San Francisco!

One of the great things about having friends who live all over the country is being able to take fun weekend trips to visit. Thanks to our friends' Chris and Leslie's wedding, we recently spent the weekend in San Francisco, having a mini college reunion and doing some sightseeing in addition to the nuptials. It was my first visit to SF. We spent the (very quick) weekend with Jen and Cliff, our college roommates, and a bunch more friends from NU. And where was TJ, you ask, since he is conspicuously absent in these pics? He spent the weekend being spoiled by Uncle Tucker, his mom, and his mom's friend. Pictures on that to follow after I get them from Tucker, but they had a ton of fun.

A boat tour in the bay with Jen and Cliff, under the Golden Gate bridge. And yes, it was as gray and windy as it looks! 

Jen and Cliff on the trolley...the ultimate San Francisco tradition!

Waiting for the trolley to get moving. We got to stand on the running boards, which was just what I was hoping to do...and then got soaked when it started to rain!

We knew SF was hilly, but we were really surprised at how steep some were. As we huffed and puffed up and down the streets, Ed and Cliff joked about going car tipping (similar to cow tipping!).

I saw this during our trolley ride. The spelling isn't quite right but still...

Clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls at Alioto's!

The famous Lombard Street

The lovely bride and groom, Leslie and Chris, during their first dance.

NU Class of 2000 may have been celebrating our 10-year reunion in Evanston, but we had a reunion of our own--17 Delta Upsilons--so wonderful to catch up with everyone! And amazing, once the dancing started, how little anyone had changed...

us

Jen and me

Kelly and me...she and Dustin brought Abbey on her first plane trip to attend the wedding.

Last Weekend at the Lake

Kelly, Dustin and came down to the lake for Abbey's first visit, and Corey came with us for his first visit of the year. It was warm-ish during the day, but chilly in the mornings! The boys all skied and barefooted. I draw the line at 47 degree temperatures for skiing!

The six of us at the lake

Ed attempting to wear his long wetsuit under his barefoot suit. It didn't come close to zipping!

Dustin kept his jeans and hat on for warmth until he got in the water. The crazy things we do for skiing and barefooting!

Thomas and Abbey: new friends! T was quite enthralled with her, giving her kisses, touching her head and feet, making cooing noises. It was really cute!

First kiss!

Abbey having some tummy time on the quilt I made for her.

Isn't she cute!?!

Check out Abbey's little Northwestern hat!

Corey and Thomas were buds this weekend. T would grab Corey by the hand and pull him over to play toys, as well as play on the couch with him. Here they're watching the Packer game together. 

Corey got this picture of Thomas sleep eating. We were stalling his nap on Sunday while we packed up. He was so tired that he was falling asleep as he spooned yogurt into his mouth. If you look closely at the picture, you can see that his sleep aim is a little off--besides the fact that there's no yogurt on the spoon, it is hitting his chin, not going into his mouth! Poor kid! 

Driving!

More pictures from our last weekend at the lake to come, but here's a video of Thomas driving! Ken and Susie (the couple we rent from) have six young grandkids and lots of great toys. T got a huge kick out of the 4x4 and did eventually go forward as well as backward, though he seemed to feel steering was optional.

Pumpkin Patch

We took Thomas to a pumpkin patch last week. I was hoping he'd really like the pumpkins, but he was way more interested in the playground the farm had. Ed suggested that this field trip might have been more for me than for Thomas...I think he was right!

Walking through the pumpkins

Look mom! I found a little pumpkin!

The three of us walked through the cornstalk maze.

 
Thomas wouldn't sit in the wagon--he insisted on pulling it. 

Probably the highlight of the trip was seeing the chickens, turkeys, ducks and rabbits in the cages on our way out. T was doing his version of clucking/gobbling/quacking, as you can see in the video below. 




We stopped for dinner on the way home. Who needs toddler silverware when you can use a BIG fork?!? This kid pigged out, helping himself to food on my plate as well as his own. Maybe that's why he wanted the larger fork--easier to reach my plate!

And just a random picture. T got stuck in this position and squawked until I helped him get unstuck. 

October skiing weather

Beautiful October weekends are for football and water skiing (at least in central Illinois, where the temperature was in the 80s). Football wasn't so good this past weekend (ugly losses by NU and the Packers), but the skiing was amazing! Smooth, glassy water, perfect for barefooting and skiing, and not just in the morning--we had great runs all day long. One more weekend of skiing--equally beautiful weather is forecast and Kelly, Dustin and Abbey are coming down!

And here's me barefooting, wearing two wetsuits (a full-body one for warmth and the padded suit for protection). 

Thomas is in a major copycat phase. From using nail clippers to pulling milk out of the fridge to fill a cup, he does everything we do. Apparently he's seen us put our drinks in can coozies once or twice, because he jammed his cup in one as well. Oh, and later, while we were cleaning up from dinner, it got very quiet. I looked around the corner and he was right next to my (half filled) wine glass. I was afraid he had taken a sip--thank goodness he hadn't--but instead he was filling it with pepper! Ed drank it anyway (yuck!). Adding salt and pepper to a meal is just one more thing to copy, I guess. 

BBQ & Blues

We went to a local BBQ restaurant tonight...yum! Ed gave Thomas a rib, which he literally licked clean. The restaurant didn't have any highchairs, so T got to sit in a "big boy" chair. We were worried about him sitting still and not trying to run around, but the blues music playing kept our boy's butt on the seat while his top half grooved (see video below).

Yum! Who needs pulled pork when you can have a bone to chew on? And, as an added bonus, the rib serves as a conductor's baton for directing the music.

The night ended with a family trip to Ted Drewes for custard. Thomas had the perfect spot, strategically seated between two different cups of ice cream for a constant supply of dessert. 

Grant's Farm

We took advantage of a great fall day to visit Grant's Farm on Saturday. Grant's Farm is a nature preserve/mini zoo/petting zoo associated with Anheuser-Busch. We took T last year when Diane and Matt were in town, but at 3 months old, he didn't get much out of it. This time, he loved it!

A self-portrait: me and Thomas

Petting goats. T spent most of his time running around the goats, but occasionally stopped to pet them.

And pull their tails.

More petting

While the goats were fun, the highlight of the visit was the elephant. I could not get Thomas away from the elephant area--he threw a fit when I tried to move on. He was absolutely fascinated and stood still for about 10 minutes (which for him, is alot!). We watched an elephant show, and every time the audience clapped for an elephant trick, T did too. 

Pics from the week

It's been cool the last week or so, which means it's footy jammy time! I love little kids in footy jammies. 

Jammies in the crib
T also likes sitting on the stool in the kitchen these days. And wearing his sunglasses.

Doesn't he look old in this picture?

Thomas had a shot earlier this week, and I gave him Tylenol afterwards. He was watching Sesame Street in his chair and it got very quiet. I looked over to see him like this. He'd fallen asleep and slid out of his chair onto the ground!

Our friend Brittany came over for dinner Friday night with her sweet little 9-week-old, Audra. Thomas was very interested in her, and especially her mouth!

Thomas likes to wear our shoes. He's frowning because he'd been trying to close the bathroom door and the shoes kept getting in the way.

Ready for college: We stopped in to visit Corey's new apartment and Thomas climbed right up on the futon and made himself at home with the video game controller. I offered to leave T there for the night, but I think Corey thought I was joking...