Safety First

Helping Daddy in the garage. Gotta wear proper eye and ear protection when working in the shop.

"Oh my GAWD!"

This is my latest favorite expression. My parents will catch me saying this phrase several times a day. They've decided that I've inherited from our daycare assistant Karla. She's a California native and says it very "Valley Girl" like.

My Swing

Daddy finally fixed my swing out in our frontyard. I LOVE it. I could swing ALL DAY. Check out this dizzying footage:

Zack was here!

I helped Daddy with the concrete slab for our toolshed.

Children's Discovery Museum

Mommy took me to the coolest place today. We went to the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. I had sooooo much fun. I especially liked the levitating balls in air AND water. We spent a lot of time upstairs in The Wonder Cabinet where I got to build with huge blocks, experiment with sand, paint, and play with putty. There were some cool ball mazes and funnel as well as a dress-up area, a reading tree, and a special area for babies and crawlers. There was a pretend Pizza Parlor & Market where I got to work the cash register and answer the phone. There was also lots of amazing vehicles like a fire truck, ambulance, stagecoach, and antique car that you could climb in and explore. I got completely soaked in the Water Ways area. Check out the videos below to see exactly how this was accomplished. There were arts & crafts areas throughout the museum. I got to make a tissue paper parachute which we put over the ball blower. It flew up really high. 3+ hours later, I still didn't want to leave, but it was way passed my naptime. Mommy had to carry me away kicking and screaming, but I fell asleep in the car within minutes. When we got home, I continued sleeping for two more hours.

Simple Sandbox

Daddy had some left over sand from pouring the concrete slab for our new shed, so I got a mini-sandbox to play with.

WORDS, Words, words.

A day's worth of words . . .

Double Sipping

Taking things one step further.

Ice Cream at IKEA

Pool Party at Drake's

The Las Madres Working Moms had a pool party today. I got to make a new friend, Drake. The party was at his house. In addition to the pool, there were lots of fun riding toys, a sand box, a tent, and a swing set. But his pool was the feature attraction. It had four fountains that shot water into the pool. There were also lots of fun pool toys like beach balls, noodles, rafts, floats, and a cool car. I discovered that I really like "swimming" in the big pool. Mommy says I was fearless wanting to paddle into the deep end. They're gonna try to sign me up for swimming lessons.

This is Drake.

Chris and I on the glider.

Assistant Pastry Chef in Training

Today I helped Daddy make homemade ice cream sandwiches for Mommy.

Scraping the sides of the mixer bowl.

Sampling the chocolate cookie batter.

Dipping into the final product for more.

Jellies at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

We took my cousins to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

This is one funky fish.

My New Swimming Pool

We had a serious heatwave, so mommy bought me this cool pool. Unfortunately, Daddy busted the hoop when he was inflating it with the air compressor. The slide is a little tipsy, but the rings and spray worked great.

Camping @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park

I got to go camping for the very first time. We went to Big Basin Redwoods State Park, just over an hour away. I was great. Our campsite #B128 was right above Bloom Creek. I had lots of fun exploring the creek. Daddy even spotted a huge crayfish in the creek. We weren't able to have
a campfire on account of the recent wildfires in the area, so





Daddy had to cook dinner on our tiny backpacking stove. He managed to fry up some delicious steaks & potatoes. Because it was hot & muggy, the mosquitoes starting ferociously attacking the women as the sun started setting. So, we gobbled down our dinner and piled into the big tent to play Uno and eat popcorn & chips into the wee hours. I really liked waking up in the tent and being able to see the big redwood trees above our tent. The next morning, Daddy made pancakes, sausage, & hashbrowns, and I got to explore the creek one last time before we hit the road.

Savoring Strawberrries @ Fisherman's Wharf

We took the cousins on a tour around San Francisco - rode the BART to downtown, then the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf, ate clam chowder in a bread bowl at Boudin Bakery, visited the Musee Mecanique at Pier 45, Daddy & the cousins got to tour the submarine - USS Pampanito, then we headed down to Pier 39. While I waited for them to do a little shopping and sightseeing, Aunt Terry got me a quart of yummy strawberries. I also saw a mama sea lion with two baby cubs. Afterwards, we went to Chinatown for dinner and souvenir shopping.

Cable Car

Today, I got to ride the cable car for the very first time. This was also Daddy's first trip. After riding the BART for the first time, we took the cable car down to Fisherman's Wharf. Mommy & I got to sit in the very front of the cable car, so we got a perfect view as we went up and down all the San Francisco hills. Daddy and Isiah got hang off the side of the cable car for the whole ride.

4th of July Fireworks

We took a couple buckets of KFC to Central Park in Santa Clara for a picnic style dinner. Afterwards, we got to watch a spectacular fireworks display. I was awestruck. Fireworks are so cool.

Cousins Come for a Visit

My cousins, Ashley & Isiah, flew all the way from Michigan just to come see me. They're staying with us for 2-1/2 weeks. We're gonna have so much fun. Here's a pic of us chillin' at Lakewood Park.

The park had a cool water play area with lots of fountains that would shoot out of the ground.

Daddy, Me, & Mommy getting our feet wet.

I try catching the water in my hat.
It didn't work out so well.

I scream, You scream, We all scream . . .