Christmas 2009

Christmas doesn't start as early as I remember. When you have a 3 and 1 year old, they don't realize that waking up early is a requirement on Christmas morning. As they slept in, I waited patiently for the fun to start. At about 10 am it did.

Of course the first thing Cameron spotted was Corinne from the Three Musketeers dress. She immediately put it on before exploring any of her other gifts. Once she was in it, she was ready to get to her other gifts.

Riley too enjoyed the opening of the presents. The sweet thing about a 1 year old, is every toy should be played with immediately. I thought it was going to take until New Years to get through all of his gifts. I never realized how impatient I actually was. In the end we got through all of them and he was thrilled with the great toys he received from Santa, family, and Mommy & Daddy.

Once the presents were done, we had to get dinner ready. Riley and Uncle Greg were put in charge of the mashed potatoes. These were the best potatoes we've ever had. I'm pretty sure there were a couple of pounds of butter.

We had a great day and were very thankful to have such a great day with our family and the people we love.

The Nutcracker!!!

Cameron started watching Barbie movies. The Three Musketeers was quite a hit and we've been hearing about Corinne for months, but while traveling she saw Barbie Nutcracker. Cameron became enchanted with Clara so it seemed perfect to plan an outing so see the Nutcracker ballet this season. San Jose Ballet does a children's matinee and we decided to coordinate a fieldtrip with her class before the holidays. When we arrived the Nutcracker, Clara, and the Rat king were out greeting guests. There was no way that any of the children would go greet the characters, they were much bigger in person...

Once inside though, the Nutcracker figurines were not scary at all. It was very exciting to see the theater and the stage. When it started Cameron watched intensely. She was not found of the fireworks but she enjoyed the rats and the dancing. She especially liked when Clara danced with the Nutcracker. When it was over I let her pick out a commemorative xmas decoration for the tree. We had a really good time and can't wait to go again next year.

Baking B-Day

This week one of Cameron's classmates turned 4. For her b-day her parents decided the class would make cupcakes and have a party. Each child got a chef's hat and together they all made home-made cupcakes.
They followed a recipe and did all the measuring and mixing. They worked in teams and everyone got to measure in the different ingredients and then pour the batter into their own cupcake mold. They let them bake and after lunch and rest period the fun really began.

The class came back together to have a decorating party. There were lots of different decorations including candy, and different colored frostings. After decorating your own cupcake each child received a box to bring it home in. The leftovers were ate on the spot, of course after singing Happy Birthday. It was a unique party and Cameron was really excited to tell us about it at the end of the day.

Palo Alto kids museum

Today, Daddy needed a day off. So Mommy planned to take Cameron and Riley to the Palo Alto Jr Children's museum and zoo. Lucky for Mommy and the kids, Tim came along too. The museum was good fun. We played Plinko for a long time and Riley really liked to explore the experiments. In the above picture he was controlling the water flow which was creating electricity. More fun that than was the maze where the tennis balls were carried and pushed through tubes, up ramps, etc.

We went out to the zoo and some of the exhibits were under construction. We spent a long time staring at the raccoon who can't see well (maybe that's why he didn't realize it was day time and he should be asleep). We wanted to see the bobcats but they were hiding. As Tim was telling Cameron and Riley we wouldn't be able to see the cats today one of the workers walked by and said "Sure you can, I'll be right back." He went into the cage and the cats came out to greet him. He brought them to the window and Cameron and Riley squeeled with delight. I'm positive this would only have happened with Tim and his special powers with us. ;-)

Cameron had a great time too. She liked everything but the goose, but thats okay, she bites (the goose that is). It was a nice simple afternoon and Daddy enjoyed his break even though all he did was work. Boo Work!

Shopping for the perfect tree...

Searching for our Christmas tree is always fun. Daddy searches for the biggest tree they have. Mommy searches for the tree that speaks to her. Cameron chooses each one we ask her about. Riley, well he is not quite sure what to think. We thought we were shopping early but almost all the best trees were taken, then we saw him.

He was perfect. We all agreed. He wore my scarf proudly and we knew this was our Christmas tree!!!

Thanksgiving in New Orleans

We typically enjoy Thanksgiving in New Orleans every other year. This was our year. We flew in for a long weekend with the family and what a time to visit. The city was in a party mood and the kids got to spend lots of time with their cousins. Of course its New Orleans so we enjoyed sitting out in the yard in the new swing.

