Andrew at the zoo

I'm a little behind in my blogging... this picture was taken a couple of weeks ago when we took Andrew and Julia to the zoo. What a smile!

Back to Pastornio's for more pumpkin fun

This morning we decided to head back to Pastorinos to find some halloween decorations. The other day Jeff and Julia went out shopping for decorations, and came home with what we've now decided might be the scariest decorations ever. Instead of skeletons and flying demons and bloody rats, we've decided we need a little more in the genre of pumpkins, hay, scarecrows, etc. So, back to Half Moon Bay we went. I will post pictures later of the decorations once we put them up around the house (and maybe some pictures of the demons too for contrast!) Here are some pictures of our jaunt. The train ride was the big hit of the morning.

More from the pumpkin patch

Cousins enjoy the pumpkin patch

Pastorino's Farm, Half Moon Bay

Riding on the hay wagon

Checking out pumpkins in the patch

Exchanging hugs on Benne's lap

Visit to the Fire Station

By Jeff: With Laurel away for a business school girls' reuinion weekend, I was home alone with the kids. Saturday morning, we went to a pancake breakfast at the Menlo Park fire station down the street. Afterward, we got to check out some very cool stuff. Julia got to "drive" a real fire truck as well as sit in back and talk on the radio. We also saw some demos of firefighting and search and rescue techniques, the highlight of which was the firemen rappelling down a practice building.*









* For anyone who's interested, the Menlo Park Dire Department manages CA-TF3, one of 28 FEMA-coordinated Urban Search and Rescue teams spread across the country. The Menlo Park task force has responded to a number of notable emergencies, including Hurricane Katrina, the September 11 attacks at the World Trade Center, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster.

The San Francisco Zoo

We piled everybody into the Expedition and headed up to the SF Zoo, picking up Benne and Grandpa along the way. Julia had a wonderful time! Here are a few highlights of the animals we saw:

Saturday outing: Bol Park in Palo Alto

Saturday Outing: Chicadee Nature Trial, Huddart Park

Saturday at San Gregorio

Family Fun Day: Walk along the Beach

We're starting what we hope will become a regular weekly tradition: Saturday family fun day. Our goal is to plan on a fun outing or family event every Saturday morning. We started last weekend with a trip to Half Moon bay. We took a walk along the paved path above the Poplar Avenue beach. Julia had so much fun carrying "Daddy's lunchbox" (his camera bag), and pushing the double stroller. Our goal next Saturday is to head back to HMB, but this time make it down to the sand!