Saturday Night at the Carnival

Saturday we were back at the Nativity Carnival for more Tri-Tip BBQing. Oma and Opa came to visit us this weekend so they came with us and helped entertain the girls. It was a HOT weekend here so we tried to find some shade and fill up on cold beers, lemonade, fried carny food and lots of tri-tip. Luckily we went home with a few stuffed animals and no live fish :)

tickets from Oma for the first Carnibal ride

thanks Oma!

the new choo-choo ride was a big hit. Maisie was 1 inch too short but we snuck her in :)

Francie picked the "shooting ride" three times. Hummmm.

Jannie and the girls

taking a break from BBQ'ing

the only picture the girls are looking at the camera- Heff and I aren't! looking awky :)

Daddy and the Doo

The grandmas and babies

playing games after the BBQ! Francie with Jannie & Grampa and her first winning prize

water guns

heff got a little competitive with Maisie's water shooter- but he got her a prize too she's been carrying around ever since

another fun year at the carnival :)

Art Project

Francie and I did an art project the other day when Maisie was sleeping- painting, which might be Francie's favorite. When Maisie woke up Francie said she would teach her how to paint too. The big sis sheriff is surprisingly patient with her sister as long as she isn't getting it on her clothes. My favorite part is when she says "awesome job." Little nut :)

Carnival Night 1

Friday Night at the Carnival was a success! Thanks to John, Jannie, Michelle, Katsy and Dr. Durando we BBQ'ed a lot of tri-tip for sliders and steak dinner. My brothers and Christian came with cigars and champs and we almost closed down the place. Heff had the girls with his parents for the first part of the evening then came to get me around 9 and we got to date night at the Carnival! Lots of Pan Game (love gambling on school grounds) and Carny games. Jerry and I both won fish Christian took home so they would have a chance at living past tomorrow. Back to Nativity tonight with the girls!

Meat and Rolls

Stocking up at Costco for the Tri-Tip BBQ at Nativity Carnival tonight! Lines are backed up to the kids clothes...painful.

Farmer's Market

Farmer's Market Thursdays! We walked downtown Thursday afternoon for some more fun at the Los Altos Farmer's Market. We met up with Cat, Cella, Josephina and Anne, Sergey & B and ran into a bunch of people we knew- so much for feeling like the new kids in town :)

our new cute neighbors! They are restoring their house next to us and not living in it yet but were over to play today so we got to tour their cool house and backyard- they have a sandbox on the "horseshoe island" behind our house we never even knew about! They are 7, 6 and 3 and Francie is already following them around everywhere.

ummmm fresh bread

Facepaint! Cella, Phina, Francie and Maisie (sorry Maise missed out!)

dancing in the street

Maisie just wanted to walk around with a half-eaten ear of corn. She put it down on the street to dance for a minute and when she went to pick it up I swooped in and took it before she ate it (usually I don't care, but it was pretty dirty!) and the musician guy gave me a shout out for a good catch in the middle of his song

JUMP!

contemplative butterfly

love from Shark Attack!

just lounging- Francie wanted a tomato at the end of the market so I asked a guy cleaning up his stand how much for ONE tomato, half thinking he would just give it to me, and he goes "$1.00" For A tomato!? But I couldn't exactly put it back so here is Francie the Queen in all her glory eating the most expensive, organic, tomato ever.

and how cute is this girl. We told her mom she was extra nice to go for chocolate, I would have given vanilla for sure!

fun with my girlies

Heff walked down after his run but next week we are making him leave work early to come for the whole thing!

Is She 12?

Sometimes she acts like it!

Francie is cracking us up lately. Yesterday she came in my bed at 7:15am right and goes "MOM- Dad left without me and I wanted to go to work today!" I told her maybe he was still in the family room on his computer and to go check (figuring I could buy myself a few more minutes of sleep) and she pounds through the house, comes back 5 minutes later and says "He is NOT here and even his truck is not in the driveway." (wow- she unlocked the front door and went to check!) so I told her to call him. She knows how to call my favorites on my iPhone and then convinced Heff to come back and get her!! Pushover :) He was already almost to his office. What a lucky girl.

waiting for her daddy

she got dressed herself and insisted on wearing a "pretty scarf" (my pashmina)

and packed her Francie purse with snacks... including a lemon

she jumped up and down when she heard the Diesel engine... this is her whole world right now, little Daddy's girl!

