July Highlights

GILROY GARLIC FESTIVAL

We finally went to the famous Gilroy Garlic Festival in July.

It was loaded with garlicky food, music, beer, crafts, even an Xtreme Sports expo and a karaoke tent.

Because of the intense heat and lack of shade, it became a day of cold indulgences.

Here is Attie having a frozen lemonade.

We stood in line for quite a while to try the garlic ice cream.

It was pretty tasty. We got garlic-hazelnut, I think.

Once we had had all the food and treats we could handle we headed over to the cooking tent and Guy Fieri from TV Food Network's "Drive-Ins, Diners and Dives" was just finishing his demo. Attie recognized him from TV so of course we had to get a picture.

Before heading out, Terry got Attie a little kettle corn :)

After the festival, we went to Gilroy Gardens.

It's a horticultural theme park nearby.

They timed a "Family fun Night" to coincide with the Garlic Festival.

So we set up our tent with about 50 other families.

They provided dinner and then we got to go into the theme park after hours and check out all the rides.

Here are Attie and Terry pretending to ride the cobra.

We actually convinced her to ride it the next day and she had a mixture of fun and fear, exactly what a roller coaster is all about!

We were so proud of her for trying it!

Another first for her was having her picture taken with "Garlic Boy" or whatever he is called. She's typically not into characters, but for some reason she was not intimidated by the walking head of garlic?

After a hot and sweaty day walking around the festival, sleeping in a tent and then theme parking the following day, we were certainly ready to get home to our shower and beds.

June Highlights

DAD'S 60TH

In June, we added an additional surprise to my Dad's Surprise 60th Birthday Party by unexpectedly showing up in Florida. It was a great night to show him how much we all love and appreciate him. Everybody said a little something, some roasting, but mostly toasting.Terry gave a lovely speech about how my Dad used to visit us in NYC and I tried to give an eloquent speech but ended up crying and blubbering.

BEACH HOUSE

We stayed in Florida for 12 days in a whacky beach house on Anna Maria Island.

The beach came right up to our porch and we had an unobstructed view of the Gulf.

It was Paradise and Terry and I were completely detoxed from suburban life within 24 hours and then easily switched to hardcore Beach Bums.

We pretty much stayed on the Island the whole time and almost every day various parts of the family would come and visit.

Terry made Cuban burgers for the first time and we enjoyed eating three meals a day in our bathing suits with sand between our toes.

My mom spent her two nights and three days off out at the beach with us and had a vacation of her own!

Terry got her hooked on Vanity Fair magazine and we really enjoyed relaxing together, walking to dinner on the beach, and visiting in such an amazing setting.

Atticus had so much fun with her cousins. Here we are with my sister Jessie's kids, Julia, Hannah and Ian.

It was great for the kids because they could come in and out from the beach, track sand in the house as they got another juice box, shower off in the outdoor shower, dry off in the sun for a while and then do it all over again.

Here are my brother Josh's kids, Jackson and Caroline and Jeff's daughter Abbi.

Jackson brought his hermit crabs to the beach and the kids had fun watching them.

On the table you'll notice a coconut shell they found and of course we have an enormous shell collection from this trip.

The Gulf was so clear, you could see the bottom. Every time we went out, we were definitely reminded that we were visitors in the home of the many ocean creatures.

On day one, dolphins were playing just off shore.

On day two, a ginormous Manatee swam right by. I mean RIGHT by, we could have reached out and touched it. Before swimming off, it came up for a breath and then displayed it's tail. AMAZING!

Atticus adapted to the Island lifestyle so well. Give her water and sand, tell her she doesn't have to get dressed for the next twelve days and that she can have as many popsicles as she wants...

Happy Girl!

More great pics in the online gallery.

Silkworms

Silworms are being raised at Attie's school.

Above are the growing worms, eating Mulberry leaves that parents are donating.

Below are the cocoons that some have spun in the cocoon-condo built out of toilet paper rolls.

Pretty cool!

We made the paper

Saturday, Atticus and her classmates performed at the annual Chinese Community's Festival sponsored by the regional Chinese newspapaer, The World Journal.

The next day, our photos appeared on the front page!! (Along with all of the other performers and spectators)

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO GET A CLOSER LOOK, ARROWS POINT TO WHERE WE ARE.

xoxoxox

Wendy

Video

Attie's school held a Mother's Day Tea today. The kids served us pearl tea and refreshments and sang three songs, two in English, one in Mandarin. Also she made me two mother's day crafts.

Click on this link to see video of the songs:

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:187985

xoxoxo and Happy Mother's Day!

Wendy

Atticus anecdote

Last night Atticus was reading jokes to us from her joke book.

She now "gets it." She was very excited to be able to explain what the puns and sound-the-same jokes meant. She then created a sort of contest where one would receive two thumbs up if you "got it" and she was tallying up our scores. It was very involved and she was really in command.

I said to her, "You're going to be in charge of something someday."

She said, "Yeah, I'm going to be a judge!"

Terry and I were so amazed, proud, tickled, and were gleaming over her when she added,

"Like Paula."

So, Attie is a Paula Abdul fan because she is "the nice judge" and yes, we let her watch American Idol.

It has been very hot lately and we are enjoying the early summer.

Roller Skating and Motorcycle Riding

We took a trip to Florida in March for my sister's wedding.

