Twain Harte

We had a great weekend in Twain Harte with Mom, Peter, Julie and Tim. Played in the water up at Pinecrest, hung out at the cabin, and had some nice family time together! Jake and Mia were occupied throwing rocks into the creek for a good portion of the weekend, and smores were an obvious highlight as well.

For those of you who always say "she's such a happy baby, she NEVER cries".....well, here is proof. She is MOSTLY happy, but boy does she let you know if she's not!

Gramps was the only adult to brave the chilly water.....and the kids sure appreciated it! He was able to get his workout for the day, and Jake and Mia had tons of fun!

Grammie warming Jake up after a cool dip in the water!

Yet another adorable pic of Julie and Tim....

Uncle Tim and Jake......this was before Jake fell asleep on him
and left poor Tim with his arm dead asleep!

Auntie Julie snuggling with Mia....

Jake's collection of sticks for the "campfire"

Mia stole that marshmallow right out from under me before I could get it to the fire to roast

SMORES! or as Jake calls them, "mores"

Who knows how many marshmallows she ate before the night was over.....

Dirty Girl

This particular set of pictures from our weekend in Twain Harte needed its own post! Mia was sitting on the picnic table bench eating a chip. She fell forward FLAT on her face and was completely covered in dirt. It was one of those moments where we all gasped, and then once we saw she was okay, burst into hysterics. She didn't cry....and the chip NEVER left her mouth (you can see it sticking out in the top picture).....she just proceeded to eat the dirt covered snack.

Cute ones.....

One of our favorite things to do.....snuggle with a sleeping "baby"

Jake after eating a chocolate covered oreo

They love playing with their Daddy!!

I just LOVE this pic of Daddy and his girl!

Movie Night!

Brian had to be away a few nights for "work"....I say it in quotes because he spent 3 days at the Claremont for some training in what I refer to as his overachievers club.....wish my "work" required that!! I tried to do some fun stuff with the kids so that they didn't miss him too much.....of course, a movie night was on the list.....Mia was SO excited to get to sit like a big kid with her own bowl of popcorn and watch the movie.

Annual Labor Day BBQ at Mom and Peter's!

I just love seeing Jake and Mia with their Great Grandad.....how lucky they are that they not only get to know him, but he's still up to playing with them!!
Here they are playing a game of catch ;)

Jake took a few spills doing some "tricks" on his scooter (been watching too many of the skateboarders at the skate park) and Brian told him he needed to wear gloves. Well, of course Jake wanted gloves right then! Daddy came up with the next best thing....his dirty socks on Jake's hands.....lovely.

Just like her mamma....she's a multi-tasker!
She was running around playing with a cookie in her mouth...too funny!

The fam.....everyone having a great time!

First day of school

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Today was Jake's first day of preschool for this year.....he is in the 3 year old's class at Sonshine. Even though he is attending the same school as last year, since he's in a different classroom with different teachers, he considers it a totally new thing. I've been dreading the first day a little bit, as he's been tentative about going. Soooo, my game plan was to give him his new Cars backpack RIGHT before leaving for school, in an effort to redirect his attention :) It worked like a charm! Though I'm not sure how Thursday will go, when the backpack is old news! I dropped him off, he walked right into class and proceeded to chat his teacher's ear off about the fact that Lightning McQueen was on his NEW backpack....totally unaware of the fact that she was trying to manage 20 other kids :) He already has a new "best friend" and seemed to have fun. Hoping that it continues to go smoothly!

Kids

They were just cracking me up with their "outfits"....Jake in his blue moose hat, and Mia (my not-so-girly girl) with her head phones and chainsaw. Dang these kids make me laugh.

Messy girl!!

Mia is in the process of learning how to feed herself.....wow, what a MESS!!! I have to let her try, or she'll never learn, but I swear that we're going through more stain remover than that crazy family with 20 kids. Often I have to remove her from the high chair and just plop her straight into the bath. Eventually she'll get the hang of it.....I hope!!

Apple Season

It's apple season in our yard....our one tree produces more apples than you can believe and fortunately, they're really good! Although, they all come at once and there's only so many apple recipes you can make! In any case, the kids have fun picking (and eating) the apples.....Mia often chooses the ones from the ground that have already been "sampled" by the squirrels....eewww! Brian and I can't help but laugh too, thinking of Bailey....that dog used to eat about 2 dozen a DAY (not exagerating)......and boy, do I miss him helping me keep them picked up off the ground!