Snow Day - California Style

To all of my friends who suffered through Snowmageddon...this post will seem cruelly unfair. So please forgive me and our temperate California weather, and the fact we sought out snow...by choice.



Yup, that it a picture of Chipmunk having the time of his life.



Here he is, all bundled up, waiting to ride down the hill again and again...and again. He quit only when he realized he was hungry and needed sustenance.

Bear? She opted out. You see the pony ride scarred her for life, and now she fears trying anything that has the potential of going "too fast."



Instead she worked on her snowball rolling...



...and attempted a snow angel, only to figure out that crunchy man-made snow isn't really the best for it.

Meanwhile, Chipmunk was on his fifth run...

Holidays 2010

January has just begin, and December already feels like a blur. Before they blur from my memory, I thought I'd recapitulate the holiday festivities.

Christmas Eve


My sister's lemon tart


The annual gift exchange

Christmas Day


Christmas dinner...

5th Birthday


Bear's 5th birthday

Other Adventures...


A trip to the local park


A visit to the Exploratorium


A tour of a printing-publishing house

To see more pictures of our adventures during the holiday, click here.

Hope you all had wonderful holidays as well.

Where We've Been

Christmas Eve. Chipmunk all dressed up to party.



Christmas Day. Bear running around outside of her grandparents house, excited about the prospect of opening presents.



Day after Christmas. Celebrating Bear's 4th birthday.



Day after Bear's Birthday. Getting ready to see the Nutcracker Ballet with her grandma. (She loved it!)



Two days before New Years. Visited the Train Museum. Chipmunk went hoarse yelling "Train!" for two hours.



New Years Eve. Visited the Jelly Belly Factory. Both kids were in jelly bean bliss...



Also visited the Nut Tree and rode the Carousel and Train.



Left when it was evident that a nap was needed...



New Years Day. Bear decorated cupcakes with her Ying-Ying (grandma). "Are you going to decorate them all?"...Bear: "Yes, they're my birthday cupcakes."



Day after New Years. Took a walk outdoors. Burned off all the cupcake frosting they ate.

Two days after New Years. Rest.

Today. Home Sweet Home.

Funny Faces

How our kids entertain themselves on long car rides...



Silly kids.

SD Version 2009

Some of the things we did this past weekend:

1) Visited the New Children's Museum. Chipmunk loved the bubble display (ended up rubbing bubble solution all over his tummy - too bad I forgot the camera battery - boo). Bear enjoyed the Grand Prix project where she got to make and then race a car down a ramp.

2) Went to Sea World. Chipmunk wasn't much for the shows, but Bear really enjoyed herself.



This is her screaming at the Shamu show.



Chipmunk was more at home in places where he could run around and play...

3) Had a grand ol' time at the zoo (yes, after months of Bear asking, we finally went).



Bear made sure to figure out where to find the gorillas.



She also made nice with a sabre tooth tiger.



Chipmunk enjoyed his time in the Children's portion of the zoo. He even got to pet a goat.

4) We visited our dear alma mater...although we were rather confused where it went.



Where did this building come from?



It took us a while, but we eventually found our way.





5) We finally made it back home...





...tired, but happy...

Some Fun...

Our weekend was more of a whirlwind rather than a trip due to its brevity, but we managed to squeeze in a little fun for the kids...Here are just a few pics of the fun...

Eighty Years

In college, my friends and I used to joke about what we'd be like when we were out of college. We pondered what life would be like in the work force, whether we would plan to marry, or even have children. Yet, now that we've come to this point in our lives a decade or so from where we once were, it's hard to recall what we were like back then, living in the dorms, hanging out on campus, studying at coffee shops...

So this past weekend as we celebrated my grandmother's eightieth birthday, I pondered what it would be like looking back after eighty years. It seems so far away from me now, but one day, God willing, I'll be there trying to remember how I spent my previous eighty years...Watching my grandma blow out her candles and celebrate with her nearest and dearest, I had to wonder what kinds of memories stood out most for her...what life events seemed to shine brightest for her in her eighty years on our planet earth...



Here's to eighty more years, Grandma!

