The Jones Team: What happened last weekend?

Jeez louise, it has been over a week since I have posted... another weekend almost upon us and I haven't even written about our last one!

Well, I finished work on Fri Sept 4 - a mixed bag of emotions. Happy to have time off, especially since I am still woefully behind on getting everything ready for Baby Jones #2 (like clothes out, washed, put away, crib re-made, dual size diapers located, etc). Sad, though, to be out of the loop at work where things were always fast paced and people "needed" me. Or at least, so they said. Hopefully that means they'll bring me back in January! But surely I'll write more about that later.

On Saturday it was rainy and we didn't really do anything (nice!). Alex did pick up my grandmother's antique cedar chest in Vancouver (solo - what a husband!), and we had the Cornetts over for dinner. It is SUPER fun to watch Lucia and Jude play together. Here are a few photos:

Check her out!

From Lucia 9 September 2009

Sharing a toy:

From Lucia 9 September 2009

Then on Sunday we headed down to Eugene to celebrate with family. It was my parents 35th wedding anniversary on September 1, as well as my dad's (60th!) birthday - so we took them out to dinner at The Excelsior near the University of Oregon campus. I have to say, it really was not that great - might have been better if Lucia were better behaved, but there was nothing there to entertain her (i.e. crayons, steps near our table, a garden, etc). Not that you can really expect much, I guess, but they didn't even have a kids menu (and I did make the reservation with a heads up about our 23 month old) - and the waiter had nothing to suggest. I ordered her a pizza margherita from the bar menu, but we still took many walks outside up and down the street. Plus, the lighting is VERY dark, so the photos did not turn out.

The other reason to go to Eugene was for my Avo's (grandmother) 80th birthday celebration - her birthday is September 7th, Labor Day this year. Since Alex had to go to Boston for work this whole week and flew out on Monday, we went to visit Avo on Sunday afternoon at her new apartment. She fed Lucia Ritz crackers (a very special treat!) and taught her to jump off a little stool by herself. Lucia had a blast, and keeps asking to see the "pictures Avo and Lucia?" this whole week. Here is the video of Lu and Avo with said stool:

Here is a good one of Avo and Lucia - if only they were both looking at the camera!:

From Lucia 9 September 2009

The next day we had the 80th birthday celebration at the Olive Garden in Eugene. We had a whole back room to ourselves, and Lucia got to see her 2nd cousins Brycen & Dylan, as well as her first cousins once removed (?) Jordan, Austyn, Aysia, Jaycob, Daniel, and Nicole. Plus all of my aunts and uncles and Avo, naturally. It was pretty much pure pandemonium at the gathering - think Crazy Portuguese People together for almost 4 hours while eating, drinking, sharing stories, singing, and eating birthday cake. Lucia missed her nap that day, and we took several walks around the outside of the restaurant while singing Friar Jacques and Happy Birthday over and over and over...

But all's well that ends well, and Lucia had a great time altogether. My mom and I drove back to Portland as Alex had left earlier that morning for Boston, and my uncle Tony spent the night too. Below are some photos from the party and Lucia living it up with Jordan and "Unke Tony" - she says it like it rhymes... very cute!

Lucia and Nicole at the Olive Garden: