Nanny and Papa came up the week before Maddie's birthday to help me out while Mark was in Italy (yes, Italy) for a week. Thank you SO much Nanny and Papa! We were still getting the house together after moving in and I swear, they put together so many things I bet they will be glad never to see another piece of "boxed furniture" again! They added baseboards to our playroom which really make it look wonderful, put together our TV/Entertainment stand, the shed out on the side of the house and conquered their most challenging task of assembling Maddie's play kitchen. It must have taken Papa 4 hours to put that thing together! Seriously, they were (and always are) a huge help and we can't thank them enough! Unfortunately, we didn't get to have as much "fun time" as I would have liked so we'll have to make it up to them the next time we see them. We did managed to get in a night of playing "Pitch" which is always a good time. And, I must say, Mark and I were a great team! We also got to celebrate Maddie's birthday a little bit early with them. Here are a few pics from their visit, but click here to see the whole album.
A few days after Maddie's birthday, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and didn't have to put together one thing! ha. They sure did reap the benefits of all of Nanny and Papa's hard work! We ate a lot, did some shopping, took a trip down to San Jose to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo and went to the Lemos Farm Pumpkin Patch. It was a fun filled trip -- and an exhausting one. Mama was ready for a few days of quiet!
We hadn't been to Happy Hollow since July of 2008 when we first moved back here from Chicago. It had closed down then for renovations and it has since reopened and is fantastic! We really have to go back there soon because there was just too much to see and do in just a couple of hours. Jacob rode his first roller coaster and loved every second of it! When he came off the ride with Mark, he was bawling his head off. At first I thought it was because he didn't like it (although he was smiling from ear to ear the whole ride) but then Mark told me he didn't want to get off. So, of course, Mommy jumped in and was excited to take him on his 2nd ride. Here are the highlights, but again, click here to see the whole album.
On Monday, Columbus Day, we decided to go to Lemos Farm for some pumpkin patch fun and even Jaemie, Owen and Nathan joined us. It has been hot, hot, HOT here people and wandering around that place for a couple of hours was enough to wipe anyone out. Jacob went for a pony ride and LOVED it. The last time we tried to get him on a pony, it didn't really go well and I had to walk right next to him. He's come a long way my friends and has overcome a lot of fears he had just a year ago! But don't try and take him into a "scary" haunted house. Lemos Farm has a haunted house for kids and before you go in, they ask you if you want the "scary" or "nonscary". Owen was ALL about the "scary" (of course) and Jacob wanted no part of it. I took him in the "nonscary" one and I thought the kid was going to have a panic attack -- he wanted out of there so fast! I don't blame him one bit -- I really am not a fan of haunted houses. Once again, here are the highlights, but click here to see the whole album.
Now that we are completely settled in the house and we've survived the first year with Maddie, I hope to get back to blogging more regularly!
