Fun at the Zoo & Welcome 2010!

A trip to the zoo was a great way to spend New Year's Day! Jack had fun waving to a fire engine, watching the train (too loud to ride says Jack), playing with Alex, riding the carousel (he still only likes to sit on the sleigh), and cruising with Ben in our new ORANGE double stroller! Oh, and we saw a few animals--check out the giant anteater.

BK and Jack-in-the-Box

A friend of ours has pointed out that our kids are named after fast food spots...happy to report they have never set foot in either place! Here are some pics from the last couple weeks:

Fun time with Uncle Matt!


Striped duo


Sleeping with Aunt Emily after Thanksgiving meal


Quiet time

Big Brother Excitement!

Jack is pretty excited to be a big brother! Ben sure is lucky!!

Welcome Little Ben!

Benjamin Kermit was born on November 9, 2009 at 7:01pm. He weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 19.5" long. We brought him home a few days ago & Jack is ecstatic to have a baby brother!

The last hooray (33 months)

We are welcoming baby Kermit into our family tomorrow! So, this week, Jack got to enjoy some of his favorite activities. Today was all Jack's picks: making & eating pumpkin muffins, swimming at the "cool pool" (Palo Alto JCC with slides etc.), grilled cheese lunch at Dinah's, crepes dinner with G&G, N&P, and Aunt Emily at Ti Couz (including his own dessert crepe with chocolate sauce and ice cream) and seeing "the whole city in lights".

At the Academy of Sciences


Exploratorium with Alex


Slumber party with Alex complete with bed jumps & whomps


At Dinah's after swimming--our last family of 3 outing!

Oakland outing (32 months)

We kicked off Halloween season showing off our family In-n-Out costumes at the Oakland Zoo (rides only!) and Dunsmuir October Festival.

Still love this car...


Scrambler


Pony ride


Bobbing for donuts (what happened to apples??!!)

Jack loves accordian music!

We disappointed many strangers who did not know we were in costume

Go Stanford! (31 months)

Jack went to his 1st Stanford game this season. He was lucky to check out the tailgate scene & then see a touchdown against SJ State in the first few minutes of the game!

At the game


game


Checking out the cheerleader (Lindsay).


Playing bean bag horseshoes


Swords with Uncle Matt


Jack & Tree

Fun times with G&G (30 months)

Jack had a fun time with Grandma & Grandpa a couple weeks ago. They hit the Oakland Zoo (for the rides, not animals), Filoli Gardens, and In-n-Out (a few times!).

All aboard!


Cars or Planes?


Flowers up close at Filoli Gardens


T-ball!


Homerun!


In-n-Out--Jack's fav!

Weekend Away (30 months)

We spent a weekend on a farm in Sebastopol with Nana & Papa this past weekend. On the way up, we stopped at Mrs. Grossman's sticker factory in Petaluma AND Train Town in Sonoma. While Jack enjoyed the train ride, his favorite ride was the scrambler! On the farm, we ate fresh eggs for breakfast and picked veggies to cook for dinner. Although, Jack thought it would have been better to just give our fresh picked potatoes to the guys at In-n-Out to make us some fries! In Sebastopol, Jack chose to spend the day at a toy store, a park/playground, and a bee farm to learn how they make honey. We ended the weekend with a day in Bodega Bay for fun at the beach and a delicious lunch at Spud Point Crab Company (where Jerry & Jack opted for the tri tip).

This fast ride made Doug a bit ill, but Jack just loved it!


Feeding the chickens that laid our eggs for breakfast


Jack got to pick carrots, beets, potatoes, apricots, rhubarb, herbs etc.


Bodega Bay with Nana & Papa


Lunch!

Day out with Dad (29 months)

Jack and Doug spent a recent HOT Sunday at a bluegrass festival in Oakland. They had such a good time that I think we will all go next year!

Jack had a front row seat for the show!


Caterpillar crown art project


2 pony rides in one week--what fun!

Daddy! (28 months)

We celebrated today with a bbq/picnic/cupcakes with friends, papa, nana, and aunt Emily. A few pics of the dynamic duo over the years:

Jack insisted on being carried around in the rediscovered baby bjorn a few days ago!


Guitar jam


Giants ballpark to themselves!


June 2008--Jack was 16 months


June 2007--Jack was 4 months


Jack (4 months) in a carrier when he actually fit!

Whirlwind trip (27 months)

Earlier this month, we visited cousins in Chicago and GGJ and more cousins in Pittsburgh. Jack had a fun time seeing everyone and taking in the local sights.

