This last weekend was Julie's birthday, and unbeknownst to her, we had two big surprises for her. The first was a visit from her sister and mother. Julie started to suspect something was up, because her mom had not spoken with her in a week or more, which is always a sure sign something is up. So Friday evening Julie asked me if her mom was up to something, and I said,
"Why? What did she say?"
Julie says, "Nothing, and that's the problem. When she doesn't talk to me for 10 days, I know something is up."
Me: thinking fast...
"She did call me to make sure you would be around Saturday. She didn't say why. Maybe some special dinner or Elvis stripper is coming."
"What?!?"
"I don't know, Julie. That's what she asked, and I said we'd be home."

About 2 hours later, there was a knock on the door, and in walks Elvis! No, just kidding. In walked Julie's sister and mother! And she was very surprised, and happy. They had a great visit, while I converted the play room into something resembling a guest room, which I clearly could not have made up before hand.


Saturday, the kids were great with the unexpected visitors. We just lazed about the house, and then went into town for a yummy lunch. Somehow, there were pink and purple feathers all around the house by mid day, seemingly from some stray feather boas that the kids adopted. Later that day, I had to run out to get a birthday cake, which secretly included a stop off at Julie's favorite restaurant to ensure the reservations were going OK, and hand off a few balloons to other guests. When I got back, after an hour, and getting a cake should have only been 30 min, I had to explain that the cake decorator misunderstood me, and thought I wanted a cake for Jenny. So they had to scrape the wrong name, make up new frosting, and then write the correct Happy Birthday Julie!


Unbeknownst to me, Julie's mom and sister went out to do a few last minute things when I was out, and Julie got very suspicious something else was going on. I outright lied, and said there was nothing happening, that I knew of. I then made reservations at Julie's favorite restaurant, which happened to coincide with the time I asked everyone to already be there. Yes, I had planned a big surprise birthday dinner for Julie. We had about 25 people there, and about 50 that wished they could have been there.

Sunday was birthday party part two. We headed down to Frankie..Something..Luigi's for a lunch with Grandma Jeanne, Aunt Susie, Uncle Greg and Aunt Joani. We had two very worn out and tired kids, but they did pretty well. We had a very good lunch, and it is always good to visit with the family. When it came time to share presents, David had a bit of a hard time watching Daddy and Isabelle receive lots of gifts, but only one for David. I did try to have him open some of my presents, but its no fun when the present is a size L shirt.

After lunch, and all the presents with a little desert, both kids had a lot of fun just climbing on the landscaping boulders and curbs in the parking lot. Its funny how simple things like that can be a pick me up for kids.

SNOW!

We took the kids up to the snow this Saturday. They've been wanting to go play in the snow for a while now, and we haven't had a good weekend to go yet. Well, the snow gods smiled upon us this last week, and lay down a few feet of fresh powder, and then stopped on Friday and Saturday, so the roads would be open for an uneventful jaunt up the hill. Actually, there were still a few flurries in the morning, and as we left, the CA Department of Transportation was still requiring chains for a few miles. But after a couple hours of driving, and a lunch stop, the road was in good shape, so the chains stayed in the back of the car.



The kids were very excited to see the snow, but the drive was getting to be too long. Suddenly, in the middle of, "I'm hungrey. How much looongerrrr?" we came to Colfax. I started to see little pockets of snow under the trees along the highway. Then I could feel the excitement, as each time we saw a big hill covered in white, we'd hear, "OOOoooo!" coming from the back. Then the trees started to hold the snow in the branches. We talked about looking for animals in the snow, like deer or rabbits. We never saw any, but they had fun looking.

We did have to slow down for a chain inspection area, but chains we no longer needed. Just a slow down. We eventually got to the sno-park at Yuba Gap, and about 6' of snow! When we pulled in, it started to snow a little bit more, but it wasn't heavy, just enough to dust the cars and buildings.


Getting two very excited little kids dressed in the car before exposing them to the elements was a bit of a challenge, but we got them bundled up, then ourselves, and off we went. No sooner were we in the snow, when the snowball fights started. I think they had fun, but there were a few tears when the unexpected snow ball hit either of them by surprise. They mostly enjoyed hitting us with lots of snow.

