were heading out.Rowan is already 6 months old, he is so much bigger then before, its amazing. It was nice to See Ryan and Rhonda, we don;t get to see them often, as Teagan has a more rigorous therapy schedule then Holly.Here is Sachi, She hadn't napped before coming over either. She did really well. She always does though, she is very laid back and low key, bringing a calming balance to a very active room.In the end, we had to go even though the party was still in full swing, it was already 5:00 and Holly was getting hard to manage with her on and off crankiness. I would be ready to go, with her whining over something, and then she would be a playful happy angel.Apparently they were both very tired, by 5:30 and half way home they were both passed out in the back seat (Old Camera Picture) She slept int he car till 6:30 then she woke and I changed her and gave her a bottle and she was asleep again by 7:30, she ended up staying asleep until 4:00 AM. She woke up and played in bed and drank another bottle and had another change, and then fell back asleep around 5:45. She stayed asleep until 9:00. And that's our update! Hot off the presses :-)