Playtime

 Some pictures from an afternoon this week.
The lighting coming in from the back yard was perfect.
I had fun taking these pictures while they had fun playing together.

Charlotte

Henry

Ruby and Charlotte

Ruby

Ruby

 

Henry and Charlotte

 

 

with Ruby

With amazing hair that looks like Charlie's from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (The film version from when I was a kid.)

I'm loving that he's actually been letting me take pictures of him lately.  This week alone he has tried to pose with his sisters more than once.  Now if I can only get both of them to stick with him long enough I might have the makings of a real sibling photo.

-a

At the park with the Chens

On Sunday, we met up with the Chens for a park play date and picnic dinner.  Hank was so excited to get to see Max.  All day on Sunday he kept asking if we could just stop what we were doing or skip plans and go to the park to see Max. 

Brett and Leon blew bubbles.  I really can't put my finger on it but for some reason I laugh out loud every time I look at these pictures of them blowing bubbles.  It's not even that funny but I keep on laughing.

 

No pics of the gals this time.  They were busy climbing and having fun and I didn't get my camera out until we sat down to eat.  Thanks Sandy for sending me the pic of the boys!

-a

To Capitola!

Hank enjoying the ride
It was blazing hot in Santa Clara on Saturday.  To keep cool we decided to head out to Capitola and do a beach day right after lunch.  We checked the weather to make sure it was going to be nice out there and the app on our phones said it was going to be 75 degrees.   Sounded a lot better than the upper 80's at our house!  We loaded up all of our gear and headed out for our first beach day of 2013! 

Ruby

Charlotte

The girls flinging their lovies at each other.  They were gifted these lovies by their Grandmama a long time ago and a couple of months ago we started using them solely for the car.  They reach for them right away when we get in the car and hold them.  

They kept playing footsie.  I had the hardest time trying to snap a picture of it but they kept touching their feet together and laughing hysterically.  They had the whole car laughing at them.

Ruby & Charlotte
As we crossed over the mountains on the way out there, we watched the outside temperature gauge drop lower and lower.  By the time we arrived in Capitola, less than an hour after we left our house, the temperature was 57 degrees!!  Yikes.  We didn't bring enough clothes to properly bundle up so we just layered on the girls' swim coverups over their dresses.  Hank didn't mind, he had a long sleeved swim shirt on anyway.  Although it was chilly as we sat on the beach we warmed up.  It turned out to be not so bad but next time we'll remember that the weather out there is unpredictable and the fog might come in on our way out there.  We'll start packing sweatshirts.

We've been looking forward to getting to the beach and also a little anxious as to how we'd manage the three of them near the water.  Last summer the girls hung out on the blanket or in the stroller so it was easy to watch them.  This time was super easy too!  The girls didn't even really notice the water.  I think we picked the perfect spot on the beach that was just far enough away from the water so they didn't get excited about it.  They played in the sand and walked around near our stuff the whole time.

Ruby

Charlotte

Ruby

Ruby

Charlotte

Hank's rock collection

Ruby snacking on Hank's rock collection

Hank and Brett played in the water while the girls and I hung out on the beach.  Hank only lasted about a half hour out there since it was pretty windy and he started getting the chills.  We went to wash Hank off at the showers then headed to get ice cream for Hank, snacks for the girls, and coffees for the parents to warm up with!

Ruby and Brett - she started flailing back because he wasn't feeding her a snack fast enough.  We got slices of banana bread at the ice cream shop!

Charlotte and Mom.  Charlotte thought I was too slow with the snacks too.  I finally broke down and just gave her a huge chunk and let her eat it by herself.  Even if I did have to pay with crumbs all over my chest since I was holding her in the baby carrier.

We had so much fun.  I hope we can get out there often this summer.  We can't wait to get back to the beach!

-a

Dancing and an Ellie chase

-a

Truman and Graham are here!

 

Our dear friends Shannon and Garrett welcomed their twin boys Truman and Graham on April 30th! These two love bugs are so cute!!  I was able to go up to San Francisco on Sunday evening to spend some time with this new not-so-little family! I think Truman and Graham are just the sweetest.  I am so excited to see Shannon and Garrett as parents and I can't wait to see these little boys grow up - although I hope they take their sweet little time. 

Graham


Truman

-a

Charlotte is not a horse

This is happening several times a day lately.  Ruby jumping on Charlotte's back and trying to ride her like a horse.  Charlotte DOES NOT like it.

-a

Tunnel squeals!!

A little slice of what we were up to today.  They are so much fun!

-a

October 2012: Parker cousins

In October, my cousin Jason, his wife Jenn, and their amazingly adorable daughters Vivi and Georgia came to visit for a morning.  They all moved to Lodi, CA from Texas about a year and a half ago for Jason's job.  This was our first time to see them in many many years so it was so much fun to get together and have five kids together too!

You can imagine trying to get all of them to look at the camera was a bit difficult.  I am impressed the three older ones were looking during most of the pics.

