Farewell to a dear friend...Jen's last playgroup

Enjoying some outdoor fun on Kyle's new playstructure and Tyler & Kyle on the bike

The new generation playgroup - Dante & Braxton - The girls - Alli pushing Abrianna

The boys are having so much fun...Brody, Tyler, Tyler James, Massimo & Kyle

I had to dedicate a spot here for a friend who has become near and dear to me and I am so sad she is leaving! I have met some wonderful moms through the Livermore Mom's Club and Jen is one of them. We started in this playgroup back when Massimo was 8 months old -hard to believe

and these 7 women have become such wonderful friends & mentors! So far we've had Michelle move away to Boston just a year ago and then Tricia recently moved to Mountain House and now Jen will be moving back to Minnesota. Massimo told me when I told him that we won'tbe seeing Tyler anymore after this and I tried very hard to make him understand and he said to me

"mommy, I miss Tyler" and I told him I miss Jen, too (and the twins will miss becoming better friends with Jack)! I know I can speak for all of us moms in our special playgroup that has been and continues to live on while others are moving on...Jen will be missed. We hope you will come back and visit us and make it a reunion (as we ALMOST did with Michelle and so many were bummed about that!). Thank goodness for email & blogs (thanks for getting us started on this Michelle!) because we can still feel so close even if we are so far away!

Massimo learns how to ride a bike & say his name

Massimo concentrates on riding....now he's just so excited he did it!
And around and around he goes!

Massimo finally learned how to ride his bike...we have been waiting for him to figure it out...he told Nonno & Nonna when I was on the phone with them (in Italy) "I can ride my bike now!"...he is so proud! He told daddy "I use pedals". It was a very exciting moment for him (and has taken long enough!) and we're proud of him - now he tells me all the time he wants to ride his bike to the park! That's an uphill trek...we'll see - I am not ready to carry the bike home! And...after starting back up after our trip and the holiday at school Massimo finally learned how to say his name...he says "MassiMO" (an emphasis on the ending). He only hears his name (mostly screamed) a hundred times a day...he surely should know it by now! He doesn't have the easiest name and it's been a challenge for him to learn but he likes to say it now!

Fun at Emerald Glen Park

Selena, Dante & Massimo. Massimo takes a time out for a picture

Selena & Massimo run through the rainbow of water! Massimo and Dante hang out in the water

Abrianna is having fun exploring. Selena & Dante



Abrianna loves to splash! Dante likes to get up and see what's going on!

Today we took a little trip to Emerald Glen park with cousin Selena. Much to my surprise Dante really enjoyed himself in the cold water...which is pretty rare for him! He usually doesn't like the spraying or splashing much but he was totally into it and had a blast...of course so did Massimo & Abrianna...those two were soaked from head to toe. It took Massimo a little while to warm up to the water...it was really cold and the sprays he didn't like too much but once he got used to it, it was hard to get him out! Abi kept getting up to walk and falling down because there's a slight slope and it was pretty funny but she kept on and got herself to walking around and liked to sit and splash, too. They all had lots of fun and were wiped out!

Abrianna Starts Walking!

Abrianna is getting ready, looks to daddy and then off she goes!


Hmmm...what is this new thing I am doing?

Well, she is finally doing it! Abrianna is walking...yeah! We really thought it would happen much sooner at the rate she was hitting all her milestones, but she took her time and day by day she is having fun learning to walk! She waited until daddy got home to show off her new skill and the day before we left for Tahoe, too! She gets so excited when she gets from one place to another by walking and is kind of like "wow...this is pretty neat...I like this new thing I can do".