Fun with Unca Joe & Gwen

Daryl, Mia and I met Unca Joe and Gwen at Ready Set Play this afternoon, and we had a blast! It was really crowded due to a few Birthday parties, but we were able to carve out some room for fun.

We all went up and down the big slide, hung out in the kiddie/slide/ball pit area, and in an inflatable built for jumping...flat and netted. Mia and Gwen love to bounce, but don't we all? Mia hit some of her other favorite attractions, but we all kept going back to the big slide :) I really enjoy going with Daryl, because I get some time to sit on a comfy couch and watch them all run around get sweaty and have fun. I also enjoyed reading a magazine. Speaking of relaxing, Joe had Gwen to himself all day. They had breakfast, hit the duck park and hung out with us while Melissa was getting some time on her own. Yay Melissa!!! Yay Joe!!!

P.S. Daryl and I WERE there, too, but had so much fun taking snaps of Joe, Gwen & Mia!

Joe & Gwen having fun

super slider

Mia can't get enough

a friendly giraffe chatting with Gwen

pretty girl

Here's a cute video of Joe and Gwen sliding

Happy Birthday Amanda!!

It was Amanda's 27th birthday yesterday, so I joined Krista, Gayani, Kim, Elise, Erin, Loren and Diane celebrating her birthday Girls Night Out style. No boys allowed! A delicious sushi dinner at Tomo and then back to Amanda's pad for drinks and an insane game of Catch Phrase. Lovely Krista brought a birthday cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. A yummy slice of that, a glass of champagne and a cigar. Happy Birthday Amanda!!!

Amanda Loves Sushi

Amanda and Tanya Pretty Krista Happy Birthday Amanda!

and they all fall down

Gwen, Livie (yes, we have another Livie. She's Amy's), Phoebe and Gwyneth...and their lovely mamas came over to play this morning.I'm very impressed with Mia's sharing skills...she even shared a DUCK! The kids had a fabulous time playing with Mia's toys... the baby dolls were a hit, and so were the bubbles. Melissa did her thang where she's up then falls down and enchanted the kids....especially Livie. Here's a clip:

This morning, while setting up the toys, Mia found the tunnel and asked for it by name. It was in it's bag, so she drug it to me saying 'tunnel, tunnel'. Now we haven't had it out since we were at the other house, so it's been a while. Just more proof to me that kids are sponges, and talking with them...a lot... is paramount.
Here's a clip of Mia's Tunnel Time:

Love that silly Auntie M

Gwyneth admiring Livie's baby doll This little flower is Phoebe Livie taking a break with a baby doll Mama Amy hanging with Mia...and her baby doll Mama Melissa snuggling her little doll who's got a doll of her own pandemonium Livie can't decide between hats, she goes with BOTH

Phoebe snackin with her Mama, Cheng Chen

Luby doobie doooo (no pics or vid, just a story)

After Mia's nap this afternoon (Thursday...I haven't slept yet, so it's still Thursday to me) we hit Ready Set Play, again. I think we're going to get the membership and save some $$. In such a short time Mia really has gained a lot of confidence there. Today was great because unlike yesterday it wasn't brimming with big kids stifling Mia's fun. She's added another inflatable to her repertoire, and it's hard for ME to make it!

Daryl worked late tonight on a project, so after RSP, Mia and I hopped over to Luby's for dinner. Once I thought of the plan, I was so excited. Dinner out with my daughter, how special. I tried to have a nice lunch with her after swim class last Thursday, but she ended up throwing everything up once back in her car seat. Apparently she'd taken in some water from the pool that just needed to come out...all over her and her car seat while traveling down 183. I digress. A special dinner...I wanted the fried fish (like when I was little...awwww) and Mia wanted the baked fish...really she did. It was also great because I can't even remember the first time my parents took me to Luby's. I've been going for so long. Sunday's with Mom and Dad, and Saturdays with Aunt Penny and cousin Michelle after some shopping. So, I plopped Mia down in I swear what looked like the same highchair. The tray hinges over your head...legs with wheels... Mia was so kind as to help push the tray down the line. Too cute. But when we got to the dinning room, I was disappointed. There were oodles of families. Parents with kids all having dinner like it wasn't anything special. And I'm sure it wasn't, but ours was. Until Mia commanded me to continuously stab her mac n cheese with her fork so she could eat each little piece. She couldn't get the hang of it, got frustrated and became quite the bossy little lady. Nobody awed over my little one, because there were tons of little ones around. She was rather charming pulling her red Luby's balloon around as we were leaving, though.

All in all, it was a nice dinner, but it didn't feel like the good ole Luby's on South 10th.

Ready, Set, Play!

We're so close to RSP now, it's been so hot out and this is the perfect way to let her run through all her energy. We've been going a LOT :)

She digs the little slide


Mia going up and down the BIG slide. Pretty brave!


Here's Mia going through one of the inflatable mazes with a Mama Cam view. It's a little long.

The Sounds of Dinner

Last night, after Mia ate her chicken piccata capers and all, she tried to play peek-a-boo with us, but her Daddy had other ideas of what constitutes as appropriate dinner behavior :)

extra feature: Mia playing with her Dada video

Mia just may be going through another growth spurt! She went to bed @ 7:30pm Sunday night, and didn't wake up till 11am! Then she ate and ate and ate. We hit Ready Set Play for a while, then came home for a nap @ 1pm...yes, she was only awake for 2 hours. When she woke up, we went to a playdate at her friend Keri's house. Mia was the oldest kid, but she was very careful with the little ones, and had a blast. I got to visit with other mamas and play with some other kids, so I had a blast, too :)

We got home around 4:30, and Daryl was home by 5. Yes, 5!!!! It was wonderful to have him home so early. There's a project at work that's been keeping him out until 7 or later most nights. While he so very happily played with Mia, I was able to get dinner cooked without Mia wanting to 'help' me. He was silly and wore Mia's shirt and a pair of my lounge pants on his head much to Mia's excitement! She ate all her dinner, and some of mine. Mia was in bed @ 7:30 and sleep till 9 this morning. Growth spurt.

The Little Gym Fall session is underway, and today was Mia's first class. We have a new teacher, Miss Leah and she's fabulous!! Yay!! There were a few new kids, but many of our old friends, too. It made for a very fun class. Mia has recently been digging the bars. She climbs up on a block, reaches and grabs a bar, then swings her legs forward and just swings and hangs till she drops. She was plopping on her booty, but then noticed her buddy Sydney was landing on her feet. Ohhhhhh my FEET. With a little practice, she's now landing on her feet. Daryl wanted video, but I forgot my camera. Next week.

Mia enraptured with her silly Dada