Just lounging around eating pirate's booty.

and this week Heff and I were asking her about her day at dinner and asked about a new person (let's be vague about this one!) she met and how she was and Francie goes... "she was fine." we said "fine? I think she is very nice" and Francie goes "wellll.... she's a little.... awkward." Heff had to explain to her that was not a very nice thing to say about people!

Grad Party

Saturday was a great day at the beach for a party for my cousin Connor graduating St Francis Central Coast High School and Emmy graduating from San Jose State University. The Kreefts hosted at their house and there was good food all around- wouldn't be a party without cheese puffs and spicy artichoke dip! We are proud of you Con and Em!

The Twins with The Shark

with my Great Aunt Marge and Jannie

My Dad brought down his BBQ-

but was pretty close to a huge disaster in doing so! He hauled it (wiht my mom, James and Em in the car) all the way over Highway 17 and on the off ramp to Mimi and Andy's house the hitch broken loose AND the safety chain snapped off! The BBQ was headed downhill, faster than the car with no way to stop it. Luckily the group of bikers on the side of the road had just passed by and the BBQ made its way off the road into a pile of dirt. Here is what the ball from the trailer looked like after sparking it's way on the asphault.

didn't stop the BBQing though! and good thing we had Uncle Donald there, he knows how to carve some meat!

Johners- proud brother and cousin, they couldn't have done it without you right J?!

Kat and Heff

"Aw why the lame hat mom?"

Emmy and her entourage

Francie being silly and lifting up her dress- the big girls were cracking up saying "her underpants say Mary on them!" (The Frances part was hidden under the bum :)

Mimi showing us "her doll" she got for Christmas that looks just like their old neighbor Mika. We made fun of her for still collecting Cabbage Patch Dolls for herself of course.

Emmy modeling the amazing plastic grocery baggie bag my Aunt JoAnn crocheted

and Drew made it home from his baseball game just in time to entertain us all

Great Aunt Marge with Francie and her namesake

oops, baby with a beer

tired girl with her aunties

the beautiful Lasich girls

The Heffs

Claire Elise getting attacked by cousins Molly and Caroline

UJ and J

good work Dad- despite the rocky start!

heading home

CONGRATS Grads!

Flea Market Finds

Here are the treasures I brought home from the Alameda Antique Fair. Heff told Aunt Kat as we left- "ask Mary two questions before she buys anything. "Do you love it? and will you still love it in 30 years?" I thought I kept myself in check pretty well!

a set of four little school chairs for the playroom. They had 8 and Heff actually couldn't believe I didn't buy all of them. I love shopping in bulk :) But if they had all fit in my wagon it might have been a different story.

This old preschool cubbie restored and painted turquoise. I was going to use it for dress up in the playroom but it is so useful to catch the shoes, jackets, diaper bags and STUFF next to the front door

And I wanted a bunch of A-Z letters to make a wall of "spelling" with magnetic paint but I think these ones will go better on the wall in the playroom for a permanent home. Just in case we forget what we are supposed to do in a playroom.

and I got a few smaller ones for here and there

and these old wooden stacking blocks that reminded me of the great upstairs sunroom/playroom we had growing up on Palomar Drive. A lot of time spent in PJ's and LL Bean sleeping bags on the giant green couch and shag carpet playing with blocks... then soon enough Super Mario Brothers on Nintendo and dodging flying blocks like these when Luigi fell off the magic mushroom on the last life.

My mom created such a fun and organized playroom for us- I hope this room turns out half as good!

What A Week

Wow- I think this is the first time I have sat down in a week. It was a short week but a busy week and an even crazier weekend. Here is the quick version.

TUESDAY
It is Academic Trainers finals week which is always nuts and my manager who has worked at Academic Trainers for two years moved to Southern California last week so we spent some time at the office on Tuesday getting things ready for summer session

and they were rewarded for being such good sports and putting up with Mom "checking emails" so we walked our wagon to the park and met some friends for late lunch

and then hit Safeway for grocery shopping. I need saddle bags for this wagon!

and Francie helped me cook while Maisie napped- I made not one but TWO dinners in the slow cooker with our piggy meat this week! Tamale Pie and Peachy Pork Chops from "The Best Slow-Cooker Cookbook Ever"

WEDNESDAY
I took Maisie to the East Bay for some sample sale furniture shopping. I found this cool Oly "hair on hide" chair for the living room- Heff had been wanting one like this but the ones he found online weren't quite what you want to put in your living room :) this was the perfect compromise! We came home with a few things for the playroom too- it was a looong day of shopping.

oh yeah and we closed on our house Wednesday too!

