Aunt J's Visit

Unbelievably, it has been a month since Aunt J came to visit us. I have been slowly drafting the post - we packed a lot of photo-worthy fun in the 5 days she was here . But if I try and get the whole visit up at once it may be another few months before I do it, so here is part one. And appropriate, as today is also Aunt J's birthday! Yay!

FRIDAY


We picked up Aunt J on Friday and made our now routine visit to Daiso. Penny was a great shopping partner and we bought a bunch of fun stuff including some supplies for Penny's birthday party.
^^ Silly earmuff shots ^^

We got home, and while Penny napped, Jen and I had some girl-chat catch-up. Penny woke up and was greeted with gifts from Aunt J included some adorable clothes and STICKERS!


We also has some pillow fun in our bedroom:


and we pretended to sleep:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQV1Cm3LSGo?rel=0&w=853&h=480&rel=0]

^^ Like my sunglasses sticker? ^^

Penny and Aunt J were so happy to see each other!


Later that evening Aunt J stayed with Penny while Gabe and I picked up Parma. We put Penny to sleep and then enjoyed a bottle of wine with our delicious pasta. It was a nice ending to Jen's first day here.

SATURDAY
What an action packed day we had on Saturday. It started with tumbling. I was planning an updated post about Penny's progress at her class since we first started but this will give you an idea of how great she's doing (and how much fun she's having).
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viY4ufOs1N0?rel=0&w=853&h=480&rel=0]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u8kZv8aJWQ?rel=0&w=853&h=480&rel=0]
What you don't see is me pulling the rope that raises her in the air. Exhausting, hence Jen's comment about a good workout :).


^^ Where's Penny? ^^

^^ Oh, Hi! ^^


^^ Can't leave without a few dozen or so hits with the stamp markers. ^^

On the way home Aunt J and Penny were being goofs together:

[gallery type="rectangular" ids="6930,6929,6928,6927"]

That afternoon we headed to the playground. There was a lot of burying of feet in the sand:


And swinging on the swings:


And playing on the slide:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZatJt4m-BU?rel=0&w=853&h=480&rel=0]

Here's a random video of Penny being a silly at home with her excersaucer. We don't use it that often anymore, but when we do, it's pretty funny:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ95lHwCFC0?rel=0&w=853&h=480&rel=0]

That evening Jen and I left Gabe in charge of Miss Penny and headed over to dinner at Spruce. Finally! :)


It was a wonderful meal. Food only trumped by the company.


Stay tuned for the rest of Aunt J's visit, coming soon…

 

Time-Out Tunes

We put the straps back on Penny's highchair so we can implement time-outs, mostly due to her tendency to throw her food. Tonight was one of those nights. You be the judge as to how successful the time-out was.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRw_bntrtnQ?rel=0&w=640&h=480&rel=0]
Seems really broken up about it, huh? :)

Muphy and Rosie's Birthday Party

Last Saturday we attended the joint birthday celebration of Murphy, who turned 4 on July 12, and Rosie who turned 1 one July 20.


It was at Murphy's preschool, which is such a fun place! Tons of toys, both inside and out. Penny had a blast.

^^ Horsey! ^^

^^ Abacuses (or is it abaci?) with Rosie ^^

^^ Play kitchen with Daddy. Pizza, yum! ^^

^^ Our attempt at a Girl's Shot. Penny was distracted by the stove. ^^

There was a dinosaur piñata that Penny tried her hand at after it was on the floor.

^^ A lolli. ^^

^^ Raisins for the first time. She liked. ^^

^^ The Dino/Fire Engine Cake. ^^

^^ The birthday girl's Cookie Monster cupcake. ^^

Penny was not shy when it came to getting some cake. She got right in there with all the other kids, scooted herself on a chair and waited to be served. It was sweet to see her do that.

^^ The Graces, minus the Birthday Boy. It was hard to pin him down... too much excitement. ^^

^^ Sleeping Beauty on the way home, tired out by all the birthday party fun! ^^

Outside

It was a lovely day today so we spent some time outside on our little deck. It gets a little windy up here, but the sun helped to make it comfortable.


Miss Penny dressed for the weather. She looks like she's ready for the beach :).

Playground After Tumbling

[caption id="attachment_6882" align="alignnone" width="480"] Hug![/caption]

Friday Hi

Post-bath, pre-dinner viewing of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.


Bracelet courtesy of Ana.

Penny's 2nd Birthday

We had such a great day celebrating Penny's big 0-2. We started with a Happy Birthday wake-up:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXwVbqSPPNY?rel=0&w=853&h=480&rel=0]

Then we gave Penny her birthday present:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHqpjWtWZlY?rel=0&w=853&h=480&rel=0]


We had her brunch birthday party at Julius Kahn playground. Bagels and lox, fruit salad and muffins, coffee, juice and mimosas - yum.



We were happy that so many friends and family were able to join us.

[caption id="attachment_6839" align="alignnone" width="560"] Kelly and Dan, Scott and Jenni[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6832" align="alignnone" width="480"] Tito Dennis, Sylvia and Jessie[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6838" align="alignnone" width="560"] Kian and Jordan (and Melissa, too).[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6828" align="alignnone" width="560"] Charmaine (John, too).[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6856" align="alignnone" width="480"] Xenia and Mimi (Sal and Baby Amelie, too).[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6848" align="alignnone" width="480"] Hi Poppy![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6853" align="alignnone" width="480"] Mr. & Mrs. Sourdough (Michael/Patches and Ellen)[/caption]

Everyone was so generous with their gifts. One Penny opened at the party was from Greg and Nathalie. She is in love with her new puppies, she calls one "Baby Whata" - Baby Jaguar from Dora. We don't see a resemblance, but that's quite alright ;).


There was a lot of playing in the playground.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYCkX1snNJ0?rel=0&w=640&h=480&rel=0]


We were able to pull her off the playground with the promise of cupcakes!


[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3SEAtkdcLw?rel=0&w=853&h=480&rel=0]


Penny played some more with Mimi before we wrapped it up.


We returned home and after Penny napped for a bit we opened some presents.

[caption id="attachment_6869" align="alignnone" width="480"] Puzzles from Poppy![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6868" align="alignnone" width="480"] Thank you kisses for Poppy.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6870" align="alignnone" width="560"] A pizza set from Jessie- delicious![/caption]

We Facetimed with Nono and Nanay, Keese, Josef and the boys while we opened their presents…

…which included a Hello Kitty backpack, baby stroller, tea set and dress from Nono and Nanay, and a pink soccer and cones from Keese and gang :).

What a wonderful day we had celebrating Penny's 2nd birthday. Everyone's generosity was so appreciated, as was then joining us at the party.


Penny's face in this one looks just like this (far right). She was 10 months old. My how time is flying!

What a great day of family, friends and celebration we had. Happy Birthday to our big girl! We love you so.