Happy Halloween 2012

"Meow meow" from Ruby the purple princess cat! 

Fairyland's halloween celebration was great again. Ruby knew just what to do as she handed her yellow ticket to the people at each of the treat stations, got the hole punched, and collected her treats. She was a very good girl and stopped to have a healthy picnic lunch with mommy before eating any treats. There was a giant cat there, which Ruby was too scared to approach. But she wanted to follow it and look at it.

We had a dinner and pumpkin carving party with Ruby's friend Aidan (and his mommy Keri). Ruby and Aidan decided to paint their pumpkins too.

And of course there was trick or treating with the gang and Lauren's daycare. Clara is the snow fairy on the upper left. Her brother Auggie is the pumpkin on the upper right (separated so they don't fight). Aidan is spiderman, Niko is superman and Ruby the purple kitty princess is in the back center. Niko's mommy (Anne) is holding her new baby Lily. Ruby's friend Aurora was also a kitty this year.

Pumpkin Patch 2012

Grandma Linda and Papa Marvin joined us for a visit to the Clayton pumpkin patch. Ruby was looking forward to the water pump duck race again. This year she also enjoyed the hay maze and especially the bean pit, which was her favorite. She was very brave about trying out the hay maze, stepping in a little at a time until her curiosity outweighed her nervousness. 

Mommy's favorite was the hay maze because the light showed through the holes in the particleboard ceiling making a very pretty pattern inside. All of us had a good time wandering through there.

Ruby chose a lovely group of bumpy, interesting pumpkins this time. They were a bit challenging to carve, but very good to paint.

Dinner Party

Ruby had a dinner party with her friends Aidan and Jakey. After fish sticks and noodles, they formed a band, then had a game of hide and seek.

Family Camp!

We went to the family vacation center at UC Santa Barbara and had a great time! A friend of Ruby's (Clara) goes with her family every year.  Actually her mommy has been going there each summer since she was a child. We joined them this time because we thought Ruby would like having this new experience with a close friend. 

Ruby had fun kid activities with her age group during the mornings and some evenings. And there were lots of family activities too. We had a beach bonfire with s'mores and singing, lots of swimming, a silly pool show, buffet meals together at the big dining room, and lots of other fun things going on. Ruby was very brave about going to the kid activities with the camp counselors. She bonded with a very nice counselor in her group named Heidi. Ruby especially enjoyed swimming independently (with mommy and daddy very near by) using pool noodles, s'mores at the beach and family dances. Mommy and daddy also appreciated date night and exercise time as well as all the great family time.

We had fun and made new friends. We hope to return again next year. 

Ruby's 4th Birthday!

Ruby had a birthday party at Robert's park with 17 of her closest friends. Daddy and mommy made cake and lunch and there is a huge play structure there. We managed to get photos of a few of her friends who you might recognize, Aurora, Clara and her mommy, Aaron and his daddy, Cora and a new helper, Lucie, who might be a future babysitter too.