Summer, Summer, Summertime!

Summer has been filled with all sorts of adventures for Virginia in between our many travels.  Here are a few photos of the highlights!

Virginia attended a number of birthdays, including one for her buds the Kassabian twins:

She posed for patriotic pictures in our front yard:

She showed off her wacky bathtub skills:

She swam, and swam, and swam (and had a blast with PopPop):

She wore animal print to visit the USS Hornet Museum - stylish!:

She and Thomas camped out in the back yard in a tent for an overnight adventure:

She visited the Pacific Pinball Museum to play classic pinball games:

She hugged on many babies (Sam, aka The Bug, Click):

She set out on adventures at Gilroy Gardens with best bud Tasha:

Another Alameda 4th!

The Fourth of July was a ton of fun, as always, here in the sleepy town of Alameda.  The town held its annual parade (supposedly the second longest parade in the country, I think, although the stats change every year).  We camped out with Virginia along the parade route with her buddies Tasha and Violet as always.  Virginia sported a totally cute outfit from Auntie Lynn which was the talk of the parade.

In the afternoon, we went to Dan, Irene & Tasha's house for a party and cookout and then on to the St. Charles block party.  We had so much fun we forgot to take pictures the rest of the day!  Plus, Mimi and Papa arrived just in time to see Virginia swim at the block party -- two days ahead of our Hawaiian vacation.

Dressed to the nines courtesy of Aunt Lynn (shoes are hand-me-downs from best bud Kylie):

The first of many lollipops and sugar bombs that day:

These three will be trouble when they get older!  (For now, Virginia just loves taking care of "Baby Violet")

Snuggle with mom on the parade route:

Climbing all over Dan - an favorite Virginia sport:

First skateboard ride - we are glad she rode it safely:

June Adventures

June in the Harvey family was filled with lots of hometown adventures around the Bay Area.  To celebrate his 65th birthday, Peter and a few of his buddies threw an amazing dance party with a live band at the Claremont Country Club.  Thomas and I danced 'til we dropped and the babysitter had a late night!  Uncle David and Aunt Ellen came to town for the celebration and we all had a blast.

Then it was off to an A's game with Little V... she was quite the fan and a lot of the more rowdy patrons in seats around us loved her to death.  They said she was the good luck charm that made the A's win.  Let's Go Oakland!

And, it wouldn't be summer without another visit to Gilroy Gardens.  Virginia loves that place.  We chilled out with the garlic mascot, rode the carousel and the "Artichoke Dip" ride, tried on wacky hats, and ate ice cream and pizza galore.

And, of course, we have had lots of fun summer visits with family and friends.  Uncle Biggie is always a Virginia fan favorite!

Harvey Outings

We had a couple of great outings in August with the Harvey boys and family.  Now that Doug has become an official resident of Los Angeles, he made a few appearances in the Bay Area over the summer.  We had a blast celebrating some belated birthdays with the Harvey family (at Trader Vic's - our favorite) and also going with Virginia's crazy uncles to Gilroy Gardens.

Cutest Keiki:

It was a virgin mai tai, we promise:

Riding the Gilroy Gardens train and having a blast:

Those crazy Harvey boys:

Icee is as big as the kiddo!

Hurray for the Fourth of July!

The Fourth of July is a major event in Alameda. We are home to the longest hometown parade in America, which is kind of a strange distinction to have, but we wear it with pride. Alameda has two downtown areas, so the parade is made to travel a very long distance to show merchants in both areas a little love. Everyone in the town attends - it is such a great slice of small town living!

The parade route travels just one block from our house, so we camped out with GayGay and PopPop and some lawn chairs this year. Virginia donned her Independence Day best - a dress courtesy of Auntie Lynn. She got lots of compliments from everyone at the parade (the parade committee chairman stopped just to photograph her after spotting her on the sidelines), and she seemed to eat up the attention.

After the parade, we attempted (unsuccessfully) for Virginia to take a little nap, and we then went with some friends to our neighborhood block party. Several homes on our street share a common backyard pool, and they open up their homes for a multi-family extravaganza on a few holidays a year. Virginia swam and swam and also jumped on their trampoline for hours. She then slept for 13+ hours that night - the Fourth was a success!

My Fair Lady

We took Virginia to her very first Alameda County Fair this year. This was a major event - it was probably ten times the size of the South Alabama State Fair that I grew up attending, and we couldn't even begin to cover it all in one day. We focused our energy on carnival rides and eating kettle corn, and called it a day!

Fleet Week 2008

Fleet week this year was, as usual, awesome. The weather was beautiful, and even though Leslie was out of town (visiting family in North Carolina), I had a good time hanging out with folks up on the roofdeck (upstairs neighbor Suzanne was throwing her usual party) and taking pictures of the Blue Angels. The boats were all out on the bay and I saw sailors walking around town all weekend. Nice to have my new Nikon for this day.

Here are a couple pictures taken from the roofdeck of our apartment. Look carefully at the second photo, and you'll see a group of six jets in tight formation screaming low across the bay and leaving a vapor trail.