Grandma and Grandpa Grass!!

Grandma Carol and Grandpa Gene flew down just in time for a big rain storm! We had a very relaxing time indoors!! Fortunately the sun came out on Monday and it made all the rain well worth it. It was gorgeous, so we took a short walk up at Lake Anza. The eucalyptus smelled amazing! Eli had a great time hanging out with grandma and grandpa - especially listening to grandpa's clicks and bedtime stories from grandma!

Here are some pictures:

Pumpkin Patch with the Moms

Our moms group headed to Joan's Farm with costumes in tow for the little ones to experience their first pumpkin patch! It was a beautiful Fall day and all the munchkins were looking adorable! Lucio was a tiger, Noah a dragonfly, Dillon a lion, Maya a ladybug, Cody a skeleton and Eli a dragon...

Autumn camping!

Have I mentioned how much I love all the wonderful new moms I've met? We have so many common interests and completely enjoy one another! It is fabulous!!

Last weekend we took a short drive to Samuel P Taylor State Park for an overnight camping trip. There were five families, all with babies! The youngest was 5 months and the oldest 7 months. We had a beautiful day on Saturday - enjoyed lunch, took a short hike, played in the leaves and then on the blankets, put Robin to bed, ate dinner, put Noah to bed, ate some more dinner, put Cody and Eli to bed, cleaned up dinner, put Robin to bed again, had a beer, put Cody to bed again, then Robin to bed, then Cody to bed...then some dessert, then Lucio to bed, and more dessert, then Lucio to bed again...it was a long night! Overnight it started to rain and it rained all morning. So after breakfast everyone packed up and headed home.

Here are some pictures:

Things we will miss about Gus...

1. Needing to be watched while he eats

2. Putting me to sleep every night by laying on my chest

3. His uncontrollable tail - it fwapped everything and cleared every counter!

4. Wanting to sit on your lap while you were going to the bathroom

5. After getting the boot from your lap, in the bathroom, banging his head against the faucet until you turned it on

6. Fighting with Surgi over the best sunny spot

7. Chasing the chickens...and being chased by the chickens

8. Thinking he was a great hunter after catching a moth

9. Retrieving hair ties or rubber bands that had been flung across the room

10. Totally soaking his tail while sitting on the edge of the bathtub - and then looking very confused as water flung around when his tail got aggitated

11. Being startled by my purse being left in a new place

12. Leaving stuffed animals around the house for us to find after being gone for a few days - even hours, sometimes!

13. Sitting on the bed and howling at the ceiling, for apparently no reason

14. Nearly getting stuck in a tree, multiple times, after frantically running about the yard and scampering up about 15 feet

15. Hearing his bell jingle as he romped around

16. Watching him stalk and "attack" a bird with all limbs flailing about like a puppy dog still growing into his feet!

17. Weaving in between your feet as you try to walk through the kitchen

18. Riding in the hood of my sweatshirt when he was a kitten

19. The white strand of fur that started just above his lip and slid down to his chest patch like milk

20. Laying on my stack of grading or across the keyboard of my laptop while I tried to continue working

21. Hopping up and laying on my back as I leaned over to give Eli his bath; laying on Michael's stomach as he worked on the pipes under the kitchen sink

22. Meowing relentlessly if he could see the bottom of his food bowl - even if just a speck!

23. Giving me head-butts

24. Always acting like a toddler

I will miss you Gus!

Zah Zoooooo!!

My friend, and co-worker, Ellie has a beautiful girl, Cambria. Last Friday Ellie played hooky from work and we headed off to the Oakland Zoo. Can anyone guess Eli's favorite animal?...well, really it was the only animal he showed interest in and he was completely mesmerized by it's antics - less than 30 feet away! Here is a sloppy video:

It was a beautiful day, so we were able to see a bunch of animals. The chimps were especially loud and crazy, but they were too far away to get good pictures. The primates and the elephants were our favorites!

First Golfing Trip

Last week Mike took a day off to hang out with us. First, we headed out for a morning treat at a new cinnamon bun restaurant...yep, all cinnamon buns!! Little did we know it's other uniqueness: it is ALL vegan. This did not disrupt the taste of the cinnamon buns, just their appearance/texture - they were a little limp...but it did make our coffees less tasty with only soy creamer - as a half and half girl, soy milk is blehhh!!

Then we headed off for some disc golf and a picnic! We took Eli off-roading in his stroller and I think he was able to pick up some disc throwing technique!...hopefully from me, dad kept shanking it left :-)

Jump, jump, jumperoooooo!

This is Eli's latest "big" toy, and he loves it! He jumps more vigorously everyday!!

I love watching his little legs :-)

More lovin' for Surgi

Eli gets soooo excited when Surgi hangs out with us (which is pretty often!). Fortunately, Surgi is very patient and sometimes I think he likes being harassed by Eli.

Camping in Mendocino

We had very drizzly weather for our weekend in Mendocino, but it was a good time nonetheless! We met our friends Nicole, Phillip and baby Noah in Fort Bragg for two nights of camping on the coast. We had a fun time at the tide pools, enjoyed a long walk to the North Coast Brewery,eating many many s'mores and visiting a Pygmy Forest!!