It was a jam-packed trip with wedding activities, beach trips, playdates with cousins, and a Roller Skating birthday party for my brother, Jeff, and niece, Julia. Attie was very nervous about this whole skating thing, but as the evening progressed she got more confident and even wheeled along by herself on the carpeted edge.

Xanadu!!!

One of the highlights of the Spring for Terry was his motorcycle class.

He and good friend, Bergan, gave each other lessons for Christmas and took the class together.

They had a lot of fun and Attie and I enjoyed watching Terry ride the course.

Terry has been working incredibly hard this past six months; it was great to see him enjoying something fun and new that he has been wanting to do for a long time.

Soccer and Swimming

Attie did 8 weeks of soccer this Spring.

She decided after the session that soccer is not her thing right now.

She did make a friend, though, Ryan. They enjoyed each other's company and helped each other out on the field.

Here she is next to her friend, Ryan. I thought she looked so much like Abbi.

As soon as soccer finished, Attie started swim lessons...

LOVES IT!!!!!

These are pics from her very first lesson. As you can see, she is very at home in the pool.

She started out as a "seahorse" and on the 3rd lesson she got promoted to "jellyfish"!

Real Life with Atticus

Atticus brought in the New Year with a whopper of a black eye...

She was being a very good helper, cleaning up a mess of games and POW! right into the coffee table. Ouch!

So, this is how we keep Attie's teeth looking so beautiful.

Nightly flossing...The whole family gets involved, as you can see.

Here's what Attie would look like had she inherited my frizzy hair :)

Nothing like a warm load of laundry fresh from the dryer to curl up in.

Yao Ming

We got to go to a basketball game and see Yao Ming. Pretty cool!

It so happened that our great friends, Paul and Pam, were visiting with their son, Pauley.

It was fun to see them and have a baby crawling around the house.

THE BLOG IS BACK!!!

After many months of various technological problems, I am back up and running and happy to inform you that The Blog is Back!!!

It was Thanksgiving that I last posted and I will try to bring you up-to-date through cute photos of everyone's favorite Ahearn...Atticus.

Enjoy!

The Christmas season was very festive. We decorated our house with lights and two trees, one outside and one in.

One of the main events of the holidays was making Terry's Grandpa's fudge.

Here are the ingredients for the pounds and pounds of fudge we made. We had fun packaging it and giving it to friends and family.

Terry really enjoyed carrying on his grandparents' tradition and reminiscing over each huge boiling pot. We even put a modern spin on the recipe by adding crushed candy canes to the chocolate and topping it off with more of the crushed candy.

We had a sort of factory going until late in the night getting it all finished and of course Attie was right there with us helping and taste-testing!




In addition to all of the fudge, we also built this Gingerbread House from the ground up! We spent about a week working on it a little at a time.We enjoyed a relaxing Christmas at home this year and Attie got lots of dress-up clothes, which she plays with every day!

Thanksgiving

We had a lovely Thanksgiving in Ventura with Terry's family.

We went out to eat at a very cute restaurant.

Atticus tried Lemon meringue pie for the first time since reading about Amelia Bedelia's...she didn't get past the meringue.

She had tons of fun playing with her 3 cousins, Ashley, Elizabeth and Jereme.

And Terry and I enjoyed the time away from our daily hubbub.

Halloween in Florida

We had a great time in Florida for Halloween.

Atticus was the most beautiful mermaid, "Aqua Attie"!

(I shouldn't brag, but, yes, I made the costume)

We trick-or-treated with her 7 cousins, 8 aunts and uncles, 3 grandparents, 1 great-grandfather and his date, and other friends of the family. It was a blast.

The kids were 50's girls, a muskateer, Superman, Scooby-Doo, Dora, and a car mechanic.

Here we are with all but two of the cousins at a park getting ready for a foot race. Everybody was a winner and got 50 cents from Grandma!

One day we went to the beach with Abbi. It was a very exciting day at the beach. There were helicopters, pelicans, coquinas, and dolphins playing in the water!

Another day sister-in-law, Karen, sister Jessie and I took our kids out to a beautiful park on the bay with a nature trail and had lots of fun.

Here are, from left, Caroline, Hannah, Ian, Julia, Attie and Jackson.

On our last day, we went to Jackson's soccer game. He and his teammates did great and I'm so happy we got to see him play!!

You can view all the pictures from our trip in the online photo gallery.

xoxoxo

Bridge School Benefit

This weekend, Terry's sister Rebecca and her boyfriend Raj came to visit and took us to the 20th Annual Bridge School Benefit. www.bridgeschool.org It was amazing, and Atticus was beside herself. Coincidentally, Attie's new favorite band, Death Cab for Cutie, was in the lineup! You wouldn't believe all the bands that were there so I put up pictures as proof.

First, Neil Young and his wife Peggy founded The Bridge School and started the concert off.
Next was Devendra Banhart...Then, Death Cab for Cutie!!!!
Next, Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails...
Foo Fighters...
Brain Wilson (could've done w/o, but I guess he's a legend)
Pearl Jam...
Dave Matthews Band was the finally.
The concert started at 4pm and we left about midnight.

Super fabulous!!!

Thanks again Rebecca and Raj!

We all decided this will be an annual event for us, can't wait until next October.