July 4th in Pine

Since Daddy was still in Italy for most of the July 4th weekend, Jacob & Mama escaped up to Pine to enjoy the cooler weather with Grandma & Papa. We had lots of fun getting outside (without it being 110+), relaxing in the spa, and taking part in the 4th festivities.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:



Jacob on the digger in the Pine Playground

Waiting for the Payson July 4th Parade to start

Our little Picasso painting on the Pine deck

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Opening up his present - Wii!

Jacob & Daddy make the birthday cake - our new favorite, yellow cake with whip cream, cream cheese frosting, strawberries, and blueberries. Jacob loves eating the cream cheese frosting!

Mr. Pickles doesn't like to be left out

Happy Birthday Daddy!
We love you!

Grammy & Auntie Kristen's Visit to Tempe

Grammy stayed on the week after Jacob's birthday to play with Jacob & Mama. It was wonderful having her help; Jacob loved playing basketball and "balloonie loonie" with his Grammy!

Then Auntie Kristen joined us the following weekend. We really enjoyed spending time with them, although the visit flew by way too quickly! Jacob really bonded with his auntie Kristen, especially in the pool when she taught him "cheek to cheek" and played "toss the Jacob".

Thank you Auntie Kristen for flying out from NJ to visit us.



Jacob & Grammy at the children's museum

Auntie Kristen & Jacob at Grimaldi's in Scottsdale.
Auntie Kristen was excited to try it out since she has the original near her in Brooklyn. Even funnier was that Uncle Danny was eating at the Brooklyn Grimaldi's the same day we ate at the Scottsdale one.

Jacob & Anders outside Grimaldi's

Jacob the Painter

Thank you Veronica, Ryan, & Brady for the Home Depot painter set, Jacob loves it!

Father's Day

Since Jacob was born on Father's Day, we got to celebrate with almost all the Daddies in our life this year - Grandpa Chuck, Grandpa Ron, & Daddy! The day started with a special breakfast for our "Kings & Prince" and then playing with all the birthday presents. And since Great Aunt Mary's Chocolate Bundt Cake with cream cheese frosting is Daddy & Grandpa Chuck's favorite, we made another cake...after the tractor cake a bundt cake was super easy :)

3 generations of Posner men - Ron, Jonathan, & Jacob

Nana Jill, Daddy, & Jacob watching the turtle grow

Daddy opening his new saw from Grandpa Chuck

Jacob shooting baskets with his Grammy

Jacob's 3rd Birthday Party

This year since we celebrated Jacob's birthday in AZ, he got to invite a couple of his friends to his party. The theme was "construction" of course, hence the tractor cake, so the kids decorated bird houses. Jacob's grandparents flew/drove in for the big day - Grandpa Ron, Nana Jill, Grandpa Chuck, Grammy, Grandma Tilla, & Papa Chuck. The day flew by, but Jacob seemed to have a great time.

Jacob loves balloons and was asking for months if he would have some for his birthday. So we got him a dozen, and he didn't let go of them the whole party! He & Brady had a great time running around the house with the balloons trailing behind.

Decorating the bird houses - (left to right) - Jaime, Mikey, Daddy, Jacob, Malcolm, & Roger

and of course if we're painting Jacob is going to paint at least part of his body...

Brady & Veronica


Lap 27


Malcolm

"The Tractor Cake"

Since Jacob's very favorite play activity is to pretend with his construction set, I decided he needed a tractor cake for his birthday. Luckily Michael's has everything you need to make the cake, and I have an amazing mother-in-law Jill that has decorated many cakes...though I don't think she was expecting quite an intricate cake as this. We had lots of fun decorating the cake and it only took 3.5 hours! And of course what was Jacob's response when he saw it..."but Mama, where is the digger?" Too cute.

Thank you Nana Jill for taking on this project with me. I'll think of an equally fun one for #4 :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Jacob!

Well, maybe I'm a month late in posting, but the sentiment is still there :)

Jacob turned 3 on June 18th and had his favorite meal for his birthday dinner....beanie, cheesie, burrito....complete with candles.

Big Sur Camping Trip

After Anchor Bay, we spent a week in Big Sur. It was wonderful camping beneath the giant redwood trees, visiting Monterey, walking in Carmel, etc. We took some amazing hikes and got to kayak with some sea otters :)

Here are some pictures from the week -

Kayaking in Monterey with the sea otters and seals

mama & baby sea otter

Grandma & Jacob at the Monterey Bay Aquarium


Checking out the shark in the deep sea tank

A baby owl that was blind in one eye...the camp hosts were trying to catch it and send it to the humane society.

At our campsite in Big Sur

Concentrating hard on spearing that marshmallow

Just how you like it mama!

Daddy briefly flew home mid-vacation to go to the ASU graduation with Barack Obama