Habitot

We were really looking forward to Keady's arrival.  I guess Gabriela wanted to impress her or something because this is what Gabriela did to herself in the 3 minutes that we weren't watching her closely before the Medinas arrived.

I guess we have to add the "no coloring your face" rule to marker time.  We cleaned Gabriela up before her Keady-reunion.

Back to Habitot...Haitot is a children's discovery museum in Berkeley, but especially for toddlers.  They had a wiggle wall that kiddos could crawl up and down inside, a space ship station, complete with astronaut dress up outfits, a grocery store with play food and shopping carts, an arts and crafts room, a water play/car wash area, and even a hookah room.  Okay, it wasn't really a hookah room.  But it was painted a deep purple, had exotic lighting, and fancy decorative pillows all over the floor.  It was officially the "storytelling tent".  Habitot also had a parents' resource room, a toy lending library, and they offer cool classes for kids like Spanish music, African dance, or toddler cooking!  We are definitely coming back. Glad to have experienced it for the first time with Gabriela's friend Keady.

These girls were so busy playing, I hardly got any pictures where they were actually both looking at the camera.  It's safe to say that Habitot was a hit!

Reunion

Gabriela's BFF from daycare, Keady, came to visit last weekend with her mommy and daddy. It was so nice to see Rhonda and Eric and Keady.  Gabriela and Keady got playing right away, and didn't even skip a beat after not seeing each other for three months, which is a really long time when you're only two years old.

We went to Habitot in Berkeley, to Little Farm and Fairyland, out to eat, played outside, and just had a wonderful time together.

I hope they continue to stay in touch. They've been friends since Gabriela was just four months old!

Other fun stuff from last weekend

 

Gabriela helped Nana bake muffins for breakfast. 

 

She played in this playground next door. Where Gabriela spends a lot of her outside time in Gilroy 

Gabriela read books with Nana and with Grandma

 

She also insisted that Grandpa read a book to Cozy the Kitty 

My sister Cynthia came into town from Boston for a few days before hitting the road. Shame on me for not taking pictures.  Here's a plate full of Fakesgiving dinner in her honor.  I roasted three chickens - one with a sage rub, another full of citrus juice and zest, and another with garlic, rosemary, dijon mustard, and white wine. 

Lane and I also went on a date to see a play at Pintello Comedy Theater and visit with our theater friends in Gilroy. We went back to visit Grandpa where Gabriela gobbled up cinnamon raisin toast and then moved on to tomatoes.  As soon as we arrived she said, "Grandpa, let's pick tomatoes!!!!"

A new roof

Luckily the real heat that weekend didn't start until after the roofing project was finished.  One of the big reasons we came to Gilroy this weekend was to help my dad put a roof on his outdoor arbor by the pool. Lane helped organized the whole project.  Lane, Matthew, Tim, and Bobby were up on the roof while my dad and our neighbor Steve helped prep stuff on the ground. What a team effort.

Here's the almost final product - not bad for six guys who never put a roof on before.  Thanks to Noal and the internet for advice :)

Hot! Hot! Hot!!!

Gilroy, the town my parents live in, is always super hot. Of course, we ended up being in town for what was likely the hottest day of the summer.  Seriously.  It was 110 degrees in Gilroy at like 6 pm. This was not okay with me. 

Gabriela and Andrew started out the day by "helping" me pick blackberries at my mom's house.  Gabriela proudly presented me with the bowl I was using and exclaimed, "Look, Mommy! I ate them all!"  Whoops.

Later they ran through the sprinklers, swam in the pool, and enjoyed an afternoon ice cream snack. 

Gabriela is like a little fish in the swimming pool.  With the help of her life vest and floaties, she swims from one end of the pool and back over and over again.  She can't get enough.  She definitely enjoys swimming much more than last summer. Thanks Uncle Matthew for swimming so much with our little mermaid!

More Photos from the San Francisco Zoo

 

chimpanzee doing yoga

SF Zoo

Things Gabriela liked at the zoo... in her own words.  mostly.

1.  "I like a zebra braying in my ear" (we've been reading Polar Bear, Polar Bear a lot lately)

2. "I like giraffe eating leaf for a snack. And the momma said, 'here is a leaf, eat it giraffe'" (the momma was actually the zoo keeper)

3. "I like the tunnel" (from the Children's Zoo area)

She also liked...

The baby gorilla - Yes! They have a baby gorilla, just like in DC! This gorilla baby is a boy, and he's about a month older than Kabibi. His name is Hasani, and he's so cute!

The merry go round

The peacocks

 There were several peacocks, five of them if you ask Gabriela, just wandering around the zoo.  Gabriela had a blast spotting and chasing them.