Mother's Day 2012

I'm a bit behind (as usual) on this blog. In my defense, I left on my maternity leave from work the Friday before Mother's Day, so I was busy trying to tie up all the loose ends at work. :)

In my never-ending quest for a good brunch buffet, we ended up at the Sofitel in Redwood City. I had high hopes, but it was only okay. The food was decent, but the logistics were a bit crazy as the food wasn't arranged very well. Oh well, Justin had a good time as always, whenever there is unlimited food. He was, of course, quite taken by the chocolate fountain, which my dad was happy to oblige him with.

Marshmallows dipped in chocolate

The waiter gave Justin his milk in a water glass, while all the other kids got plastic sippy cups - yikes!

The hotel gave all the moms some French macarons - yum!

 

Weekend in Tahoe

It's been a pretty dry winter and we were losing hope that there would ever be snow in the mountains here. I had bought Justin a bunch of snow gear and both Jay and I were determined that Justin get to use it this season. Luckily we had a big storm in March so we booked a cabin with some friends and waited anxiously for the weekend to arrive. We thought we were in luck, because the Friday forecast was clear, so we made it up to Tahoe easily. But when we got there, there was NO snow anywhere. Uh oh.

The next morning, we debated whether we would need to drive up higher to find some snow for the kids. But we looked at the weather forecast and it said 100% chance of snow by afternoon. So we went to lunch and sure enough the rain turned to hail and then turned to snow. By about three in the afternoon, there was enough snow to play in in the backyard! Needless to say, Justin was SO EXCITED. It was a good thing we didn't have to drive anywhere, because Justin was about jumping out of his skin trying to get outside while we got him bundled up. 

It snowed until nighttime and then stopped. The weather and the roads were clear in the morning and Justin got to go outside again one last time before we left Tahoe. He thinks we were in Antartica and is still asking where all the snow is. Methinks this will need to be an annual trip ;)

 

Justin and Paxton were so excited to see the snow coming down.

What a ham.

Justin learned how to catch snowflakes on his tongue.

 

Paxton was not as much a fan of the snow. Maybe next year kiddo.

This is how much snow we had from noon to 5 PM.

Luckily 3-year-olds don't need a big hill to sled down. Just someone willing to pull them around!

This didn't work out well as you might have guessed.

Making snow angels. Justin couldn't stop giggling :)

A Day at the Zoo

A couple of weekends ago, it was beautiful weather in the Bay, so we decided to put our new Oakland Zoo family membership to good use. We dragged along some of Jay's cousins as well, so a fun day was had by all!

The Oakland Zoo is smaller than the one in San Francisco, but I felt like you could actually be a little closer to the animals and get a good look at them.

 

 

Justin "helping" to push Uncle Pete.

Hamming it up at the petting zoo area.

"Helping" cousin Zak.

Two generations of cousins!

The view from the train ride!

Kids Home Depot Workshop

We made a point this past weekend to make it on time to the monthly Home Depot Kids Workshop. Last month we went later in the morning and they had run out of kits! Justin was so disappointed that day that I made a mental note to get there earlier this month.

Home Depot did not disappoint! This month's activity was a race car. As Jay was helping Justin pound nails and squirt glue, an older man walked by and joked, "Aren't you a little old for this workshop?" Home Depot had set up a racing ramp too and as I sat and watched Justin, I could see several grown men glancing wistfully at the kids playing. I bet a lot of guys there wished they could build one and race them too! :)

I must admit that this is great marketing by Home Depot. As I sat there watching Justin, I was racking my brain to think if there was anything we needed to pick up while we were there. Plus, you gotta admit, you think more kindly upon a company that will provide a free weekend activity for your kid! :)

Preschoolers on the Farm

About a month ago, I signed Justin up for a three class series at a local farm called "Preschoolers on the Farm". The kids got to see pigs and chickens and cows and sheep and Justin LOVED it. I, on the other hand, went to one class, and then made Jay take Justin to the last two. You know there's lots of mud and poop on farms?? No thank you, not for the pregnant princess here :) (Shhh, Mommy used the free time to peacefully peruse the local farmer's market all by herself)

Take a look below. Justin is the kid in the puffy dark blue jacket. It's COLD on the farm in the mornings!

Meeting the sheep

Meeting the new baby lamb

Uh, I think he's trying to milk the sheep. I'm not sure the sheep appreciated that.

Meeting the goats

Eating an organic carrot fresh from the ground!

Each class ended with storytime with Miss Stacey.

Uh, not the farm, but part of the gym outing hosted by my mommy's group that same afternoon.

There was no way I was getting into the foam pit in my condition! You'd probably need a crane to fish me out! But the boys had a great time :)

Life in the Eyes of Justin

Ever wonder what the world looks like when you're 3 feet tall? Kinda like this:

Self-portrait

Our little photographer

Bedtime

For all that kids drive you crazy during the day, there's something special about bedtime stories. (And yes, I finally bought matching sheets for Justin's bed - thank you Target!)