This was our last trip to the house as a family. Heff worked sooo hard on getting all the not-so-fun-stuff done this week. It was so sad to turn over the keys but also a relief

THURSDAY
A little work and lots of working on the house! The girls helped me organize the playroom Thursday morning- it's still in the "getting there" phase but it's a work in progress and fun to do with Francie and Maisie tearing it up as we go along

We got this cool baby blue chest on the sidewalk when our old neighbors put it out "free"! It has wheels on it and works great for toys

and we walked down to the Farmer's Market in the afternoon. I can't wait to go back every Thursday all summer. Good food, lots of kids dancing to music in the street and delicious samples :)

FRIDAY
The girls bathroom has been a work in progress and I've been up early all week getting the tile guys and plumber guys and electrician in to get in whipped into shape. Francie watches them and says "good job" all day

and we turned part of the downstairs storage area into a laundry room and craft room-
here is the craft room with walls and a sub-floor Friday morning

and the laundry area and craft room all checkered out by Friday afternoon!

but we've still got plenty of storage along the sides for all my crap

the people who sold us their house might have a heart attack if they saw we were using the wine cellar they built for our storage (just while the floor was being put down :)

Friday we went downtown for lunch and to run some errands- Maisie tried out the new baby rocker at Le Cirque

"I'm not a baby anymore!"

and came home to find some trouble- Maisie is a climber!

we went to the park with friends on Friday afternoon

Then went to Costco Friday night to stock up on food for BBQ'ing, wine and snacks

and when we got home Aunt Kat and Donald had arrived to stay with us for the weekend!! We were soo excited to get to spend some time with them, see Kat's cute 23 week baby belly and finally have a guest room for them that didn't involve blowing up an air mattress and then not being able to walk around it in Maisie's old room. They were great to make the trip down and hang out with us. (Kat's friend's Lauren and Jason came by to hang out Friday night too!)

we had an impromptu "lawn party" Friday night with our new neighbors!

"I looove crackers" Then we BBQ'ed Friday night but my camera was finally set down in a corner for the day :)

SATURDAY

Heff and Donald took the girls on special adventures to the irrigation store to get the sprinklers in the front yard moved since the fence changed the grass watering area. So Kat and I walked down for bagels and coffee after her run (she is still a running machine even with her cute belly!)

Then Chad brought the boys over in the morning to play while Lindsey was teaching her Dailey Method class at the Los Altos studio down the street, then while Kat and Doanld went to meet friends for lunch Lindsey came over and we all walked down to the park for a mini-lunch picnic and roadies :)

Francie and Issac "working on things" in the office

then after lunch we drove down to Aptos to celebrate Connor's high school graduation and Emmy's college graduation. It was a beautidul day at the beach for a Kreeft lawn party! (but this party and a crazy story about the escapades of my Dad's BBQ will get their own post!)

and when we got home our friends and old Willows neighbors came over for a BBQ! We all walked the nature preserve then relaxed by the BBQ while the kids played in the playroom and Will reported any unnecessary roughness to the adults

Heff did the potatoes on the BBQ with the tri-tip in a huge cast-iron skillet and they were so yummy

Francie and Anna were playing dress up all night and Will finally convinced them they needed to serve up the cake the Ryan's brought over- they were in heaven

SUNDAY
Heff and the girls ran in a 5K Sunday morning with Chad, Isaac and Wyatt at Oak Knoll school. They were the 1st and 2nd to cross teh finish line with strollers!

while I got up EARLY and drove over to Alameda with Aunt Kat and Emily for the Alameda Antique Fair- it was insane, basically an upscale flea market and only happens once a month. There were 800 booths and we walked for almost 5 hours! But got some good stuff :) I saw this tractor Heff has been looking for online but it didn't fit in my wagon so I just took a pic to show him

we got home from the flea market at 1:50, quick changed at our house and then went to Rosewood for Emily's birthday brunch Anne and I had planned at 2:00!

Maisie being silly on a brunch date

Happy Birthday Emily! (her littlest friend gave her a goood birthday present!)

then we came home and the girls napped, we had to get a few things done around the house before Monday morning and then we went over to my parents house for...

JERRY's BIRTHDAY party! It was a really fun crab feed with a bunch of their friends and Allison and my mom did a great job planning it.

