SofiandNatalie.com

It seems like just yesterday that I was standing in the maternity ward waiting (and stressing) about the birth of our first child.  We didn’t even know what sex she would be, let alone how much work and joy that she would bring to our lives.  Five years later and the only thing I want is more time to spend with my children so that I can enjoy each and every moment of their lives.

Celebrating birthdays -- milestones -- are little reminders of our successes and of the life that we have created.  In these words I hope that you will see my pride and realize the happiness and joy that both my children have brought to my life, and know that for every milestone we achieve I learn more and more the value that these lives bring to mine.

Happy Birthday, Sofi.  We love you.

Papa

It has been some time since I’ve last posted (again) and so much has been going on that I hardly know where to begin.  Today, though, I had another thought that I wanted to try to get down here, if not for the few readers of the site, then to remind my children later in their own lives what they meant to me, each and every day.

See, today, like to many before and after I woke with the reminder of how beautiful my life is and how blessed I am by my loving, adoring daughters.  It’s amazing to me that even on the days that I get up thinking, “oh, not another day,” that they wake up with all the excitement that comes with a new day.  They hardly even remember yesterday, and even the biggest upsets and nastiest boo-boos are forgotten completely.  They come to each day completely ready for whatever the world has to offer, open to absorb, learn, and truly enjoy every little piece.  Even days that are something like yesterday and a little like tomorrow are important beyond comprehension and most importantly they are enjoyed for exactly that.  They know that the best part of the day is what you do when you’re awake – and I am very glad to know that my children make the most of that every single day.

So yes, there will be more posting this weekend – hopefully a little catchup for some of the recent stuff – and even more after that, but for those of you that have forgotten that each day is new, this is my wake-up for call for you.  Look into the eyes of a child – borrow a child if you don’t have one handy – and see the mystery and amazement that comes just from being awake.

Papa

For my birthday this year I took the day off work and we made the trek up to San Francisco with the girls to see the California Academy of Sciences.  This amazing museum, which just completed a multi-million dollar, five-year renovation, is a must see for everyone.  The only downside is that everyone knows they need to see it so the lines are very long, and the museum is very crowded.  Most days they sell out and unless you arrive early it’s unlikely that you will be able to see any of their shows or get into the centerpiece rain-forest exhibit.

Read the rest of this entry »

As a handful of our readers know – and anyone that attended our wedding – my parents have a pair of American Eskimo dogs that they treat like children.  Imagine our surprise after visiting Sausalito to get a chance to see a couple with THREE of these beautiful dogs.  They seemed to be of great personality and the girls dived right in to get their kisses and hugs from this great family.

Since I know that Grammy reads this, I’ll remind everyone that you can click on any photo for a larger video (thanks to the recent fixes) and now the kids are talking more and more about seeing grammy and the dogs that they miss so much.

Papa

The best part of not having written in a while is that there is so much to talk about.  I want to catch up quickly, but think it might be best to talk about current events first and roll back into the older stuff.  That way everyone knows what’s going on now as well as having a chance to catch up on what’s been happening.

I’ve aways been a fan of the ocean – and the water in general – so this weekend we decided to take the ferry from San Francisco across to Sausalito to talk around for a bit.  It would be a great way for the girls to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather and for us to introduce them to the experience and fun of riding the ferry.  Needless to say, it was an awesome day and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Read the rest of this entry »

With such a small readership and so few regular posts, its difficult to imagine that anyone noticed that there haven’t been many posts in the past few months.   Unfortunately, problems with WordPress, the blogging software that I use, and then Gallery, the photo management tools, kept me from posting.  Those problems have been fixed and the site appears to be working better than ever!

A special thanks to the blogosphere for their help getting the WordPress problems fixed and an extra special thank you to consultant engineer Andy Lindeman who was instrumental in resolving the problems with Gallery and WPG2.  The good news is that there are six months of updates coming!

Papa

It has already been a few weeks since I last posted, but not for lack of want or content.  With the beautiful weather, we’ve all just been out enjoying the “winter.”  I did want to share, though, so that everyone could see, some of the video that we took on a recent trip to Moss Landing, just south of Watsonville.  The weather was awesome -- especially so for the end of January -- and we spent a few hours around the beach enjoying the sun, sand, water, and local wildlife.

The videos below will show off some of what we saw there, with the main attractions being the beautiful (and very friendly looking) sea otters who were both enjoying the sunshine and getting a little lunch to pass their day.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was totally joking earlier today when Isuggested on Facebook that global-warming might not be such a bad thing, but it’s truly difficult to imagine that a 73 degree day in January could be all that bad.  Of course, that was at 4:00 in the afternoon on the beach in Santa Cruz, so I imagine earlier in the day could have been nicer.  It almost shattered my happiness to hear that this is the first day in the past eight that hasn’t created a new record high temperature in the Bay Area.  I hear that some areas of the country are seeing snow.

So what did we do today… after a brief visit to urgent care to see the doctor for Sofi’s mystery rash, we went to enjoy a walk through Mountain View before heading off to the beach.  Both parts were wonderful, but it’s amazing to realize how beautiful the weather has been these past few days.  There were hundreds of people at the beach and it looks like -- with the holiday -- it’s going to be a great night down there, too.  After an hour or so at the beach we picked up Babi and headed home.

I took another video and even asked the girls to tell Audrey how much they wish that she could be there, too.  I figured since she was enjoying the last round of videos so much it might be nice to be mentioned on their site, too!  Hope you enjoy it Audrey (and everyone else, too)!

Papa

I’ll have some photos coming up to the site sometime really soon, but I wanted to share with everyone that we have actually completed the unwrapping (not too out of control this year) and right now Mama, Sofi and Natalie are all playing with the new Cinderella game (complete with battery powered musical, lighted shoe) trying to understand that not everyone can win every time.

In the meantime and especially for those waiting for pictures, I’m attaching another short video clip to share some of the unwrapping.

Papa

Christmas is off to a rip-roaring start this year and the girls are as excited as can be.  So far they have found the bicycles that Santa left and cleaned out their stockings.  The first gift, from Grammy and Grampy has caused quite a stir.  They each got a barbie doll that includes a golden retriever.  The excitement from this comes from the fact that you can actually feed the dog.  Parent’s will get a chuckle from the fact that this dog also “poops” the biscuits and barbie comes with all the appropriate attachments for cleaning up the poopie.  Brief video attached for those that really must know.

Papa