bubbles and corgis

for the last week or so, we have been watching another sweet corgi named dutch. we have all been having a ton of fun with him, especially dottie! she got some bubbles over the weekend that have been a perfect thing for all of them to play with together. who knows what dottie is saying in this video but we almost think that she has been hearing enough barking lately that she is mimicking the dogs! woof...

another carni!

yesterday, we checked out another carnival. this time it was in san francisco in the giants stadium parking lot. after the county fair in petaluma that was so great, this was a bit of a letdown. there weren't very many rides for young kids and it felt trashy (i know, big surprise at a carnival). thank goodness we met up with anna, ahmed, aida, and zayneb because even though it wasn't a great carnival, the girls had fun. dottie is finally getting old enough that she is able to try and keep up with the big kids!

flirt

in this little clip, we captured this silly thing dottie has been doing lately with her eyelashes. she does it when she wants to be silly or sweet or even right before she goes to bed at night. we think it's pretty cute and wanted to share it with you (the tongue, not so cute...)!

no love for noodles...

but lots of love for the family, green beans, and avocado!

go giants!

yesterday dottie, chuck, and i checked out the giants game with our friend brian. dottie wasn't too into the game (she takes after me!) but had a ton of fun playing on the bleachers and walking around with us. she did get quite excited when people started to cheer and clap and joined in with the fun! unfortunately, the giants lost the game.

happy 4th of july!

this afternoon, penny and jason reserved some picnic tables at golden gate park and people gathered for a 4th of july picnic, buckets of fried chicken and all! dottie had loads fun running around with friends. she ate sweet corn on a stick which was a first, tried to hula hoop, got a peep at a sweet little gopher that made a short appearance, tried to play badminton, hung out on lawn chairs with some buddies, successfully swiped about 5 juice boxes from other kids, and later on, experienced her first sparklers. very fun day!

july 3rd

last evening, the weather was so nice, we had ian, brian, and allie over for impromptu margaritas on the back deck. dottie was very interested in brian's tiger tattoo on his arm and was excited to be read a book or two by ian and allie. it's nice to have nice friends!

i want a pony

because we just can't get enough of watching dottie on the pony...

(the funny thing is that chuck has a monkey on the back of his phone holder and he shot the video with his phone. so as she went past on the pony, she made a monkey noise!)

tulip dress circa 1976

the little tulip dress dottie wore this past sunday was mine as a child. my dad was sweet enough to dig through some pictures to find a picture of me in it to compare. we wanted to get a picture of dottie sitting on our front steps but unfortunately she wouldn't cooperate and insisted on holding a plastic camera and getting up.... TODDLERS! next time.

the county fair

this past sunday we drove up to petaluma to check out the sonoma-marin county fair. penny, jason, wyatt, and malcolm met us up there and marla and brian joined us with oliver. it was scorching hot but we had LOADS of fun!!! the fair was done really well and really catered to children. there were farm animals, games, a petting zoo, huge slides, and best of all, dottie got to ride her first roller coaster and pony! what more could a little girl ask for? each ride she went on, she got off and wanted to turn around and go again. we already can't wait for next year and BONUS....oliver will be able to toddle around with the big kids which will be loads of fun (sorry oliver, we were so excited by the kiddies riding the rides that we didn't get a pic of your sweet self)! for more pictures of our day, click HERE.

surf's up

hooray for saturday! we woke up, ate breakfast (dottie's new favorite is cheerios served with milk), and then headed to check out music with enzo. dottie loved it more than ever today! we have been to breakfast with enzo 3 times recently and with each time, dottie is having more fun with it. today she sat on our laps and bounced for much of the program but by the end was up and jumping and clapping with glee, especially when "old macdonald" was played. after enzo, i headed to my studio and worked for several hours while chuck was on baby duty. then we headed to the beach with our friends ian and pooja so the guys could surf and the ladies could enjoy the sun (we are having a heat wave right now. 80's in sf is rare!). dottie had loads of fun playing in the sand and enjoyed taking pointers from ian and chuck apres surfing....

