Playing Catchup

As I write this post, it is early August and we have not posted on BabyHarvey.com since May! Suffice it to say that we've had a busy, fun, and very full summer with Virginia.

Here are a few video clips from May of 2011 to show what Virginia was like when we started the summer. As you will see, she's inherited her father's love of singing! And also her father's spirit of adventure and danger!

Almost Famous

A few weeks ago, Uncle Biggie flew off to Paris to work on a series of commercials with the animators of Wallace & Gromit. Knowing how much Virginia loves her some "WaGromit," Biggie began to work his magic and realized she would be perfect for one of the ads (which called for cute baby photos so that Yahoo! Mail could promote its new photo sharing feature). We submitted a bunch of our own shots for consideration, not really knowing where it would all lead.

Apparently, little V passed the cuteness test (was there ever any doubt?) because she is now featured in her very own Yahoo! Mail ad. The ad is running on the web only - between Hulu clips and videos on abcnews.com and the like. Virginia's GayGay/Grammy is also featured in the main photo in the ad, and you may even see a small shot or two of me in one of the smaller photos. (Don’t look too closely!)

Here's Virginia enjoying her 15 minutes (well, actually 15 seconds) of fame:

Easter

Virginia awoke Easter morn to a basket full of goodies and her very first Easter Egg hunt at our house - apparently the Easter Bunny had paid us a visit in Alameda. She loved the egg hunt - the was the first time she's really understood all of the rituals of a major holiday, and it was so fun to watch. She ran around the living room asking us each time she found a new egg "Anybody seen one more egg?"

Later, we got Virginia all dolled up in her Easter best (a smocked pink dress from Mimi!) and headed with both sets of grandparents to St. Clement's Church in Berkeley. St. Clement's is the church Thomas grew up attending. This was Virginia's first time being dropped in the church nursery and she apparently held up quite well until the last 15 minutes, when she completely lost it after awaking from a little nap.

Virginia happily playing at the nursery, pre-meltdown:

Luckily, there was an amazing Easter egg hunt in the churchyard afterwards, which saved things somewhat. Virginia far exceeded her five egg limit, but no one seemed to mind.

Unfortunately, I'm a little worried we scarred her for life since she - many weeks later - still talks about how "Mommy and Daddy at the church... crying.... miss Mommy and Daddy." Next time we take her to church it is going to have to be called something else just to avoid the painful memories!

Gilroy Gardens

One of the highlights of our weekend with Mimi and Papa was taking a visit to Gilroy Gardens. It is a small amusement park located about 20 miles south of San Jose that is specially geared towards the toddler set. The founder was a great garden lover, so the landscaping is immaculate - it gives Disney a run for its money in that department!

Many of the rides were just Virginia's size and speed. She had a blast on the carousel, the spinning goldfish, and on the train around the park. We loved it so much we bought season passes - a deal at $35 each (and Virginia is free).

Mimi and Papa: Going Back to Cali

Mimi got a chance to come visit us soon after her visit with Lizzie last month. This time, she got to bring Papa along! The long Easter weekend was filled with all sorts of fun activities. We took Virginia on her first visit to the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and also had an adults night out for Susan's birthday at Trader Vic's with the Argyrises.

Spring Adventures

Virginia has been quite the social butterfly this spring and has been out and about at all sorts of fun activities!

Visiting the Easter Bunny at the Alameda Crab Cove Spring Egg Scramble (the blue dress Virginia is wearing was hand-smocked by her Great Granny and was worn by me when I was a baby! We got lots of compliments on it):

Another visit to Children's Fairyland in Oakland:

Celebrating her actual 2nd birthday at Super Frank's Adventure in Pleasanton:

Loving on her GayGay:

Skiing Toddler

We decided it was high time that our 23 month old grew up and learned to ski! So, being the crazy travelers and adventurers that we are, we loaded her into the car on a moment's notice when one of Thomas's trials was postponed. We headed for Northstar-at-Tahoe - the same place she visited last year as a baby and a great resort for kids ski programs.

Well, as you can tell by the photos, Virginia was a natural at skiing. Other parents kept looking at us like we were crazy, but the ski instructors were high fiving us and telling us how they taught their own kids to ski at this age. We are fully expecting Virginia to be skiing black diamonds by next season.

Chocolate milk and french fry break in the snow:

Matching father daughter Nordic sweaters:

Chowing down at the slopeside sushi restaurant (with her first sunburn - so sad!):

Two Like You!

We celebrated Virginia's birthday a little early this year while Mimi and Liz were in town. Sadly, we had to be inside since we have had a string of bad and dreary weather days all spring. But we made the most of the bad weather and got some fun indoor toys - including a repurposed swimming pool that we filled with balls to make a ball pit and an Elmo pinata. Uncle Biggie gave Virginia a bouncy ball and GayGay and PopPop gave Virginia a shiny new tricycle, so she was definitely entertained. Topping off the fun was a Wallace and Gromit birthday cake and Thomas the Tank Engine decorations - Virginia's favorite!

Girls Weekend

In late March, Aunt Lizzie and Mimi came for a quick visit to California to see Virginia. We celebrated an early 2nd birthday while they were in town and went to the steam trains in Tilden Park (Virginia's favorite).