Checking out the dwarf conifers at the Chicago Botanical Garden


Passover Seder


Dinner (and dessert!) with Great Grandma Jeanne


Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh with Daddy & Grandpa

Lunch at famous Primanti Brothers

Famous for french fries on the sandwiches!

Beach Season Begins! (26 months)

Jack is pretty lucky to go to the beach almost every week after swim class, but this was our first family weekend beach outing to Half Moon Bay.

Next Stop: LA Travel Town & Venice (25 months)

From the OC, we went to visit Matt & Maria in LA. Good times at Travel Town in Griffith Park and checking out Venice Beach boardwalk

"All Aboard"


Not quite as exciting after being on a real locomotive!


7's eat cake, so Jack likes the #7 engine


Mini donut binge on Venice board walk


Just hanging out on Venice Beach

G&G visit! (24 months)

Jack was lucky to have his Grandma & Grandpa come for a visit last week. And, mom & dad were lucky to have them add some great new storage to their home!

Jack "helping" to build the bookcases


On the roof of the Academy of Sciences


GG park


Ok, everyone ready to head home?

80! (21 months)

Jack got to visit his Great Grandma Grace last week in Sacramento to celebrate her 80th birthday! Just one day later, his GG Jeanne celebrated her birthday in Pittsburgh with Jack's Nana.

Fun times running around GGG's backyard with fig, apple, and orange trees.


Opening presents together.


Emily came with us for the visit too!

The Summer of Jack (19 months)

We are sad to see the summer come to an end, but hopefully the fall will be just as much fun! Here are the highlights from the last week of The Summer of Jack:

Drinking from a young coconut at Burma Superstar


The trendsetter making sure Eliza's headband is on correctly


Checking out the sand & waves at the beach with Aunt Emily


Lounging in the pool with Uncle Matt

Papa and Apapa (18 months)

With both sets of grandparents around this weekend, Jack enjoyed a lot of attention! Here he is munching fresh tortillas with Apapa Jeff & Papa Jerry at a local playground.

Christmas in Maryland (11 months)

A few highlights from our trip to visit Gma & Gpa in Maryland for Jack's 1st Christmas!
Jack loves Virgin America & so do we!

Fun times with Dad & Grandpa Jeff in Colonial Williamsburg

Checking out the tree & train

Can we start opening these yet?

Let's start with the stocking.

Pull toy? I thought it was a Lift as high as you can toy!

Still working on those walking skills!

Field trip to the Baltimore Inner Harbor

Fountains are fun! (8 months)

Jack has a new love for fountains! Jack's first Yom Kippur consisted of a short time at services at Stanford, shopping, and trying to launch himself into fountains.

Jack's First Trip (7 months)

Jack loved his first plane ride and visiting all his family and friends in Columbia, MD last week. Check out this slideshow to see how Jack spent his week!

Merry Go Round Take 2 (6 months)

Jack enjoyed his second Merry Go Round adventure even more than his first! Was it because Papa Jerry was there? Or, was it because he did some research on how to get the most out of the ride checking out the miniature carnival in a window on 24th St. in Noe Valley?

Happy Father's Day! (4 Months)

Doug had his best father's day yet! After opening some gifts with Jack, we went for a walk & did some shopping in Hayes Valley with Doug's parents, our new SF neighbors! Nana Sally bought Jack a stuffed, striped horse made in Argentina while Papa Jerry kept us all hydrated with root beers & coffees!

So Many Aunts (12 Weeks Old)

Aunt Beth and Aunt Emily came from Maryland and Utah to meet Jack. We all had a great time. Besides playing with Jack, Beth made some new friends in Noe Valley and was generally addicted to shopping and chocolate, while Emily pretended to do homework. We went to the new shopping center downtown--where Jack checked out some shades.

Jack and Mommy (59 Days Old)

New Album Posted: Two Months of Jack! Click on Hide/Show Captions to see Amy's comments!

It's long overdue for some photos of Jack and Mommy. Jack has his immunizations Friday, and is doing fine. He weighs 13 lbs and is 2 feet tall. That's pretty big for a kid his age. We went out to the park today (see the photos) with Mike, Rachel, Annabel, and Charlie. I made Jack wear his new hat.

Family Time (27 Days)

I realized we haven't posted a family photo yet with all three of us in it. Here's a family-self-portrait from this morning.

All in the Family, Part 2 (18 Days Old)

Jack loved his Uncle Matt and Tia Maria!

All in the Family (16 Days Old)

Jack's now met both sets of his grandparents, Grandpa Jeff and Grandma Lynda and Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Sally. Yesterday, he met his uncle Matt and tia Maria, too!

Jack weighs 10 lbs 2 oz. Here's a great photo of him doing his favorite thing, sleeping (and apparently, he's into stripes).