bedhead

dottie had some major bedhead today when she woke up from a 3 1/2 nap. thanks siena and toscana for wearing her out!!!!!

helmet heads

earlier today we went for a visit with our friends marie and siena and their friend toscana (1 year) in the east bay. we had a lovely visit and the girls totally wore dottie out. we met up at marie's brother's house who has 2 kids who are older than ours. they had lots to play with including a cute doll stroller and some bike helmets that the girls kind of obsessed over. we also brought the girls some parasols that dottie still couldn't get enough of. the pictures aren't the best because several taken on my iphone...

dot in dots

enjoying a madeleine in front on the boulangerie in hayes valley.

when bad things happen to good dogs

milo got hit with some flying spaghetti this weekend (courtesy of dottie). poor thing couldn't even reach the spots of tomato sauce with his tongue...

father's day

yesterday we had a lovely day celebrating father's day together. we went on a walk in the morning, chuck went surfing, and then the two of us went to see the play spamalot while our friend allie watched dottie. later in the afternoon, chuck and dottie decided to collect some rocks in the backyard. kind of a hard picture to attach to this but it captured the moment so i thought i would post it. dottie was oohing and aahing in delight!

thank you for being being such an amazing dad chuck. you make life fun and we can't imagine a life without you!

new bike

here is another bike video (sorry) because i couldn't resist posting it after chuck posted the last one. we went to dinner with friends jon, kim, and frances tonight at liberty cafe and sat outside to eat so the girls could play around while we ate. dottie was happy to show frances her new bike but when it came time to get off of it so frances could have a turn, she didn't want to budge. eventually they worked out a system so both could have a turn and the other one could push. when we got home, dottie truly did not want to get off. after a few tears and coaxing with a book, we were able to pull her off. a new bike is fun stuff for a 17 month old i guess! time to get a helmet....

Heck's Angel

dutch and milo

yesterday we went down to SOMA to go on a walk with our friend mindy and her corgi dutch. dutch and mindy are on the top of the list of milo's favorites so milo was really excited to go on the walk and so were dottie and i. dottie tried to use the ball thrower with no success (it will take years i think!) and had a great time laughing and running around with the dogs. a perfect way to spend a thursday afternoon!

daily routine

ever since zayneb's birthday party, dottie has made it part of her routine to water her plant when we get back from our walk with milo in the morning. when the water runs out in the watering can, without fail, she says, "mo, mo, mo, mo..." (more). she also insists on keeping the flag stuck in the dirt that says "dottie" on it.

boo!

mara got dottie a new umbrella today. what could be better....

strike!

this afternoon, we headed down to daly city because heard rumor there was a carnival in town. we got there and of course, dottie couldn't ride on any of the rides and it was actually quite small. kind of a letdown all in all only to realize that it was in the parking lot of a bowling alley we used to frequent back in the day. the ball was a touch big for her to actually get down the alley but she tried and had fun cheering us on. she actually beat me by 2 points (with the help of her daddy!). i am crazy for videos lately. this is a short one that we thought was cute.

tofutti cutie and the loo

for some reason, as i have written before, dottie really likes to hang out in the bathroom. tonight we went to penny and jason's for dinner and dottie decided to take her dessert, a tofutti cutie ice cream bar, into the bathroom and eat it there. a little later when chuck explained to her that we had to leave, she was pulled out of the bathroom crying. when we got home, she had a little milk and of course, ended up taking it into the bathroom to enjoy it on her frog potty. we're just gonna go with it! :-)

breakfast with enzo

this morning chuck, dottie, and i checked out breakfast with enzo in our neighborhood at the community center. enzo plays all kinds of instruments (banjo, accordion, guitar, the saw, ....) and sings folkie kids songs that are really quite sweet. the kids run around dancing, many of them singing along with enzo because they have been to see him so many times. dottie had a great time and even broke away from us at the end to do a little dancing! here are a couple of pictures and a quick little video of dottie clapping with the music.

free jazz

jammin' with wyatt parker...

(another video from the same "jam" posted HERE)