A quiet, kid friendly weekend

There is a lot coming up for us in the month of April, what with Easter and Jake’s birthday, but this weekend was just about paying attention to the kids. Jake is still trying to get over his most recent cold and Kate got to have a Daddy day yesterday (Chuck E. Cheese no less) after Pete was gone most this last week in training. I hope you enjoy a few random shots.

On this gorgeous sunny day, Kate and I decided to take advantage and tool around the neighborhood on her scooter. 

      

She was the leader on our expedition so a stop in the park for a quick ride on the tire swing was inevitable.

    

And then back to Señor Jake. He is still sick with whatever lovely bug he’s caught this round–think lots and lots of snot and little sleep. But it amazes me how when kids are awake, they will make the best of the situation. Here is Jake with his car scooter.

    

Yes Uncle Aaron, the car has moved on to its second occupant and he loves it!

St. Patrick’s Day 2009

It’s not like Kate has yet found a holiday she doesn’t like but I am curious when her enthusiasm will reach its zenith–I don’t want to see the downside, I just expect that her love of holidays can’t grow infinitely. But since we’re not there yet, Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

The kids had a blast on St. Paddy’s Day this year. Kate was dressed to the nines in her shamrocked Princess t-shirt and rainbow shamrock socks. Daddy went a bit overboard in just how much green he dressed Jacob in for his day at Tim and Lisa’s. Needless to say, no one was ever in danger of being pinched.

And that goes equally as well for Mom and Dad. I pulled out the infamous Leprechaun hats from Dublin. If you haven’t heard the story, Pete and I went to Dublin in 2001 on the first leg of our honeymoon. We planned it so that we’d be in Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day. Unfortunately, St. Patrick’s Day was canceled that year due to a serious outbreak of hoof and mouth disease–one could question our luck, I simply choose to remember how much fun we had in Dublin. But, to compensate for the lack of crazy fun we actually encountered on St. Patrick’s Day, Pete and I decided to make our own party. Enter the giant leprechaun hats.

    

And enter again the kids, who are just slightly fascinated by the giant green hats. Enjoy!

Kate knows how to balance the too large load but Jake was experiencing technical issues from time to time.

   

A letter to Miss V, from Miss Kate

Kate, Tricia, and I attended a local awards show last night called the SAMMIs because a very good friend, Victoria Hunt, was nominated for her excellent works on behalf of the Arts in the community of Sammamish. Here are Kate and Tricia at the awards show…

We were all significantly impressed by the intent and execution of the SAMMIs. And when Victoria’s group of well deserving nominees were announced, we all crossed our fingers and hoped with everything we had that Miss V would be called out as the winner. Unfortunately that did not come to pass.

 

Needless to say, Kate was very upset that the SAMMIs did not recognize Victoria this round, she doesn’t have any connection to the other nominees and so she just cannot grasp why the judges would make such a gross error. As we were talking about it on the way home, we decided that the best thing we could do was fix their mistake.

And so, Kate decided that we would give Miss V her own award on behalf of her excellence and dedication to the health, well being, and arts education for the Giffin/Jester clan.

Congratulations, Miss V!!!!!

Love, hugs, and kisses from Miss Kate.

Congratulations Michele and Bill!!

 

A very good friend of the family, Michele Coady, recently shared with us that she and her husband were going to be remarried. And so a lovely brunch was organized to celebrate the reunification of this happy couple. Here are Michele and Bill toasting the upcoming nuptials.

Great food and fun was had by all in attendance. The usual jokes were heard around the table that with this group, there is never a possibility of getting enough to eat (we had enough food to feed the party twice over ) and what is up with the “Scotts” and their fascination with juice.

And everyone spent time cooing over the kids attending: Julianna, Brenna, Kate, and Jacob, as well as those whose arrival we are still waiting for–Baby Boy X (Helen and Scott are still debating names even though their due date is 5 weeks out) and Baby Zachary (Kim and Aaron have only to decide on a middle name–and no stealing the name Zachary there Scott).

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately we didn’t get a photo of all the friends attending the celebration so you will have to make due with a very cute couple and some of the adorable munchkins. From left to right the photos are: Kim and Aaron Stebner, Brenna Kilty, and Jacob cuddling with Mom.

        

And what event can end without a round of Rock Band? Bill is an avid drummer and so Michele was determined to have him try a set. Here are Bill on drums and Pete on guitar, with Rav and Kate singing the lovely 80’s hit by Duran Duran, Hungry Like the Wolf.

  

Jacob’s Super Friends

On our trip to Disneyland, Kate decided that we needed to get Jacob a really cool present since he didn’t join us this time around. We hunted high and low all over Disneyland to find just the perfect gift for the boy–something that he would really like but also something he couldn’t destroy with one fell swoop of his joyous rapture.

And thus we found what we called Jake’s superfriends. Meet Buzz, Mr. Incredible, Sulley, Nemo, Woody, and Flash. Jake even already knows all their names… Even if Mr. Incredible sounds more like “Crayabba” and Sulley is “Sulty.”

 

Now the next piece of fun. Jake’s favorite game to play with his superfriends? DESTRUCTION!

It doesn’t matter where we play this game, the point is that after a very orderly and kind set up of all the friends, at some point they are destroyed (knocked over, dropped, kicked over, whatever mood strikes Jake at the time). Then they get set up again and…. Destroyed!  With the very odd patience of a toddler, this event is reenacted endlessly.

That is until Jacob’s not so developed acting skills kick in… Oh!! So sad.   (wink! wink!)