First Days with Daddy

After we spent a weekend up at Grandpa Jim's Lake House, I brought Joe home to spend some much needed time with his two little girls.  Jessica was so happy to see her daddy and she didn't want to share him with anyone.  In fact, Jess snubbed her little friend, Reema, that she always plays with at our playground because she was afraid she would have to share her daddy.  Having to compete for daddy's attention with a little sister is hard enough.

 We got a whole new playground since the last time daddy was here.

Joe used the same swing technique that I use (alternating), but he pushes them higher.

Daddy's Swing Technique

Jessia talked her daddy into hanging upside down while holding her.
Upside Down

Triple Slider

Playing with Daddy

This first bedtime story video was taken just moments before the second one.  Notice how quickly these girls can get themselves worked up.
Story Time

Story Time 2

Mommy's Shoes

Playing in the Car
Don't worry, I wasn't really driving. We were at a CVS drive up window waiting for a script fill.

Why Daddy Gained Five Pounds

Our first dinner out as a family was at Outback Steakhouse.  The girls were a whole lot easier at a restaurant than the last time their daddy was out to eat with them.

Joe shared a chocolate thunder from down under dessert with his girls.

Chocolate Thunder From Down Under

It was a sure way to earn cool points with Allison.

Jessica laid down outside the bathroom door and waited for her daddy to come out.  It was the first morning he was home and, luckily for her, he doesn't take very long showers.

Waiting Outside the Bathroom

We went to Kmart and let the girls pick out their own costumes this year.  Jessica was a Crescendo Dragon and Allison was a Gorilla.  The costume was one size too big for Allison but we couldn't get her to take it off once she put it on.

Buying Costumes

In fact, the clerk had to use the hand held scanner to check us out and we played with our little Dragon and Gorilla at the playground afterwards.

Playing in Costumes

This morning we had to take daddy back to the airport.  It's been a hard day.  Allison asked where daddy was a few times and Jessica has said she missed her daddy and was sad.  I hope this is our last deployment ever.  We love you daddy.

The Lake House

My dad bought a vacation home at Lake Almanor about a month ago.  He worked long weekends to make sure it was ready for me and my hubby to use for a private R&R getaway.  The Sunday before Joe got home the girls and I met Grandpa up at the Lake House to check it out.  I can't wait to make many more family memories here in the future.  The house came fully furnished and Joe said it was like finding a time capsule of his childhood because everything was in such good condition even though is was all from the late seventies.  The girls thought that everything at the house was a toy.

Log Swing

 Here's what the house looks like from the front yard.

Front Porch

Loft

On the Shore

 Meema watched the girls over the weekend while Joe and I stayed up at the cabin.  I cooked lots of bacon and Joe played with the fireplace.  Oh yeah, I totally beat him at Battleship...twice. (The military should be paying me to do their missing planning.)

Light My Fire

 My dad left us a bottle of champagne and some dipping chocolates.  It was the most perfect weekend.

Bottle Poppin'

Thank you Dad.

Reunion with Daddy

For all our friends and family that are curious how the girls reacted to seeing their daddy for the first time in 8 months...

Jessica's Encounter


Allison's Encounter


If Allison seems less than thrilled, you should keep in mind that she just woke up from a nap.  Alli has been grabbing her daddy by the hand and saying, "come with me daddy".  Daddy is the super star in their world right now.  Allison also said, "Daddy not on the computer anymore".

A Visit with Steph and Hannah

A couple weeks ago we took a road trip over to Lakeport, CA to see my BFF Steph before she had her baby.  The girls did really well on the trip but I definitely wouldn't want to drive across the country with them again.  When we got to Steph's house, Hannah was in school, the girls investigated the chickens but the favorite thing was the horsie swing.

I pushed Jessica on the swing and, at first, Allison was giggling when Jessica pushed her but then she decided she didn't like it.  These videos are pretty cute.

Horse Swing

Horse Swing 2

After we picked up Hannah from the bus stop, we all went to Foster's Freeze in Clear Lake.  Grandpa Jim always took me there when I was little.

The girls played.

Playing at Foster's Freeze

Then we went to the playground across the street and played for a bit before we drove home.

Swinging After Dinner

Jessica couldn't resist the shoreline, she had to collect some shells.

