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!!!