And I think Isabelle ate about 2 gallons of snow.

We brought along a snow saucer for a little sledding action as well. It turns out, the snow was too powdery, and the kids couldn't even walk in it. They had to kinda do a crab walk with bellies on the snow. After a little while, we get to an area of packed snow, and a trail off to a small hill. Some other revelers had started a sled path, but abandoned it earlier. So we took over, and stomped down a chute, which then joined our neighbors sledding path. And the disk rides began. The kids had the most fun when they went down the hill with either of us, but each also tried a solo run, which actually went pretty well, but turned out to be a little scary for them too. Especially when the disk started to rotate and David or Isabelle was going down hill backwards!


After a couple of hours, they were exhausted. And the lack of oxygen didn't help either. So we headed back to the car. After getting all dressed and back in a warm car, they wanted to go play in the snow some more, of course. Isabelle says she wants to play in the snow everyday this year. We'll try to get back up the hill soon.

Birthday weekend for two. I and Isabelle celebrated our successive birthdays in reverse order, near and far.

Isabelle was very worried and shy about having a birthday party at school. What 6 year old doesn't like birthdays?!? I made the mistake of putting streamers up over the dinning room on Friday, and when Isabelle saw those, she got super worried and scared! We told her that no one was going to sing to her, but she still freaked out. So that was the end of the festivities at our house. And we could NOT sing happy birthday to her AT ALL! I made a deal with her, in that Julie and David could sing happy birthday to me, but only if Isabelle was on my lap.

Isabelle wanted to have her birthday at her friend Jordan's house. So we headed over there on Saturday so the kids could have a sleepover. It was a rainy weekend, so most of the time was spent indoors, but that didn't keep the kids from running all over for hours on end. Its amazing how much of a mess a couple of kids can do in so little time!

When it came to the cake though, everything was good. Ya know, when your 6, or 4 for that matter, the pieces of cake are never big enough. And there's not enough ice cream either!

Sunday, we had a sitter come by, and Julie took me out to dinner at a local bistro, with a kind of Argentinian-European blend. And was very tasty! The kids were tired, but did very well. We have someone that comes by who they really like, so they look forward to her visit. Although, this night, David was a little too tired, and wanted Julie to stay home and tuck him into bed an stay until he was asleep. But it was too early for that, and he just needed a little encouragement to be a big boy and have fun without Mom and Dad.

The other day, we went to a park which had a decommissioned steam engine as a primary play structure. David was the happiest kid ever!

One of the presents Julie received was a fondue pot. I wasn't sure she would like it, but then the day before Christmas, Julie saw one at the store, and said, "Ohh, I'd love to get a fondue pot!"

So we broke it in on New Years Eve. I found a really tasty recipe on the interwebs for fondue, and we also had hour traditional Dungeness Crab. The kids LOVE crab, and really enjoyed the fondue as well. I mean, it's like finger food, but with different tools and different interaction, and mmmmmmm.



We had the kids stay up until 9, so they could see the ball drop and associate NYE with a world wide, if not country wide, celebration. They started to get a little tired after having a yummy dinner, but we then had a dance party, and they perked right up. When it got close to the top of the hour, we turned on the television, and Julie brought out some pots and pans, and a few horns for us to blow into. We watched the ball drop, and then made lots and lots of noise! And kids love to make noise!

I think the fell asleep by 9:15.

(David had some air guitar action on a book at one point)

We did have very sad Christmas night, however. About 4 p.m., one of our cats, Loopy, started to seem very lethargic. Then her condition turned for the worse at bedtime for the kids. We had the kids come into our room to visit with Loopy as she lay on our bed, and had them say goodbye. We told them that Loopy's sickness was really bad, and that she wouldn't be with us in the morning. They knew that she was sick (myxosarcoma ), and they knew she was going to die, but they still didn't really understand what that meant. Isabelle understood it best, but David asked to see her in the morning after Christmas.

So anyway, Loopy faded away at our bedtime later that night.

Here it is, the Christmas post, with all it's present laden glory. Actually, there will be a second post of pictures I think.

