Cecilia can't read yet, but we read some of her favorite books so often that she partly memorizes them and likes to "read" them back to us. I think it's adorable and (a little) smart, so I keep taking videos of it. Just as a warning, some of these are on the longer side, so may only be watchable by the diehard fans:
One of these days we have to actually teach her the alphabet. I can't believe how open her world will be then!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Summer in Sacramento, part 1
In late August, we all headed to Sacramento for a nice long 2-week vacation! Right away, Cecilia took to Grandma and Grandpa, and hung out with them non-stop.
The first day, we were a little jet-lagged, so we took it easy. Cecilia had a fun time exploring the backyard, which is huge in comparison to ours. My parents made an awesome dinner, and afterwards, Jake and Karen made a dessert on the grill outside. There are a number of pictures with Cecilia (and Grandma) covering their heads with their hands:
Although this may seem a little odd at first, this video explains it all:
There is another video of Cecilia and Grandma here:
Here's a video of Cecilia playing with Grandpa's shoes:
And then another random one horsing around with Daddy afterwards:
The next day, we went to Rancho Seco, which is a lake nearby. I have soooo many fond memories of going there as a kid, it was really nice to be able to show Cecilia the park. In preparation for a possible boat ride, Cecilia tried on a small life jacket the night before, which was super cute. She didn't want to take it off.
Although we weren't actually able to use the boat, we all still had a ton of fun! Cecilia loves anywhere with a beach. Grandpa and Uncle Bruce grilled chicken and vegetables
while the rest of us gorged ourselves on bread and potato chips...
Although I don't have any pictures, Cecilia had a fantastic time at the beach. And even better, she got to go fishing with Grandpa!
The fish near the shore were really little and we were using worms on hooks that were too big for them. The fish would bite, but we wouldn't be able to get them on the hook, so Grandpa had to change all the hooks over. I was helping her with the fishing rod and reel, and she kept on asking "Can I do it? Can I do it?" and she figured out how to reel in the line herself!
Amazingly, she also was willing to touch and hold the worms. It's difficult to see in these next pictures, but we did end up catching a little fish for her. She kept on trying to hold and touch it, but I had to stop her since there was a hook still attached and the fins can be a little sharp. She still remembers that she went fishing with Grandpa and caught a fish!
All-in-all, it was a perfect day at Rancho Seco, and I got a great photo of the whole family too:
Our next adventure was going to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery, which she loved the last time we were in Sacramento, about 6 months ago. She still loved feeding the fish, although it probably was with a little less fascination than the first time around.
It was super hot that day, so Grandma was carrying around an umbrella:
Cecilia decided she had to have her own umbrella as well:
There are many many more pictures, and the entire set can be found here. There are so many things we did, that I will have to separate the Sacramento trip into 2 or 3 posts, which will be coming soon!
Enjoy!
The first day, we were a little jet-lagged, so we took it easy. Cecilia had a fun time exploring the backyard, which is huge in comparison to ours. My parents made an awesome dinner, and afterwards, Jake and Karen made a dessert on the grill outside. There are a number of pictures with Cecilia (and Grandma) covering their heads with their hands:
Although this may seem a little odd at first, this video explains it all:
There is another video of Cecilia and Grandma here:
Here's a video of Cecilia playing with Grandpa's shoes:
And then another random one horsing around with Daddy afterwards:
The next day, we went to Rancho Seco, which is a lake nearby. I have soooo many fond memories of going there as a kid, it was really nice to be able to show Cecilia the park. In preparation for a possible boat ride, Cecilia tried on a small life jacket the night before, which was super cute. She didn't want to take it off.
Although we weren't actually able to use the boat, we all still had a ton of fun! Cecilia loves anywhere with a beach. Grandpa and Uncle Bruce grilled chicken and vegetables
while the rest of us gorged ourselves on bread and potato chips...
Although I don't have any pictures, Cecilia had a fantastic time at the beach. And even better, she got to go fishing with Grandpa!
The fish near the shore were really little and we were using worms on hooks that were too big for them. The fish would bite, but we wouldn't be able to get them on the hook, so Grandpa had to change all the hooks over. I was helping her with the fishing rod and reel, and she kept on asking "Can I do it? Can I do it?" and she figured out how to reel in the line herself!
Amazingly, she also was willing to touch and hold the worms. It's difficult to see in these next pictures, but we did end up catching a little fish for her. She kept on trying to hold and touch it, but I had to stop her since there was a hook still attached and the fins can be a little sharp. She still remembers that she went fishing with Grandpa and caught a fish!
All-in-all, it was a perfect day at Rancho Seco, and I got a great photo of the whole family too:
Our next adventure was going to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery, which she loved the last time we were in Sacramento, about 6 months ago. She still loved feeding the fish, although it probably was with a little less fascination than the first time around.
It was super hot that day, so Grandma was carrying around an umbrella:
Cecilia decided she had to have her own umbrella as well:
There are many many more pictures, and the entire set can be found here. There are so many things we did, that I will have to separate the Sacramento trip into 2 or 3 posts, which will be coming soon!
Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Tricycle
The tricycle we bought allows you to push her with a handle on the back, but just doesn't seem to function that well as a regular bike. Cecilia rode this old one in Ben's driveway the other day and cruised around like a pro.
Round and Round
Aaron and Cecilia always have a great time playing together - here they are in the Lubretsky basement the other day.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Reading the News
Lately Cecilia likes to copy me by putting my glasses on and reading the news. Here she is perusing the economist the other day.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Eleanor's birthday
Several weeks ago, Eleanor turned 4! The event was spectacular with face-painting, costumes, crown-making, and, of course, birthday cupcakes!
