Yosemite Trip

We headed to Yosemite for the long weekend with John and Lena. Mark and his parents used to go every year and it had been awhile since we had all been there and it was a great Fall weekend.Here we are enjoying the view of Yosemite Falls however at this time of year the waterfall had very little water and what was there was frozen. This was an easy stroll... so now we were ready to conquer the Misty Trail.
This was pretty much how Mark hiked up the mountain... go Dad!! Madison did great but it was a pretty steep climb and those legs got tired.
Jack enjoyed his bird's eye view from the backpack and talked/babbled to everyone passing on the way down.
We made it to the top... a little tired but excited because the way back was all downhill.
This is Madison racing Hans Florine and Yuji Hirayama to the top of El Capitan (by the way these two climbers set the record for fastest climb on Sunday while we were there)
This was us when we made it to the top of "the rock" so proud!!
This is us all snuggled up (it was about 40 degrees at night) on the Yosemite shuttle after a great day of hiking and a yummy pizza dinner.

On Sunday, we enjoyed a wonderful brunch at the Ahwahnee and then headed to Mirror Lake ... which we never quite made it to after Jack decided he wanted to do some hiking too.
Thanks for a great weekend Oma and Opa!!

Trying out three

Catchy headline but no breaking news.... just a fun day at the pumpkin patch in Marin with cousin Chloe... Mark makes it look so easy eh?

Jack can't believe there are so many pumpkins
Cloe and Jack a little nervouse about how high Madison is climbing....

Looks like Madison is a little worried too.
Madison escapes to the trampoline in an effort to convince Dad that one of these will fit in our backyard.... she almost had him.

Tutu party

Madison attended a birthday party at the Tutu school for her new preschool friend, Drew


It was quite a sight to see almost 2 dozen 3 year-olds in tutus.
Madison and Makenzie especially enjoyed the pink cupcakes.

Madison looked like such a little girl in her ballet outfit.. it was so fun to see her with all her new friends from the Serra Preschool.

Running just as fast as you can

Sunday morning we were up and out the door early to run in the Banana Chase 5K benefiting UCSF Children's hospital. Mark and I each pushed a stroller

The Fishers, D'Angelo's (sans Jack who was nursing a sore calf), and Gina and Sadie were also part of the fun.

Jack had so much fun checking out all the people and going fast with Dad.

The Fishers made it a family affair and Chloe smiled for her first race.
The race was great and Team Farrell had a strong finish.

Gina and I ran most of the race together and opted for the Ipods.
Chuck decided not to run the race but got his exercise for the day blowing up this banana.
After the race we ran into Vanessa's sister and her husband Gary and their adorable twins Addison and Gracie... so cute.But the running wasn't over... Madison and Makenzie were about to run their first 50 yard dash... let the stretching begin!!
Madison had her own official race t-shirt and number was ready to run.There were 80 3year olds running..Mads and Makenzie made it into heat 3 as I helped them scope out the course.
"Ready, set, go.... she's off... running at full stride to the finish line.

She got a little thrown off when the banana ran up right next to her....

But both girls had a strong finish... under 40 seconds... now if we could just shave 30 seconds off that in the next 15 years... watch out Olympics. They had purple ribbons and big smiles.. it was a great time!!

Girls Night In

Friday night was Aaron's birthday so the boys all went out to celebrate.... leaving the girls and Jack at home for a night in. Chloe enjoyed some sweet potatoes while Mommy enjoyed the Chardonnay.
Eileen and her girls were ready to celebrate.... toasting their Dad's birthday.
After dinner it was bath time for Chloe and Jack... Jack was so excited to have someone to share his new bath tub with.

After the three babies were down... the "big girls" (Mia and Mads) got to be silly with their moms. Here they are using the camera to take a picture of the 3 mommies and one to be.
Now it was time for a game of switcharoo....Mia and Mads got to stay up way past their bedtime...and tuck the mommies in bed.
Madison and Jack are starting to play together and they have so many tender moments together... here they are riding Madison's horsey, "go chicago"... giddy up.

Jack has also figured out how to climb onto Madison's trampoline and do some jumping of his own. Jack can hold his own... even with all that hair coming his way.. yikes!!

First day of Serra Preschool

Today was Madison's first day of preschool and it was a great day!! She is already reading the signs at school... a true genius on our hands!
She was greeted by her two friends... Makenzie Eggert and Callen Porter... these girls are gonna be trouble!!

After a short stint in the art room.. Madison was outside braving the 55 degree weather to check out the bikes. Is she having fun or what?? This could be when she realized mom wasn't staying.. ouch!!
But all was good and after school Madison was greeted at home by Oma and Opa who had a special surprise for her... a pink (of course) schultute... this is German for school bag and is a tradition on the first day of school.Inside were all kinds of goodies from Oma and Opa including new hair clips, stickers, panties and the best treat of all... a pink cupcake from Cara's Cupcakes on Chestnut Street.. thanks Oma and Opa!!


Let's hope the second day goes as well as the first!!

Madison's Preschool "Do"

This week was Madison's turn to get her haircut.. now she has had regular haircuts since she was 9 months old thanks to her thick long locks so this was old hat but it was made special because it was her "preschool do". Madison and Mia start school next week and along with every other kid in America their moms thought they needed a haircut to start the year off right and set just the right first impression for preschool.


Grammy made a surprise appearance... her first time out of the house in three weeks (she has been taking care of my dad since hip surgery).
This little place in Danville was great... they got to drive a truck, watch Cinderella, get their haircut, and the real topper... SPRINKLES in their hair over a beautiful braid.

Mia had to check it out and give her final approval. Both girls looked great!!

Jack's first haircut

Last week we all headed downtown for a big milestone for Jack.. his first haircut... and this was quite a special one. Jack got his haircut right after Daddy at the barber downtown (Placido) where Mark has and his Dad have been going for years!! This is Jack's before look...
This is during... Dad is micromanaging the process well and I am trying to stay quiet.
Jack was a real trooper and loved all the attention and he especially loved his blue cape.
He is a little unsure about Placido's plans for the back but he's trusting Dad on this one.
He is definitely excited about getting rid of the bangs... and is psyched that he will be able to see where he is going now.
This was a special dad for the Farrell men and we all went to lunch after to celebrate.