My baby is One

I can hardly believe it when I say it. Jacob is turning one tomorrow and I already miss him being a baby. He has been the most pleasant creature ever to grace this earth. He is happy, playful, sweet, and agreeable. He puts up with his older brother when he needs to, but often ends up winning Andrew over.

Jacob has been an incredible blessing to our family from the moment he arrived. We love you little guy!

Jacob as a newborn


My sweet boy at one

A stop-over in the snow

On our way home to Boston last week we decided to stop in Park City once more. Michael's sister Mimi and her family were there on spring break and we hadn't seen them in almost a year. This seemed like the perfect time, plus it was just one more excuse for us to postpone our trip back to the New England Winter.






Poor Jacob didn't have any snow gear, so much to his dismay we kept him inside and began training him to be a concert pianist. He's actually doing quite well!

Los Gatos Easter Egg Hunt

The week before Easter I took Andrew to the neighboring town's Egg Hunt. Los Gatos really know how to do Easter well. There was a local radio station there filling the air with music, booths with games and toys, a pony ride, a petting "zoo" and of course, the candy eggs. Andrew really had a blast!

I was begging Andrew to look at the camera here . . . but the DJ was way more entertaining!

Unfortunately, if you stop to "smell the roses" in this situation, you lose out the treats! It was amazing how many people showed up for this Egg Hunt. There were thousands and thousands of egg hunters!

Sadly, this is the last set of pictures that I have from our trip to California. It really was a magical time. We are super excited to head back there again this summer . . . we're taking the whole summer off. Michael has been accepted to business school and we're going to enjoy life a little before he's back to the grind stone. So, summer plans include a trip to Sun Valley Idaho to celebrate the Smith's 40th Anniversary (WAY TO GO!), to Colorado to enjoy my sister's baby when she arrives, and to a few places in California. PLUS, if I can convince Michael, we might go on a short trip to Europe without the children.

Grandpa's Fast Car

Andrew LOVED Grandpa's fast car. It was such a treat for him when we finally let him take a ride in it. We rolled the top down and strapped a booster seat into the back and they were off. Three generations of Smith men heading to the candy store. Michael told me that Andrew had the time of his life. He was hanging his little hands out of the car the entire drive. I hope Andrew doesn't get too bored now that we are back in Boston. We had an adventure almost every day while we were in California. In Boston it is just a little harder to get out and about . Plus, it's still winter here! I am really looking forward to enjoying 2 springs!

Because Jacob was too little to drive in the fast car, we let him drive Dad's rental car. It wasn't really a fair trade, but since he's so little, he really doesn't know the difference! I guess there will come a time when we will have to worry a little more about trying to be equal with rewards and privileges. Luckily we are only caught up in drooling, teething and nap times for now.

Mustard Flowers in the Vinyard

So there is an immaculately manicured vineyard at the end of Chester Avenue--the street the Smiths live on. I guess the owner of the land plants these beautiful mustard flowers each year to fertilize the land. For weeks we would drive by these blossoms and watch them dance from the breeze. As the weather warmed they blossoms would become so full they looked as if they would burst. In the evenings they would close up again as if they were trying to stay warm. One afternoon, on our way home from the farmer's market, Lonnie and I pulled over to take some pictures of the boys in the flowers. It was a perfect day, as most days in Saratoga are and the colors were so vibrant.
The next week on the way home from church we were all a little heart sick when we saw that the flowers had been plowed under to fertilize the soil. It hadn't dawned on me that they had to be underground in order to nourish the land. So sad. It's a good thing we captured a few moments of their glory!

Happy Hallow Park and Zoo in San Jose, CA

Happy Hallow was a lame attempt to be a park or zoo, but it was totally worth going to see my dear college friend Mandy Watkins and her darling children. Andrew loved the petting part of the 5 species "zoo", Jacob didn't mind the carousel, and of course they all loved the playground. I'm sure we'll make it back to California again this summer, and Happy Hallow might even make our list of destinations. I hope we can meet up again Mandy--we sure miss you!

Boston

We're home. It feels different.

We had such a magical time in California it was so hard to leave. We miss Michael's parents terribly, but are so grateful for the time that we had with them. It was wonderful for the boys to get to know their grandparents!

We arrived Friday night around 5pm. Because we were still on West Coast time, we headed to Costco to stock up on supplies and food. The boys went down around 11pm--I am really excited to get back to our schedule again!

I went for a run on Saturday. It's been a little while since I've had a good run. We've been a little under the weather-flu, colds, sinus infection. It felt great to be out along the Charles River again, but it was cold and windy. As I passed hundreds of pedestrians who were just out and about on a Saturday morning, I noticed that their faces wore expressions of a long hard winter. They were dressed in black coats, hunched over to protect their bodies from the cold wind, the furrow in their brow had certainly been there all winter long and there were very few smiles.

That's a huge difference between New England and California. There is sunshine and perfect weather year round in Cali, so there really isn't a good excuse to be crabby. In Boston, they usually endure terrible, cold, bitter winters that last from November and into May sometimes. It seems they have earned the right to be a little more harsh and biting.

If we could escape the winter every year . . . I would be fine to stay in Boston all our lives. Spring and Fall are just glorious! Once the buds are on the trees and the smell of spring is in the air, the entire city wakes up from it's winter slumber. And Fall, Fall is so radiant with color and beauty that you wouldn't want to miss it for anything . . . even if it means winter is just around the corner. I guess we'll take the good with the bad (and occasionally escape to California).

I have a few blogs from California left to post. They'll come as I find time while we're settling back in this week. Thanks for joining us on our adventure!

s-m-r-t

Andrew is such a clever little child. He loves reading, knows all the letters in the alphabet-and the corresponding sounds that go with them, and can whip together a puzzle right in a few minutes. I am going to have to be very diligent as a mother so he doesn't get bored and lose his love of learning.

Capitola

What a beautiful little city. I reminds me of one of my most favorite vacation spots: San Clemente, Southern California. It's a darling little town, with views straight from heaven.

We ate at Gaile's, our favorite little diner. The food was delicious and the weather was just perfect for sitting outside in the sunshine. Afterward, we headed to the beach to fly our kite while Andrew enjoyed a little surf. He was so giddy about the water . . . if you look closely at some of the pictures--his feet aren't even touching the ground. He was so excited he couldn't keep his feet on the sand while he was running. He just floated in the air. (And anyone who has seen this little guy run, will totally understand what I'm talking about. He really just runs in the air--his feet are so high off the ground it amazes me that he ever moves in a forward motion!)


You'll be proud of us . . . we even took Jacob our of his stroller.