How many kids...

...can say that they have GREAT grandparents who can do this?



or this?




Probably not too many! Luke and Mia are so lucky, and they don't even know it yet. Seriously, my grandparents are amazing. I can only hope that I can do those same things when I am their ages!

As I watch these new memories being created for Luke, it takes me back to when I was a young girl. Grandma and Papa were there to do these same types of things with me. It is pretty incredible to watch it happen again with your own children. I feel so grateful...

Firehouse fun!

Okay, seriously, this might have been the absolute highlight of Luke's life thus far (and it was actually pretty exciting for the adults too!).


Day and Paw won a dinner at the firehouse at a charity auction ... and we didn't realize just how many cool things we were going to get to do while there. Check it out:



First up was a tour of the fire house, but Luke had absolutely no interest in seeing their HOUSE ... he wanted to see their TRUCKS! So, we took a raincheck on the house tour and headed straight out to the garage.

We were able to look at and sit in all of the trucks. Luke loved sitting in the back...

...and in the driver's seat with Daddy.

Until the alarm sounded and we had to quickly jump out of the trucks so that the firemen could jump in and take off!!!

While they were gone, Luke got to look at some of the other fire trucks on site ... and the fireman who stayed back from the call offered to take Luke for his first ride in a fire engine!

Luke decided to take a seat in the back with Day while Daddy rode up front and honked the horn and operated the sirens!

Luckily, the rest of the crew arrived back to the station in time for dinner

After a delicious dinner of tri tip, pasta, and salad, they presented Luke with his own hat, and we took the tour of the fire house.

Then we headed back outside to practice knocking down cones with the water from a fire hose

We went for another ride in the other engine

And they showed us how the ladder goes up!

SO. MUCH. FUN.

Luke would like to thank both Day and Paw and the Santa Clara County firefighters for donating to a wonderful cause and making a little boy's dream come true!

Happy Hollow with "tusins"

Luke was so excited to show his "tusins" his new favorite place: Happy Hollow. Mia hung with Day and the rest of us enjoyed the beautiful weather and the relative quietness of Happy Hollow on a Monday.


Feeding the goats



Driving police cars and firetrucks

L&J on the ladybugs

Danny the Dragon

Riding the Pacific Fruit Express rollercoaster

Luke asked to go on it last time we were at HH, but it was busy and I thought that he might chicken out after we waited in line, so I told him that Daddy would go next time we came. SO, he remembered and wanted to ride it - and to my surprise, he followed through and LOVED it. In fact, we asked each of the kids towards the end of the day to pick one thing that they could go back to and Luke picked the roller coaster, so Mommy got to ride with him on the 2nd time around.

So much fun!

Happy Hollow

Happy Hollow is sort of a childhood staple if you live in San Jose. I don't think anyone who lived here in the '80s would dispute that. Now, I can't speak for what it has been like since the '80s, but I can tell you that it is now open again post-remodel (it has been closed since 2007 for complete renovation) and is just as magical now as it was then (in the eyes of a 2 year old!). In fact, we even bought a membership during our visit because I forsee many, many trips there this spring/summer/fall.


A few highlights from our first visit included:
Danny the Dragon train ride (one of the parts of Happy Hollow that I remember most vividly from my visits there as a child)



The petting zoo/feeding the goats (Luke gave only one pellet at a time!)

The firetruck/police car ride

So, it has definitely been updated, but some things remain the same for nostalgia. Check me out back in the early 80's on the firetruck ride (which then also included yellow cars!)

For the love of firetrucks

For Luke's birthday back in July, he received a Fisher Price firetruck from Mommy & Daddy, and a more advanced Tonka firetruck from his buddy Jackson. We decided to let him enjoy one at a time, and only recently pulled out the Tonka truck for Luke. As you can see, he is in love with his "new" toy!

A big boy room...

...is coming!

The first signs of it showed up this week when the twin-sized firetruck sheets arrived in the mail.

As you can see, Luke is ready to put them on his new bed ... only a few more weeks now until the new furniture arrives!

The Northstar Firehouse

The Northstar Firehouse gives tours to kids every Friday (how cool is that?). As soon as we saw this, we signed ourselves up because we know that we have a fire truck fanatic amongst us.


If meeting Thomas was the first highlight of Luke's life, then this was definitely the second. He was the youngest tourist, but kept right up with the big kids. He loved every single second.

So intrigued - watching and listening to everything:

Watching as the fireman puts on all of his gear:

The exhaust pipe:

Looking at all the gauges:

Checking out the hoses:

Driving the truck:

Waiting his turn for the hose:

Shooting the fire hose with the nice fireman:


"Let me try that myself"

"Sliding" down the pole:

What an amazing experience!