Happy Hollow

On Friday Molly and I finally made it to Happy Hollow Park and Zoo. It re-opened this year after an extensive remodel and I have been hearing great things about it. We didn't have a chance to explore everything, but I saw enough to know I wanted to pick up a membership.

Luckily we were also able to meet up with Bree and Logan (his daycare had an in-service day) along with Bev, Robert, and Connor. Molly spent the first hour or so taking everything in from her stroller, but finally got out to explore once Logan and Robert arrived on the scene.

First we let the kids run around the Leaping Lemur Trail and playground:



Then we headed over to the rides:





The kids checked out the Five Point Forest playground and grabbed a snack:





After lunch it was down to the Crooked House:







And then we called it a day...

For more pictures click here.

Clomp clomp

As soon as I heard that sound I grabbed my iPhone so I could take a pic as it only meant one thing... Molly was wearing adult shoes!

I think those are Auntie Bree's red slippers.

Mission Accomplished

I took this after we pulled into our driveway. Bug was crashed out before we even made it out of the parking lot.

Molly and I finally checked out Happy Hollow today. We met up with Bree/Logan and Bev/Robert/Connor. I picked up a family membership and fully intend to make the most of it this summer.

Bubble Master

Molly loves this bubble gun as she can do it herself. However she
tends to stop making bubbles so she can chase and pop them.

Hanging with Temperence...

Yesterday Molly and I watched Temperence, my great niece (her first cousin, once removed), for the day. We went to her place as it would have been a lot of back and forth very early in the morning for her mom Carina. Temperence was enthralled with Molly and spent a good part of the day just trying to keep an eye on her. Carina had a toddler music channel on when we got there and Molly recognized some of the songs (especially the ones from Beauty and the Beast) and some of the nursery rhymes. So Molly sang to Temperence. It was adorable. Molly was constantly "teaching" Temperence. She showed her body parts... especially toes... kept pointing those out all day. Molly also described each toy to Temperence and pointed out things like color and shape. Temperence took it all in and was mesmerized by the flurry of action that is Molly.



Temperence went down for her morning nap, but it only lasted 45 minutes and she woke up pretty upset. Her top two teeth are just threatening to break through and I do believe that was the culprit. We headed to the playground and Temperence watched Molly run around while chowing down on her puffs. This was after Molly fed her puffs from her own snack cup earlier that morning. So cute!



Molly did a quick lap of the park, but then came back to the bench in the shade I was sitting on next to Temperence in her stroller and kicked off her shoes. And by kick, I mean kick. Those puppies were launched into the air and landed a good 10 feet away. Molly did not like the itty bitty pieces of tanbark getting in her shoes and let me know it. She took one step on the tanbark in bare feet and then stuck to hanging out in the shade and on the grass.



After the park we went back for lunch and I set Temperence up in her booster seat with some cheerios while I got Molly's lunch ready. Well as soon as I sat down Temperence got pretty vocal with me. I offered her a bottle and she batted it away. Duh! She's eating solids now. Little girl inhaled one container and got halfway through the second before slowing down.



The girls played for a bit after lunch and then Molly started to slow down. I got her down first, around 12:30, and only heard her open the hall door once to throw out the toy ring she had been holding onto. I later learned she had traded this in for some cat toys she had come across. She babbled for another 15-20 minutes and then all was silent. Temperence started to fade so I got her ready for nap time (along with a dose of Tylenol for her aching gums) and she fell asleep on the bottle in bed. She napped for an hour and 45 minutes and got up just before 3:00. We had some quiet time in the living room and a little after 3:00 I heard Molly talking. She came out to join us and then we headed back down to the playground.

You can see how swollen her gums are as you can practically make out her top two teeth.

Molly lasted a little long with shoes this time, but still quickly took them off. She was much more interested in hanging out on the grass watching the airplanes go by. She even got Temperence interested in this activity. All in all it was a GREAT day.

With Temperence, it's all about the eyes.



For the rest of the pics click here.

Happy Mother's Day!

Yesterday was a lovely Mother's Day. First of all N got up with Molly and I was able to sleep in to the unprecedented hour of 9:00 am! It was heavenly. Then we walked down to the corner to grab breakfast at Bill's. I wasn't quite expecting the crowd we were greeted with. Rather than hanging out (it was raining) we decided to just order our food to go. This worked out great as it was handed to us 5 minutes later and we were chowing down at home within minutes.



