Apple Picking

Last year we made a huge batch of apple butter from apples we picked off our friend Kathy's apple tree. This year her apple tree did not produce well, so we were left looking for another apple source. We happened to find information about a public apple picking happening today at Garin Park in Hayward so we jumped on the opportunity to go on a family apple picking excursion. The orchard at Garin Park which is filled with antique apple varieties was donated to the park on the condition that the public be allowed to come pick apples from the orchard once a year and today was the day. I think everyone had a lot of fun picking apples but we could have done without the 90 degree heat. Also, sadly there was no fresh donuts and cider to be had afterward : (

Let the picking begin.

Lillian and Eric next to a "baby sized" apple tree.

Kristen and Lillian with our bushel full of apples.

A hot and sweaty group shot.



Put that baby to work!

Good times

We've had a very busy few weeks, filled with much fun but few pictures. The highlights that we actually managed to get pictures from were hosting Friday lunch at our house and attending a candy party. Our good friend Efsun hosted a candy festival to mark the end of Ramadan. The party involved lots and lots of candy and other sweets, I think we all ate enough sugar to make us feel ill.

Jessie, Sophia and Lillian all snuggled in Lillian's bed together.

Jessie the cowgirl, ballerina, rock star.

Lillian with blue candy to match her blue dress and blue hat. This is clearly the face of a girl who's had too much sugar. Lillian didn't nap for 3 days after this party...

Lillian's First Camping Trip

This weekend, we took Lillian on her first camping trip. It was a good distraction from the drama of the previous week. The stroller hiking group that we have been hiking with since Lillian was a little baby organized a camping trip on a ranch owned by the family of one of the members. It was a fabulous spot nestled beside a creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Soquel. Lillian loved playing in the creek with the other kids. A favorite activity for the weekend was catching crayfish with nets and putting them in a little pen they had constructed with rocks. The crayfish kept escaping which lead to further fun of catching all them over again. We also got to sit around a campfire, roasting marshmallows and making lots of new friends. Unfortunately it was a very cold night and we were ill prepared campers so we didn't get a lot of sleep that night. But all in all it was a lot of fun and totally worth it.

Lillian getting ready for some good times.

Catching Crayfish.

Crayfish trying to escape it's pen.

Playing with Stomp Rockets with the big kids.

Hanging out by the stream.

A day of many firsts

What a day. Lillian woke us up bright and early as usual, but lulled us into complacency by deciding to snuggle in our bed. Once she had both of us lying down again, she popped out of bed, and wandered out into the house. We were tired, and too comfortable, and it was reasonably quiet out there so we let it go for a few minutes. Then we heard her banging around in the kitchen. We forced ourselves to overcome the lure of bed to investigate and this is what we saw.

A bowl with a little bit of dry cereal had been left on the table from the night before. She got the milk out of the fridge, and emptied the whole thing into her bowl. Surprisingly she managed to get most of it in the bowl successfully with only a little spilling on the table cloth. As you can see she was extremely proud of herself. Unfortunately the milk had turned bad and we had to dump the whole thing.

Our day proceeded as usual with Lillian going to daycare. After daycare, Kristen took Lillian into the office for a product launch celebration. Lillian got bored withe speeches, and wandered off. While doing so, she managed to get tangled up in the cords from the blinds, and face-planted on the carpet. This caused her bottom front teeth to pierce her lower lip. Kristen and Lillian had to abandon the party missing out on the cake and champagne, rushing to urgent care. Kristen gave Eric a call to tell him what was going on, but then her phone died before they could figure out which facility they should go to. While Eric stressed at home clueless, Lillian got two stitches.

She's handled it pretty well, all things considered. She still wants to smile for the camera.