It has been far too long since we've ventured to Palo Alto/Menlo Park, so today we went and met up with some friends for some adventuring, chatting, having fun, and exploring!
We started the morning off nice and early at Shoreline Park. We walked, the kiddos played, and I caught up with my good friend Ashley (a friend and PAUSD work buddy). Her son Jack is absolutely adorable and it was fun to watch the kids interact a bit while we chatted. Once my phone recharges I will add a picture or two of Catie and Jack!
After we hung out with Ashley, we ventured to MP to chill with Aunt Jessie and play at her cute little apartment playground.
Catie and Andrew absolutely love Jessie, so they had fun showing her some acrobatics, talking with her, and hunting for spiders around her apartment complex.
We spent the late afternoon hanging out with the Balenas chatting and eating and relaxing. Andrew and George played nicely outside while Liz and I hung out with Catie and Henry. Catie had fun learning about make up brushes and lip gloss from Liz and I am SO MAD I didn't get a picture of her getting "pampered." It was adorable to watch. Liz got us lunch from Lulus and I ate every last drop of my salad. Yum!
After our fun with the Balenas, we played at Holbrook-Palmer Park for a little bit and then ventured over to explore Stanford because it has been forever since we've roamed around there!
Little girl with an atti-TUDE
This discovery was quite a surprise...
Pink fountains at Stanford for Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Andrew's shooter thing sabotaged my attempt at a cute photo shoot
Poser... and his annoyed sidekick
Catie's head down look is a favorite of mine... it is her pouting without letting anyone see her
So mad I wouldn't let her swim in the fountain...
there was actually a group of 5-6 kids swimming in there.
Exploring
There were so many fountains and things to check out... we will definitely need to go back and explore again. I love how you can walk a block or two with kids and they are amazed at everything! Helps make me appreciate the beauty around me more!
After an hour of so of exploring (and trying to really tire the kids out), we picked up Kevin, stopped at the new Chick-fil-A for dinner (that is right along our way home... what good fortune!), and then we dove into Friday night traffic and enjoyed chatting while we ate.
My favorite way to get Catie to practice making requests and using polite language is to eat food in the car. My total slacker mom skills have significantly helped her talking skills. :) I give Andrew chicken nuggets and sauce to hold in a little container. I give her one chicken nugget and then she has to ask Andrew to dip it in ketchup for her and then she politely thanks him and eats her food... until she needs another dip or some more chicken... and then the process repeats itself. She stays much tidier because Andrew is quite stingy with the ketchup and I can enjoy the drive not worrying about helping either of them. Hooray!
When we got home from our adventure tonight I went to Andrew's school to help set up for Community Science Day and was excited when I got home to discover that we'd been BOO'ed by a neighbor!! I'm hoping it is from one we know? I'm trying to not be paranoid and wonder if the bags are filled with poison candy...
Catie and Andrew are going to be sooo excited to check out their BOO bags in the morning.
We also got a cool Mrs. Fields package from Grandma Julie that the kids are going to LOVE opening in the morning. Can't wait!
Such a great busy day! I think we will sleep well tonight!
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