We started the celebration a little early, after dinner on Wednesday night. We were informed by a little elf from Missouri that one certain box had some Christmas themed pajamas which would look great on Christmas morning. So we opened that up before baths, and the kids wore the warm flannel PJs to bed.

Then we had to get the cookies and carrots out on a plate for Santa and his reindeer. Done.

Onto Christmas morning. Thankfully, the kids slept until about 7:3. Then David came in, scooting into bed right next to Julie, and laid there for about 30 seconds. Then he jumped up and ran down the hall. THUMP THump thump went his feet on the floor. Followed shortly after with thump thuMP THUMP. "Mommy, Daddy, the cookies and carrots are gone!"

THUMP THump thump....thump thuMP THUMP. "And the stockings are full! Come on, get up!"


So we got up, and David was standing guard next to the Christmas tree, all jumpy and hoppy. Julie went in to wake Isabelle, who grunted, "I'm tired. I didn't sleep enough, but I guess I'll get up anyway." A few minutes later, she was up, and inspecting her stocking stuffers.

Then, of course, was the tree. Or should I say, all the pretty boxes under the tree, and tucked behind the couch arm a little bit? Sometimes, just ripping open presents is the best part. Sometimes, it the actual gift. Isabelle and david were very happy about this fine morning, and had some shortbread cookies as a pre-breakfast snack.

Later that morning, Grandma Jeanne, Aunt Susan, Uncle Greg and Aunt Joan came by for a Christmas brunch, and a whole lot more presents! And a whole lot more fun! David and Isabelle were great helpers at passing out all the presents for everyone. They were also very good at helping to tear apart more presents. And we never have enough batteries, but the kids still had lot of fun with the new toys, especially a talking dinosaur, and a set of mini 4X4s.

Isabelle made a great Gingerbread house in Kindergarten today! Actually, its a graham cracker house, but thats just semantics. She was so proud to show off her creation. And we are pretty proud of her too!


Now, where can we keep this away from tempted fingers and kitty-cat whiskers? (No, we're not gonna eat it all tonite!)




(I think one of us had a finger over the flash with that one picture)

David is a sucker for store displays. Every time we walk past a store or even an end-cap within a store, David finds something he needs. Or at least WANTS. Badly. Most of the evening after visiting a store, I am reminded of a train, or bear, or car, or candy bit he would like.
The funniest bit of 'reminding Dad' was the other day at dinner, when he mentioned he again wanted, "The train we saw at the farm store."
"Farm store?" I said. "Do you mean the farm we visited around Halloween?"
"No."
"Farmer's Market?"
"No."
Then he reminded me that we were there a day or two ago, and got some cleanser and some stuff for my work. Ohhh...The Pharmacy!
"Yea, Dad. Can I get that train?"



(p.s., we have like 8 trains, so he's not getting that one.)

We just got our Christmas tree, and it is up and shinning. We actually picked it up yesterday, but it was all wet as we have had a rain storm for a few days now. This is one is about 5' (150 cm) tall and maybe 3' (95 cm) round. And it was clearly cut down in August. At least, the number of needles on the floor of the garage, where I placed it to dry, would lead me to believe it was an early harvest. It didn't look so dry in the yard, but again, we had a rainstorm. Some of the other trees looked a bit worse.

I placed it in the corner after moving the couch over a bit, placed a couple strand s of lights on it (why do strings of lights always loose the ability to light up when they are placed in a box for 11 months? We have 5 sets, 3 work!) And when you have two kids with ornaments in hand, it sure takes a long time to string lights around a tree!


Eventually it got done, and hanging of ornaments commenced. For a while there, I thought all we really need to do for Christmas is bring out a tree and let the kids decorate. They loved doing it. And they really would have loved to decorate, and re-decorate, and re-decorate all night long! Then Isabelle and David wanted to take their favorite ornament, and bring it to their room to play with and admire. David wanted to play with a glass double-decker bus, Isabelle found a purplish glittery swan. We convinced them to keep everything on the tree, with the breakable stuff up and away from the reach of the daycare kids. So the tree is ready for the pretty boxes to go underneath!

