June 22, 2004
Don't Look Here
Sydney should arrive in Mom and Dad's birthplace, Fort Wayne, Indiana, this morning for her annual summertime visit to see family. She is going to be there for 2 weeks.
June 18, 2004
First Real Babysitter
Up until today, Sydney has only had babysitters that were family members. But tonight, Kristen, one of our neighbors, watched Sydney while Mom and Dad went out.
June 17, 2004
Airport Delay Equals Play
On our way back home yesterday, we were delayed in San Jose for 2 hours. Normally, its not a huge deal but with a baby its not good -- for the parents. But Sydney had a ball! They have a "kidport" as seen here. Notice the familiar face at the top of the slide?
Dad spent the next few hours running in circles around this thing. Syd would climb up the stairs, run across the top, and sit at the top of the slide and wait for me. When I would wave her on, she would fly down the slide in a semi-uncontrolled free fall. She learned that if she laid all the way back, she would go a lot faster. So that is what she did -- over and over and over.
June 15, 2004
I Want One
Daddy will buy you one in a second! We went karting tonight and let Sydney sit in a car to prep her for her upcoming career as a NASCAR driver.
June 13, 2004
Crappy Stroller Brakes
We took Sydney to visit San Francisco today. We parked at our old reliable lot and walked out along the water to get a view of the Golden Gate and Alcatraz. It was really windy but otherwise a nice day. Sydney walked along the maritime pier and chased the birds before trying to touch every white bird poop spot she saw on the ground.
Its too easy to take great pictures in San Francisco. Here we basically turned around after the last shot to catch the Golden Gate.
Then we met up with Sem for a little ice cream snack at Ghirardelli. After that, we headed down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions. They weren't that active so Sydney wasn't too interested. If they do not move, they aren't cool. She did spend some time imitating the bark of the sea lions.
After all that siteseeing, we were all getting tired. For dinner, we met up with Tim Park, our long time friend. Tim lives right in the middle of San Francisco now. We picked him up and found a parking spot nearby. The street happened to be one of those classic steeply inclined San Francisco streets. We all got out of the car. I got the stroller out and unfolded it. Kim put Sydney in it. I had to get out a wipe for Sydney's face. Kim had to get her glasses out of the car. "Whoa!", said Tim. Kim and I turned around and we saw Tim running after the stroller as it headed downhill -- with Sydney inside of it. Now it wasn't like the stroller was up to 30 MPH yet. Tim recalled the moment for us. He said to himself, "Is this happening?". Yep. Dad had put the brakes on the stroller but they aren't "San Francisco-level" brakes. Mom thought Dad had the stroller. Dad thought Mom had it. Tim, the guy with no kids, saves the day and probably thinks these two parents are crazy.
Upon arriving back at the hotel after sleeping the whole way back, Sydney was ready to party again!
June 12, 2004
My Day in Monterey
Since the zoo went so well, we decided that Sydney was ready for more animals. We haven't been back to Monterey since we moved out of California. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is probably the best aquarium I have ever been to. Over the last few years, they had been adding on and we hadn't been back to see the improvements yet.
To get started, Sydney played in the kid's Splash Zone. Notice the protective bib as she works with the fishy.
Next, it was off to the "feel the ocean stuff" section. Sydney was very excited about kelp. There were other real live animals crawling around but kelp was the attraction. She wasn't even interested in petting the Manta Rays.
So we headed over to the big kelp forest tank. Its 2 stories high!
There was a nice rock in front of the penguin tank that we put Syd on. This put her right at eye level to watch the penguins swim around. She was kind of freaked out as they would go above and below the water line. One penguin really liked watching her and he kept swimming up and pushing his chest on the glass.
After the aquarium, we headed down the beach for a stroll. Sydney played on the beach for quite a while. Ok, Maui and Siesta Key were nice but they don't have...KELP! Monterey's beach has lots of washed up kelp to keep Sydney busy. She carried one special piece around the whole time while playing with others. She could drop the special piece in a pile, leave it, see parents, walk around and then return and pick it back up out of the pile. She was not so keen on the water once the waves rushed up and she realized why nobody swims in Northern California.
June 7, 2004
Weeeeee
Just got around to showing some pictures of Sydney on her swing. She got this for her birthday. Its non-stop giggles.
June 6, 2004
My First Birthday Party
Yes, Sydney's Birthday was nearly a month ago. But kids were in school, the weather wasn't perfect, people were out of town, etc, etc. So we had Sydney's First Birthday Party today!
The party started at noon and the neighbor kids started flowing in -- quickly. They were all grabbing and hugging Sydney. After a few minutes, I walked by and Sydney reached up for me with a look that said "Get me out of here!".
I was on the grill so the party was a big blur for me. The first chance I had to relax was when the cake came out.
The bakery provided the personal 1st Birthday cake for the birthday girl. She dug in and munched for about 5 minutes before things got bad. We think the ice cream melting down in her pants was the issue.
Kim had a pinata for the kids after we ate. Note to self: Very small kids and a broomstick equal an unsuccessful pinata. I ended up softening it up and the next kid up cracked it open. The dogs were down under the deck when this occurred and the candy started falling from the sky on them. Oops.
Time for presents. We asked that no one bring any because we already have too much crap. Nobody listened. :) Sydney is 1/2 naked because her clothes have cake all over them. Here is Julia helping Sydney open some gifts. Sydney also got a lawn mower so when Grandpa Herbie comes back to visit, she is ready to help with the yard!
Syd's man, CJ, came up for the party. We stuck him on the train!
When the party was over, Sydney took a long nap and then was ready to party again. Where did everyone go?
About an hour after the party, our electricity went out. Good thing it was after the party. Grandma Fuller called and we had to tell her about all the fun we had.
Don't miss next year's party! We will probably have clowns, a petting zoo, hot air balloons and some other "best birthday party ever" attraction. ;)
June 1, 2004
Stick It To Him
Sydney got a hold of the cat stick -- its a feather on the end of a stick. She loves to drag it around and hit Ti-Ti with it. Ti-Ti loves it too!
