Girls Night

Kevin had his friends over for a game night last night, so Lily and I took the opportunity to have a girls night with some friends.  Dinner and "adult" beverages, followed by frozen yogurt?  Yes, please! Lily enjoyed her first official girls night outing; she's a nice addition to our little group.

 All dressed up for her big night out!

Everyone had their beverage of choice.  

Birthday Fun

Kevin's birthday was this past weekend.  Let me just put this out there; I LOVE birthdays.  Mine and other peoples.  My birthday is my favorite holiday, and I'm pretty sure I'm more excited about Kevin's birthday than he is.  But whatever.  We still had fun.  Kevin shares his birthday with his brother, Dan, so we got together with him and his wife, and another friend, for dinner and a little fun at Dave and Buster's.  Lily went with us and slept through most of the evening.  She was apparently bored by our escapades, but there is still time to get her up to speed on the importance of birthdays.  

 We started the day off with brunch at Eddie Papa's.  It's our favorite place!

 They give you cotton candy with the bill in the AM, too!  I loved that it matched my nails.

 We did some shopping at REI (Kevin's favorite place) and found a tent for Maggie.

 Maggie had a little birthday outing to the dog park.  She's just too cute.

 The birthday boys, complete with flying baby!

 Lily was not impressed with our shenanigans.  But she was a good sport about it.

 Watching Star Wars.  Lily has now seen all three in the original trilogy.

 You can actually see Kevin and Lily reflected in the door, watching Star Wars.  Watching the two of them was too funny, so I had to try and capture a photo.

 Everything about Lily is pretty pink and girly, so she decided her daddy needed some manly burp cloths to use for her.

It was a long, fun-filled weekend.  A post-birthday nap was definitely in order.

Lily's Blessing Day

We (Kevin actually did the deed) blessed Lily on September 2nd, and it was beautiful.  I cried, which I never do.  I'm not a crier.  But tears leaked through.  Kevin did a great job.  It was a great day with family and friends coming to witness the event and then gathering at our house for refreshments after.  My mom sewed the blessing dress from my wedding veil material and it is the prettiest thing.  I love it and Lily looked beautiful.  It was a special day, and really the highlight of the weekend.

 The whole gang

 My four generations of family.

 Little Lily-bean

 "Yay!  I've been blessed!"

Our little family.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Fall is approaching.  I love fall.  LOVE it!  Scarves, boots, long sleeves, crisp air, wonderful scents, fun holidays.  I love it all.  I want to go back to Apple Hill; I haven't been since I went to grad school in Sacramento.  It was a fall tradition.  I need to eat a caramel apple in a suitably fall atmosphere.  There needs to be a hot chocolate and fall event situation (I haven't quite figured that one out yet.  But I will).  I've never been to a pumpkin patch for any official pumpkin picking, but am contemplating it this year.  My family is doing Thanksgiving at the Beach House this year, which is something we've talked about forever but never done.  I'm looking forward to that and am super excited to introduce Lily to the Beach House.  She's the fifth generation to enjoy that place, and hopefully she gets a lot of years out of it.

I'm just so excited for fall and all that it has to bring.  It's really my favorite season.

Scottish Festival

The Scottish Festival is held in Pleasanton (at the Alameda County Fairgrounds) every year over Labor Day Weekend.  I have wanted to go since I moved here and found out about it, but obligations of one sort or another have prevented me from attending.  This year, I was bound and determined to go, come hell or highwater, newborn or no.  And it happened; I made it to the festival with Kevin, Lily, and my parents in tow.  It was fantastic, fun, and worth the entrance fee.  Next year, I will have a better idea of what is going on and be able to plan it out better in order to see everything.  But there were fantastic bands, sporting competitions, bagpipe band competitions, and Scottish dance displays.  I was a five-year old the night before Christmas and Christmas Day, all rolled into one.  It was ridiculous how excited I was.    

Also, this seems to be a prime place for people to dress up in period costume (the Mary, Queen of Scots court days), re-enact battles and pretend to be some long-distance ancestor (real or imaginary) for the weekend.  It was pretty interesting.  But I am ridiculously excited to go next year.  

 Men in kilts (and other strange costumes) were EVERYWHERE!

 Just a portion of the a Scottish clan camp

 A battle ensues!

 Mary, Queen of Scots, and her court, play croquet.  And those costumes looked uncomfortable in the heat.

 This guy was one of my faves.  Early argyle; how could you not love the outfit?  I think this is where golf ensembles got their start.

 Sheep herding competitions.  I could have watched them for hours.

 The food was amazing; pub food like I remember in Britain.

 Bagpipe band competition. 

Italian Festival Adventures

We have been hearing about the Italian Festival in San Jose for the past couple of years from the Thurmond's, and we always forget to mark when it is so we can attend.  This year, we made a point of finding out when it was and putting it in the calendar so we could plan for it with Vanessa, Robb, and Ren.  This year, we finally made it!  Kevin didn't get a chance to pull out his big Italian guns, but he did give us his expert opinion on the food we consumed and some of the music being played.  Since Kevin served his mission in Italy, he was our personal expert this afternoon.  And whenever we discuss anything Italian, or eat Italian food.  He's handy to have around in those situations.    

While we had fun hanging out with our fabulous friends and trying the food, the festival itself was a little underwhelming.  Not the big Italian-fest we had assumed/hoped for.  Ah, well.  At least now we know.  And it did introduce me to sfingi, the most amazing little donut things that I would go back to the festival for alone.  Loved them.  

 Trying to decide what to eat.

 We settled on polenta and Italian sausage.  So good.

 My new favorite thing.  I'm going to be making these.  A lot.  Because practice makes perfect and they are amazing.

 The sfingi smelled so good.  I wish I could take a picture of how good it smelled.  And tasted.

 Lily wasn't feeling like Italian food this afternoon.  She settled for her bottle.

 What Italian experience would be complete without gelato?  And Nutella gelato?  Hello!

 Just chillin' at the festival, getting to know her (honorary) Italian roots.

  She was a little grumpy when we left.  She wanted to stay for more of the good times.

The new accessory

We are having lots of fun with her, and I try not to bore you all with too many photos of Lily, because, really, they are all pretty similar and not very exciting to anyone but us.  But sometimes I just have to show you how she's changed, even if it's only obvious to me.  And it's only been a few days since I last posted something here.  Or on Facebook.  Or both.  But enjoy our little Lily.

Working on my bicycle moves 

"No pictures, please.  I'm not ready for my public to see me!"