"Jerry says... Getting Old Stinks!" (haha :)

We always love when Big Jerry is here to visit. He has a seat in the World Series of Poker this summer! I couldn't be prouder ;)

I found a poker chip at the antique show that said "SMILE" for Jerry to take as him lucky card holder

The girls were riding trikes in circles around everyone after dinner being crazy!

marching in to Jannie's-

and then off to BED! I've never slept so well in my life after an action packed week :)

Happy Hollow

Last Monday we went to Happy Hollow with some friends. Yes it was Memorial Day which means two things, I am a whole week behind on my blogging after a crazy week/end and we were crazy enough to go to the recently renovated Happy Hollow Park & Zoo on a holiday!

We went with some friends and did some stroller swapping

"let's go"

we could only keep them corralled so long...

watcthing the big kids on the huge climbing jungle

water break

We found a ride with a line that wasn't too long and Francie jumped on

Maisie was so mad she didn't get to go!

"COME ONNNN Mom!"

so we went on again and Francie took Maisie along in her bug

another ride we are tall enough for...

the police cars and fire trucks... Maisie wanted to drive on outta here and Francie tried to give the ticket taker kid a TICKET!

Friday Night Costco

More Tahoe

more pics from the lake and the wedding. Remember when a 36 roll of film was a LOT? I filled up my 8gig card in a weekend and got the album down to 321 pictures. I'm so glad I live in the digital age.

pretty lake

I don't think Maisie stopped waving

one of the dad's from the house next door offered to take a picture of all of us so I was forced to brave the freezing water myself

my silly little Doo

hummm. silly? more like GROSS and kinda weird

"OMG. Is she... is my sister licking dirty pinecones again?"

Heather had taken the big chore to arrange babysitters for us at the house while the three couples were at the wedding about 45 minutes away. She used an agency she had also used for their wedding almost 3 years ago in Tahoe but we were all a little surprised when Patricia and Betty showed up and were a little "older" than we expected. I kept telling Francie she was going to stay with some really fun babysitters while we were gone and when they showed up she turns around and goes "where are the babysitters?" but she was a trooper and took on her "big helper" role to keep the other three happy while we left. I told them she might stay up until we got back (the words no babysitter ever wants to hear) but they said when the other kids went to bed at 9 she stayed crying for mom and said she wanted to go to bed too. But they all survived!

at the wedding at the new Highlands Ritz at Northstar. It was a beautiful wedding ceremony outside in the sun

our table - the five guys have all been friends for a long time and had way too much fun making fun of each other all night

Heff and Erik switching jackets for some reason- Heff wants to wear a seersucker like this to Baby Ann and Pat's wedding. I told him ABA might agree except her wedding is in October!

Bride and Groom at the cake

my cute husband. at the bar?! shocking.

Kevin, Heff and Johnny with the Groom Eric

the girls... someday I'll teach Heff how to get one in focus... or maybe we can blame the bud lights and high altitude :)

Heather was our DD for the night thanks to this little guy due in 6 weeks!

and waiting for our car to go check on the kids... and those babysitters!

and back to hanging out in PJ's monday morning...

and look at these two trouble makers... born 9 days apart Maria Margurette and MaryMarjorie!

so she basically has the Italian version of Maisie's name AND she is also named after her own Great Aunt Marge!

"What? what's so weird about that?"

attempting a picture of all the kids. I think this is when we asked Francie to hold everybody down and she said "But I only have two arms!"

NOW she's mad (I think I must have the same look multiple times a day :)

Stolen Sophie

Daddy's girl- she throws a fit lately when he walks out of the room or comes in and doesn't pick her up right away. Drama queen but I'm not complaining!

and then we headed home... with an urgent potty break requested soon after we got on the road. Heff says he is still learning how to hold a girl outdoors for a squat. sometimes this means the pants have to come off for replacements!

Weekend at The Lake

We trecked up to Lake Tahoe this weekend to stay with our friends the Sakais and the Marottos and attend the wedding of one of Heff's good friends Eric O. Saturday morning Heff took the girls to McKendry to finish cleaning up and clearing out (thanks for my free morning and giving me a hall pass on cleaning out the garage Heff!) so we left for Tahoe Saturday afternoon and stayed through Monday. Of course it finally hits 80 degrees and sunny here and we head to the only place around that still has SNOW!