Cecilia especially liked getting her face painted:
In fact, it was very popular with all the kids:
Cecilia still looks at this picture of Jaspar and says "he scary":
And of course, the birthday girl got to blow out her candles and make a wish:
The full set of pictures can be found here.
Cecilia especially liked getting her face painted:
In fact, it was very popular with all the kids:
Cecilia still looks at this picture of Jaspar and says "he scary":
And of course, the birthday girl got to blow out her candles and make a wish:
The full set of pictures can be found here.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Running around the house
Several weeks ago, we invited the Johnson's over for dinner.
Shockingly, the night ended with Cecilia, Bronwyn, and Jasper running around like madmen around our house:
However, there were plenty of other antics, of which I only captured a few on film:
Shockingly, the night ended with Cecilia, Bronwyn, and Jasper running around like madmen around our house:
However, there were plenty of other antics, of which I only captured a few on film:
Virginia Beach
At the family reunion in Virginia Beach, we went to the beach almost every day, and Cecilia, of course, had the time of her life. She liked running in and out of the water, building sand castles, digging big holes, burying Daddy in the sand... and she liked jumping over the waves, especially with Grandma's help.
One day, Sparky and Andy also invited the whole clan over for the day, and they have an awesome house, which includes a pool. Theresa took a few pictures of Cecilia, who of course had to go in the pool, and particularly liked a big floating tube that she could sit in:
One more pic from Theresa, not in the water, but just because it is so cute. Cecilia had just gorged herself on Joanne Wagman's pasta:
The last full day we were there, we decided to go to a water park with Rachel and Isabel. There was a large little kiddie section with water not more than a foot high, little water slides, a boat to climb in, and bouncing swings in the water. Needless, to say, we all had a good time!
That day ended with ice cream.
Double ice cream if your name is Cecilia and you're a cute little girl:
One day, Sparky and Andy also invited the whole clan over for the day, and they have an awesome house, which includes a pool. Theresa took a few pictures of Cecilia, who of course had to go in the pool, and particularly liked a big floating tube that she could sit in:
One more pic from Theresa, not in the water, but just because it is so cute. Cecilia had just gorged herself on Joanne Wagman's pasta:
The last full day we were there, we decided to go to a water park with Rachel and Isabel. There was a large little kiddie section with water not more than a foot high, little water slides, a boat to climb in, and bouncing swings in the water. Needless, to say, we all had a good time!
That day ended with ice cream.
Double ice cream if your name is Cecilia and you're a cute little girl:
Lerner family reunion
About one month ago, we went to Virginia Beach for Pete's family reunion, and we had a ton of fun. For Cecilia, the fun started as early as the airport, where there was a little plane playground for her to climb around:
At the reunion, Cecilia got to reacquaint (or acquaint) herself with a lot of her cousins, including Aaron, Jacob, Isabel, Rachel, and Mattie!
Although I didn't take pictures that consistently, some of the memorable times I did record included playing golf with Aaron:
and playing the piano with Isabel (she still remembers that Isabel "got the chair all dirty!"):
I have a few funny videos of Cecilia playing after the pizza party with Aaron and Isabel:
In the morning, was we were deciding whether or not to go to a water park, Cecilia was trying to read a book about Spiderman with Isabel:
Water activities, as might be expected, were a huge hit, and were pretty extensive, so that will be the next post.
Although some people had to leave beforehand, we actually managed to get a family photo on the 3rd night, with the help of some random hotel guest that Ben dragged into the room:
And then on the last night we were there, we had one final dinner with the remaining family that were still around:
Thanks to Isabel, I have this cute video of Cecilia eating her "noodles," courtesy of Joanne Wagman:
Sadly, we eventually did have to leave. We got to the airport early, and then found out our plane was delayed almost two hours! Thankfully, we brought a bazillion toys and books for Cecilia to keep her occupied. We must have read/sang "there was an old lady who swallowed a fly" about 1000 times.
Thank you to Arlene (and Jerry) for organizing the whole thing!! Here's to 2014. :)
The full set of pictures can be found here.
At the reunion, Cecilia got to reacquaint (or acquaint) herself with a lot of her cousins, including Aaron, Jacob, Isabel, Rachel, and Mattie!
Although I didn't take pictures that consistently, some of the memorable times I did record included playing golf with Aaron:
and playing the piano with Isabel (she still remembers that Isabel "got the chair all dirty!"):
I have a few funny videos of Cecilia playing after the pizza party with Aaron and Isabel:
In the morning, was we were deciding whether or not to go to a water park, Cecilia was trying to read a book about Spiderman with Isabel:
Water activities, as might be expected, were a huge hit, and were pretty extensive, so that will be the next post.
Although some people had to leave beforehand, we actually managed to get a family photo on the 3rd night, with the help of some random hotel guest that Ben dragged into the room:
And then on the last night we were there, we had one final dinner with the remaining family that were still around:
Thanks to Isabel, I have this cute video of Cecilia eating her "noodles," courtesy of Joanne Wagman:
Sadly, we eventually did have to leave. We got to the airport early, and then found out our plane was delayed almost two hours! Thankfully, we brought a bazillion toys and books for Cecilia to keep her occupied. We must have read/sang "there was an old lady who swallowed a fly" about 1000 times.
Thank you to Arlene (and Jerry) for organizing the whole thing!! Here's to 2014. :)
The full set of pictures can be found here.
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