Fall's really here... Pumpkin patch outing

I've been holding onto summer with all my might, but today I had to admit Fall has arrived. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, warm-yet-crisp, so we headed to the pumpkin patch at Pastorino's Farm in Half Moon Bay. We took advantage of the occasion to catch some family pictures.

The Sullivan/Holman/McCormick Clan


The McCormick Clan

The Holman Clan

The kids had a ball in the jump house, on the slide, and in and the petting zoo:

While that was fun, I think my favorite part of the day was watching Andrew joyfully pick out one after the other little pumpkin and move them from the patch to the wagon. That wagon was overflowing full by the time he was done. The fancy trappings of Pastorinos are lots of fun to be sure, but there is something to be said for keeping it simple and enjoying the pure pleasure of the pumpkins alone. Andrew reminded us of that today.

Andrew at gym class

After a year of sitting on the sidelines watching big sister Julia at gymnastics, Andrew finally gets to go in his own right! Wendy takes him on Tuesday mornings at 10am while Julia is in preschool. Today she brought her camera. Here's the big boy!

Pajara Dunes Weekend

We spent the weekend at a big house on the beach with two other families. They are friends from my mother's group, so their kids are Julia's age and we had so much fun. Pajara Dunes is a great place and I'm sure we will be back. I posted more pictures here if you want to see more.

A Day at the Zoo

The kids and a few of the animals we visited...

Unsupervised children: look what they can do!

We had two familes over for dinner last night, and while we adults were enjoying ourselves out back, the kids were enjoying themselves inside. The game closet will never look the same. Ever played Trivialcraniapictionabble?

Making cookies

The kids helped me make cookies tonight. Here they are helping scoop the batter onto cookie sheets. Julia loves to help, and Andrew loves to be where ever the action is!

Poplar beach in Half Moon Bay

We went to the beach yesterday. It's always easier to get there and back than I think it will be, and we have so much fun. I don't know why we don't go there every weekend. Especially in the fall, which is such a great time in Half Moon Bay. Julia was trying to sit on Andrew's lap for a picture when we snapped this one:


And here are a few more from the day, including a rarely seen picture of me.



And this is what they looked like by the time we got them home:

Full Lunar Eclipse, August 28, 2007

Jeff's Backpacking Trip to Dusy Basin

Julia on her first day of preschool

Here is the promised picture of Julia on her first day of preschool. She's getting so grown up!

First day of Preschool a success!

Julia's first day of preschool was today, and I am happy to report she did great! I can't say as much for myself, although thankfully I held it together until reaching my car where I sniffled and sobbed all the way to the office. I did not anticipate having any trouble dropping her off, but let me tell you it was hard. Much harder than I expected. It's a really big milestone. When I first started this blog, she was still practically a baby. One of the very first pictures I posted is of my Mother's Group, showing several of us with our babies. (Click here to see it.) The group is still together, and Julia is very lucky to be in the same preschool class as her friend Jackson, who is sitting right next to Julia in this picture (the blond boy to the right.) We've all come a long way. Jeff took a picture of Julia this morning, lunchbox in hand, but I haven't downloaded it yet. That will come next. Meanwhile, I just had to report out on the first day. She LOVED it, and can't wait to return on Thursday.

Creek wading in Butano

The McCormick's invited us to visit them in Butano over Labor Day, so we spent a delightful day there on Sunday. We hiked out to this lovely spot where a beautiful waterfall splashes down into the pond shown in this picture. Julia and Andrew jumped right in and LOVED it! As you can tell. Most of the pictures are on Jeff's camera which I haven't downloaded yet, but I did get a few on my camera including this one. Hopefully I'll post a few more shortly. Many thanks to the McCormicks and Andrea & Craig for sharing their special place with us, and treating us to such a nice day!

Backyard Fun

The kids just loved being pulled around on this thing. It was so much fun! Julia is 3 years 1 month, and Andrew is 15 months. Julia starts preschool tomorrow -- she's getting so big!