Lily Turns 4!

Another year bigger, another day full of fun with friends and family. Lily asked for a "repeat" of last year's princess party. So...here are the highlights!

2nd Haircut Ever!

Lily's hair was getting pretty long...and the weather was turning HOT, so...









Lily got a haircut from Dad's haircut lady! It didn't seem like she was taking this much off, but when it got wet, it got really wavy and shortened up even more. Perfect for the Summer!

Spring School Fun

Leprechaun hunt, where is that little green guy? And exactly how will this magnifying glass help me find him? Are leprechauns that small? Maybe she'll be a researcher like mommy :)

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I've never seen this amount of concentration at home!

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Should I be making this big of a mess?

Easter Bunny (notice her and her best friend Aubo are wearing the SAME dress!

...and why, oh why, can't my mom get this silly blog to post my pics in an organized fashion????

Annual Snow Trip

Lily was a little shy with the sled this year (wait...it's been like that every year!) WE had fun sledding though! Her favorite part? Ice skating with Dad on a nearby stream. It was a beautiful sunny day and a nice drive to the snow. We warmed up afterwards with hot chocolate in the car...YUM!

Dancing queen

Lily LOVES to dance, especially in front of a mirror. This video is Lily at Gigi & Papa's shakin' her booty. (Gigi is shaking hers in the background too). I think many of her moves stem from Joe's school of professional dance (their specialty is hip hop & break dancing).

Why I love Fall...

Trick-or-treating. This year I was Kiki from the Fresh Beat Band. I play the guitar and dance pretty awesome!

Dressing Up! This is my costume...mom made my hoodie (actually she just cut the arms off of a sweatshirt we bought at the thrift store :)

Getting into character...

Pumkin cookie party!

Decorating pumpkins...

Field trips to the pumpkin patch with my preschool. Aubo is still my fave friend to hang with.

My preschool pals.

Mom and Dad got to come on our fieldtrip too!

September

Every year we meet Joe's grandparents for the Vacaville Jazz Festival. Here are some pics of the annual icecream feast at Fenton's that follows the music. This has been a tradition for 4 years! The 1st time we all went Lily was just 4 mos. old. This year we watched a military big band. They were great and ended with the most amazing rendition of American the Beautiful I've ever heard.

Lily AFTER icecream. She just crawled under our table and layed down.

Here are the 1st day of school pics I promised. Look at that BIG girl!

What a poser! Remind you of another Goldbronn?

I think this bathing suit has seen it's last Summer, though Lily still loves to wear it. Her little pot belly is so sweet.

Lily's 1st Days of Preschool!!

Lily started preschool last week! There are 11 3-year-olds in her class. I've probably been more nervous about the whole thing than she has. She has been nothing but excited to go each day. This is the outfit she picked out at Target for her 1st day of school. Note: she has worn it every day since -"Mom, I have to wear my school outfit." I have better pics of her whole outfit with her new backpack...but Joe hasn't emailed them to me yet...so I'll post those later.

Lily, her friend Aubo and another friend (Lily won't tell me her name) outside the fire station.

The whole class outside the fire station. Don't they look cute in their little school shirts!

There's Lily and Joe and the rest of the group listening to the fireman talk about safety and such. I wonder if Joe had more fun than Lily? Here you can see her braid; she asks for me to braid her hair every school day.

The whole class on the fire engine. Lily had a lot of fun, except when the fireman put his mask on. Joe said one of the kids cried and then she got pretty nervous.

Summer Road Trips

We had 2 long road trips in a row these last few weeks. I dragged the family with me to a couple trainings I did in Bakersfield and then San Luis Obispo. So smart to schedule those just a week apart. We are pretty tired of the car now! Of course we forgot our camera pretty much everywhere we went...but we have some fun memories still.

