August birthday party

Despite the fact that August is statistically the month with the most birthdays (followed by July and September), only one of Maggie's friends had a birthday party this month that we could attend. (Her Papa - my dad - also celebrated his birthday this month, but he didn't have a party. Happy belated birthday!) Maggie's friend recently had a princess party complete with a backyard bounce house and plenty of friends to play with. Maggie loved it.

a little celebration

Last Saturday my kind friends Amy and Katrina threw me a little baby shower to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our little squirt. There were 11 of us at the party and we had a nice time eating desserts and fruit, playing a game, chatting, and opening gifts. I had a great time and am thankful for my friends who put the time and effort into planning the afternoon. I also appreciate everyone who attended. A special thank you to my mom who drove up for the day and to Loren who traveled here for the weekend from the DC metro area. It wouldn't have been the same without either of you.

The top photos L-R are: the pregnant women at the shower and me with my hostesses. I wish I had a photo of the entire group of us, but I don't. Darn!

Independence Day

We had a great, full-filled Fourth of July this year. We were invited to a BBQ where all three of us got to eat and play/chat with friends before camping out to watch the local fireworks show. It was great!

third birthday party

We threw Maggie her third birthday party on Saturday and she had a blast. She is super proud to now be three! Eight of her friends came to help her celebrate, and along with their parents, my parents and a few others, the group totaled over 30 people. The kids started out painting birdhouses (the very light party theme focused on birds. If you watch Portlandia you get it and if not, click here to see why). Then they played in the sprinkler toys for a little while before sitting down for lunch. After eating we had cupcakes and then let the kids take a few whacks at a bird pinata we stuffed for them. We filled it with the usual crap: candy, bouncy balls, bubbles, mini skateboards, etc. and the kids enjoyed both trying to break it with the stick and gathering the loot from the ground after it was broken. Finally we opened her gifts before everyone set off for home.  It was a busy but fun party and we're pretty sure most everyone had a good time. We hope anyway!

Cousin Keri's Wedding

In late June our beautiful cousin Keri got married in the bay area. Maggie was her flower girl and was pulled in a wagon with Liam, the little ring bearer, by our cousin Bailey. Maggie was precise with role as flower girl, only dropping one petal at at time and rotating evenly between the left and right side. Super cute. After the wedding they had a party and Maggie danced the night away. 

We all know Maggie is a lover and can't wait to give (and receive!) hugs and kisses. This night was no exception, as you'll see from a few of the photos in this post. She just can't help herself...

A fun weekend with family and I know everyone had a good time.

Congratulations, Keri and Matt! We love you!

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.

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.

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.

Happy birthday, Chad (a bit late...)

We spent the morning of Chad's birthday at one of Maggie's friend's third birthday party. While not the first thing that came to mind as a fun way for Chad to spend his big day, he had a great attitude and we all enjoyed the morning. That evening for dinner we went out to celebrate and Mags and I helped him eat his birthday dessert.

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.

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.

egg hunt

On Monday our moms group had an egg hunt for the kids at a local park. There were somewhere near 25 kids and tons of filled eggs for each of them to find. While the kids were in the playground distracted and playing, the moms tossed  the eggs around the large grassy area. When the kids were lined up and ready, it took them less than five minutes to gather the entire lot of eggs. After the hunt the kids sat on the sidewalk to check out their loot, then ate from a potluck of snacks, and finally spent the rest of the time playing with and chasing their friends.

Happy 84th birthday, GG! We love you.

tea party

Maggie's friend turned three earlier this month and we got to help him celebrate his big day. He requested a tea party and the kids all got to wear their fancy duds for the event. Maggie and I both had lots of fun that day. The kids played games, listened to a story (Miss Spider's Tea Party), ate tea party-type foods like small sandwiches, fruit, scones and bundt cake, and rode their bikes/trikes/scooters outside (it was 73 degrees!) for awhile before everyone went home for a nap.

the shiner was worth it

Maggie's friend turned three this month and we got to help her celebrate at a local kids gym. She had a ball and I had a good time taking a few action shots of her playing. As you can see she absolutely loves jumping on this (as did most of the other kids) and I was able to capture a few shots of her catching air (look closely). At one point she did bonk heads with one of her buds, but they were both fine and no one cried. Maggie got a little shiner as a result. She's tough.

Pump It Up

One of Maggie's buddies turned 3 on Sunday and we helped him celebrate at Pump It Up in Madera. After hearing so much about it for the past couple years we were excited to finally check it out. Such a neat place to go and Maggie loved it. Actually, we all loved it. There are eight huge inflatable slides, obstacle courses and bounce houses that the kids (and adults!) can play on. Chad, Maggie and I climbed up the slide a number of times and man, that was fun. Chad recorded Maggie going down a slide for the first time. The end looks pretty rough, but she was in her glory.

Beach Party

On Saturday we celebrated the birthday of Maggie's friend. She had a beach party and we all had a good time partying with her. Maggie enjoyed drawing with sidewalk chalk, swimming, decorating a visor, eating lunch, and most of all, playing with the other kids.

Pirate Party

On Wednesday one of Maggie's friends turned three. He had his pirate themed birthday party at a local park and his mom went crazy with the decorations, food and activities. I wish I'd taken photos of everything before the kids enjoyed it because it was so stinking cute. Maggie got to make a pirate hat, search for some jewels in the pirate's booty tub, spot treasures with her scope and, of course, play at the park. The food included the most adorable blue jello cups with orange floating pirate ships, cupcakes, tons of fruit, crackers, etc. Cute cute cute.

Monopoly Mania

Chad and I have been to a number of fundraising events lately. Friday night we went to HandsOn Central California's annual Monopoly Mania event. It was F.U.N. and I hope we get to go again next year. Food, drinks, Monopoly, prizes, auctions, raffles, going to jail...they had it all. Such a wild event and I hope HandsOn earned lots of money that night. I was sent to jail three times ($5 to get out and back in the game) and Chad was there a couple times too.

Courtesy of Mike Scott

BBQ

The Tulare County Historical Society, an organization that my parents are heavily involved in, held their annual summer BBQ on last Sunday evening. Instead of hosting it on the museum grounds, this year we all went to a member's house for the fundraiser. She lives on a farm in the country with a huge area for tables, horses, musicians, a catering company, a dessert company (who made dutch oven peach cobbler on-site) and over 250 people. Maggie danced a bit, pet a horse, ran around, played with rocks, rode on a vintage toy horse (and subsequently smacked herself in the face with it and lightly busted her lip), met a handsome young cowboy, and looked cute in her little pink dress.