Summer Staycation and Crawling!

Staying home with the kids, every day is like a staycation (except I don't get to sleep in). Spencer took the week of the 4th of July off and we had a mini vacation at home (Staycation!). We celebrated the 4th of July at Sunnyvale's State of The City BBQ at Washington Park, which was very nice and family friendly (which I htink is why we haven't been in the past). Followed by an evening BBQ at friends house. Gwen even got to do a few sparklers in our backyard. Tuesday we had our passport appointment for me to renew mine, and the kids to get theirs. Now next time Spencer has a business trip we can tag along (if not Paris, maybe Ottowa). The appointment went so well (just 30 minutes), so since it was only 9:30am we decided to go on an impromptu trip to the SF Zoo! It was a lovely trip and Spencer got to see the baby anteater riding on his Mama (even though he is almost as big as her!). Wednesday we had our first Music Together class, and Gwen and I decided to go by ourselves and leave Graham home napping with Daddy. Thursday we went to the Academy of Sciences which was awesome! We almost got a membership we were so excited by the place. Their Discovery Cove for Preschoolers is really nice. Friday Gwen and I did a Mother Daughter outing to the Library and then Hakone Gardens in Saratoga (followed by strawberry ice cream for her and ice coffee for me at Big Basin Cafe which reminded me of my beloved Aroma Roasters. Gwen met friends everywhere we went, and I think she enjoyed being out with just Mama. It was so nice to have Spencer home and he was able to get some of his projects done around the house, and spend some quality time with the kids. To give Daddy a break form the kids, I took them to IKEA to get Gwen a little table and stools for her room so she can have her own up high play area in her room, and Graham can play on the floor. But I don't think he will be confined to the floor for much longer since he can pull up, stand unassisted holding on with one hand, and this week, started crawling. His crawling is kind of a Zombie crawl (dragging his body with his arms without enough grace to be called an army crawl). Or he gets on all fours rocks back and forth somewhat propelling himself forward. And he can go from laying on his back or stomach to a seated position. Combining all these efforts he is 'crawling' and yesterday moved around the whole living room in a large semi-circle. Watch out- here comes Graham!