MLK Weekend

At the start of the year, the Cables family sent us a note asking when they could drop by to visit next, since it had been awhile since we'd seen each other, and they were planning to take another road trip up north soon (they're down in San Diego).

We tossed around a few various weekends that could work, but it was hard to pin us down (isn't it always?!) because I knew hell at work was about to hit (we hadn't announced anything to our employees yet, let alone the public announcement), Jon had his surgery and work conference scheduled.  Not thinking they'd bite, I suggested the weekend after next (MLK weekend) because we were less busy then and could make it work on our end.

After looking at their own schedules and all, it looked like that was it!  They came in Thursday night after work and stayed through the weekend.  We had a great time as always.  

The kids get along SO well together, and it's fun watching them all follow each other around, play, share and fight, for all the same things.  Eric and Jill get to see a bit of what's expected through Logan - we get to all oooh and ahhh over what "used to be" watching the baby, Trent, toddle around (he was just starting to take a couple of steps on his own).

I think Jill and I figured out that Callum and Amelia are actually the closest in age - and we could see it as they tended to stick together the most and bicker the most  :)  But they were ALL fast friends.

We pretty much just stuck around the house on Friday since Jon and I both still had to work some during the day.  I think the "big" event of the day was giving all four a bath at the same time, which was definitely an exercise for all involved.  ;-)

On Saturday we decided to check out the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo, since we'd never been before and I had heard from some of my fellow parents at work that it was a good spot for kids about the 2-4 age range.  It was!  The place was smaller than the Children's Discovery Museum or Happy Hollow - but still plenty for the kids to roam around, play and explore with, and check out a handful of animals up close too (without the trek up to SFO or OAK for bigger zoos!).

Before they hit the road on Sunday afternoon, we grouped our kids together to try out a few pictures on the bridge (and bench) again.  It was semi-successful - I look forward to seeing how long we can keep the tradition up. ;-)

Oh what fun it is to ride...

Yesterday I got this silly idea in my head to purchase last minute tickets to ride the Holiday Train of Lights through Niles Canyon today. I had heard about the event through the parents email alias at my work, and heard it was great fun for the kids but to act quick because it sells out super fast.

Luckily, they actually had a number of seats left for today's ride! I think partly because it just began (it starts the day after Thanksgiving) and partly because I chose the earlier (twilight) time. I'm actually glad we went on the earlier train - even though it wasn't dark enough to really feel the impact of all the pretty lights, they were still fun for Logan and honestly, the train ride was much more scenic for all of us since we could actually see the valley throughout the ride!

Also, since there weren't too many people on our train, we had plenty of room to spread out and Logan got his own seat (I didn't actually buy him a ticket, so technically he was supposed to be in one of our laps. mwahahahahaa!). It also meant we got a cozy indoor car instead of one of the outdoor cars, which was good since it was RAINING and COLD!!! Whew!

Brrrr!!!

Enjoying his own big boy seat

Hey this is a family site Kai!

Logan absolutely LOVED it. And the rest of us had a great time too! (My parents and brothers all joined us).

Logan was pretty much glued to the window the entire time - he wasn't even interested in Santa who came by for a quick snapshot. :) He enjoyed walking back and forth between cars but wasn't as crazy about going to the outside car (I think it was too cold, wet and "fast" for him being that close to the outdoors and tracks).

On our way back home, Logan commented to me, "This is the biggest train I've ever seen!" It was pretty cute.

If only you knew how hard a family pic is to get these days...

After the train ride, we all had dinner at a local Burmese restaurant (supporting our local business on Small Business Saturday!) and thankfully, both boys did fairly well, considering how tired they were and how late it already was.

All in all, a great rainy holiday Saturday with the family! :) For more pictures from the day, visit here.

Meet Fred

Just leaving Turlock, where we spent the afternoon with an old boss of mine. Logan had fun playing in a bouncy house and hanging out with all the horses and calves. As we were leaving, Logan said, "Goodbye horsies! I'll ride you next time!" :)

Block Party

Yesterday we got together with several neighbors up and down our street for a big block BBQ party. One of the neighbors down the street thought to organize and put it together - I helped her out a bit with the planning - but mostly just participated and did my best at being a good neighbor. ;-)


Jon did more socializing than I did - since I was either nursing Callum, taking pics, or chasing after Logan. Ah well, I still got to say hi to a few of the neighbors.


Like this fun couple (the son and wife of our next door neighbor).

And these hilarious ladies. :)

These guys spent the entire evening convincing me why we should take their son's Jeep (see below)...


Donna (on the right) came up with this brilliant party idea. It was such a success, we're talking about making it an annual tradition. I love living here!


Suffice to say, it was a blast! We had three grills out for folks to grill the meat of their choosing on... we had several tables laid out for people to sit at, drink, eat and be merry. We laid out all sorts of yummy desserts and side dishes on another few tables. We blocked off both ends of the street with cones and then let the kids go wild riding up and down the street on their bikes, scooters, (automatic) Jeep, you name it.


On our lawn, I set out several toys so that the younger kids could still play and have fun without getting trampled on by big kids racing on their bikes (since it could be, at times, a bit intimidating!). That turned out to be more of a hit than I had imagined - with the older kids also coming by to swing at the bat, golf clubs, basketball hoop or toss 'em game, every now and again too. :)


Except for a couple of girls who are in high school/college, and the newest born baby on our block (just one week old), the entire block of kids is BOYS BOYS BOYS with most families having two boys or more! It's like we were MEANT to move onto this block and have our boys grow up here or something. ;-)


Our next door neighbor is a Fire Captain, so he called up some of his buddies to stop by with a fire engine for a bit. What a huge hit! The kids got to climb in and around the fire engine (I missed some of it due to nursing Callum, but I hear Logan enjoyed that), as well as spraying water from a hose.


We concluded the fire engine visit by rounding up all the kids (as many we could at least - it's like herding cats to get a group of 2-8 yr old boys together!) for a group picture before the firemen had to take off.

About half the boys/kids on the block!

Logan had a blast. He was enamored by all the big kids and how fast they were able to ride their bikes along the street - but more than that, he fell in love with our neighbors' automatic Jeep truck, which we may be inheriting since their little boy has outgrown it. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not (it's monstrous!).

Seen (briefly) drinking and driving....

Callum was also a wonderful sport - not really kicking up a fuss until the very end of the night when it was time for bed anyway. He was mostly content to just hang out with Jon or I, drifting in and out of sleep while we hung out chatting and watching the kids play. Jon and I did a lot of man-on-man defense - where the one without Callum was responsible for following and chasing Logan down to try and keep him out of trouble. That was DEFINITELY the more exhausting of the two jobs. ;-)


It's days like these that make me appreciate our block so much more - and make me extremely happy about our decision (which felt like a huge big, potentially risky decision at the time) to move to this house. Yay for living in the 'burbs! hehe :)