It didn't take too long for the kids to warm up to their cousins. We enjoyed several outings including a visit to the Aquarium of the Americas. Riley loves aquariums and this was a great one. All the kids got to feed the rays although Riley and Cameron were really into the ray taking the fish so they mostly just dropped the sardines in the water.

The Saints are having a great year so of course there was lots of football to talk about, learn about, watch, listen to, play,..... did I mention talk about, learn about, hear about, etc etc etc. Cameron did enjoy playing the game with her cousin. She was better than I expected. He older cousin Sean who just turned 21 was there and he made sure the kids knew what to do and played fair.

Did we mention we watched a lot of football too? Aunt Heather made Cameron a Saints dress and she wore it all over town. There were lots of comments and cheers for her dress, she loved it.

We also made it out to the French Quarter for a day. We started at Cafe Du Monde where we met up with our Aunt Yvette, Uncle Troy, and cousin Sean as they were headed out of town. We walked around Jackson square enjoying the shops and St Louis cathedral. We saw the Archibishop and then we enjoyed lunch at Muriels (the best lunch I've had in a long time). We then took a French Quarter tour in one of the horse drawn buggies. Although I've lived there my entire life (prior to CA) this was the first time I'd taken a formal tour. It was cool.

This was the best trip I can remember, and there are so many stories there is no way to capture it all here. Enjoy the photos here.

Cameron, What's new at school?

Harvest Mouse is Cameron's new class. The teachers have been introducing games. They started playing lots of different games including sports. Cameron is a pretty good soccer player, even in her dress. They learned about rules, taking turns, following directions, and the various different equipment for games (pieces, dice, spinners, etc). Once they learned the concept of games, the kids started creating their own games. Cameron's game has a princess...... oh and a castle.

Game design has not taken the place of the more traditional activities in the class. Cameron still makes sure the babies are well cared for and they continue to decorate the new room with their art work. The class did start an unusual garden. They are growing mushrooms. Another students family shared with the class the tradition of growing their own mushrooms. The entire classroom planted several boxes and over the next few weeks will water and monitor the mushrooms. The plan at the end is to have a mushroom celebrations where we will harvest them and serve them at a party. Its going to be great!

Our grandma is a docent at Pt Lobos!

Today Daddy took Cameron and Riley south to visit Grandma Cindy. She is a volunteer docent at Pt Lobos and the kids got a treat when Grandma Cindy gave them a tour. She let them climb on the whale bones, get into the blubber pots, and talked about all the displays.

They then enjoyed a long hike all around thee park (well Cameron hiked and Daddy carried Riley). Grandma Cindy pointed out all the flowers and the kids saw lots of birds, a sea lion, and Cameron found a great view. You can see the pictures here.

Happy Halloween 2009

"What is Cameron going to be for Halloween?" is a very common question these days. I'm not sure why there was any doubt, she wore princess dresses the entire week before. On this day it seemed like she was holding court while in Music class. I really wanted to dress Riley and Cameron in a theme like I tried last year, but that ended up being a bust, since Cameron refused to be Lil' Bo-Peep and Riley was a lonely little lamb. I figured that was unlikely again this year as I couldn't really find a costume that seemed to be a good match without making Riley a lame prince charming.... :-)

During the last week as Mommy struggled to think about what Riley would be, we went out and explored more Pumpkin patches. Riley really enjoyed picking out his pumpkins although he was pretty adamant that he needed an assortment instead of just one. Tim and Turtle helped him narrow it down to one small, one big, and one in-between.

As the day approached and I was no closer to choosing a costume, Turtle decided he would help. He put together a Dopey costume for Riley. He made the hat, modified a t-shirt with buttons and a belt, and made elf shoe covers for his shoes. Riley was soooooo adorable I could hardly stand it. On the big night each time they went to the door together the neighbors would all say "OMG that is sooo cute!!" Turtle was so awesome!!!
Hannah joined the kids on the trick-or-treat outing and Riley was kind enough to always select Snickers (mommy's favorite) whenever he was allowed to choose. This year our street was closed off because of the crowds that come to see the Tims and our decorations. We had lots of new decorations which included a remote control ghoul that Riley loved firing off and scaring the people on the street. This year we got more than 1000 trick-or-treaters (we bought about ~5000 pieces of candy and we handed out limit of 2/visitor with a few exceptions for people we know). It was crazy.

As usual PJ got to clean up. He finished all the pumpkins that were not destroyed by the late-night trick-or-treaters. This is his favorite part.

