A Visit from India

Here our our friends Gigi, Simone and Baby MaxWe are playing at Franklin Park in AlamedaWe headed out there a few months back for a Welcome back Play dateOur friend Robin and her family had moved to India several months ago and were in town for a visit.Here is little Maura. She is so big now.The girls have adjusted well to living in IndiaBut I think they were excited to be back and visiting some old friends,Or at the very least, there Mommy was.This is a fun park, Holly likes it a lot.Here Holly and Chloe are picking at the flowers.We tell them over and over not to pick the flowers,We must be gentle with nature I tell her.But she still likes to pick the flowers.Here she is hanging out with Maura, they are climbing in the car.But it doesn't take long for her to run off to the next thingA quick jaunt down the slideA climb up the chain ladderA newly acquired skill.Here the girls are riding on the hmmm, what is this structure called? Its not a merry go roundYikes, I can't believe I forgot the name.It was a fun day playing at the park and seeing old friends.

Off to India

We recently headed to Franklin Park in Alameda to hang with our Mommy Friends and have a Happy Send off Party to Robin and her family who just left to India for two years.Here she is with her new baby Scarlett Mae and off playing in the park somewhere is her older girl Maura. We were sad to see them go, but they are sure to have a great adventure in there new home.Here is Holly in the swing next too Eliana. Swinging high, Daddy is giving her a push. She loves the swing and was having a blast.There is Rylee climbing on a car shaped structure. It was a lot of fun for the kids to ride on and play and climb and hang they all loved it.Here is Rhonda and Teagan. It is neat that she was here, because we met her through a different group, but she knew all of these mom's from when Teagan was little.There in the background is Gigi, Simone's Mommy. She is expected her second soon now. And Ryan Teagan and Rowan's dad having a snack, They had some great food.Here is Maura Robin's older one. She is so adorable in that hat. Holly saw her climbing up to the table and wanted to follow in suit, but we were able to catch her and redirect to the play ground.There was this "Climbing Slide" that was fun, and she went up to the top of the platforms, but the other slide was too high for her to do on her own. There in the background are Simi (Simone) and Jayden.Little buddies, who get to play together often. They are very cute. Jayden is just two, and I think Simone is 3 ish. Simi had the cutest whisker's painted on her face.Here is Tanta Kat helping Holly with some climbing. She didn't have the greatest of balance up on the bars there. She was having a lot of fun running around the park following the older kids.Here is Camille, Gigi and Melanie chatting it up while the kids play. There kids are all a little older around 3 ish, so the worry of falling off the slide isn't there any more. While I hate seeing Holly grow older, There are some things to look forward too also. Here is Liliana posing for the camera, such a sweetie. And there you have it. Our good bye party int he park for Robin and Family. They will all be missed.

T @ Erik's House

We recently went on a Play date at Erik's house. The theme was "T @ Erik's" Mom had Tea for Us, and Erik had T-Ball to play with the kiddies. We were running late as the play date was in Alameda and it was a mess getting there. Traffic and a detour on the bridge.But we were glad to have come as we saw a familular face and also met some new friends. The kids didn;t end up playing T-Ball while we were there, but they had a blast int he back yard. Cynthia (Erik's Mom) had the brilliant idea of having his "kitchen" in the back yard, and the kids loved it.Enzo, a new friend and his mom Diana were a lot of fun. He was just a few months older then Holly, and he took the bin of "food" out and dumped it. The kids had a feild day then playing. Holly loved picking them backup and putting them into various cupbords.There in the Back ground is maura, she is such a sweetie. Her mommy Robin recently had a baby. It is amazing that she is out of the house, but even more admirable is that they are about to move half way across the world to India for 2 years for her husbands work. They are about to embark on a great adventure, but she will be missed.We didn;t get a lot of time to chat, as they were heading out shortly after we arrived, but she updated us on her move, and the international travel doctor stuff when you are dealing with a infant, its scary the medical stuff you have to think about and worry about traveling like that.Here are Enzi and Holly sharing a snack. it is about the only thing they shared that day. She kept trying to follow him around and play with what he was playign with, and he wasn;t very excited about that.Here he is helping clean up a bit, of course that means Holly wants to play with the cool broom too. Enzo was a sweetie though.While we were outside Erik and Liliana went upstairs because Cynthia was getting something for Charity (liliana's Mom) and she hurt herself. Actually Erik accidently shut her finger in a door, so Enzo and Holly stayed outside and played for a while until things calmed down a bit. But after a bit we all went upstairs and holly got to play in Erik's room and with his cool Frog tent. She had fun exploring a new area.Here is Liliana feeling much better. She is very tall and so beautiful. She is only about 3 and such a smart girl and she played really well with the younger babies.Here Holly is chasing after the boys, she isn't quite tall enough to climb up onto the seat like Erik and Enzo. We had a fun time playing, and it was nice to get to chat with the mom's. When we are at someones house, i get much more opportunity to talk, then when we are at the park. It's great.

Fruit and Veggie Playdate

A few weeks ago we attended a "Fruit and Veggie" play date where each guest was supposed to bring a kids meal that had fruit or veggies in it, that the kids actually liked. Joel found this cool recipe on Smitten Kitchen they were so yummy.Here is Eliana and Parker enjoying there snacks. Melanie Eliana's mom made some yummy cookies that had Apple Sauce and Chick Peas in them. The Cheese Sticks that Joel Made were also a hit, they were full of herbs, sage, basil, garlic, and other yummy stuff.Emi, Parker's Mom brought some Cantaloupe, which is definitely a fruit, and the kids did truly like it. Robin, Maura's mom brought a veggie pasta toss which was also pretty popular. Holly was definitely the little one of the group, the other tots were several months older. Maura is about 21 months, Eliana 2.5 and Parker 3ish but they played really nice with her and she sat at the table with the group and ate some snacks.She couldn't be contained for long though and wanted to follow the big kids out into the back yard. There was a fun swing set and she of course headed right over to the swings. I joked today that she is addicted to them, she finds them wherever we go and if she had her way she might swing for hours.This is Eliana's amazing playroom. Her dad is in the coast Guard and they are stationed here for 3 years. This house is on the navy Base in Alameda and has something like 6 rooms. it is so huge, I don;t know what I would do with so much space, but they do have quiet a few puppies, and Melanie is an amazing host and has a number of Mom's Night's and Play dates at her place.Here Holly is exploring around. She is always finding something to put in her mouth, but one day I know the teething will end. Actually I'm not so much in a rush, as I am enjoying every moment of everything she does. Isn't that little pencil table and chair set the cutest thing you have ever seen. Melanie got it on auction and it was certainly a steal.Here is Parker playing with Holly, he was being so well behaved. As an older toddler he sometimes doesn't like to share or appreciate a little baby following him around, but today he was being so good and even showing some of the toys to Holly.Here is Holly saying hello to Maura and her little sister. She is only a few months old. I was in love, I can hardly remember holly ever being that small. She looks like a Giant in Comparison, but it was just about a year ago that she was and little itsy bitsy little infant, you forget how much they change when you are in the middle of it.The play room was a lot of fun. Holly really liked being able to tear through someone elses things. She certainly isn't as fast as the older ones when it comes to tearing though things, but they are also much more intentional when it comes to playing also. She enjoyed the stacking blocks and the push toys.We had such a good time, we ate all kinds of yummy food, and played with lots of cool new toys. The play date started at 4:30 which is a perfect time for us, post nap and we stayed long enough to pick up Daddy from work on the way home. it was a fun afternoon.