Baking Bread

Busy kneading the dough, with some crazy nap hair

Taking the job very seriously

Look, ready to bake

It was a chilly, rainy day yesterday, so Alex and I made some homemade Parker House rolls and split pea soup for dinner. He is a great helper in the kitchen and especially loves distributing flour around the kitchen, so it was a good time.

Busy

First you use some wipes....

then you put a new diaper on the duck.

Raisins can also be used as cargo for the cars in my garage.

Daddy's Blackberry....very interesting.

Lately, we have managed to capture some moments of Alex playing solo and it is always interesting to see what he finds to occupy himself. Most of these are captured after Mommy gets out of the shower in the morning, so Alex has been busy by himself for a little bit. This morning's putting the diaper on the duck was quite cute. There aren't alot of quiet moments in the house these days, but these photos give an essence of what those few moments are like.

What a Fun Saturday!

Redwood Valley Railway in Tilden Park


Alex and Daddy on the train. Mr. Independent was wanting to stand and look out, rather than sit on Daddy's lap.


Hold on, we're moving through the redwoods.

Enjoying char kway teow and chicken rice at Kopitiam, a Singaporean restaurant in Lafayette.

Alex throughly enjoyed Saturday morning, with a trip up to Tilden Park. He took Daddy on a tour of the Little Farm for the first time and enjoyed feeding celery to all of the animals. It was a crisp Fall morning, so it felt very fresh up at Tilden. Alex particularly liked watching the geese and the chickens eat the celery this time around.

After the farm adventure, we headed over to the steam trains at Tilden. I have been wanting to take him there for awhile, but after Labor Day, they are open only on weekends, so this was the first chance we have had to get up there. The Redwood Valley Railway is so cool! It is nestled amongst the forest up in Tilden and you wind around through the trees on a miniature steam train for about fifteen minutes or so. A five ride ticket is only $8.00 (kids 2 and under are free), so it is a really fun, affordable outing. Engine number 11, which is named Sequoia, was leading our ride yesterday. Alex had a fun time and we will definitely go back to enjoy it again. Hopefully on a warmer day, or with coffee or hot cocoa in hand, because it was cold!

To round out the morning, we decided to check out Kopitiam, a Singaporean restaurant in Lafayette. We have had it on our list of places to go for quite awhile, but never have managed to make it there. Luckily, we checked it out yesterday, because they are closing later this month. Alex loved the chicken rice and char kway teow, so it was a successful visit, but it is unfortunate that it will probably be our last. I guess Mama will just have to make some at home again sometime soon.

Fun, Fun!

This music class is so much fun!

Griffin, Alex and Johnny

Hey guys, let's stomp on the sofa.

Note: In their defense, the words to the song at the time were "this is the way we stomp our feet."

The Little Chef

Mr. Clean

Is there any chance that he will still want to help vacuum when he is a teenager? I can only hope! Every time I vacuum, Alex needs his own little yellow functioning vacuum cleaner as well. We can only hope that these habits continue well into the future.

Weekend Morning

Chillin' with Tookie, a gift from Uncle Ming and Auntie Fiona


You snap photos of me, and I snap photos of you!


Drawing, always a favorite

Alex does not believe in the Fall time change, so we have had early mornings over here for the past week. Five o'clock seems to be the new wake up time, so there are alot of things which you can do prior to the rest of the world actually waking up!

Fun at the Zoo with Tadgh

This grass is really cool to play with, Tadgh.


Buddies

Cute!


Fun on the train

Sunday morning Alex went to his favorite place, the zoo, and this time he brought along his little buddy, Tadgh. Alex was quite happy to play tour guide for all of us at the zoo. The two of them enjoyed our little picnic afterwards and seemed to like hanging out together.

Happy 2nd Birthday Luke!

The birthday boy, Luke and his cake.


Alex and Miles playing around the rocks.


Alex and Zephyr checking out the playdough.

Alex and I had a fun morning, celebrating Luke's birthday with a bunch of our friends at Lake Temescal. There was playdough, some cool foam Christmas tree forms to decorate, balloons, snacks, and of course, yummy cake. Alex had a great time and crashed about two minutes after we got into the car. It was a beautiful Fall day and we both had fun seeing friends, some of whom we haven't seen in awhile. Happy Birthday Luke!