Grandma Lucille and Papa Jim showed up a little after 11:30. Grandma was going to hang out with Molly while Jim, N, and I headed to the movies to see Iron Man 2. Why Iron Man is released on Mother's Day weekend and Sex and the City will not be released until Memorial Day weekend I will never understand. I need to have a word with Hollywood! Still, it was an enjoyable movie. Completely ridiculous, but still fun.

We then headed over to Santana Row where we would be having dinner. I wanted to arrive a little early so we could deal with parking and give Molly a chance to run around and burn some energy off before sitting down. It worked like a charm.







We met up with Granny and Grandpa Marsh for dinner at The Village. This is the third year in a row we've done this for Mother's Day and I do say it's an excellent tradition. They had a special prix fixe menu for Mother's Day (along with being able to order things individually if you chose) that most of us went with. I ordered a delicious tomato bisque soup, Braised Boneless Short Rib (Cauliflower Puree, Blue Lake Green Beans, Buttermilk Vidalia Onion Rings), and a Three Layer Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake (Devils Food Cake with Peanut Butter & Chocolate Ganache Frosting, Peanut Brittle Crumbles). It was DIVINE!

Molly was incredible during the meal. She sat in her chair for an hour and a half without complaint. Sure, she had more bread than I would have liked, but she was an absolute dream. She was given a children's menu and some crayons to draw with, but was more content playing on her own. At one point N started to draw on the table (they had white paper over the white tablecloth) and Molly freaked out. She scolded him for drawing on the table and got very upset that this cardinal rule had been broken. It was actually quite adorable. Once she started to fidget Grandma Lucille took her out to explore while the rest of us finished up our desserts.



Unfortunately she wasn't quite in the mood to sit still for group photos after dinner. However, she made up for it with random running hugs and kisses.



Click on the K - April, May, June 2010 gallery for more pictures (pages 8-10).

Nah, we're not related or anything...

I just imported the pics from today and came across this one:



It's completely blurry, but I love the flowing locks. It's like we're related or something...

Jonah's 1st Birthday

Yesterday we went to my great nephew's first birthday party. It was a bbq and a gorgeous day for it. The birthday boy was sleeping when we arrived. Molly made herself right at home going through all his toys and playing with her other first cousin, once removed Temperence. The sun was shining so we quickly moved from the backyard to the front where it was nice and shady. Molly had a blast climbing over everything and exploring. She even stole all the icing off my cupcake in one efficient bite. Crack monkey came to visit, but it was a short visit. When the birthday boy finally woke up Molly entertained him. Jonah loves to just watch Molly in action. He's completely mesmerized by her. Molly had two colored ping pong balls in her hands and Jonah got very excited when he spotted them. He definitely recognized them and started repeating "Ba" over and over again. Molly shared and it immediately went in the mouth. Hey, he's one.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Carina and Temperence

Molly

Alesha

Chris and Temperence

Kim and Kato

Jonah

Kim, Jonah, and Molly

Kim and Jonah


For the rest of the gallery click here.

Thug life

Apparently Molly has some gangsta in her if her droopy drawers are any indication.

Happy Mother's Day!

N's last day at Google...

Yesterday was N's last day at Google so Molly and I decided to meet him for lunch so we could take advantage of his employee discount at the campus store one last time. Molly scored a Google hoodie, a You Tube beanie, and a Cookie Monster Google t-shirt. N and I each got another You Tube hoodie. I also scored a super cool Google beanie with ear flaps and tassels that is awesome!

While we were walking around the main campus I definitely got the feeling we should have done lunch more often. The cafeterias are amazing. There are also little restaurant like cafes all over the place specializing in different cuisines. Don't even get me started on all the freebies in the "break room". You will not go hungry at Google, that's for damn sure.



As we headed to the Google Store to do some shopping we walked past one of Googles many perks... the Endless Pools:



How many companies can say they have a lifeguard on duty? Molly also really dug the dinosaur sculpture in the main courtyard. Don't ask about the pink flamingos. It's a company secret.





We watched some beach volleyball...



... passed the company garden...



... on our way back to the car...



... where we bid daddy farewell as he rode back to his building on one of the many beach cruisers Google has for employees to get around...



Monday N will start his next adventure...

(for more pics click here)