1st ride on the lawnmower

For months Abby has watched Daddy from afar mowing the lawn wondering what that contraption was all about - well today she found out and got her first ride. She was unsure about it at first but then snuggled in as they rode along. I just love to watch her wispy hair blow in the wind...too cute! Dustin's hoping it will rub off and she'll start mowing the lawn soon so he doesn't have to anymore. haha

Hanging out in CA

Abby loves dogs since she's been around them since she was born. She is used to little Gracie and Zoe and when she saw Sandy she just had to be all over her. Sandy isn't used to having to share toys and she and Abby had a run in over Tigger. It was cute to see Sandy just tug Tigger out of Abby's hand like "this is mine kid". I'm sure Sandy rested much better once we left and Abby wasn't crawling around after her all the time.

Grandma and Auntie Michelle decided to go on a Target shopping spree and bought Abby her first Cabbage Patch Kid, Laci. Growing up Michelle and I would ask for a CPK every Christmas from Grandpa Poole and could even tell the shape of the box when Grandpa would bring the wrapped presents out of the trunk. We both had 5 CPK each and we played and played with them. We never wanted Barbies just more Cabbage Patch Kids. Abby wasn't so sure what to do with Laci except try to eat her face and arms. Oh and the patriotic socks were from Grandma too - Emily and Abby both got a pair and had to try to them on then.

At Auntie Chris's house was Abby's first time swimming in a real pool and she LOVED it! She kept kicking her feet and cried when it was time to get out. She could not get enough and by the end of the time we were there she learned what splashing was all about...oh boy!

On Saturday our whole family drove out to the coast to play at the beach. When we got there it was freezing cold and so windy we almost got blown to bits. We all got out of the car for a few minutes, Dustin took a few pics and then we jumped back in the car after being in the wind tunnel and drove home. Northern California beaches are not the cliche "California beaches" for those who haven't been there...they are rocky, windy and the water is ridiculously cold.

While in Santa Rosa we stopped by the Charles M. Schulz Museum, Ice Skating Rink and Gift Shop. Abby loved the character statues they had all around, although I think Woodstock was her favorite. Santa Rosa has Snoopy character statues all throughout town like Lexington does with pigs.

Alcatraz & San Francisco

While we were out in California we made a trip to San Francisco since Dustin had never been there before. When I asked him what he wanted to do he said visit Alcatraz, go to a Giants game at AT&T Park, and ride on a trolley - it was then I realized that I had never done any of those things either even though I lived 45 minutes from them all my life (well Dad and I used to go to Giants game but it was at Candlestick and I had never been to the new park).

We went down with Jonathan, Chris and Carl (my brother-in-law, sister and nephew) and had a great time. We did A LOT of walking and traded off with holding and pushing Abby throughout the day. We left around 8am because we knew we'd hit traffic driving to the city and surprisingly we breezed down the freeway the whole way. So since we didn't have to catch our ferry to Alcatraz until 11am we decided to drive down Lombard Street...coolest street in SF!

After that we drove and parked near Pier 39 to walk to Pier 29 where the Alcatraz ferry left from...we stopped and took in some great views of the Golden Gate and said hello to the Sea Lions.

We then jumped on the ferry and off to Alcatraz (if you haven't experienced it and are ever in the area - it's a definite must!) There is so much history and so many great stories of what happened on "The Rock" that I never knew about.

After Alcatraz we toured around SF, and were all set to take a trolley tour of the city until we came upon the line which was a 1 1/2 hour wait. Not only was it that long for the first leg to Union Square but it was the same coming back - so sadly we were not able to ride a trolley because we would be late for the ballgame. So we went to Ghirardelli Square and shared a PB Chocolate Sundae...mmmm! Abby is ALWAYS up for ice cream!

Boy did the weather turn from sunny and warm(abnormal SF weather) to cold and windy(normal SF weather) that night for the game. We all bundled up and went to AT&T Park to watch the Giants play the Rangers. During batting practice Dustin took Abby to the front row and one of the players threw her a ball. Daddy was pretty excited and Abby just wanted to eat it. We sat in the bleachers surrounded by some serious fans who chanted all night "What's the matter with Jones? He's a bum!" haha. But there's nothing like a hot dog from a baseball game.

We had a very long, eventful day and were all worn out by the time we got back home that night - but it was all worth the good times we had together.

Day in Sonoma

To say that our family loves cheese is an understatement. I think we decided to drive over to the Sonoma Square just to go to the Sonoma Cheese Factory and Vella Cheese Factory...everything else would just be a bonus after that. The Sonoma Cheese Factory has so many samples of all of there cheeses and everything is so yummy! Also a few blocks off the square is a Scandinavian Bakery that sales the most amazing butter cookies that I used to give to clients on sales calls when I was working at the Sheraton. Of course we couldn't fly cross-country and be 2 blocks away and not stop in. We decided to get 2 dozen assorted cookies to share that evening. We had a few in the car on the way home then someone left them on the counter while we went swimming. Sandy was inside alone and ended up eating the rest of the box, about 18 cookies - apparently she realized how good they were too. :)

On the square is a little mini-mall with some specialty shops that we toured through. We saw that they had a dog bakery and had to stop in. They sold doggy bagels, pupcakes and had a huge dog bone-shaped cake that said "Yappy Birthday" (Emily thought that was pretty funny). Needless to say Abby was a magnet to the few dogs that reside in the store and couldn't get enough. She probably would've made room to take that puppy home with her.

We met up with friends of mine from when I went Sonoma State University, Kim & David at Mary's Pizza for dinner (oh how I love their pesto-cheese breadsticks mmmm). After a long day of being in Sonoma, Abby was getting quite cranky and actually fell asleep in Dustin's arms - too cute to not get a picture.

Mini Family Reunion

On Tuesday we celebrated Parker's 6th Birthday! Since Dustin, Abby and I were staying at Jonathan, Chris & Carl's in Rohnert Park we all got in the truck (including Sandy) and drove to Rocklin to Tim & JoAnn's house. On the way Abby was facing backwards in the back seat toward Sandy who kept poking her head through the window from the bed of the truck - she had huge smiles on her face and it kept her occupied for most of the ride. When we got over to Rocklin, Carl had brought his remote-control car to run around in the park near the house so we all went over to watch. After being there for a bit we were surprised by Michelle and Emily who flew down from Idaho for the day. We were so excited to see them! Their plan was to fly back to Idaho the next day with Mom but we convinced them to stay until Sunday. That afternoon Grandma Poole & Pat and Uncle Paul and Carole came to celebrate and see everyone. It was nice to see everyone again since it had been way too long (about a year and a half)!

Baby Einstein is a beautiful thing!

Thank goodness for Baby Einstein and portable DVD players! Our trip to California was Abby's first plane ride and we weren't sure how it would go. We flew from Greensboro, NC to Chicago, IL which was a 1 1/2 hour flight and then from Chicago, IL to San Francisco, CA which was a 4 3/4 hour flight. The upside was that we didn't fly out until 5pm so we knew Abby would be tired, but wasn't sure how she'd sleep on me since she loves her bed. Thankfully she slept the majority of both flight except for a little 1/2 hour break when she woke up so we put on Baby Einstein. I don't know what it is about those movies but she is mesmerized by them. So we turned down Dustin's headphones pretty low and she snuggled in. The flight attendants thought it was so cute and one wished she had her camera with her. Gotta love it!