Returning to Normal Land

With travel and illnesses, it's been slow trying to get back to what we call "normal" in our home. Bear is finally remembering to use her "please" and her "thank you" without our prompting. She's also remembering what it's like to actually take afternoon naps. Chipmunk who has been super-clingy and seems to have developed some kind of super-baby-anxiety is starting to regain his independence. Once his fever broke, he still wasn't acting like his usual happy self, but slowly, day by day, he's starting to regain his appetite for food and for life. And naps? Oh yes, the naps are getting back on track, too.

It's kind of funny though how hard you have to work just to adjust everyone back to a normal schedule, but it's definitely necessary for sanity.

Speaking of normal, here's a funny Bear story...



So she runs up to me like this, hat over one eye and says, "Look, Mommy! I'm a pirate! Arrrrrrrr!" Then she proceeded to "Arrrrr!" all over the livingroom.

Now that's normal for our home.

The rest...

So our trip wasn't all bad. There were some good memorable moments...



...celebrating the fact that it was Chipmunk's first Christmas.







...visiting the Snoopy store and ice rink in Santa Rosa, CA.



...Bear learning the word "zamboni."



...celebrating a birthday.



...spending time with loved ones.

Hope you all had a wonderful...virus-free...holiday.

Thanksgiving Recap 2008

Busy weekends have a way of sneaking by in a mad rush. Thanksgiving weekend was almost "thankless" mostly because we didn't have enough opportunity to give thanks through all the busy-ness. So better late than never...here are our thanks:

Wednesday: We're thankful for arriving safely, despite the rain, traffic and 10 hours stuck on the road. We're thankful for a warm place to sleep and seeing Matt's family again.

Thursday: We're thankful for family gatherings. We're thankful for great-grandmas and aunts and cousins and dim sum. We're thankful for smoked turkeys and full tummies and ample relatives to watch over our happy children. We're also thankful for home-baked apple pie and ice cream.

Friday: We're thankful that Berkeley is only a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Sacramento. We're thankful for seeing my family healthy and well. We're thankful for fondue and artichoke and purple yams. We're thankful for B the dog, who put up with Bear and kept her company most of the day. (We're also thankful for Black Friday sales at the Apple store...hee hee)

Saturday: We're thankful for the newly renovated Science museum at Golden Gate Park which had Bear and Chipmunk exclaiming "wow!" from the moment we arrived. We're thankful for R and her forethought in getting tickets online weeks ago because otherwise we wouldn't have been let in. (By the way, I highly recommend it...super-cool exhibits for nerds like me).

Sunday: We're thankful for Sunday mornings, catching up with friends and celebrating soon-to-be parents. We're thankful for long afternoon naps and chances to bake with grandmas.

Monday: We're thankful for being able to come home safely, settle in and rest up from a long, fun weekend.

And some pics...

For the Smiles

I've decided that putting in the effort and taking our kids on special outings is beneficial for the whole family. The kids get to take in some culture, fun and some fresh air. The parents get that warm fuzzy feeling inside when they see the tremendous smiles on their kids faces.

This week we went to the County Fair. Some highlights:

Bear's First Pony Ride



We were standing by the pony ride deciding where to go next, when Bear turned to Matt and asked, "I ride pony?" Uh, okay.

Seeing all the Animals



Her favorite was by far the bunny ("pet bunny like Curious George?" she asked). She also got to pet a bearded dragon, see some turtles, ooh and aah at the baby farm animals, and visit with some tarantulas at an insect display.

Hanging Around



Chipmunk was dying to get out and move around. Unfortunately, the fair doesn't have too many places for babies to stretch their legs. He had to settle for riding in the sling wrap with me. I can't tell you how many times people stopped to say hello to Chipmunk. He got more attention than some of the displays we visited.

Fried Foods

When at the fair, you have to eat fried foods.



We stuck with funnel cake. but deep fried artichoke hearts and deep fried cupcakes did pique my interest. Gotta love that fair food!

Trains

Once again, Bear rode a train. A carnival train, of course.



There was this really neat model train exhibit, too. It was impressive and I wish I had gotten some pictures of it.

Ah, the County Fair.