Bring on the food!!!

Talia's been expanding her palate...

Golfland

At the end of November we went to Golfland for the first time with Eric & Talia. Talia seemed to enjoy the scenery -- windmills, waterfalls, pagodas -- and simply being outside. Eric had a lot of fun running around and putting his ball. He was definitely most enthused about the first nine holes, as some of the newness wore off during holes 10-17. But come hole 18 and how it "sucked up" the balls, the enthusasium was back and he was talking about that particular hole for days!

Much to be thankful for...

With plenty of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole and cranberry sauce to feed a few more people, we sat down to a delicious Thanksgiving meal with Lori & Kristin. Kudos to Kristin for carving our turkey so thoroughly and so quickly! We enjoyed having them with us to celebrate. We shared what we are thankful for -- so many things this year -- and all managed to stuff ourselves silly.

Bocce Ball for Guy

In honor of Guy's birthday, we all went to Campo di Bocce celebrate. Eric had a blast learning how to play bocce and we all enjoyed watching everyone compete. We had tasty food too, and no birthday is complete without candles, cake and the Happy Birthday song (according to Eric) so we had those also.

Talia's first beer

Our friends Mark & Kerry came to visit from Boston and we all headed over to Paul & Shanda's to hang out with them for the evening. Talia was very interested in Shawn's beer...

Hidden Villa Field Trip

Eric's preschool took a field trip to Hidden Villa, a farm and wilderness preserve. We participated in a docent-led tour and the kids got to sample food from the garden, as well as feed the chickens, pet the goats and touch the chicks.

Talia's first food

Finally six months old, Talia tried her first food at the beginning of November. Not quite sure what to do with it, she moved it around in her mouth a bit and then decided she'd had enough. Since then she's gotten the hang of it a little more. We imagine she'll be ready for turkey come next Thanksgiving.

Halloween Night!

After Eric spent the day at preschool and participated in a Halloween parade throughout the school (and ate cupcakes in the 5th graders classroom), we ventured out into the 'street' of our new neighborhood. We probably spent an hour total outside, hitting a dozen houses and chatting with neighbors. Eric was a bit tentative about the darkness, scary costumes and intimidating decorations, but warmed up a bit once he ate his first piece of candy. Talia seemed to enjoy her first Halloween, though she left the candy eating to the rest of us!

Trick or Treating at Santana Row

The Tuesday before Halloween we met some friends at Santana Row and did trick-or-treating at the stores that participated. Eric didn't want to wear his costume, but had no problems with asking for candy!

Little Gym Halloween Party

The next day, we went to the Halloween Party at the Little Gym and then to our friends' Paul & Shanda's for some pumpkin carving. Thanks to Jason our pumpkin got carved...he spent quite a long time on it since it was the thickest, hardest-to-carve-pumpkin any of us had ever seen.

Lemos Pumpkin Patch

On October 25, we headed to Half Moon Bay for what is supposedly some of the best pumpkin pickin' around. We met up with our friend Karen and her daughter Eliza.

Park playdates

We've been meeting up somewhat regularly with our friends from Eric's old preschool. It's so nice to see them still since we're not going to school with them, and it's such a great group of kids and grown-ups that we all have a lot of fun. And even Talia has a friend to hang out with too.

PA Jr. Museum & Zoo

We met up with Lori & Kristin at Rinconada Park in Palo Alto on October 12. After playtime and a picnic lunch at the park, we spent some time at the Jr. Museum & Zoo.

Las Madres Halloween Party

It seems like every year our Halloween festivities start so early, which is great since the kids get plenty of use out of their costumes! We attended a playgroup Halloween Party two weeks before Halloween. Eric got dressed up for the occasion, but we didn't put Talia in her costume since it was quite warm that day. The kids got to do crafts, play with toys, eat yummy snacks and everyone got to socialize.

Fun Run!

It was a sea of tie-dye on October 10 at Eric's preschool. All of the kids showed school spirit by wearing their tye-died t-shirts (with the help of *many* parents, everyone tie-dyed t-shirts the week before), participating in Crazy Hair Day and running in the Fun Run.

If you're happy and you know it...

Eric was teaching Talia this well-known children's song. She loved learning the words, hand movements and getting all of his attention!

October was such a busy month!

Getting into the spirit of Halloween, we played around with makeup and possible costume ideas. Though Eric didn't dress up as an animal this year, we did use my eyeliner to make the under-eye marks football players have (what do you call those black lines???).

Discovery Museum with friends

At the end of September, we visited the Children's Discovery Museum with some friends from our playgroup. It was a weekend visit, so all four of *us* joined the four of *them* and discovered all there was to discover at the museum. As usual, Eric enjoyed running all over the place to check out the various exhibits. (In the pic, Eric is using all his strength to pull up the bowling balls while Benji looks on.) After a couple hours, we headed out front and had a picnic lunch. Eric, Becca & Benji also ran around, played hide-n-seek, ring-around-the-rosie, etc.

Eric starts a new preschool

In September, Eric started a new preschool. It's a three day a week parent participation program. Eric goes by himself on Monday and Wednesday, and Andrea works in the classroom on Fridays. It's taking Eric a little while to adjust to his new surroundings and the new people, but each day he seems to be getting more and more comfortable.

Brady's house

At the beginning of September, we went to visit our friends Brady & Shann who have a new baby. In addition to meeting Connor for the first time, Brady & Eric played in the backyard, soaked each other with the hose, picked tomatoes and had lunch. Talia hung out.

Grandpa & Grandma come to visit

Grandma & Grandpa Katz came to visit in August. We enjoyed playing, going to the Discovery Museum and cooking dinners, among other things. Eric & Grandpa had fun with the Hulk Hands!

Cousin's B-day

We were lucky enough to attend Brennan's first birthday party on August 16. It was really great to see family and friends we hadn't seen in quite a while. Talia met a number of people she hadn't before, including Uncle Milt and Debbie. Eric indulged in chocolate cake and ice cream!

At home in August

We've been spending quite a bit of time at home these days, mainly because one kid is likely to be napping. Here are a few shots captured in the afternoon on two different days after naps (or maybe in lieu of them, I don't quite remember).

Lori & Kristin visit, garden, make flute

In mid-August Lori & Kristin came to visit. We spent some time in the backyard gardening...Kristin turned our neighbor's bamboo into a flute (pretty impressive!). We had dinner, watched the Olympics and enjoyed each others company. Eric *loves* when they visit! Talia enjoyed their attention too, but slept quite a while when they were here.