Disney's Princesses on Ice

Cameron has a best friend at school. Nadia knows all the Disney princesses and their stories and she tell Cameron all about the ones Cameron has yet to see. Her favorite is Aurora and Cameron loves to hear about Aurora because Mommy won't let her see the movie. Given this common interest we thought it would be a good idea to take the girls to see Disney's Princesses on Ice.

The girls got all dressed up and Cameron picked out one of her princess dresses for they day. The entire arena was filled with princesses both big and small (Mommy did not dress up). Cameron sat on the edge of her seat and as the stories began she leaned over and hugged me and kept saying "I love this, I love you Mommy!"

The girls were in complete awe and at intermission could barely stay away from their seat. The show told the story of each princess with Mickey and Minnie making cameos. All the princesses and their princes came together for the big finale and the wedding of Cinderella. Cameron could not have had a better time. It is impossible to forget her face and how intensely she watched the show. When it was over we all went to out to lunch. The whole experience was a little bittersweet because Nadia is moving away. At least they will always have this memory together.

I'm taking Riley on a hike.

Jeff decided he was going on a hike and that Riley would probably enjoy going along. This would be the first Father/Son hiking trip. They headed up to Skyline and hiked around Horseshoe lake.
The nature center was closed but Riley tried to get in anyway. Once he determined that there was no way in he continued to explore around the center. The binoculars were interesting, even without looking through them.

The lake was probably his favorite part. He stood on the pier and looked over the edge. Then he sat down for awhile and just looked around. He saw his reflection in the water and that was funny. He really enjoyed it and had a great nap on the way home.

Blue Angels.... well for a minute

Today, along with Uncle Greg and Grandma Cindy we went to the city to see the Blue Angels. We got to see the United 747 do its fly-bys, a couple of jets fly past, and then about 5 tricks from the Blue Angels.

The clouds were too low and the Blue Angels had to stop the program about 5 minutes in because the planes couldn't see the homes on the hill. Safety was their priority so we missed out. Riley was thrilled to see the planes and the hot dogs were good too.

Its pumpkin season!!!!

Most people know Mommy loves Pumpkin season. She loves it in soup, pies, roasted, and just about any other way you want to prepare it. Even more fun is enjoying the various pumpkin patches around the bay area. One of our new favorites is Uesugi Farms in Morgan Hill. Lets make it a new family tradition..... We enjoyed the day with Hannah and her family, as well as Tim and Turtle.

Uesugi has lots to do. There is a pumpkin mountain, a train, a hayride, corn maze, music, petting zoo, and a huge pumpkin patch. We enjoyed it all. Cameron's favorite part is always the pony ride. This year she rode the pony all by herself and we just stood back and took her photos.

Riley also tried the pony ride. He wasn't sure about this experience at all but he played along well enough. He wouldn't let go of mommy and literally jumped off the pony when it was over. He preferred exploring the pumpkin fields and climbing the pumpkins. He also liked the corn maze because around each corner was a discovery board where he learned about how the bees helped the corn, etc.

We ate, we danced, we rode all the rides, and it was a great day. Riley wasn't sure about what he should do with his pumpkin, but he started with a little nibble. You can see all our photos here.

Sometimes its just fun to stay at home....

We go out and do a lot of fun things, but we have lots and lots of fun at home too. When we bought a new basket to store the many toys that migrate downstairs Riley and Cameron figured out that it could be used for more than just toys. They both jumped into the basket and asked Daddy to carry them around. There was lots of giggling. When Daddy put the basket down the kids turned it over and made it a house.

Everyone knows that Cameron is a princess. For being such a good girl she got all the Disney princess dolls. She sometimes picks a doll then goes into her closet to find the matching dress. We are doing lots and lots of costume changes these days and she will tell you when she doesn't have a matching costume (we just smile and so oh?). Riley doesn't even blink anymore when she comes down in one of her gowns, he thinks its normal.

Riley likes to watch Cameron play with her dolls, and sometimes he'll try to join her, but usually he is doing his own thing. He is fascinated with the office and will hang out while Daddy is working (or playing). He likes that Mommy's computer is usually free because that means he gets his own chair (and computer). We're pretty sure he is a geek.



Cameron got a new bike from our neighbor who had outgrown it. It was a little difficult for her to start but this is a video of her first ride. She is not comfortable on hills and still prefers her tricycle. This bike does have a few features she likes, the princesses and the color!