On the Shore

I was surprised that we didn't put Steph into labor during our visit.  Baby Maddison was born about ten days later on October 19th at 9:52pm weighing 8lbs 1oz.  Steph had a natural birth and the doctors and nurses said that Maddison was too healthy.

Here's a picture of Maddy with her daddy. (Also named Joseph, but we call him J.)

Smiling at her big sister.

And ready to go home.

Allison saw the picture of baby Maddison with her daddy and said that it was her.  After all, SHE is the baby in all the pictures in her daddy book.  I can't wait for her to get more pictures of herself with her daddy.


Funny pics.

The girls are watching you tube videos for kids but they look like they are watching Schindler's List.

Here's a video.

Watching the Computer

The girls talked about singing Happy Birthday to their Meema for a couple days when I told them it was her birthday.

Singing Happy Birthday to Meema

Hawes Pumpkin Patch

Meema and Grandad took me and the girls to Hawes Pumpkin Patch a couple weekends ago.  The first thing Jessica tried to do when we got through the gate was to try to pick up on of the decorative pumpkins.  Of course she was picking it for herself so it had to be the biggest one.

Here's a funny video of her trying to figure out how to pick it up.

Jess trying to pick up the pumpkin

First thing I wanted to do was the pony rides, everything was included in the cost of admission.  There weren't any lines and I figured we'd better make a move on it since Allison doesn't take no for an answer. I knew I would be miserable waiting in a line with no shade if we didn't do it first.  Allison picked the smaller pony first.

Allison Riding a Pony

 Jessica rode on the bigger one, with Meema spotting her.

 Jessica was satisfied after just one ride, but Allison had to ride the horse that sissy had been on just to make sure she wasn't missing out on anything.

 The horses kept eating all the corn in the pony ride arena.

 Next we rode the train that took us around the farm.

 On the ride.

Jessica rode the Cow Train with Meema while Allison was on her second pony ride.

She had so much fun on the Cow Train that me and Allison joined her for a second ride after our other train ride.  Again, this was all included with the price of admission.  Jessica rode all by herself both times.

Cow Train with Meema's Camera

 The big favorite of the day was this big air filled jumping bladder.

 I told Jessica that it was a giants belly we were jumping on and that they had buried the giant underground except for his big belly sticking out, it really got her thinking.

Here's a video.

Jumping on the Giant's Belly

Jumping on the Giant's Belly 2

 There is a spider theme developing with these girls and face painting.

 It was funny to watch Allison sit so still and concentrate.

Here's a video.

Allison Getting her Arm Painted

Instead of a sandbox they had a corn box.  But the girls were more interested in the Orange Soda that Meema had gotten for them, they don't get soda very often.

Corn Box

After we got the girls good and tired, we walked over to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins before we left.

Picking Out Pumpkins

Allison Picks a Baby Pumpkin

The girls really liked the baby pumpkins.

After we found the good ones, we loaded up all our pumpkins in the wagon and headed home.

Hauling the Pumpkins

Girls in Pumpkin Wagon

Girls in Pumpkin Wagon 2

 The next day we carved the pumpkins at Meema and Grandad's house.  Jessica made us put scary faces on them.

Carving Pumpkins

 Here's a video of me and Jessica discussing the scary pumpkins while they glow, menacingly, in the dark closet.

 Scary Pumpkins

Fire Station

We got in on a tour of the Fire Station Downtown through our Chico mom's group.   The girls were a bit too young for it but it was free and we had nothing else to do, so yeah we did it.  Here they are admiring the big bell out front.

 Jessica got to climb through the fire engine twice.  Her first time kinda got ruined by her little sister.  Allison has to do everything Jessica was doing but the fire fighters kinda freaked her out so she cried, like she got hurt or something, so the guys got nervous and rushed them both through.

Here is a video of me trying to coax Jessica out of the Fire truck on her second go.

Climbing Through the Firetruck

 Allison saw another two year old rolling around on the ground and throwing a fit so she had to mimic, for fun.  She even did her faked baby cry, it was kinda cute.

 They couldn't care less that I am trying to take a picture, yep Allison is picking her nose again.

 Then she eats it.

Here is a short video clip.

Sitting on the Front