Autumn River Comes to Oakland!

Our friends, Greg, Sarah and Autumn came to visit this past weekend. They live in Yosemite, so we decided to make our night out very "city," and we took them to our local sushi bar. Lily has a huge crush on Autumn and for the past week, has continually asked, "is this the day Autumn comes?" As you can imagine, she was all smiles the entire evening.

Prancing at the Pumkin Patch!

Last weekend, we went to the Clayton Valley Pumpkin Patch. For a year, Lily has consistently asked "when are we going to visit that farm that has the pools of beans that I can jump into?" Not only do they have millions of limas, they have a petting zoo, a train, and a hay maze (Lily was pretty stoked that a sweet "big girl" approached her kindly, smiled, and then took her hand and led her gently through it). Oh, they also have pumkins!

Mornings with Papa

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning at exactly 6:45, Lily rushes to the front door to greet Papa. They bond over a big breakfast, they read, Papa watches Lily's many performances, they take Gymboree classes and they run lab experiments. When I get home at lunch time, they both have a ton of dirt behind their fingernails, they are giddy, wiped out and covered in stickers.

Sometimes your bed just seems so far away....

Lily had dozed off in the dining room. She woke up long enough to drag herself into the hallway, where she again feel asleep. A couple minutes later, she was alert enough to cross the threshold into her room. At this point, we felt like awful parents, we stopped documenting the situation and helped poor miss Lily into bed.

Three days into preschool and...

we've got a cold! Here you see Lily with her very first tv dinner and movie. What started out rather snotty, ended up being rather sweet and special.

Lily Starts Preschool!

Lily could not be happier starting Dandelion Preschool. She has had her backpack filled and ready to go for weeks (with pencils, paper pads etc....we don't have the heart to tell her that she will not be assigned homework). She is especially proud because Mama and Auntie went to Dandelion 30 years ago- did you notice that her Dandelion shirt looks a tad bit retro seventies?

Welcome Baby Ben!

Lily is happy to announce that she has a new (teeny tiny, super sweet and cuddly) cousin, Benjamin Isaiah Gitter. Hilary and Josh welcomed him into the world on Wednesday, August 24th. He shares a birthday with his proud Papa (who very patiently waited for hours in the Kaiser hospital cafeteria during his entrance into the world) . He is wonderful.