 

 

Hank somehow talked Vivi into playing with him in the yard.  Then Georgia came over to join in.

 

 

I loved seeing this family!  I wish they lived closer so we could get together more often! (I failed to get a picture of Jason and Jenn!)

-a

October 2012: Amit & Priya

(Again...sorry if you get this post in your in box more than once!)

Amit and Priya, friends we met while Brett was at Stanford, visited us last October.  They are just the cutest and sincerest people.  Seriously.  

We love when they stop by when they are in town.  They always jump right in with the kids and have a great time.  Hank LOVES Priya because she is so sweet (and pretty!) and hank LOVES Amit because he will run around and chase Hank and basically do anything Hank sweet talks him into doing.  When Hank says Priya he says "pweeya".  (For the record, he also calls the Prius the "pweeus".  Kills me every time!!)

Priya, Hank, Charlotte, Amit, and Ruby
The attempted three-child shot.  Fairly successful.

Priya is in dental school and we told Hank all about that.  He had recently been to the dentist so he was well aware of what dentists do.  For a few months after he saw Priya we were able to invoke the name of Priya in order to get Hank to brush his teeth thoroughly.  It was great.  But since it's been a while since we've seen them, her influence has worn off.  Bummer.

Another cute thing about their visit, is that while they were here, Hank showed them that he sleeps wth the hippo stuffed toy they gave him as a baby.  He sleeps with the hippo, along with a slew of other toys, in his bed each night.

-a

October 2012: Charlotte...Just because

This is just a pretty stinking cute face she's got!

-a

Diving into Hank's bed

On Sunday, Brett and Hank went out to run a couple of errands on their own so it was just the girls and me at home.  I needed to work on curtains I am hanging in Hank's room and of course, the girls decided this was the perfect opportunity to skip their afternoon nap.  In order to multitask, I figured out how to keep them completely occupied so I could iron and not have them near me or the hot iron. 

They climbed the stool and jumped onto Hank's bed repeatedly for about 30 minutes.  It was so much fun for them. Ruby was brave and jumping from the standing position (which scared me) and Charlotte was more cautious and did little jumps and falls into the bed.

-a

Oct 2012: Pumpkins in the park weekend

 

 

In October we went to the Pumpkins in the Park event in San Jose.  It was cute, but Hank was bored with most of the booths and wanted to focus mainly on asking to jump in the bouncy house a million times. He got to bounce several times then he was super hot and needed to cool off with apple juice.  He chugged this bottle in no time flat.

We lured him away from the bouncy houses and headed over to this strange lunar module thing.  

 

Then we checked out a booth that had animal skeletons.  Looking back, I have no idea what all this was doing at the event.  It looks a little weird now.

 

 

The event was on the lawn of the Children's Discovery Museum so we headed over to the Museum steps to let the kiddos eat the lunches we packed.  Hank looks spent.

Mom, Charlotte & Ruby

Hey - what's that over there.  I've had enough of my lunch, I think I'll take off running.  Oh you guys are ready to leave now? Too bad.

Hank then ran to the museum and asked for us to buy him a toy from the gift shop.  We told him no and in an attempt to get him to the car ASAP because we really were ready to go, we promised to stop at Target and let him get a small little toy.  Why we did this, I cannot say, since it's pretty out of character for us but all I can remember is the words came out of our mouths and then there was no pulling them back in.  Hank seized on them and then proceeded to hustle to the car and ask us over and over if we were almost to Target to get his new toy.  Such persistence!

So...on the way home, we stopped at a Target and Hank somehow made out with Buzz Lightyear.  Not exactly the small little toy I had in mind when we went in to the store, but who knows how these things happen really??  Hank was so thrilled.  Buzz's wings popped out and that was all Hank ever wanted in a Buzz.

 

 

And then Buzz broke a few hours later.  For a toy that costs $17, you'd think it could handle a two year old opening and closing the wings rapidly for hours on end.  Hank was beside himself.  So sad and totally unable to understand why Buzz didn't work.  So the next morning Brett and Hank got to Target right when it opened in search of a replacement toy.  Brett had to sell Hank on why we couldn't get Buzz again (since I was super annoyed at it breaking I didn't want it again).  They came home from the store with this crazy Dinosaur Train thing.  I laughed my head off when they walked in the door with this thing and it's 50 pieces.  Or however many it has.  All I know is this toy has a lot of pieces.

 

 

 

 

Brett and I laughed at this toy debacle for weeks.  Every time we saw the battery operated Dinosaur Train crawling through the house we would crack up.  It was a fun little outing that turned into Hank scoring a big Dinosaur Train toy.  How did this happen?!?  I think this is a prime example of how even though as parents we try to do the right thing, set expectations, have rules, don't spoil our kids, etc...sometimes we break down and buy a big stinking toy for no reason at all!

The funniest thing of all is that Hank talks about that broken Buzz a lot.  He ended up getting another Buzz later in the fall and Hank plays with him constantly.  He will often tell me "Mom, this Buzz doesn't have wings that pop out.  My old Buzz broke."

-a