David had his 4 year annual check up. 4 YEARS! Wow. He's doing great. He is very healthy, and David is also still above everything on the growth charts. He is such a brave and strong little boy, when he wants to be, as he had 4 shots at this visit. And not one whimper.

I brought Isabelle along too, so she could get a couple of vaccinations as well, for the H1N1 and seasonal flu. And I think she cried and fussed more before the actual shot then after! She also got a nasal version of the seasonal, and was just a little annoyed with that.


We stopped by a drive-thru Starbucks and the kids got a madeleine, which they love, and everything was OK, ....with David. Isabelle wasn't too quick to let this go, and as soon as we got home, she told Julie that she does not like getting shots AT ALL!

Ah yes, Thanksgiving! Our great American harvest festival. This year we headed down to my sisters for the local west coast family gathering. The morning started out pretty good. I think David slept most of the hight in his bed, so we were fairly well rested. And no one had any colds or flus! Yeaaa! After a lazy morning, we packed into the car, and headed off.
I had checked the traffic maps much of the morning, and it was going smooth, so I wasn't too worried about the holiday drive. But it looks like a lot of other people were thinking the same thing, as after about 10 minutes on the road, the slow down happened. I think it then took us about 40 minutes to go about 10 miles. And with no idea how much longer it was going to continue, it was time for an alternate route. Fortunately, we were right near the perfect exit for just such an excursion, so off we went.
This route was a smaller two lane road, with a few more bumps and twists in it, and after about 40 minutes, Isabelle informed us that she started to feel a little sick. After another 10 minutes or so, we were back on a highway, and zooming along, and Isabelle's belly settled down. The rest of the drive was uneventful. Whew!
Once we arrived at Joan's house, the kids were very happy to see everyone. And of course, everyone's happy to see everyone else too. This Thanksgiving confirmed a long running suspicion I have, there are never enough stove top burners, nor ovens. I think 8 burners are needed, and 3 ovens.

Isabelle is becoming quite the photographer. Every chance she sees to grab a camera and shoot until the battery is dead, she takes. We have lots of pictures of things up way too close, and lots of photos of book pages, but I guess she has to start somewhere.

Halloween! Yes, the kids had a great time. David was going to be either a bat or Batman, until he saw Isabelle dressed up as a cheetah a couple of days before Halloween. Then he wanted to be a big cat too. So luckily, we had another big cat costume from last year, and then we had two big cats with pumpkin shaped buckets, eager to know on some doors.


Grandma Jeanne came up again, and the kids were super happy about that. We headed out in the darkness, and started to knock on some doors, with a bit of trepidation. After a couple times of hearing and seeing the goods drop into their buckets, those fears waned, and we couldn't get to each house fast enough! A couple of times, David couldn't wait for the doors to open fast enough, and would knock, wait 15 seconds, then ring the bell, wait a few more seconds, and ring or knock again.


The other hard part was after we turned a corner onto a certain street. It was a fairly wide street, with lots of kids on it, and lots of houses with their Halloween decorations glowing brightly. We couldn't stay to just one side, and yet we didn't have enough time to go all the way down one side, then turn around and come back on the other side! So we zig zagged about one third of the way. Why only one third? Well, before we left, we asked the kids to go to the bathroom. I don't know if they did or not, since we don't stand in there with the kids. But both kids said they did. And off we went. It turns out, the bladder doesn't lie. So we had to make a quick detour home to take care of the business which may have been missed 30 minutes before.

In hindsight, it was probably a good time to head back anyway. They still wanted to do lots more trick or treating, but it was good to get off the road before the tired bizzies or fussy we-didn't-get-to-that-house whines.


After we got back home, Isabelle asked David to come over to the center of the living room, and they dumped out their loot to survey just what it was they were so happy about. They were very diligent about separating all the different types of candy, and even the chocolates amongst themselves.

Later that evening, just before bed, they played Trick-or-Treat with all sorts of things they grabbed in the house. One would go to the door, and knock, and the other would pretend to open a door, and the re-enactment continued for 15 minutes as they each took turns.

Gladly, they both slept very well, even staying in bed until 7:30. And even then, they just came in to our room and jumped on us. That was rather kind as they didn't wake up Grandma too soon, or jarringly.