Footloose and Baby Free

This past weekend we had our first ever baby free vacation together. Lillian's Grammy Elaine and Pop-Pop Tom came to visit and stayed with Lillian while Eric and Kristen got to spend a lovely weekend alone in San Francisco. Even though San Francisco is right in our backyard it is still a fabulous vacation destination. We had a great time sight seeing, shopping and eating some truly outstanding meals at Luna Park and Foriegn Cinema.

Resting and watching the wild parrots flying overhead during the long climb up Telegraph Hill.

Sweet reward in discovering a Rogue Brew Pub waiting for us at the bottom of the hill.

The serendipity of stumbling upon the wonderful Cable Car Museum after several full cable cars passed us by completely packed and would not stop to pick us up.

Lillian spending lots of quality time with her Grammy and Pop-Pop. Priceless!

Poaching Pictures

It's pretty sad that two out of my last three posts have involved poaching pictures off Amy's blog. But I'm going to do it again, possibly for the last time, because they are moving to Swarthmore PA in a couple of weeks. We are very sad to see them go. I will need to get in the habit of bringing my camera with me to capture cute moments like this:
Peter and Lillian climbing the fence on Wednesday at our weekly trip to the farm at Rancho San Antonio. Just after the picture was taken the kids got yelled at by the farmer for climbing the fence.

Wagon full of . . .

Yesterday at the park Amy was giving rides in Jessie's wagon. All the kids wanted a ride so we got to test the limits of the wagon, it turns out that 5 kids is about all it can hold.

Babies in Natue

Today we went on a little hike at Windy Hill Open Space Preserve in Portola Valley. Since we forgot to bring a carrier Lillian hiked the whole 3/4 mile to our stopping point, a nice shady picnic spot on Corte Madera Creek. It was a beautiful day for a hike, warm and sunny. Lillian had a great time walking and splashing around in the creek. She immediately grabbed a stick to use for stability while walking amongst the slippery stones. After nearly an hour spent wadding around the creek, she didn't want to leave so Eric had to carry her back on his shoulders.

Civilized Toddlers

I'm going to re-post this picture from Amy's Blog because it is just too cute. Look at all those big kids politely eating at the table like such civilized little people!

Auntie Erin's Visit

This week, Lillian's Auntie Erin paid us a visit. Lillian had great fun with her Auntie. The best part was that Auntie Erin likes to carry Lillian on her shoulders.

Going for a ride!

Lillian and Auntie Erin doing dishes. Lillian "helped" by washing the lid to her Elmo container over and over again.

Lillian "wearing" her little baby in a frontpack.

A Day at the Pool

This weekend is going to be one of the hottest of the year so far. So we decided to spend the day at the Rinconada Pool in Palo Alto. The kiddie pool featured a shallow wading area, a slide and lots of fun water features. Lillian had a grand time, she immediately made a run for the water and jumped right in, even after dunking herself completely under the water by mistake she was not upset. She played in the water for almost 2 hours straight before she emerged wrinkled and shivering and we decided that it was time to go home.

Making a run for the pool under the watchful eye of the Lifeguard.

Hanging on to Daddy.

Under the "Magic Mushroom" with her Daddy.

Going down the water slide.

Father's Day Antics

This father's day we were recovering from two weeks of travel by doing lots of hanging out at home. Lillian got creative. She likes to sit on Nash and she likes to sit in her Elmo chair. So why not put the Elmo chair on top of Nash and then sit on it? Nash, being the good sport that he is, let Lillian put the chair on top of him, and even let her try to sit in it. However his slick fur meant that the chair would not stay on top of him so he was saved the humiliation for now.

More Vacation

We're almost finished with our time in Springfield. Lillian enjoyed her very first ear of corn on the cob. She also spent lots of time playing with her cousins at the playground, swinging on the monkey bars, sea sawing and lots of silly sliding with uncle Matt. In the Husky household there is always lots of music, so Lillian got her fill of playing the piano with her daddy and banging on the drums with her grandpa Terry. Her grandpa is a master drummer and hopes that some day his grand daughter would play the drums with the famed Santa Clara Vanguard Drum Corps. Based on her performance this week I'd say that she is well on her way.

