radishes

In the spring Maggie got to plant some radish seeds in little paper cups with the moms group. As soon as our seeds sprouted we transplanted them to the garden and let them grow wild. Since none of us likes to eat them we figured we'd just let them grow and see how big they could get before we needed the space to plant our summer garden. They got pretty big.

hammered

Lowe's offers classes to kids twice a month and occasionally I have signed Maggie up for them. My mom took her to the first one where they made wooden ice cream trucks. We both took her to the second where she (mostly me) made a wooden bomber airplane. Chad was the lucky recipient of the airplane--father's day gift--and Maggie thinks it's pretty cool. She's a little young to follow the directions for the kits, but she enjoys being there with the other kids, wearing her apron, and taking something home at the end. If you haven't been, sign your kids up for the next Saturday/Sunday workshop and see what it's all about.

Playland

While I was at the bachelorette party baseball game, Chad and Maggie spent the afternoon at Playland and Storyland. Maggie loves it there. We have unlimited ride passes which means she can go on the train, carousel, carnival rides and more as much as she wants. She was still sobbing when they picked me up from the baseball game because she was mad that they had to leave...after playing there for nearly FIVE hours.

asparagus

Ever since turning 2 1/2 Maggie has increasingly requested to help me around the house. She wants to help me with laundry, dishes, cooking, etc. so I try to find easy jobs for her so she can feel productive and happy. Jobs that don't make my task any more laborious or time-consuming are a bonus as well. In the kitchen she mainly washes veggies in the sink or puts things in bowls, but in this photo she's actually snapping the asparagus before we wash and steam it. So what if we're losing a bit of the edible part of the stalk in the process...it's a safe and helpful task and she couldn't be prouder.

Undies!

 

Back in May we started potty training Maggie. She, unlike the previous times I'd tried, took to it immediately and did an amazingly great job. My parents started putting her in undies for a couple afternoons while they watched her (thank you!) and when Chad and I picked her up from a weekend away we decided to fully go for it. And she totally rocked it and she even stays dry at night. Yay Maggie!

the bachelorette

Two weeks after her family bridal shower, Keri's friends, sister, and cousins threw her a weekend bachelorette party. We started out at dinner in Fresno (convenient for me!) and then the girls took off for Hume Lake. I opted out of that part because I wasn't sure how I'd be feeling. Instead, Chad, Mags and I drove to Visalia where Mags and I went shopping with my mom and Chad, my dad and a friend of theirs went on their annual hiking/fishing trip. Sunday I met back up with the girls for an afternoon of baseball at Chukchansi Park. We caught the Grizzlies game and, despite wearing black on a sunny warm day, had a really fun time. Keri got to throw the first pitch to SF Giants catcher Eli Whiteside and we got our hats signed and took a photo with Grizzlies players Heath Hembree and Skyler Stromsmoe. Maybe one day they'll be famous.

Keri's shower

At the beginning of June our family gave Keri (my cousin) a bridal shower at a restaurant in Lodi. While I was setting up Maggie watched the cupcakes for us. She picked out her favorites (all of them) as we stopped her from touching them all. Once the guest of honor arrived we played games, ate lunch, snacked up cupcakes and watched her open her gifts. It was a nice afternoon just three weeks before her big day.

Glendale/Los Angeles

For Chad's birthday my parents watched Maggie for the weekend so we could spend a couple nights in LA. We did things Chad wanted to do and we both had a nice time. Super fun seeing our old favorites down there and getting to relax a bit between stops. We hit Chad's favorite restaurants: Damon's, Scarantino's and Fred 62. We also drove to Montrose, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, and by our old apartment in Glendale. We spent time people watching in the Americana and saw a couple movies, including The Avengers (eh) near our hotel and then Moonrise Kingdom (yeah!) at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood. Overall it was a great weekend with perfect LA weather and good company.

toddler Olympics

In May our moms group hosted an annual open house and this year we organized it with toddler Olympics. A non-competitive, fun obstacle course was set up at a local park and the kids each got little gold medals for participating. We had snacks for everyone, along with face painting, crafts and a bounce house. Perfect weather to spend the day with friends at the park.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was pleasant and relaxing this year. We went out to eat, took a nap and spent a nice day together as a family. Maggie and Chad bought me a new camera lens that I've been dying for (but never thought I'd get!). I know I'm going to have a ball playing around with it. (FYI - I didn't use the lens here, but you'll see it in future noted posts.)

celebrating with friends

Maggie's little bud turned three in April and we got to help him celebrate. As usual his mom decorated like a pro and the kids all seemed to have a great time. Click here to see a photo of these same 2009 kids from two years ago.

Summer garden

In late spring we finally got around to planting our summer garden. I wasn't sure if it was going to be too late, but it turns out we were fine. Maggie helped Chad and they planted four varieties of tomato, Japanese cucumber, zucchini, basil, radishes (from a mom's group day) and watermelon (seedlings from our friends--thank you!).

sugar snap peas

This winter we grew sugar snap peas and man, they were prolific. We had more peas than we knew what to do with, but fortunately all three of us loved munching on them straight from the garden. Even Mags would go back there to see what she could reach and snack on. Definitely something we're going to plant again next winter.

Weekend Visitors

Today I finally started to get overwhelmed by how behind I am on blogging. The pressure finally gave in and I'm back.  So we left off in April...

We had our friends from the D.C. area out for my birthday weekend. We ate lots of food, snacked on yummy home-delivered ice cream, took a drive in the foothills, watched some MMA fight at our neighbors' house, visited the Forestiere Underground Gardens (go if you're a local and haven't been) and hung out. It's always nice to see them and we really appreciate the effort they make to come out here to see us.

partying

Last weekend we helped throw a baby shower for our good friends in San Jose. Expecting their first child in May, the couple was showered and by a large group of friends on a beautiful sunny afternoon. We had so much fun that weekend and can't wait for their little boy to arrive.

puddles

Last week we had a few rare weekdays of rain. Maggie and I spent much of one day inside at the mall so getting wet wasn't an issue for us. However, I did promise her that after the rain stopped and we were at home, she could stand in our gutter and splash in the puddles. She was out there for 20 minutes, but seriously would have lasted for hours. Jumping in puddles, apparently, is pretty fun stuff.

new car

My parents bought Maggie (and Chad) a new yellow sports car. Radio-controlled, of course. Initially Maggie preferred chasing it but eventually decided driving it would be pretty fun too. I see lots of RC car days in our future. 

kite

We had a windy afternoon and Chad thought it might be fun to teach Maggie about kites. It took a little while to figure out the new kite, but once he finally got it flying it was so pretty in the air.

birthday party

At the beginning of the month Maggie was invited to her friend's 4th birthday party. It was at Pump It Up in Madera and the kids all had such a fun time celebrating his big day. After jumping for awhile there were snacks and cupcakes before he opened his presents. Maggie would not eat any of her yellow cupcake, but she did hold it, and she did lick the frosting a few times. Mostly, though, she wanted to use it as lipstick and smear it all over her lips.

Easter 2012

We had a nice Easter weekend at my parents' house. It was a short overnight trip, but we got to spend time with my parents, GG and our cousin Bailey and we all enjoyed ourselves. My mom organized a little egg hunt for Maggie, GG gave her a fuzzy Easter bunny, Bailey taught Maggie how to play the slots, my dad played quite a bit with Maggie and read her Corduroy, her newest favorite book, and Chad showed how limber he is by riding Maggie's trike after she pooped out at the park.