Francie said her favorite part of the weekend was playing with "those big girls" Katrina and Maggie
<

while the little sisters Maisie and Stella battled it out over the leftover toys

Kevin, Krissie, Heather, Johnny and Heff sitting around the dinner table after the kids were all passed out downstairs

Saturday morning- after lounging around for breakfast on the deck in PJ's (5:30pm weddings on a Sunday are a great idea) we headed for the beach

Big guy Ryan

girls on the beach

Maisie wanted to walk right in the snow melt-freeeeezing water

Whoaaa Maise!

big dreams of floating in the lake were dashed when her toes hit the icy water

warming up- and I might have forgot a swim suit for shark but who needs a suit when you have onesies anyway?!

Kevin and Ryan

a few minutes later... Ryan did the same thing as Maisie and RAN in. Hit just below the waist, stopped short and had to be quickly rescued by Dad.

"Hiyyyyy!"

Crazy Maisie- look at that toof space! Just like her Grampa and her ABA-before-braces :)

"What?" This is Maisie's new trick. She throws whatever she is holding on the ground and then goes "What? Where did it go?"

we wore them out on the beach, ate a huge lunch and everybody took a nap! back up on the deck for lounging around. what a great day :)

then it was back down to the beach

Francie found two "princess chairs" for she and Maisie

It was so sunny out I was wishing I had a polarized lens (when I realized the lake looked way cooler with my sunglasses on than off) so I improvised...

ok- too many pictures to post! gotta run to the park. more later :)

Lake Tahoe

We went up to tahoe for the weekend... Almost home and narrowly avoided the holiday traffic!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Francie says thanks to all those people who fly the helicopters to keep us safe. Enjoy your all american weekend! It finally feels like summer here...

Fence Stakes & BBQ Steaks

The fence is up! After Ollie got out four times Thursday, I'm glad to have a fenced front yard. My Aunt Kaky's friend Charlie from All-Fence did a really nice grape stake fence for us, Heff's idea and I had to basically shut him in his truck and send him to work to keep him from grabbing a shovel and digging fence posts with the guys. One of his favorite things in life... building a fence. He's crazy :) But he is swamped at work and this fence couldn't wait any longer!

little stinker

and we put gates up on the back patio a few places

and just in time for Memorial Day weekend... our BBQ is in! Heff drove down to Greenfield last week to pick it up from the guy who made our last one, my Dad's tow behind and one for practically everyone of our closest friends and family members.
`
We put it down on the firepit patio by the creek and built in back into the hardscape as much as we could- I don't even think it looks that big here! Maybe if the sun would ever come out we could put this thing to use.

The horseshoe on the front was one the previous owners found in the creek. Hope it brings us good luck!

Happy Birthday Grampa!

Monday was my Dad's birthday so we all went out to Sundance for dinner to celebrate. Jerry had class until late so we made 8:00 reservations. The girls were troopers and rallied for a late dinner out- even if Maisie had to pass out on the floor for a little while. Sundance is one of our favorite spots (our first date!) so it's always great to go there for dinner. Happy Birthday Dad!

Sidecars at the bar

Jannie and Grampa!

Em and James looking stylish as always

naptime

but she woke up to join the party not to long after

Allison and Jer- Francie moved everyone around so she could sit next to Awoo.

Queen of the table - had to remind her this was GRAMPA's birthday party

happy just hanging out

opening cards... My Dad loves birthday cards and usually gives us a bunch of cards he fills out himself from every member/pet in the family (RIP from the dead cat Tillie card is always our favorite) we have to make sure our cards represent at his birthday!

make a wish grampa! The girls and I walked down to Satura Cakes in Los Altos that afternoon and they picked a bunch of "cupcake" desserts to bring Grampa

Guess who got to blow it out?

always entertained by the spoon trick

trying hard

fun family dinner :) happy birthday dad!

Silliness

In the carseat at 9:30pm on the way back from Emmy's graduation dinner.

House Work

We've been doing a few things around the house since we moved in (my husband loves me- I told him this house was so great for us because we wouldn't have to do ANYTHING to it and then... somehow we've changed a few things :)

Project #1 was the guest bathroom.

BEFORE

AFTER

and I took some pictures of the creek in the backyard while there is still water in it!

We've hat a lot of rain in May this year so it's still running. Our neighbors said it usually dries up about now and then starts running again in the fall. You can walk the creek bed to the nature preserve and to the park when it gets low/dry so even though it's so great to hear the water running we're looking forward to exploring when it runs dry too!

and another project we are excited about... no more leash for Ollie! Still in the works but fencing our front yard in our old house gave us so much room to hang out and talk with neighbors we wanted to do it here too- finished pictures Friday if it's done by then :)