First trip to the pool this summer

On June 28, Connor had his first dip in a big pool. And it was our first family trip to the pool this summer. Our community has a pool for us to use and we definitely love being able to go there. Here is a shot of Gianna doing her favorite thing, hanging out on the steps:And here are Mommy and Connor.

It sure feels nice to go for a swim on days where it gets up over 100!

The harvesting (and eating) of the first tomato.

Gianna was very excited when the first tomato of the season finished ripening (she is very patient and waits for them to be the perfect shade of red). She even wanted to take a picture of it with her own camera.

Here are some photos (and a video) for the occasion.

Our first family camping trip

Near the end of June we went on our first camping trip as a family. We went up to Lake Del Valle here in Livermore and it was such an awesome place to go for a first trip because it didn't involve a long car ride and it was just one night.

We went with Gianna's friend Sophia and her family and the girls had a blast hanging out together:Connor loved the idea of outdoor living and happily played in his pack-n-play for a long time. He watched the girls play and looked at the trees and was very content.
Some friends came up to play for the afternoon...
...and later went home for the night.
Then it was time for a campfire:And roasting s'mores:
Gianna getting ready for her first s'more:The next morning we went down to the lake to play before heading home before it got too hot (it got up to 108 degrees in Livermore that day).

Renee's baby shower

A few weeks back our playgroup got together to celebrate that Renee was about to have another little boy (who was actually born this week). Here are a few photos from the evening!
The mom-to-be-again (with the cake I made):
A game.
Baby blocks cake.

Mud Pit

While we were in Santa Rosa my dad needed to drain the water tank. Gianna was happy to make good use of the mud that was a result. It was definitely a photo op. We loved watching her play in the mud, and she loved playing with Poppy and then later on her own. Luckily it didn't disturb my mom's garden too much :)And getting cleaned up afterwards:

Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building

After staying the night in San Francisco we woke up and walked down to the Ferry Building for the biggest farmer's market you've ever seen. The kids were great and rode in the stroller for most of the time. They loved all of the people watching and tasting all of the yummy food.

Here is Connor having a taste of Acme bread (he squealed in frustration if I moved it out of his reach).Gianna's favorite part was the pickles (yep, she's definitely related to me-haha!)

Tonga Room 6/19/09

Great Grammy and Ooda (Jessica's mom) were headed to the city for a night last week and we decided to tag along. On Friday night we went to the Tonga room, a "bar" at the Fairmont where the theme is tropical and it rains every 20 minutes. It was so fun, everyone had a great time.
Gianna holding her mini umbrealla during the rain storm:
Connor has his first trip to a bar at the ripe age of 6 months:
The buffet for happy hour is yummy and under $10, and the atmosphere is great. We definitely recommend going there next time you are in San Francisco.

Free Movie Day 6/18/09

This summer Regal theaters are offering a free kids' movie series. The first one was Madagascar 2 (which also happens to be the first and only movie Gianna had previously seen in a theater). We got together with some of our playgroup buddies and took the kids to see Madagascar and Gianna (and Connor) loved it.
Here are Gianna and Sophia, waiting for the movie to start:
Kaylee was nice enough to share her popcorn:
Connor was so good during the movie. He watched it for a while then took a nice nap and woke up to watch it again at the end. He was dancing along to all of the great music and definitely was happy to watch the girls and watch the movie. He even laughed when the other kids laughed. What a sport!
As always, we ended the outing with a little sillyness and hugs.

Livermore Rodeo 6/11/09

The Livermore Rodeo has a family night where admission is free and hotdogs and drinks are only $1. We took Gianna last year and had so much fun that we went back this year. They had local team steer roping and a really funny event called "Wild cow milking." In wild cow milking one cowboy (on a horse) ropes a wild cow while another cowboy (on foot) chases it down, and milks the wild cow (into a beer bottle). It was pretty hilarious.
Gianna clapping for the cowboys (and girls).

Although Gianna's favorite part of the rodeo was definitely meeting her friend Sophia there and having some time to play in the grandstands while Daddy took a sleeping Connor for a walk. There is a funny video of the girls goofing off here.
Here are some action shots of the girls goofing off:

Tasty Indian Dish

Below is an a-bomb fire hot Indian dish that Jess whipped up yesterday night. Jess usually makes mild Indian food but this time I asked for something with a kick and got it. It was unbelievable. Look at the color, you know there's flavor when your food looks like that. This is one of the best ever. It was a chicken tikka masala with extra garam masala and a little cayenne. The vegetable dish is slow cooked veggies with masala.