Road Trip #1: Bakersfield, CA

Yes, we visited Bakersfield on the hottest day of the Summer. I think it got up to 110 the day we were there. But, we got to visit our great friends, the Williams' family, who are now +3 in the kiddos department. Lily had so much fun playing with Emma (the gymnastics queen) & Cole (the computer whiz) and swimming in their pool. We also had fun getting to know their newest addition, Natalie. I sure miss my good friend, Tami. We've been friends since college. It's always nice to have another crazy mommy RD to chat with (no offence, Tami, you know what I mean, we are 2 peas in a pod :)

Road Trip #2: San Luis Obispo, CA

Lily LOVES hotel rooms! She gets SO excited to "live" in a new place for a few days. And finally, she sleeps really well in hotels now too (only took 3 years to get here :) After the boringly long drive to San Luis, it was such a pretty place to visit. We went to Avila Beach where the fog lifted just in time to let us enjoy a nice afternoon by the water. We walked the long dock and spotted a ton of sea otters out swimming. Then we came across a local guy fishing off the dock. He pulled up a HUGE starfish that he let us see up close. We also got to see a squid and watch it "ink." Then we went to the farmer's market in San Luis and it was lots of fun. Good food & music. As you can imagine, throughout this trip, Lily showed off her dancing & singing skills ("feel the beat, fresh beat...na na na na na na") for just about anyone around us. This kid is a performer to the core. Watch out!

Joe is officially an ironman!

We had quite the adventure this weekend as Joe competed in Eppie's Great Race, Sacramento's local triathalon. That's right, Joe not only signed up for a triathalon, he completed one! And, he beat his goal time finishing all 3 legs of the race (run, bike, kayak) in 2 hours 14 minutes. Unfortunately Lily and I were so busy running/driving around being the "pit crew" that we didn't actually get any pictures :) but the race itself will be posting tons of pictures of everyone soon. It was exciting, fun and motivating!! I am thinking about recruiting members for my own Eppie's team for next year's race! Anybody want to run or bike or kayak with me???

YEAH JOE!!!

Goodbye, Milo :(

Baby Milo

Our beloved dog Milo lost his battle with a sudden illness Friday. He was a very special dog and our first "baby." He was born at My Dad and Lori's house, so all of us have known him since his birth. He came to live with us right after we moved into our house here in Carmichael, 6 years ago. He loved playing Frisbee and tennis ball, anything that let him run. He was a very cuddly dog and had his little quirks too. We called him "scaredy cat" because he was afraid of EVERYTHING: balloons, loud noises, the wind, etc., etc., etc. When he was little and we would take him on walks, he would jump into the nearest bush everytime a car went by. He was always great with his human sister, Lily, and the past 2 weeks Lily was a HUGE helper with taking care of her Milo. We're so lucky Joe was home too, to keep an eye on Milo, and take care of him during this hard time. In Milo's last moments

he was loved and hugged by me (Jen), Joe, Lily, Papa Tom, Papa Joe & Gigi (Joe's mom), who made the last minute trip just to say goodbye. Milo's real sisters Bonnie & Tootsie are still close by. Tootsie next door :) and Bonnie at Joe's parents, so a part of Milo lives on. We will miss him so much, but pray he is chasing tennis balls somewhere in doggy heaven :)

Our Princess' Party

ONE of her favorite gifts...ever the momma
Opening gifts...she had LOTS of help from friends for this part

Blowing out candles on her triple chocolate princess cake...a girl after our own hearts

"Patiently" waiting

The Los Feliz Way Girls

Party girl in her pretty princess dress (SHE picked out herself - her 1st shopping experience - watch out mom & dad!)

Not a lot of commentary to give today on the party...we're all pretty pooped, but it was AWESOME!!!!!!!


P.S. Thanks to our friend Christine for taking these fabulous pictures!

Timy Dancer - Part 2

This is PROOF that Lily did indeed wear the tutu I made her...once in public. Dance class was very fun while it lasted, and gave mom quite the workout as well, but we had a little talk after the last class, and according to Lily, she would rather try soccer now than do dance again. So, this Summer, it looks like we'll be trying her 1st real sport! Soccer mom? Oh dear no...it's daddy's turn I think :) I'll watch from the sidelines sipping my iced tea.

2 weeks until D-day...or B-day!! Wow, our "baby" will be 3!
Get ready for a FABULOUS Princess (and Prince) Party!

Lily is one excited little (big) girl!!!