Lillian's first corn on the cob.

Lillian and her cousins on the monkey bars.

Stories with cousins and Grandpa Terry.

Drumming with Grandpa Terry.

A vacation from our vacation

While we were in the neighborhood (or state as the case may be) we took a little trip to visit with our friends Maura, Jim, Emma and baby Maggie who recently moved to Geneva Illinois from California. Lillian was so excited to see Emma again, that she screamed "Emma! Emma!" when she first saw Emma waiting in the doorway for us. The two girls had a great time playing with each other. Since it was rainy out we took the girls to open gym at a local gymnastics center. Lillian and Emma has a ton of fun bouncing on the trampoline and swinging on the trapeze into a foam pit. Lillian's favorte part involved her daddy picking her up and throwing her into the foam pit. After the exhausting morning at the gym we all went to have lunch at Fermi Lab where Jim is studying particle physics. That evening we strolled down to the Fox river had a nice dinner and ice cream in scenic downtown Geneva.

Emma and Lillian playing nicely together.

Lillian in the foam pit. Is this a happy girl or what?

Happy little bouncer.

Lillian and her daddy at Fermi Lab.

Maura, Maggie, Emma, Kristen and Lillian reading stories.

Toddler goodbye hugs.

Cousins, cousins and more cousins

We're in Springfield Illinois for our yearly visit with the family. Lillian is having great fun playing with her Grandparents, Aunt, Uncles and her two cousins Lucas and Raquel. Lillian had great fun playing with her cousins last year. This year, being a year older she is having even more fun now that she can run around and keep up with the bigger kids. Lucas and Lillian did some wrestling and horsey riding, and Lillian was even invited into Raquel's secret hideout where her little brother is not allowed. They also taught Lillian all about jumping off the deck into the grass. Miraculously only one minor injury resulted from this.

The whole family.

Lucas "reading" the B book to Lillian.

Raquel, Lucas and Lillian in the playhouse.

Raquel, making her scary face.

Milkshakes and Haircuts

Today we took a little train trip to Palo Alto to eat burgers, fries and milkshakes at one of our favorite burger spots. Lillian loves milkshakes and had little interest in eating anything in font of her as long as the shake was sitting on the table. Afterward we had a quick stop at the park before catching the train back to Mountain View.

This evening we decided that it was time for Lillian to have her first haircut. As you can see in the earlier pictures, her hair has been a bit of a mess lately and was taking on a mullet like form that doesn't really suit anyone. So after her bath Kristen took some scissors to it and attempted to shape it into something resembling a hairstyle so that it can grown in evenly.

Culture, Both High and Low

Ever since we started letting Lillian watch Sesame Street a few months ago she has developed a bit of an Elmo fixation. So when the opportunity for a free Elmo chair arose, despite my Elmo reluctance I couldn't resist since I knew Lillian would love it. So now Lillian has a bilingual Elmo doll, an Elmo book and now an Elmo chair. Also note the super cute hair doo that she insisted upon this morning.

This evening she found high culture obsession, Chess. Not playing chess per-se, but she and her Daddy like to set up the pieces on the chess board. Maybe in a few more years she can learn all about playing the game, but for now she is content to just set up the pieces on the board and then put them back in the box. This is the same way that her Daddy played Chess at her age.

Memorial Day at Hidden Villa

Memorial Day weekend, for the first time this month we were all well and had time to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. Eric suggested we take a trip to see the farm at Hidden Villa. This time we decided to bring Nash along too, we all had a great time but I don't think any of us enjoyed ourselves nearly as much as Nash. Nash loved meeting all the animals, smelling all the poop and splashing around in the water. Here are some pictures and video from our outing.

Lillian and the chickens.

The chicken coop.

Nash meets the friendly little piggies.

Kristen and Lillian enjoying a snack.

Nash!

While daddy's away, the babies will play

Eric is spending the week in working in LA, some extreme silliness was captured on film in his absence. Lillian put on her tutu and her cowboy hat, then garbed a laundry basket put it up onto the couch climbed into the basket and then demanded that Grammy read her stories. Very, cute and extremely silly!