"Maya's First Bike" video

We got a bike for Maya's birthday way back in July. She got so many gifts we decided to wait and give her the bike later as a surprise. First we gave her the helmet and the bell and then told her that Mom was going to get the rest of her surprise...

"Ralph's World" video

Here's a video of some of the highlights of the Ralph's World concert including a strange dancing flower and Maya up on stage playing air guitar and doing the splits...

Maya Gets On Stage

On a very hot Saturday, we decided to check out a kid's concert in the Marina. There were some well known kid's bands there including the Sippy Cups, Ralph's World, and Choo Choo Soul. During the Ralph's World concert they let some of the kids go up on stage. Maya thought it was great!

Ralph singing with kids on stage.

Maya and Mommy enjoying the view from stage.

Maya gets a picture with Ralph after the concert. Cool!

Maya's Autograph

Maya abruptly decided that she wanted to try to write letters. We're guessing it's because she started seeing her name on all her pre-school stuff. Her first discovery was that she could actually draw an 'A.' Then she got determined to write her name. Wow!

Drawn with no help from Mom and Dad.

The Return of the Ring

Courtney and Nate's wedding was not without drama. Moments before the ceremony on Pfeiffer Beach, Marimar realized that Coco's wedding band that she had been holding for ring bearer, Santi, had disappeared somewhere between the car and the cove on the beach where the nuptials were about to begin. We decided to continue with ceremony using the engagement ring instead of the wedding band. We scoured the beach on the way back, but no one could find the ring in it's purple pouch. It was lost.

As we preparing to head home on Sunday, we ran into our babysitter, Elizabeth (who came down with us from San Francisco), at the restaurant where we were eating breakfast. She mentioned that she was headed to Pfeiffer Beach based on a recommendation from a park ranger. Lulu told Elizabeth about the ring debacle and asked her to keep an eye out for it. When they went to the beach, Elizabeth happened to mention looking for the ring to her boyfriend while they were paying the entry fee. The guy in the booth gave them a strange look when Elizabeth said, "ring in the purple pouch." He reached into a drawer and said, "Is this what you are looking for?" Indeed. There was the ring! Someone on the beach had found it and given to the dude at the pay station. She contacted us right away and we were able to pass the word on to Coco and Nate.

Elizabeth dropped of the ring at our house on Monday night. The next day, Maya and Mommy met Coco and Nate to go for a hike in Tennessee Valley in Marin. Here are some pix of the Nate being FINALLY able to put the wedding ring on her finger:

Coco and Nate's Wedding

We were so excited to be a part of Nate and Coco's beautiful wedding in Big Sur. Lucky for us, Marimar, Oscar, and Santi came early to visit us a few days before we headed down to Big Sur. It was nice having some dedicated time with them. Maya loved playing with her older cousin, Santi.

We all made our way down to Big Sur on Thursday. On Friday, Nate and Coco were married in an intimate ceremony with just the immediate family on Pfeiffer Beach. That was followed with an amazing meal at the Post Ranch Inn. The celebration continued with a larger group of family and friends at Nepenthe on Saturday night. All of the events were so much fun and a great expression of Coco and Nate's relationship.

Unfortunately, we didn't capture much of the weekend because there was a great photographer there. Here is the blog entry from the photographer that gives a better sense of what it was all about. We've just included a few random snapshots (we'll add another entry later when we get our selects from the photographer)...

Maya and Santi displaying their complete domination of trees in Muir Woods.

Nate and Coco at dinner after the wedding on Friday. They're married!

Enjoying the view.

Marimar (six months pregnant - yay!) and Oscar.

Nate's parents, Gary and Cindi.

Santi and Maya at the Saturday celebration at Nepenthe.

Coco spoils her niece and nephew with gummy bears.

Maya and Mommy at Point Lobos State Reserve at the end of an amazing weekend.

Maya runs from the waves while watching seals and otters at the beach.

"Give Me that Fish" video

On a visit to Toys R Us, Maya discovered this disturbing manifestation of brand marketing. Anyhow, she found this song very satisfying. Mommy pulled out the camera after she had been dancing for about 5 minutes. If you are wondering about the hand movements, Maya explains that she was giving the fish some fish, as he was requesting.

Point Reyes With Elsie

Maya and Nick went on another chaperoned excursion over the weekend. This time it was a visit to Point Reyes. Highlights included post farmer's market lunch and an impromptu fire station visit. Fun!

Maya and Nick with chaperone, Elsie, at lunch.

Shiny!

Love birds.

Ponytail!

Enjoy this rare ponytail sighting. Maya won't really tolerate anything in her hair for more than a few minutes.

The Official First Day

Maya has already been attending 'summer camp' at her new pre-school for a few weeks and she is really loving it. Today, however, marked the first day of the fall session when pre-school gets down to serious bidness.

This lady is ready to roll.

Maya and her sassy lunchbag.