Massachusetts Trip - Part 1

Back in late July we traveled to New England for my dad's birthday (happy 70th "'Pa Bob"! as Zachary is now saying). My mom rented a house on Cape Cod so Zach could get his first taste of the Atlantic. On the drive down to the Cape, we stopped at my Aunt Martha's house for a bit of a family gathering. Though we'd traveled to Massachusetts last year, there were still some family members who wanted to meet Zach. Auntie Martha was delighted to give Zach his first taste of cake and frosting.

Nana showing Zach the soda bucket (that's "pop" toall you Minnesotans out there ... you know who you are!). This is when Zach started his love affair withice.



Zach playing with a key fob. He quickly found the"panic" button and learned how to make the car's hornbeep ... over and over and over .... Cousin Marysa
is in the background

Zach and Nana playing Peekaboo through the dog door

The cake and Zach's hand going in for the kill. Did I forget to mention

it was my birthday, too? Silly me.

Zach, Auntie Martha and The Cake



Great Grandma Connie, Auntie Martha and Zach

Jus' chillin'

nuff said

July Playgroup

A few photos from our July playgroup with Emi and Atti:

Zach was having fun feeding the dog, Mulder


Amy, Emi and Zach




the whole gang

At the Beach

If you hadn't already guessed, I'm a big fan of the beach. Not so much the laying out in the warm sand and soaking up the sun - though that has its merits, no doubt - as the just being in the presence of the ocean. There something truly awesome about it ... for me it's similar to looking up into a sky full of stars and contemplating our place in the universe ... anyway, we went again to the Marine Fitzgerald Reserve in Moss Beach, about 30 min from home. We brought our new sun shade (which rocks!) and Zach had a great time playing in the sand, watching the waves, checking out the harbor seals, the hawks ... and his belly button.

June Playgroup

This photo and video are from June, when we hosted our almost-monthly playgroup. It's incredible that just one year ago we could set the kids on the floor and they wouldn't move, and now they're walking, crawling and climbing all over the place.

Mark & Emi, Larry & Atti, Jon & Zach

Visiting the Neighbors

Zach was enjoying walking down the hall when he decided to knock on Anne's door to see if Benito, her mini-Doberman, could come out and play. Anne's friend, Kathy, opened the door and ... well, why am I writing all this when all you have to do is press "play"?

Guess Who's Dancing?!?!

From walking to dancing in three wobbly steps. The first video was shot the day after the "Guess Who's Walking?!?!" video. We took the second one just a few hours ago.

Guess Who's Walking?!?!

Hot off the presses, er, flash memory card:

Miami Trip Videos

I wanted to post these separately. We had some firsts on this trip: first steps and first feeding himself with a utensil!

Also, more confirmation that Zach LOVES music and dancing. and being tickled :)
No captions, I think they're all self-explanatory.

ok... one comment: for those of you unfamiliar
with sign language, Zach is signing "more" when
he puts his fingers and thumb together and touches
them to each other

Miami Trip - Happy 90th Big G!!!

The first weekend of June we flew cross country to Miami, to visit the Day's and celebrate Magi's (aka Big G, Zach's great-grandmother) 90th birthday. Kevin, Jo, Ian and Connor made the trip, too, so the whole clan was there.

Magi is an amazing painter. Pat had a photo of one of her
paintings scanned and "printed" on her birthday cake. What a treat!
(pun intended)




It was HOT and HUMID in Miami. It took us all a day or so to
adjust. Wearing the least amount of clothes possible helped.




The boys are playing with Zach's "story reader" toy. A hand-me-down
that has proven to be a hit wherever we take it.




Even Conner had to stop his climbing to give it a whirl.




Great-grandpa John giving Zach a ZRRRBRRRT!!!



Whew!




Amy's Uncle Ken making funny faces at Zach




Big G reading to Connor




The presentation of the cake




The showing off of the cake




Proud Great-grandmother, grandmother and mother with her
proud son, father and grandfather




Not all, but a significant showing of the Day-Simmons clan:
L to R (back): Pat, Kathie, Kevin, Kristen (Pattie's daughter),
Pattie (Kathie's sister), Ken (Kathie's brother), Ian, Alice (Ken's wife);
L to R (middle): Jon, Lorraine (Kathie's mom), Big G, John (Kathie's dad),
Becky (Pat's cousin); L to R (front): Jo, Connor, Zach, Amy




Smellin' the flowers :)




Bedtime story from Grammy




That's one happy Grammy, and two happy grandkids!




Uncle Jon reading Ian's bedtime story, Green Eggs and Ham, with
help from Kevin and Pat




The next day, Big G reading to Zach



Zach is very relaxed




Happy Family!

Zach's first baseball game - Red Sox vs. Oakland, May 25, 2008

On the Sunday before Memorial Day, we went to Oakland to watch the Sox take on the A's. It was Zach's first baseball game - woohoo! We prepped him by teaching him to raise his arms up over his head and cheer whenever we say "Boston Red Sox - World Champs!!!"

He did pretty good, and though the Oakland Coliseum isn't a child friendly ballpark by any stretch of the imagination (it's not even a baseball friendly park), we walked, crawled and climbed around the concourse when he got fussy.

And yes, sadly, the Sox lost. So it goes ...

First real trip to the beach - April 26, 2008

So back in April we decided to take advantage of one of the rare hot days in the city (hot in SF = upper 70's / low 80's) and go to the beach. We had taken Zach to see the ocean before, but never hung out or let him play in the sand.

We went to Baker Beach, which has great views of Marin and the Golden Gate Bridge. Zach loved the sand. Here are a couple of photos from our day at the beach.

At the playground - March 17, 2008

Here we are at the playground in Golden Gate park again. Every time we go, it seems like Zach can enjoy the play structures in new ways.